Twenty Additional Deaths of Persecuted Falun Gong Practitioners in China Confirmed in June 2006

Twenty deaths of Falun Gong practitioners as a result of persecution in Mainland China were confirmed in June 2006. Among those are eight female practitioners, representing 40% of the total; 14 deaths occurred between January 2006 and June 2006. Five of these practitioners died in June 2006. Due to the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) information blockade, the ages of four practitioners are unknown. Eleven of the 20 practitioners, 55% of the total, were over 55 years old. Minghui/Clearwisdom website statistics showed that at least 76 deaths of Falun Gong practitioners in Mainland China have been verified between January 2006 and June 2006. Since the CCP and Jiang Zemin's group began persecuting Falun Gong on July 20, 1999, the deaths of 2,915 Falun Gong practitioners have been verified through non-government channels.

The 20 deaths that were verified in June are of people distributed across six provinces. Seven practitioners were from Jilin Province; four practitioners each were from Heilongjiang Province and Liaoning Province; two practitioners each were from Shandong Province and Guizhou Province, and one practitioner was from Hebei Province.

Falun Gong practitioners follow the principles of "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance" and strive to be good people, yet the CCP and Jiang Zemin's group have ruthlessly persecuted them 'in the past seven years. In some instances, several members of a family were illegally detained, arrested or tortured to death. Even under the strict information blockade relating to the truth of the persecution, the deaths of 2,915 Falun Gong practitioners have been verified. We do not presently know for sure how many innocent lives have actually been lost during the seven years of' persecution.

Since March 2006, when the existence of the secret Sujiatun Concentration Camp was exposed, witnesses and testimonies have reached other countries through various channels. The testimonies indicate that agents from the CCP have harvested organs from living Falun Gong practitioners at labour camps, prisons, concentration camps and hospitals throughout China, for sale in the organ transplant industry. This horrific persecution has lasted seven years; its cruelty and extent is extremely shocking. Following are examples of specific cruelties.

1. Mr. Wu Liantie was killed by people in Panjin Prison for refusing to "reform"
Anyone capable of "reforming" a Falun Gong practitioner in Mainland China will receive several thousand Yuan in bonuses and possible promotion. Guards in labour camps, detention centres and prisons are lured by the money and personal interest to subject Falun Gong practitioners to inhuman torture, in order to force practitioners to renounce their belief. Falun Gong practitioner Wu Liantie was killed, "since nobody could 'reform' him."

Mr. Wu Liantie, 48 years old, lived in Huangbei Village, Ciyutuo Town, Liaozhong County, Shenyang City, Liaoning Province. He began practicing Falun Dafa in July 1998 and was acknowledged all around the village as a good person.

Since the CCP launched the persecution of Falun Gong on July 20, 1999, lawless police officials and agents from the 610 Office often raided Wu Liantie's home to harass his family. As a result, his entire family made the choice to leave their home. They were homeless between the spring of 2001 and 2002.

When Wu Liantie was at home on April 13, 2005, he was arrested. Participating in the arrest were Li Wei, head of the National Security Division, and five or six other policemen from the Ciyutuo Town Police Station. They took Mr. Wu to the First Detention Centre in Liaozhong County and tortured him. Four days later he was sent to the Zhangshi Brainwashing Centre in Shenyang City. After two weeks he was sent back to the detention centre. Wu Liantie was sentenced to eight years of imprisonment in December 2005 and was detained at the 3rd Division at Panjin City Prison. For about eight months after his arrest, his family was forbidden from visiting him.

The Panjin City Prison officials told Mr. Wu's family members on May 24, 2006 to come to the prison. When they arrived they discovered that Wu Liantie's body had already been placed in the freezer of the Panjin City Funeral Service Centre. They were not told the cause and time of his death. A person who had seen Wu Liantie alive said that Mr. Wu had been sent to the Second Hospital in Panjin for emergency treatment; however, upon investigation, the hospital officials said Wu Liantie was dead on arrival. When checking his body, his family members found a triangular opening inside his left elbow covered by bandages. There was blood on his shirt and between his lip and teeth. Wu Liantie's sister and brother questioned the police asking, "Our brother was healthy when he was sent to the prison! How come he died within just a few months?" The police had no words of explanation and only agreed to pay a certain funeral fee.

Later, a guard in the prison told Wu Liantie's family members, "Your brother was quite eloquent; nobody could 'reform' him." Wu Liantie once told the guards, "The CCP used deceiving means to frame me and sentenced me to eight years in prison. I did nothing wrong. Our Teacher told us to be good people and improve our minds and bodies. I used to suffer from a skin disease; now you all can see that it's totally gone since I began Falun Gong practice. Why do you want to 'reform' me? What do you want to 'reform' me into?" The guard told Mr. Wu's family, "Wu Liantie was a good man!"

