September 2005: Deaths of an Additional 44 Falun Gong Practitioners Confirmed (Photo)

The deaths of another 44 Falun Gong practitioners have been verified in September 2005. Since the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Jiang' Zemins group launched the persecution of Falun Gong on July 20th 1999, to date 2,742 Falun Gong practitioners have died, most as a result of torture.

Among the 44 deaths, 24 were female practitioners, 55 percent of the total; 31 practitioners were above 55 years of age, 70 percent of the total; 24 practitioners died in 2005, among whom 7 died in September. According to statistics on the Minghui/Clearwisdom website, 360 Falun Gong practitioners died between January 2005 and September 2005.

The 44 cases are distributed across 12 provinces and autonomous regions. Eight deaths took place in Hebei Province, six deaths in Heilongjiang Province, six in Shandong Province, five in Liaoning Province, five in Sichuan Province, four deaths in Jilin Province, four deaths in Henan Province, two deaths in Guizhou Province, one in Gansu Province, one each in Hunan Province, Shaanxi Province and in the Guangxi Zhuang Ethnic Autonomous Region.

In the past six years, Falun Gong practitioners in Mainland China have been deprived of their right of freedom of belief, their right to appeal and to defend themselves in a court, and their right to express their opinion openly in society. Some practitioners were arrested, sentenced to prison or forced labour and tortured to death only because they told their neighbours or colleagues about Falun Gong's health benefits and the facts about the persecution.

Mr. Jia Junxi beaten to death in Henan Province; police threaten his family, "Nothing will happen, even if you sue us in Beijing"

Falun Dafa practitioner Mr. Jia Junxi, 58 years old, lived in Qianxiaozhuang Village, Fugou County, Henan Province. He was arrested on August 18th 2005 while telling people the truth about Falun Dafa . Mr. Jia was tortured to death around August 29th at the county detention centre. Jia Junxi was held in solitary confinement on August 28th where, on orders from the guards, four inmates beat him savagely. The solitary confinement cell door remained locked for the following 24 hours, and no one checked on Jia Junxi during this period. On August 30th the perpetrators sent Jia Junxi's stiff body to the county hospital in an attempt to cover up the crime of torture that killed him. The doctor asked, "Why are you bringing in a dead body?" The doctor refused to let the perpetrators bring the body into a ward, so they put Jia Junxi's body in the hallway. Around 6:00 p.m. on August 30th Jia Junxi's family received a death notice from the Fugou County Police Department. His family and some fellow villagers went to the hospital. They saw that Jia Junxi's teeth were clenched, his eyes wide open, one hand held in a tight fist, one leg was half bent, and his body was deformed. They confronted the perpetrators, "Why was he in such a wretched state? How did he die?" The police answered, "Heart attack." His family was suspicious and asked for an autopsy. The police said, "Nothing's going to happen even if you sue us in Beijing."

The police ignored the family's protests and cremated the body later that night. Jia Junxi's wife held the box with his ashes and said, "He left home a healthy person, and now he's a pile of ashes!"

Ms. Ren Shujie emaciated from torture, passes away

Ms. Ren Shujie, 42 years old, was a practitioner from Shenyang, Liaoning Province. She was the owner of a fabric shop in the Donghu Market, Yuhong District. Ms. Ren began to practise Falun Gong in 1998 and benefited mentally and physically. After she became a Dafa practitioner, Ms. Ren became honest and kind and enjoyed helping others. Her customers and the other shop owners regarded her as a good person.

Because she told people the truth about Falun Gong, Ren Shujie was arrested and detained many times. On May 21st 2002, officers from the Zhonggong Police Station, under the Tiexi District Police Department in Shenyang, arrested Ren Shujie. The persecutors handcuffed her hands behind her back and slapped her face. They hit the back of her legs with large sticks and forced her to squat on the ground. Later on the persecutors sentenced her to three years of forced labour. She was detained in the Longshan Forced Labour Camp, where officials deprived her of sleep for seven consecutive nights, and policeman Tang Yubao used two electric batons and shocked her for thirty minutes.

During her detention in the forced labour camp, Ms. Ren had to do slave labour. They forced her to do extremely heavy manual labour. She began a hunger strike that lasted 64 days. In mid-June 2003 Ms. Ren told Tang Yubao to treat older practitioners kindly. Tang shocked her with an electric baton and kicked her. Ms. Ren's mouth was swollen, her eye sockets were bruised and swollen, her eyes were bloodshot, her face was disfigured, and her body was covered with bruises.

