350 Persecution Related Deaths Reported Recently

In April 2005, another 350 Falun Gong practitioners were verified to have died in China as a result of persecution during the past 6 years. According to statistics published on the Minghui Website [Chinese version of Clearwisdom] on April 30, 2005, at least 1,982 Falun Gong practitioners have lost their lives during the past six years of public persecution, as confirmed through several channels.

Among the 350 cases, 203 women practitioners constitute 58%; 223 practitioners were above 55 years of age, comprising 640f the total, including 72 practitioners who were over 70 years of age.

Seventy torture deaths took place in 2005 and 19 of them happened last month alone, in April 2005.

Among those who have died, the youngest is 14 year-old Zhang Zheng, a female student at Quantang Middle School in Chaohu City, Anhui Province, and 18 year-old Zhang Yichao, a female student at No. 4 Middle School in Huolinguole City, Inner Mongolia.

Eleven practitioners were between 20 and 30 years of age. They are Ms. Zhen Xiaona, 21, from Laiyuanju Village, Hebei Province, Mr. Wang Shaodong, 25, from Huolongdian Village, Changzhuang Township, Yanshan County, Cangzhou City, Hebei Province, Ms. Zhang Yanxin, 24, from Dengta City, Liaoning Province, Mr. Sun Qian, 27, from Dalian City, Liaoning Province, Mr. Zhang Jiawei, 22, a student at Heilongjiang Province Traditional Chinese Medicine University, Ms. Wang Xiumei, 20 from Wudan Town, Wengniute County, Chifeng City, Inner Mongolia, Ms. Chen Lijuan, 24, from Chenzhou City, Hunan Province, Ms. Qian Jingjing from Suizhou City, Hubei Province, who is around 20 years of age, Mr. Zhang Jiqiang, 30, from Yaowang Village, Gaozhuang Street Party Committee, Laiwu City, Shandong Province, Mr. Zhang Xuhao, 27, from Ruichang, Jiangxi Province, and Sun Rong, 30, from Zhengzhou City, Henan Province.

The 350 death cases are spread across 24 provinces, cities and autonomous regions. The geographic distribution is as follows: 55 cases in Hebei Province, 45 cases in Shandong Province, 38 cases in Jilin Province, 32 cases in Liaoning Province, 31 cases in Heilongjiang Province, 22 cases in Hubei Province, 20 cases in Sichuan Province, 18 cases in Henan Province, 16 cases in Hunan Province, 15 cases in Guangdong Province, 13 cases in Beijing, 12 cases in Inner Mongolia Autonomic Region, 6 cases in Jiangxi Province, 5 cases in Anhui Province, 5 cases in Tianjin, 3 cases in Shanxi Province , 2 cases in Jiangsu Province, 2 cases in Fujian Province, 2 cases in Guizhou Province, 2 cases in Shaanxi Province, 2 cases in Yunnan Province, 1 case in Gansu Province, 1 case in Xinjiang Autonomic Region, 1 case in Zhejiang Province, 1 case in an unknown region.

These practitioners benefited from Falun Dafa practice. Many of them encountered Dafa when they were suffering from terminal illnesses, and It gave them a new life. They voluntarily walked the path to return to their true, original selves by assimilating to Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance. However, after Jiang Zemin's villainous group started persecuting Falun Gong on July 20, 1999, these practitioners were not only deprived of their freedom of belief, of their right to study the Falun Dafa teachings and do the exercises - their lives were in danger. In the past six years, some practitioners died from savage beatings and torture, some died after sustaining grave injuries or from relapses of their old illnesses after being deprived of their right to practise, and some died from despair and depression after the lawless government officials threatened, intimidated and brainwashed them with Dafa-slandering propaganda.

Practitioner Ms. Chen Xiuchong, in her 70s, was beaten to death at home in Xiamen City by police officers

On December 27, 2004, under the overall direction of the 610 Office (1) in Xiamen, police bureau chiefs from Huli, Siming, and Xiangan Districts ordered several hundred officers to arrest dozens of Falun Gong practitioners. The police were divided into teams of seven who illegally confiscated computers, printers, CD burners, Dafa books, and leaflets exposing the persecution. They also arrested Falun Gong practitioners.