According to inside sources, since international human rights organizations plan to investigate Chinese prisons and Wu Liantie had persistently "clarified the facts" of the persecution under all circumstances, we can only assume that authorities at the Panjin Prison were afraid that he would expose the persecution, so they killed him.

In three days, Mr. Zhang Shunlong was arrested, tortured to death and his body secretly cremated

Mr. Zhang Shunlong, 44, lived in the Xincheng Sixth Group, Yanping Township, Dongliao County, Jilin Province. The police unconstitutionally arrested him on May 26, 2006, from his home. Policemen from the local Liaoheyuan Police Station were involved who then tortured and killed Mr. Zhang that same day. His body was cremated on May 28, 2006 without his family's approval.

Before Zhang Shunlong's arrest, on April 26, his younger brother, Dafa practitioner Zhang Shunhong, sister-in-law Liu Xiangzhuo and several other practitioners were arrested and detained in the Liaoyuan City Detention Centre. Early in the morning of May 26, 2006, Zhang Shunlong, his wife Lu Fengling and Ms. Lu's younger sister (a non-practitioner) and Zhang Shunlong's older brother Zhang Shunming planned to go to the Dongji Police Department to request the release of their family members. Agents from the Liaoyuanhe Police Station arrested all of them. The police beat Mr. Zhang Shunlong savagely in the police station. Eyewitnesses saw him falling to his death from the third floor of the guard building. According to eyewitnesses, Mr. Zhang had been beaten until he was covered in blood -- it was a terrible sight to see. Mr. Zhang's body was then dissected and cremated without the family's approval.

The Liaoheyuan Police Station administration officials have sealed all information about Zhang Shunlong's death.

Mr. Zhang's wife Lu Fengling, also in detention at the time, was profoundly distraught because of his sudden death. She appeared mentally disoriented and was released home. His older brother Zhang Shunming and sister-in-law (a non-practitioner) are presently incarcerated in Liaoyuan City Detention Centre.

Mr. Zhang's family remaining at home consists of his elderly mother (in her 70s or 80s) and two young children, in addition to his recently released and now mentally incapacitated wife.

2. Elderly people died as a result of the persecution

Mr. Yuan Yuqi, 68, lived in Lushuihe, Baishan City, Jilin Province. He started practicing Falun Gong in 1998 and became healthy and optimistic. Mr. Yuan had been arrested several times since July 1999 and tortured for his truth clarification activities. The long-term persecution created severe physical harm and psychological problems for Mr. Yuan, finally resulting in his death on June 13, 2006. Below are examples of Mr. Yuan's truth clarification efforts. Mr. Yuan went to Beijing on April 18, 2001 to appeal for justice for Falun Gong. He was taken to the Xicheng Police Station. The station chief and two police officials brutally beat him. One of them kicked Mr. Yuan a distance of two or three meters away, making him fall down to the ground. Another police officer then stomped on his chest. After Mr. Yuan returned home and got medical help, the X-rays showed he had three broken ribs. The doctor informed him that if the broken ribs would not set properly during the healing process they could puncture his lungs, which could be fatal.

While still in Beijing, the police also had beaten the fellow practitioners who had gone with Mr. Yuan. Mr. Yuan had stood on a chair and tried to stop them, saying loudly, "No beating of Falun Gong practitioners!" A policeman hit him in the head with a set of handcuffs, producing an eight-centimetre-long (3 inch) open wound on his head, with blood streaming down his face. The policeman continued to use the handcuffs to strike Mr. Yuan's head and left more than ten wounds on his forehead streaming blood. After being returned to his hometown, Mr. Yuan was still held in the Fusong Detention Centre. He was only set free after Fusong Police Department chief Gu Xiandou and Zhang Aimin from the Political Security Section extorted almost 30,000 Yuan from his sons and daughters.

Mr. Yuan was again forcibly taken to attend a brainwashing session in May 2001, where an illegal attempt was made to "reform" him. The persecutors also tried to force him to write a "guarantee letter", which he refused to do.

In August 2002, policeman Jiang Qiuli from the Dongshan Police Station went to Mr. Yuan's home and found some Falun Dafa truth-clarification materials. He reported this to the police department. Mr. Yuan was subsequently arrested and taken to the Fusong Detention Centre. Two months later he was transferred to the Chaoyanggou Forced Labour Camp in Changchun City for further persecution. He was subjected to forced labour and torture. He was forced to sit on a bench for a long time and developed scabies on his buttocks and could not walk properly. When he refused to "reform" the guards ordered prisoners to strip him naked and pour cold water on his body in the middle of winter. They also asked his age and said they'd pour the same number of basins of water on him. He was 64 then.

