[Minghui Net]

The China News Agency reported June 25 that according to the Office of Emergency and Disaster in Sichuan Province, eight cities, twenty-two counties and five hundred and sixty-eight towns are suffering severe drought conditions. Over 300 million people and 3 million livestock face shortages of drinking water. Since last winter Sichuan Province has experienced high temperatures and little precipitation. It is now experiencing the most severe summer drought since 1994. In many places the drought has lasted for over 200 days.

In the areas of Guangyuan, Suining, Ziyang, Neijiang, Mianyang, and Zigong, over 100,000 hectares of rice paddies haven't been planted because of drought conditions. Over 90,000 hectares of rice paddies that have been planted have since dried up, with so little precipitation that the parched fields resemble huge dried-up mud puddles. The small amount of recent rainfall is of little help to cropland suffering from such a long drought. According to government statistics, the drought has resulted in a grain shortage affecting over 17 million people. Over 3,000 businesses and factories have had to reduce production or shut down completely due to a lack of water.

An earthquake registering 4.8 on the Richter Scale shook Rongchang County in the Chongqing area. Preliminary estimates are of 33 people injured and 120,000 houses damaged, causing some 42 million Yuan worth of damage (approx. US$5 million).

According to officials of Rongchang County, the earthquake took place at 10:48 a.m. on June 23. The epicenter was located in Renyi County. By 10PM that day, 47 aftershocks had occurred, the largest one registering 2.2 on the Richter Scale.

We would like to point out that natural and man-made disasters alike are a form of karmic retribution for the past bad deeds and moral corruption of human beings. Jiang Zemin and his accomplices have acted against the law in their persecution of Falun Gong. The past two years have left a huge blood debt. There is a principle in the universe: Good shall be rewarded with good, while bad deeds shall receive their due retribution.

In light of recent natural disasters, those in Sichuan Province should look at their role in the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners.

The police in Sichuan use a wide variety of instruments of torture to torment Falun Gong practitioners. Not only do they use common handcuffs and shackles, but also special ones, such as the "dungeon cell," "tobacco pipe cuffs" and "fang cuffs." (These are names of various types of shackles and handcuffs used for torture – translators note) In addition, there are many types of whips. Some are made of leather, others of copper wire, steel strands, brambles and even thorn-covered bamboo sticks. Many Falun Gong practitioners are stripped of their clothes and beaten till the skin is torn and gaping wounds open. When they finally faint from the beating, police pour cold water on them to wake them up.

The tools used for beatings are not restricted to primitive ones such as rubber clubs and "fang" sticks (a baton covered with teeth-like nails – translators note). They also use electric batons, which they even shove into practitioner's mouths to shock them. They use the batons on the head, armpits, breasts and private parts, continually shocking until the battery runs dead. Listening to the screams and watching practitioners convulse and faint, the heartless police let out evil laughs.

On extremely cold winter days, they order inmates to pour ice-cold water all over practitioners. They put practitioners in "water dungeons" (where the lower body is submerged in ice-cold water – translators note.) During the summer they strip off practitioners' clothes and tie them to trees overnight, leaving them exposed to swarming mosquitoes.

"Tied up with a cord" refers to a type of torture where a person is tied tightly with a thin cord and hung up. The arms of the person are twisted to the back, tied up tightly, and pulled up abruptly. The cord cuts into the flesh at the back of the neck, shoulder, armpits, upper and lower arms and the wrists. It can kill or handicap a person in only a few minutes.

"Huoma Torture" refers to a type of torture using the Huoma, a perennial plant. The Huoma's stems and leaves are covered with fine hairs and poisonous thorns. Upon touching the skin, it immediately causes the skin to inflame, resulting in extreme pain and itching. It is considered even more painful than cutting one's fingers. The policemen use the plant to lash Dafa practitioners and also rub it on their faces and arms. They make practitioners kneel on piles of the plants or strip off their clothes and beat them down onto a pile of the plants.

Some policemen use wire brushes to scratch the backs of practitioners while pouring water on them at the same time. They ask other inmates to jump up and down heavily on the thighs of practitioners. They make practitioners stretch their arms behind their backs, cuff their hands and put them up over their heads so that they can be hung up off the ground.

We can't bear listing more of these inhumane treatments. People, please wake up! Tens of thousands of Falun Dafa practitioners have been tortured yet have not surrendered to the forces of evil. What makes them able to forbear this dreadful ordeal? Doesn't it warrant your attention and action? What will their endurance today bring to the world tomorrow?

(From Xinsheng Net)

Posting date: 7/8/2001
Original article date: 7/7/2001
Category: Eye Witness Accounts
Translated on 6/28/2001
Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.ca/mh/articles/2001/6/27/12546.html

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