In March 22, 2004, Longshan Forced Labour Camp authorities sent Ms. Ren Shujie to the Masanjia Forced Labour Camp. She was ordered to sleep on the cold floor for three months. Ms. Ren Shujie's face became swollen, and her legs showed signs of severe oedema. Each time a spot was pressed, an indentation would remain. Ms. Ren also went on a hunger strike at that time. Since Ms. Ren could not eat well, she was extremely weak at the time of her release from the labour camp on December 24th 2004. Because she still had problems with her oesophagus, Ms. Ren was not able to eat normally upon returning home. She grew increasingly weaker, and passed away on September 1st 2005, and left her teenage son behind.

Ms. Ren Shujie, who was emaciated and extremely weak before passing away

37-year-old Ms. Bi Daihong Died From Torture at Dalian Forced Labour Camp

Falun Dafa practitioner 37-year-old Ms. Bi Daihong, who worked at the Dalian City Ship Examination Bureau Dalian City, Liaoning Province, used to suffer from headaches and protruding spinal discs, but she became very healthy after she started practising Dafa in 1996. When the persecution of Falun Gong started in 1999, she went to Beijing many times to appeal. The perpetrators ransacked her home and extorted money from her. Her workplace fired her and she lost her source of income.

In January 2003, Bi Daihong was reported when telling the truth about Dafa. Officers in Lushun arrested her. The officers held her there for one month without notifying her family. She was later sentenced to two years of forced labour and held at the Dalian Forced Labour Camp.

On her first day at the labour camp, Bi Daihong refused to take off her clothes and submit to a physical search. The guards ordered a group of eight inmates to strip her naked outside a men's toilet on the first floor. These eight inmates beat her until she was covered with wounds and bruises. Her ears and eyes were injured, and most of her face was black and blue. After striking her to the ground, inmate Zhao Hui violently ground her mouth with his feet, cutting her lips and knocking her teeth loose. They later sent her to solitary confinement to further abuse and torment her.

The torture severely injured her legs and she was crippled. Furthermore, she suffered from severe internal injuries. She started to cough, and had fever and amenorrhoea. She suffered from pain so severe that she often could not sleep at night. She became weary and emaciated. The guards ignored her condition and never allowed her to see a doctor. They ordered inmates to monitor her around the clock and further restrict her freedom. She was not allowed to go to the toilet even when she was incontinent. In addition, she was forced to do slave labour picking peas. She had to carry sacks of peas, each weighing between 50 kg [110 lbs] and 100 kg [242 lbs], up and down the stairs.

Inmate Lin Chunhong, who was assigned to monitor Bi Daihong, extorted about 4,000 yuan¹ from Bi Daihong's parents, taking advantage of their anguish by telling them that their money would speed up the release process.

Bi Daihong's family strongly urged the labour camp authorities on numerous occasions to take Bi Daihong to a hospital. The authorities reluctantly took her for an examination. Bi Daihong was diagnosed with terminal ovarian cancer and was told she had about two months left to live, at most. The labour camp authorities were afraid of taking responsibility should she die during medical treatment, so they pressed her family to follow the procedure for release from the labour camp. Bi Daihong passed away on September 1st 2005.

82-year-old Ms. He Guizhi Dies of Grief After Grandchildren Tortured to Death

Falun Dafa practitioner Ms. He Guizhi was 82 years old and lived with her grandson Sun Jihong and his family. After practising Falun Dafa since 1996, many of her ailments such as asthma, pulmonary emphysema, and bronchitis were cured. She was so happy about her life.

Starting on July 20th 1999 when the persecution of Falun Gong began, the police constantly harassed them in their home, and made Mrs. He Guizhi's health deteriorate.

Her grandson Sun Jihong used to be the Hua'nan Forestry Police Station director, but he was arrested and detained many times due to firmly believing in Truthfulness, Benevolence, and Forbearance. On September 25th 2002, Mr. Sun Jihong was arrested and detained again in the Fengtai District Police Station, Beijing. Four days later, on September 29th 2003, police tortured him to death. His body looked badly beaten, with a hole between his eyebrows and two more holes on his chin. The savage beatings left no undamaged skin on his body.

Her granddaughter-in-law Yuan Hezhen used to work for the Hua'nan County Forestry Commercial Bank as a manager. She was arrested and detained in May 2002 in Beijing. She was brutally beaten, handcuffed, and force-fed in the detention centre. That damaged her health severely, and she died as a result in July 2003.

Her grandson and granddaughter-in-law were both tortured to death within one year. He Guizhi had nowhere to go for justice. She lost her eyesight and died brokenhearted on December 3rd 2003.

Three out of the five members in the family died as a result of the CCP persecution. He Guizhi is survived by her 82-year-old husband and their great granddaughter, Sun Yubo.

Mr. Sun Xueren wants to sue those responsible for such a brutal killing at the Superior Court in Beijing. He tried to find a lawyer to help, but failed due to interference from the CCP. Mr. Sun wants to expose his family's tragedy internationally.

Note

1. "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/2005/10/5/111778.html