Another Nine Falun Gong Practitioners Die as a Result of the Persecution

Ms. Cao Bojing was around 50 years of age and lived in Tangshan City, Hebei Province. She went to Beijing to appeal on behalf of Falun Dafa in September 1999, and was abducted in November 1999 and sent to the No. 1 Detention Centre in Tangshan City. Ms. Cao was hung up while in handcuffs and subjected to many tortures, including one called the "death bed" (1). The perpetrators sent her to Tangshan City Mental Hospital for over a year, and the police constantly hounded her after her release. She passed away in August 2004.

Mr. Zhang Baoting, 48, was an internal secretary at the Public Security Division for the Panji No. 1 Coal Mine in Anhui Province. He went to Beijing three times to appeal for Falun Dafa after July 20, 1999. He was later held at a Detention Centre for nearly two months. The third time he went to appeal was on December 31, 2001. He unfurled a banner in Tiananmen Square on January 1, 2002 to appeal against the persecution. He subsequently went into exile, where he remained until his death on August 2, 2003.

Mr. Gao Qiyun, 59, lived in Lixin County, Anhui Province. He was sentenced to two years of forced labour in March 2001 and was ruthlessly tortured in a forced labour camp.The police constantly harassed him after he returned home. Mr. Gao lived in constant fear and pressure, which led to a relapse of liver disease. He died in March 2004.

Mr. Zha Yuanqing was in his 60s and lived in Wuhan City, Hubei Province. In the summer of 2002, persecutors sent him to a brainwashing class when the outside temperature was 104oF. They locked him in a room without a fan and without a mosquito net, even though the area was plagued with mosquitoes. In 2004, the perpetrators from the "610 Office" (2) sent him to a brainwashing class, where he was verbally and physically abused on a daily basis. The perpetrators denied him sleep and forced him to attend brainwashing sessions. Zha Yuanqing struggled with physical and psychological pressure, and passed away on January 16, 2005.

Mr. Feng Guoqiang, 36, lived in Tangshan City, Hebei Province. In late 2001 he was abducted along with his father and brother, both of whom are Dafa practitioners, while distributing leaflets to expose the persecution. Feng Guoqiang was held at the No. 1 Detention Centre in Tangshan City, where the guards tried to force him to write a "guarantee statement" (3). Several months later he was sent to the Kaiping District Brainwashing Class to be further persecuted. He was extorted out of 10,000 yuan, (4) on top of enduring physical and mental abuse. He was extremely weak when he returned home and never had the chance to recover. He passed away on January 19, 2005.

Mr. Chen Linfa, 67, was a retired official from the Taxinan Petroleum Supply Base Co. in Xinjiang Autonomous Region. His numerous illnesses disappeared after he began Falun Dafa practice. His wife went to Beijing to appeal in early 2000 and was arrested. She was arrested for the second time later in the year. In July 2001, his wife was sentenced to three-and-half years in prison. The perpetrators from the Taxinan Petroleum Supply Base Company Police Department often harassed him and ransacked his home. They took Dafa books and other Dafa related materials. The police also threatened and interrogated him. He showed symptoms of a sudden illness on January 10, 2002, and died soon afterwards. His wife didn't learn of his death until after her release from detention in October 2003.

Yao Shufen, 81, lived in Nongan County, Jilin Province. She started practising Dafa in 1996 and all of her illnesses disappeared, including the chronic ones. After July 20, 1999, when the persecution began, the police often harassed and intimidated her, and ransacked her home numerous times. Her son and daughter went to Beijing to appeal for Dafa and were illegally detained. They were each extorted of 5,000-6,000 yuan, and were sent to labour camps. Yao Shufen suffered tremendously, both physically and mentally, and passed away on October 10, 2002.

Ms. Jiang Xiuqin was a family member of an employee at the Shengli Petroleum Field. She previously suffered from numerous illnesses, but became very healthy after practising Falun Dafa. In 1999, her husband, who is also a Dafa practitioner, was illegally pursued by police and had to go into exile. Jiang Xiuqin lived under tremendous pressure from the police. She suffered a heart attack in late 2001 and died.

Ms. Jiang Tianrong lived in Wendeng City, Shandong Province. She previously suffered from heart disease, high blood pressure, kidney failure and other illnesses, and her legs were chronically swollen due to kidney failure. All of these symptoms disappeared after she practised Dafa. Her daughter is also a Dafa practitioner and was illegally sentenced to forced labour for appealing. The labour camp authorities refused to let her visit her daughter. She had symptoms of a stroke in the spring of 2002 and passed away in late October 2004.

Note:

(1) "Death Bed" torture: A practitioner is tied to a bed with his hands handcuffed above his head to the bed rails, and his legs tied with thin nylon ropes. The rope is then tightly wrapped around the practitioner's body and the bed, from his legs to his chest. The rope is wrapped so tightly that the practitioner has difficulty breathing and eventually loses consciousness.

(2) "The 610 office" is an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other political and judiciary systems.

(3) "Guarantee Statement": A statement to declare that one is remorseful for practising Falun Gong and guarantees not to practise Falun Gong again, not to go to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong, and never again associate with any Falun Dafa practitioners.

(4) "Yuan" is the Chinese currency; 500 yuan is equal to the average monthly income of an urban worker in China.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2005/3/13/97257.html