At 9:00 p.m. on December 27, 2004, the police forced their way into the home of practitioner Chen Xiuchong, who was about 74 years old, and ransacked it. During a dispute between Ms. Chen and the 610 Office staff, Ms. Chen was knocked to the ground while trying to protect her Dafa books. She lost consciousness immediately and foamed at the mouth. The 610 Office staff continued kicking and beating her, saying she was faking. Ms. Chen passed away that night.

Two middle-school students pass away amid hatred and terror

Zhang Zheng was an "outstanding student and young individual" at Quantang Middle School in Chaohu City, Anhui Province

Zhang Zheng was a very kind and intelligent teenager. She went to Beijing to appeal for Dafa and was sent to a forced labour camp. During this time, the government officials and police ransacked her home numerous times, constantly harassed and threatened her, and didn't allow her to study the teachings or do the exercises. She could not stand the terrorising and intimidation and was psychologically traumatised. In November 2000 she had symptoms of leukemia and passed away in February 2001 at the age of 14.

Another tragedy took place in Huolinguole City, Inner Mongolia Autonomic Region. Zhang Yichao was a vibrant and open-minded girl whom her parents, relatives and friends deeply loved. Both her parents practised Falun Gong. She herself started practising in 1998.

Her mother, Ms. Fu Guiying, went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Dafa in September 1999 and was sentenced to forced labour in December 1999.

Witnessing the injustice inflicted upon her mother, young Zhang Yichao realized the government was persecuting good people. When her school started an anti-Falun Gong campaign and forced the students to sign a petition attacking Dafa, Yichao refused to cooperate. The schools' Party secretary, Meng Xianmin, called her in for a conversation. Both the city's 610 Office and the police department pressured the school and requested many times that she write and sign a guarantee statement to renounce Falun Gong. They threatened that Yichao would be deprived of her education if she did not sign. Yichao was only 13 years old. When she returned home, she cried secretly and dared not let her parents know what she was going through. She feared that letting her parents know might lead to more severe punishment from her teacher, school principal and the Party secretary.

In June 2000, Yichao's father Zhang Jianlong was arrested. Yichao suffered pressure that children of her age should not suffer, and she became quiet and withdrawn.

On March 1, 2002, personnel from the Huolinguole City No. 4 Middle School would not allow her to attend school because both her parents practised Falun Gong. After intervention from her parents' employer, the school agreed to let her return. And yet, the school's Party secretary, Meng Xianmin, called her in for a "conversation" every week. The corrupt officials demanded that she write a report each week and disengage herself from Dafa and her parents.

In May 2002, her parents were illegally detained and Zhang Yichao was left alone at home. Persons from the Huolinguole City 610 Office, along with more than ten people from the South Square Police Station, went to her home to collect evidence for the persecution of her parents. They dismantled the beds and sofa, searched everywhere in the home including the vegetable vault, and made a mess of the house, but found nothing.

On the night of May 29, 2002, a group of children who bore hatred toward Dafa and Dafa practitioners, due to the propaganda of the Chinese Communist Party, came to her home and broke the door as well as several windows. This made young Yichao feel extremely scared. The persecution from the school leaders and the discrimination from some of her classmates as well as people in society made her suffer great mental and physical trauma.

To avoid further persecution, 15-year-old Zhang Yichao left home and worked at various kinds of jobs in Shenyang City, Dalian City and other places. She did not have regular accommodations in which to stay. Sometimes she got a meal but other times she did not eat. While Zhang Yichao was out working she contracted tuberculosis. She did not have money for medical treatment and wanted to go home, but as her parents had been persecuted so many times she dared not go. She passed out many times. Finally, she had to return home. On the morning of April 6, 2005 she died in a hospital at only 18 years of age.

Sun Qian from the Liaoning Province Police Academy tortured to death

Practitioner Sun Qian, lived in Dalian City, Liaoning Province and graduated from the Liaoning Province Police Academy. He died at age 33.

In October 1999, Sun Qian was expelled from the police academy because he went to Beijing to appeal on behalf of Falun Dafa. He was sentenced to two-and-a-half years of forced labour, and was held at the Dalian City Forced Labour Camp. During the detention, trying to escape, he jumped from the third floor and broke both legs. Several months later he was transferred to the Fushun City Forced Labour Camp. After he gave up Dafa against his conscience, he was sent back to the Dalian City Forced Labour Camp and was held there until May 14, 2001. The academy took Sun Qian back and offered him a job as a library accountant and class III police officer.

