Families of Practitioners Call on the International Community to Pay Close Attention to the Persecution of Practitioners in Shiling Jail, Siping City, Jilin Province

We are the family members of Dafa practitioners who were arrested and held in Shiling Jail in Siping City, Jilin Province. During the persecution of Falun Gong, as relatives of practitioners, we have seen with our own eyes the brutal and inhumane persecution, as well as the trampling of civilians' personal freedom and freedom of belief.

Recently, due to news of the inhumane harvesting of organs from living Falun Gong practitioners coming to light, we are getting more worried about our relatives who were arrested and put in Shiling Jail in Siping City. Especially since the 610 Office¹ in Changchun City is once again conducting brainwashing sessions, or what they call "re-education" sessions, to persecute practitioners, our anxiety is increasing.

Lately, Shiling Jail policies have become more irrational and desperate. Every practitioners' family is only allowed to talk to their family member for 10 minutes. Ever since the brainwashing sessions began in July, the families' visiting privileges were often revoked altogether. Some families were not allowed to see the practitioner for several months. It is a serious violation of our rights.

We will just give a few examples. From these, it's not hard to sense the degree of persecution.

Example one: Practitioner Mr. Liang Zhenxing was transferred to Shiling Jail. Since then, he has been forbidden to talk to anybody. Mr. Liang went on a hunger strike in protest. In August, his family went to visit him. He walked out with the support of a guard but he was as thin as a skeleton. Even in this situation, the jail insisted on taking photos and videos of his family members. Otherwise, they wouldn't be allowed to see him. Later, because Mr. Liang refused to give up his belief in Falun Dafa, the jail and the Changchun 610 Office colluded with each other to constantly harass his family. They ordered the street committee to watch over his wife and threatened to arrest her. Now Mr. Liang remains detained. His wife never got to see him.

Example two: Practitioner Mr. Wang Hongge was arrested during July. He was not allowed to see his family until September. When they saw him, they discovered that he had bad heart problems. He was often congested and had trouble breathing. He was very skinny. Yet, the previous director of the Department of Political Affairs, and police guard Li Guojun beat him brutally. His family requested medical parole many times, but they were told that unless he was about to die, medical parole would not possible.

Example three: When the family visited practitioner Mr. Wang Liansu, they saw that his right leg was obviously hurt; he couldn't walk properly. Sources from inside the jail revealed that it was a police guard that injured him, and it was because he refused to give up his belief that he suffered this mistreatment. But the head of the jail, Li Wendong, denied it, and said, "You can go sue wherever; it's not going to do any good." Mr. Wang is also restricted from going to the toilet; a lot of other practitioners are restricted as well. When Mr. Wang was first captured, he was shocked with electric batons on his private parts. It was excruciating. Now he cannot urinate. One cannot imagine the pain.

Example four: Practitioner Mr. Huang Xuelin did not cooperate and was cursed by a person named Li Wenjun. Li Wenjun and another "collaborator²," Han Jingjun, took Mr. Huang to a corner in the washroom and beat him brutally. One of them hit Mr. Huang's face and head and the other hit his chest, back, and side. Other criminal prisoners who were watching also participated in torturing him. They did not stop beating Mr. Huang until he spat out blood and passed out. When Mr. Huang regained consciousness, he found his clothes covered in blood. They then placed him between two big iron buckets. Collaborator Zong Yanlong hit Mr. Huang's throat brutally with his fist. Mr. Huang again fell unconscious. When he regained consciousness, in order to cover up their crimes, his tormentors got a pot of cold water and washed off the blood on Mr. Huang's head and face, and then led him back to his cell. Later on, police guard Zhang Sixing threatened Mr. Huang, saying, "Beating you like this was nothing; next time it will be worse."

The above examples of persecution are nothing but a small part of a very large picture. Practitioners Zheng Weidong, Xie Fei, Wang Enguo, Liu Dapeng, Liu Zhijun, and many others have been beaten until unconscious, and many have suffered from tortures with electrical and other excruciating instruments. Almost all practitioners' families have been threatened. Also, because some practitioners' family members hadn't heard from the practitioners for a long time, they constantly went to the jail and were arrested by the prison that worked with the 610 Office. As inhumane as these acts are, Shiling Jail repeated the crimes many times. The jail lied to some family members, telling them that writing the "Four Statements³" could reduce the practitioner's jail term. But so far not a single person's time has been reduced, even though they wrote the "Four Statements." Instead, the jail worsened their treatment, forcing them to sit on a wooden stool everyday. Practitioners of the Educational Division live in spaces so tiny that there is no place for their daily necessities. However, these practitioners are not allowed to go outside and have to stay inside all day. One just cannot imagine their situation.

We hope that the international community will pay attention to this and help stop the brutal, inhumane persecution.

Signed,

The families of all Dafa practitioners who have been arrested and are being held in Shiling Jail, Siping City, Jilin Province.

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. "Collaborators": Former practitioners who have turned against Falun Gong under brainwashing and torture. They are then made to assist in brainwashing and torturing practitioners.

3. "Four Statements": Practitioners are coerced under brainwashing and torture to write the "four statements" as proof that they have given up their belief. Created by the 610 Office, they consist of "a letter of repentance," "a guarantee" to never again practise Falun Gong, a "Dissociation Statement" to declare a dissociation with Falun Gong and promise not go to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong, and a list of names and addresses of all family members, friends and acquaintances who are practitioners.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2006/12/26/145512.html