AFP: Ten Dead [suddenly] at Chinese Labor Camp

Jul 3, 2001

BEIJING -- At least 10 Falun Gong followers died [...] at a labor camp in northern China, a human rights group said Tuesday.

Sixteen practitioners [were tortured] at the camp in the city of Harbin in Heilongjiang province on June 20, said the Hong Kong-based Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy.

The center said the mass [tragedy] came after the practitioners' detention was extended from three to six months to punish them for a hunger strike in protest at frequent beatings.

A man who survived the mass [tragedy] said more than 10 people died, the center said.

An official at the nearest police station to the Wanjia Labor Camp confirmed to AFP that "several" Falun Gong followers had died, although he declined to give details.

"We were told (by the camp) several of them died, but they didn't tell us how many," said the police official at Lequn township in Shuangcheng.

http://www.europeaninternet.com/china/news.php3?id=518809§ion=default

BBC: Falun Gong members 'stage mass [tragedy]'

July 3, 2001

A Hong Kong-based human rights group says at least 10 members of the outlawed Falun Gong spiritual movement in China have died in a mass [tragedy] at a labour camp.

The Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy says the [tragedy] took place at a camp in Harbin in northeast China after the authorities increased a group of Falun Gong members' period in detention from three to six months.

It is alleged Falun Gong members had been staging a hunger strike at the camp after a series of beatings.

The authorities in China have yet to comment on the Hong Kong group's report.

The Falun Gong movement says that more than 200 of its members have died in detention in China.

[...]

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/asia-pacific/newsid_1420000/1420278.stm

Posting date: 7/4/2001
Original article date: 7/3/2001
Category: News & Media Reports

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_____Related Articles_____ 15 FALUN GONG WOMEN TORTURED TO DEATH AT WANJIA LABOR CAMP [7/4/2001] Media Advisory: 15 Women Massacred in a Chinese Labor Camp for Practicing Falun Gong [7/3/2001] Press Statement: 15 Falun Gong Women Suddenly Dead from Torture at Wanjia Labor Camp [7/3/2001] Fifteen Female Falun Dafa Practitioners Were Tortured to Death at the Wanjia Labor Camp in Harbin City [7/3/2001] Wanjia Labor Camp Torments Faithful and Unyielding Female Dafa Practitioners in Male Prisoners' Cells [7/3/2001] Large Scale Abuse at the Harbin City Wanjia Labor Camp Kills Two More Practitioners -- Zhang Yulan, 55 and Zhao Yayun, 54 are the Victims [7/1/2001] Word Spreads That Great Atrocities Have Taken Place in the Wanjia Labor Camp, Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province [6/30/2001] Dafa Practitioner Zhao Yayun Tortured to Death in the Wanjia Labor Camp [6/30/2001] Falun Dafa Practitioner Zhang Yulan Tortured to Death at Wanjia Labor Camp in Harbin City [6/27/2001] Over 100 Practitioners Go On Hunger Strike at the Wanjia Labor Camp in Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province [6/14/2001]