In April 2002, Sun Qian was abducted and sent to the Pulandian City Party School in Dalian City and forced to undergo brainwashing. Because Sun Qian said, "Falun Gong is great," the police officers hung him up and beat him ruthlessly. They poured cold water on him and shocked his mouth with electric batons. Guard Qi Jinshuai said as he was beating Sun Qian, "If I beat you to death, it'll be reported as suicide. We'll dump your body under the bridge." Later, Sun Qian was again sent to the Dalian City Forced Labour Camp to be detained for two years.

As Sun Qian's health deteriorated from torture and abuse, he was released on medical parole in April 2003. After he returned home, however, the perpetrators from the local police department and from the 610 Office often harassed him.

In January 2005, Sun Qian was again abducted after being reported. On March 10, 2005, the Shahekou District Court in Dalian City held a secret trial and illegally sentenced Sun Qian to six years in prison.

During the detention, Sun Qian held a hunger strike to protest the persecution. He was brutally force-fed with a filthy feeding tube, and as a result, his stomach bled and he contracted tuberculosis. He was at the brink of death when he was transferred to the Dalian City Prison. The prison authorities ordered his family to take him home. He passed away three days later, on March 15, 2005.

On or around March 10, 2005, Wang Fuxin, deputy head from the Pikou Border Patrol Police Station, led officers from the Dalian City Police Department's National Security Bureau to again ransack the home of Sun Qian's parents. They took all the valuables, worth about 10,000 yuan (2), including the computer and scanner.

Yu Huiqin passes away due to severe persecution

Ms. Yu Huiqin, 44, lived in Junying Village, Kangzhuang Town, Yanqing County in Beijing. She previously suffered from severe kidney disease, which was diagnosed as incurable. These symptoms completely disappeared after she started practicing Falun Gong in July 1998. Her family admired with gratitude the miracle of Falun Dafa. Her husband Jiang Hai also became a practitioner.

After July 20, 1999, when Jiang's regime started to persecute Falun Gong, Yu Huiqin's family was deprived of their happy and peaceful life, as the police constantly harassed them. On the evening of January 12, 2002, Yu Huiqin and her husband were abducted by officers from the Kangzhuang Police Department, including Bai Jinlong. They were held at the Yanqing Detention Centre. Yu Huiqin held a hunger strike and was released three days later. Her husband, Jiang Hai, was released after 28 days of detention. He was abducted twice afterwards and was held at the Kangzhuang Hospital. On September 27 he was tried and sentenced to nine years of imprisonment.

Yu Huiqin was abducted for the second time on November 5, 2002, when about seven police officers, including Xia Yongkun, head of the police station, and officers took Yu Huiqin to a detention centre. They sent her to a forced labour camp the following day. The labour camp refused to take her, so she was sent to the Yanqing County Hospital for an IV infusion while handcuffed and shackled. At the hospital, Yu Huiqin told everyone about her experience in learning Dafa, and the persecutors' lies about Dafa. The police and inmates who monitored her gagged her with a sanitary napkin so she couldn't speak. She became very weak from torture and was released 14 days later.

On the morning of August 14, 2003, officer Bai Jinlong and others broke into Yu Huiqin's home and tried to take her away, but she firmly resisted. About eight police officers led by the head of the police station, climbed over the wall into her backyard. They smashed the windows, kicked down the door and barged into the room. Without presenting any ID or giving any explanation, they abducted Yu Huiqin and sent her directly to the Xinan Forced Labour Camp in Daxing County, Beijing.

On November 4, 2004, Yu Huiqin was released after fifteen months of persecution. She was extremely weak and on the brink of a nervous breakdown. Her whole body was swollen and she often vomited. We have learned that she was injected with unknown drugs. In the last week of her life she was unable to lie down and could only sit up. She passed away at 6:00 p.m. on April 16, 2005.

Due to lack of income, Yu Huiqin's two children could not afford to pay for her medical bills and funeral expenses. They went to the government many times, but their pleas fell on deaf ears. Her son, Jiang Pengfei, said, "If no one is going to do anything, I'll take my mother's body to Tiananmen." Finally the officials cremated Yu Huiqin's body the morning of April 23.

Note:

(1) "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.

(2) "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://www.minghui.ca/mh/articles/2004/11/30/90383.html