Torture
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Three Practitioners Recently Tried in Xuchang City, Henan Province
2009-05-06In April 2009, the Weidu District Court in Xucheng City sentenced Ms. Chang Qing and Mr. Wang Haisong to three years in prison, while Ms. Shen Yuehong received a three and a half year sentence. Ms. Shen and Ms. Chang are being held at the Xinxiang City Women's Prison in Henan Province. During Ms. Shen's detention, she was severely tortured to the point that she became emaciated and developed fluid build-up in her thoracic cavity. When her condition worsened, guards dragged her to the local hospital by a shackle that was attached to her foot. She later developed symptoms of tuberculosis and is now very weak. -
Former Intelligence Officer of China's Ministry of State Security Reveals the Inside Story of the Persecution of Falun Gong
2009-05-05On the tenth anniversary of the "April 25th" peaceful appeal, Mr. Fengzhi Li, former intelligence officer of China's Ministry of State Security (MSS), who recently publicly announced his withdrawal from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) using his real name, was invited to attend a public hearing held in the European Parliament on April 25th, 2009. The topic of the hearing was religious freedom in China and the ten-year persecution of Falun Gong. He pointed out that the CCP has never stopped its persecution of religious groups, particularly Falun Gong. -
Practitioner Mr. Long Guande's Entire Family Issues a Solemn Declaration to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)
2009-05-05Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Long Guande was arrested by Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officers on September 23rd, 2007, and a trial was held on August 4th, 2008. While Mr. Long was detained, he was brutally beaten by the guards, causing him to vomit and urinate blood. The guards ignored this and his condition worsened. Mr. Long's family members made multiple requests to authorities for his release for medical reasons but never received a response. Since they were extremely concerned about his health, every one of Mr. Long's family members issued a solemn declaration to the CCP on April 15th, 2009. They demanded the immediate release of Mr. Long Guande. -
Imprisoned Practitioner Chen Xiumei from Baoding on Hunger Strike to Protest the Persecution
2009-05-05On January 8th, 2009, Ms. Chen Xiumei was arrested by officers from the Jingxiu Police Station. She was taken to the Baoding Detention Centre during the evening. On January 15th, she was sent for labour re-education at the Shijiazhuang Women's Labour Camp without trial. In the labour camp, Chen Xiumei was tortured by the guards. Since mid-March, she has been on a hunger strike to protest against the persecution. On January 23rd, Chen Xiumei's husband went to the labour camp to visit her. He took clothes and food to her, but was not allowed to see her. He was told by the guards that as long as his wife refuses to give up Falun Gong, he will not be able to see her. -
Ms. Zhang a Senior Citizen, Arrested and Her Disabled Daughter Forced into Homelessness and Destitution
2009-05-05Ms. Zhang Yuzhen is a 68-old-year Falun Gong practitioner from Qingdao City, Shandong Province. She was arrested on March 30th, 2009, just after she left home. Her house was subsequently ransacked, and her whereabouts are unknown. Ms. Jiang Jing, the daughter of Ms. Zheng is disabled. She has also been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for the past nine years for her belief in Falun Gong. At present, she has been forced to become homeless and destitute. -
Ms. Zhang Xiuling from Laishui County, Hebei Province, Dies as a Result of Persecution
2009-05-04Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Zhang Xiuling was severely persecuted. She had a relapse of her previous diseases and passed away on March 31st, 2009. Within these past ten years, the 610 Office in Laishui County, the local police department, as well as the village and township governments, have been persecuting Falun Gong practitioners by beating them, damaging and ransacking their homes, threatening and intimidating them and luring them with false promises. Under such conditions, Zhang Xiuling's family members, from the eldest to the youngest, are afraid to stay at home and live a normal life. -
Exposing the Mistreatment of Practitioners Detained at the Heilongjiang Women's Prison
2009-05-04In April 2003 I was arrested and incarcerated in the Heilongjiang Women's Prison where I was held for four and a half years. In mid-August 2003, I was made to either stand or squat for several days in a row because I refused to do hard labour. In late December 2003, more than 30 practitioners protested the persecution. Afterwards, the guards tortured us for several days. The first day they dragged us outside to suffer in the freezing cold. We were forbidden to wear hats and had to roll up our sleeves to bare our arms. The guards also cut our hair really short, so our ears were exposed. We were not given any water to drink and we had to eat our lunch outside. At night the guards took us in and had us sit on tiny benches, without sleeping. Whoever was spotted dozing off would be hit with sticks. -
Ms. Li Ruihuan, 55, from Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province Missing for Eight Years
