Another Mass Killing of Falun Gong Practitioners in Northeast China
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Falun Dafa Information Center, http://www.faluninfo.net/)
7/13/01 (Falun Dafa Information Center) - Sources say
that over ten male practitioners of Falun Gong were beaten to death at
Changlinzi Labor Camp in northeast China.
Reporters who have made calls to the labor camp have said
personnel at the camp typically hang up the phone when asked about these
deaths. One reporter, however, was able to establish a conversation and
reported that when he asked about these deaths, the labor camp staff
member refused to give any details, stating, "For this, you need to check
with the supervisor... you need to check with the regional director."
These deaths mark the second report of mass killings of
Falun Gong practitioners in a labor camp in Heilongjian Province. Just
nine days ago, on July 3, it was reported that 15 female Falun Gong
practitioners were beaten and tortured to death in the Wanjia Labor Camp.
Regarding these killings, the U.S. State Department stated, "We call on
China ... to end the cycle of repression on the Falun Gong. In particular,
we call on China to release from the so-called 're-education through labor
camps' practitioners of Falun Gong."
According to a report by AP this morning, a Chinese
official for the information office of China's cabinet denied the report
of these deaths. Sources say, however, that Changlinzi Labor Camp
personnel have claimed seven people committed suicide. Clearly, there are
contradictory stories even amongst Chinese officials. But as the U.S.
State Department indicated in their statement, "The point is that these
people should never have been incarcerated in such camps in the first
place."
Falun Gong spokesperson, Erping Zhang remarked, "This is
the second mass killing of Falun Gong practitioners reported in the past
week. Has Jiang Zemin issued a new directive or implemented some new
policy to pave the way for such killings? We must know the answer to these
questions and that is why we are calling for an immediate third party
investigation of these deaths before more mass killings occur."
Sources say that due to the extremely tight control of
information about these latest deaths, no further details have been
uncovered. Obtaining information about the death of Falun Gong
practitioners while in custody has characteristically been a difficult
task. As Amnesty reported in a special report on torture in February of
this year, "Whereas officials responsible for deaths in custody during
normal police operations may be investigated and prosecuted, in all cases
where the victims were Falun Gong practitioners, the government has denied
any wrongdoing, even in the face of multiple eye witness testimonies."
Furthermore, sources indicate that the information blockage has become
increasingly strong in the past few days as China braces for the IOC vote
on its bid to host the 2008 Olympic Games.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT THE FALUN DAFA INFORMATION CENTER-
Contacts: Gail Rachlin 212-501-8080, Erping Zhang 917-337-5877, Adam Montanaro
917-405-4507, or Feng Yuan 646-523-5676. Email: faluninfoctr@nycmail.com, Website: http://www.faluninfo.net/
Yearly Archive
Printer Version
feedback@clearwisdom.net