In the middle of May 2006, officials from the Lushuihe Police Department, from the Baishan City Politics & Law Committee and from the "610 Office" went to Mr. Yuan Yuqi's home and pressured him to renounce Falun Gong. Seven years of continuous duress and brutal persecution had severely harmed Mr. Yuan, physically and psychologically. He passed away on June 13, 2006.

Another practitioner, Ms. Xiao Shufen, 66, lived on Buxing Street, Mudanjiang City. She had been illegally detained and persecuted in the Heilongjiang Province Women's Prison for several years for practicing Falun Gong. On June 8, 2006, her family unexpectedly got a noticed stating that Ms. Xiao had passed away. Ms. Xiao's children asked to see her body the morning of June 9. The prison stalled and would not let them see the body.

Ms. Xiao was a kind person and a hard worker. After she began practicing Falun Gong she became healthier and treated others even better. Falun Gong brought her family a peaceful and pleasant atmosphere. But after July 20, 1999, when Jiang's CCP gang began the brutal persecution of Falun Gong, Ms. Xiao was illegally held several times at the Xinglong Detention Centre. The persecution destroyed a good family. Agents from the Political and Security Division in Mudanjiang City again detained Ms. Xiao in late 2002 for clarifying the truth to people, for exposing the persecution, and for making truth-clarification materials that revealed the lies that the media propagates. Ms. Xiao was tortured around the clock at the Mudanjiang Police Department for seven days. The persecutors tied her on a tiger bench and forcibly fed her a large quantity of black mustard oil. They put a plastic bag over her head until she was half dead. Then, they pulled her teeth with pliers and also ravaged her fingers. They repeatedly tortured Ms. Xiao and deprived her of sleep for seven days, until she was barely alive.

Later Ms. Xiao was secretly sentenced to lengthy prison terms and taken to the Heilongjiang Province Women's Prison in Harbin City in June 2003. In the winter of 2003, Heilongjiang Province Women's Prison officials ordered the use of inhuman torture on practitioners during extremely cold temperatures. After the 2004 New Year, several of the teams including Teams 1, 5, 7, and 9 used isolation rooms to torture practitioners. They hung more than one hundred practitioners up by their handcuffs. Practitioners were frequently hung up until they lost consciousness. On February 9, guard Zhang Xiaoying beat Ms. Xiao Shufen. Another practitioner, Ms. Wang Aifang, said, "Stop beating people. Beating people is a crime!" The guards then tortured her by tying her to a radiator. Additionally, Ms. Xiao was tied to a bed for about twenty days. The guards force-fed her through a tube because she was doing the Falun Gong exercises.

In February 2005, Ms. Xiao was transferred from the fourth to the third floor of the prison's infirmary section. Police wanted to "reform" her. Zhang Xiaoying and a group of people covered her with a blanket and carried Ms. Xiao to the third floor. They injured her back when walking upstairs. They demanded that Ms. Xiao slander Master and Falun Dafa, but she refused. They then ordered prisoners to choke her. In October 2005, prisoner Li Guizhi told the authorities that practitioners were in possession of Falun Dafa materials. The guards searched practitioners on the third floor. They pulled Ms. Xiao's pants down, humiliating her.

Ms. Xiao passed away on June 8, 2006 in the prison as a result of the relentless persecution.

Ms. Mu Liangyao, over 60 years old, was the wife of an employee of the Huayi Paper Factory in Chishui City, Guizhou Province. She had gone to Beijing in January 2000 to the Appeals Office to tell of the benefits of practicing Falun Gong. As a result, the police arrested and sent her to a forced labour camp. Officer Gu Xingying at the Women's Forced Labour Camp in Guizhou Province shocked her mouth with an electric baton.

Mu Liangyao's home was ransacked in December 2001. The persecutors seized some truth-clarification materials and used that as an excuse to send her to a forced labour camp for three years. Ms. Mu suffered from ruthless torture during the three years at Zhongba Forced Labour Camp in Guizhou Province. Mu Liangyao firmly believed in Falun Dafa and refused to be "reformed." She had severe head trauma and eventually developed a tumour in her head. Ms. Mu passed away in April 2005, shortly after her release from prison.

Reverence for the elderly and taking care of the young are part of traditional Chinese culture. It is also a common moral criterion shared by all civilized societies in the world. Nevertheless, under the rule of the wicked CCP', unscrupulous killing of the elderly is happening in China. This is another evil consequence of the persecution by Jiang Zemin's group and the CCP', of Falun Gong practitioners who follow "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance."

********
Goodness will be rewarded and evildoing will reap its own peril. The principles of the universe are clearly setting parameters for everything. All the debts that Jiang and his group owe from their genocidal persecution of Falun Gong will have to be paid, and that day is drawing closer.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2006/7/6/132280.html