2009-05-04Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Li Ruihuan lived in Shijiazhuang City. On January 14th, 2002, Ms. Li and other practitioners went to Beijing to call for justice for Falun Gong. They shouted at Tiananmen Square: "Falun Gong is good!" Ms. Li was arrested and has not returned home. Her immediate family includes her husband, son, daughter-in-law, a daughter in college and a two-year-old grandson. It was said that Ms. Li was beaten by the Beijing Police and could not move as a result. Eight years have passed and there has been no word of her whereabouts or her condition. -
Practitioner Mr. Tao Yuan's Lawyers Injured and Threatened
2009-05-04Of Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Tao Yuan's two lawyers, one has been injured and the other threatened by personnel trying to intimidate them from seeking justice for their client. Lawyer Cheng Hai said in a media interview, "That day at 9:00 a.m., seven to eight persons came. They closed the door and did not allow us through. They beat and kicked me. The middle finger on my right hand was bleeding, and my left rib was in pain. My right wrist and thumb joint is now extremely painful." The hospital diagnosed that Cheng Hai is suffering from soft tissue damage. Zhou Peng, another lawyer, finished handling Mr. Tao's case and returned to Chengdu on the night of April 14th. He was pressured by both the law office he worked for and Sichuan University, demanding that he cease his involvement in the case. -
Chaoyang County and Liucheng Police Extort Huge Sums of Money from Practitioners; Woman Sent to Forced Labour for Not Paying
2009-05-03Ms. Qian Jilan, 43, was arrested by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and jailed for half a month. Subsequently, she was put to one year of forced labour after police tried twice to extort money from her and failed. She has recently been taken to Masanjia Forced Labour Camp. The Chaoyang County Police Department has tried to extort several thousand yuan from the family members of each person arrested by them. On top of buying expensive meals for Chief Pan Shi and others, members of a certain family had 10,000 yuan extorted from them. -
Six Practitioners Unconstitutionally Prosecuted By Hejiang County Procuratorate in Sichuan Province
2009-05-03On September 10th, 2008, six Falun Gong practitioners went to distribute leaflets exposing the persecution of Falun Gong in Hejiang County, which led to their arrest. After six months' detention, agents from the Hejiang County Procuratorate prosecuted them. Mr. Wei Fengming, 55 years old, was arrested at his home in 2004 and detained for two years. He was cruelly tortured in Mianyang Prison in Sichuan. His wife, Ms. Luo Shuizhen, 54, was held for eight months at Luzhou Detention Centre. She suffered severe mental and physical mistreatment. She was subjected to forced labour three times between 2001 and 2007 and suffered inhumane abuse at Nanmusi Forced Labour Camp in Sichuan for those six years. -
Mr. Liu Yongjin Suffers In Taian Prison, Family Visit Is Denied
2009-05-03On February 5th, 2008, police arrested Mr. Liu Yongjin. The local 610 Office manipulated the Lanshan District Court, which sentenced Mr. Liu to seven years in prison. Mr. Liu was taken to the Jinan Prison, but he was rejected because a physical exam showed that he had pneumonia and tuberculosis as a result of the torture he had been subjected to during interrogation and detention. After a three month stay in the Jinan Prison Hosptial, Mr. Liu was taken to the Taian Prison. Mr. Liu has been under level-one strict restriction since then. On February 20th, 2009, guards revoked Mr. Liu's family visitations as a punishment for Mr. Liu's disobedience. -
Zhongyuan District Court in Zhengzhou City Puts Ten Practitioners on Trial
2009-05-03On March 26th, 2009, Zhongyuan District Court in Zhengzhou City convened a session to try ten practitioners, including. The proceedings were a travesty of justice. Facing the lawyer's questions, members of the court were left speechless. Although the trial was supposedly public, only a few practitioners' family members were allowed to sit in the visitors' seats. The ten practitioners were brought to court in handcuffs and shackles. During the trial, Mr. Liu Wei claimed several times that his so-called "confession" was extorted by torture: he had been suspended on his back, his arms and legs stretched out and his wrists and ankles affixed to three places. He was hung like that for four to five hours. His arms and feet were visibly covered with many scars and injuries. -
Li Qinghuan, 50, of Benxi City, Liaoning Province Dies as a Result of Gross Abuse under the Persecution
2009-05-02Mr. Li Qinghuan was a Falun Gong practitioner from Benxi City, Liaoning Province. After the onset of the persecution in 1999, he was harassed on numerous occasions. Police arrested him on September 18th, 2004 and sent him to the Weiningxing Forced Labour Camp in Benxi, where he was subjected to the "stretch torture" for seven days in a row. His health deteriorated afterwards and never got better. Following his release in 2006, he was under constant surveillance. He died on April 5th, 2009 at the age of 50. -
Mr. Ji Xinhai Persecuted to Disability in Hebei Province
2009-05-02Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Ji Xinhai was arrested before the 2008 Beijing Olympics while working on a farm and sentenced to four years in prison. As a result of the persecution, he is no longer able to care for himself. Mr. Ji has a wife, a nine-year-old child, and a seventy-year-old mother. With the arrest of Mr. Li, his family lost their main source of income and fell into financial hardship. Mr. Ji was transferred to a different prison on March 5th. On March 20th, the family received a call from Mr. Ji, saying that he was in the surgical department of the Central Hospital of the Jidong Prison.