Case 1-1: Two Dublin Students Prevented from Returning to Ireland to Continue
their Studies Country: Ireland Mr. Liu Feng's ID card Ms. Yang Fang's ID card Mr. Liu and Ms. Yang were both studying in Dun Laoghaire College in Dublin, Ireland. They went
back to China for the Christmas holiday in December 1999. During his stay in Beijing, Mr. Liu tried to hand in a letter of appeal to the
Chinese Premier concerning the persecution of Falun Gong. He was arrested and after a couple of
week's detention, he was placed under house arrest. Police arrested Ms Yang on 19th December 1999, when staying in a friend's home in
Beijing with three other Falun Gong practitioners from the UK. The British practitioners were
deported after a couple of days' detention, but Ms Yang was sent back to her home town in Liaoning
Province, where she was detained for forty days before being bailed out by her family. Both Feng and Fang's passports were confiscated, leaving them unable to come back
to Ireland to continue their studies. In June 2002, both students obtained new passports and Irish visa's, in an
attempt to return to Ireland to resume their studies. However, Mr. Liu was arrested when he returned
home to see his parents before collecting his visa. Recent news indicates that he has been jailed,
however no concrete details are available. Ms. Yang was stopped from boarding a plane to Ireland at Beijing airport on the
18th June, 2002. The local police escorted her back to her hometown. She was then detained and
questioned for a day at the Shenyang city police station. After staging a hunger strike to protest her illegal detention, she was permitted
to return home. Her passport has been confiscated again. á Case 1-2: Irish Resident Has Passport Renewal Denied Country: Ireland Ms Dai had first called the Chinese Embassy in Ireland at the beginning of February 2001 to
request a renewal of her passport, which was to expire soon. The passport had already run out of
visa pages in August 2000. The embassy official told Ms. Dai to call back in a few days, after which the
embassy stated that they would not renew her passport. After questioning the staff as to why her
passport was not going to be renewed, they replied, "You know yourself". After another two weeks, Ms. Dai again called the Embassy for a letter of proof
to show that her passport application was refused. Again the embassy asked her to call again in a
few days. After approximately a week, the embassy told her that they would not give her a letter or
anything similar. The staff member also said that she "broke the law in China". After Ms.
Dai replied that she wasn't in China, but in Ireland, the staff member commented "you practiced
Falun Gong after the [Chinese] government banned it and therefore you broke the law". After Ms.
Dai recapped on what was said on the phone, he agreed and then hung up. Ms. Dai again called the Chinese embassy on 27th February 2001 to discuss her
passport renewal. The embassy made three points to her. On that occasion, and several others, Ms. Dai clarified the truth to the embassy
officials. On 24 June 2002, Ms Dai again went to the Chinese Embassy to try to renew her
passport. She again had her application refused. News has been received that one of Ms. Dai's sisters has been recently released
from detention in a labor camp. á Case 1-3: Unlawfully Detained and Tortured in a Chinese Labor Camp for 22 Months Country: Ireland After returning to China in December of 1999 during the Christmas vacation, Zhao Ming went to the
State Council Appeals Office to complete a form stating that he was "concerned about the
banning of Falun Gong". After reading the report, an official instructed Mr. Zhao to enter a room that
contained a large number of people. Mr. Zhao ascertained that these people were also Falun Gong
practitioners who had come to appeal. While waiting, Mr. Zhao practised the Falun Gong exercise, and
was struck by a police officer for doing so. Mr. Zhao was arrested and a policeman from Changchun (Mr. Zhao's home town), took
him to the Beijing Office of the Changchun local authorities. He was told that he would be returned
to Changchun if he did not sign a document stating that he would not appeal again. After refusing to
sign, Mr. Zhao was taken to Changchun city the following day in handcuffs. His passport was confiscated, but Mr. Zhao was later released without charge.
Without a passport, Ming could not return to Ireland to continue his studies. In March 2000, Mr. Zhao returned to Beijing, and while visiting friends in the
Academy of Science, was arrested by plainclothes police officers and taken to a police station and
later a detention centre when the police verified that he was a Falun Gong practitioner. To protest
his illegal detention, Mr. Zhao began a hunger strike and was force-fed by police on four or five
occasions. On two occasions, inmates, who were instructed by guards, also force-fed Mr. Zhao. They
forced liquid down Mr. Zhao's throat, causing some to enter into his lungs. Eventually, an
intravenous drip was forcibly inserted into him while he was strapped to a bed. After being detained in several other places, Mr. Zhao was eventually moved to
Tuanhe labour camp in Beijing. During the transition between the detention centre and Tuanhe labour
camp, he was force-fed several times, as well as subjected to electric shocks from electric batons.
Another form of punishment was to force detainees to spend all waking hours with heads in a bowed
position. The guards also continued to attempt to have detainees denounce Falun Gong. At Tuanhe, the guards forced Mr. Zhao and the other Falun Gong practitioner to
listen and watch anti-Falun Gong propaganda. They were also instructed to write essays defaming
Falun Gong. The treatment at Tuanhe was very vicious. As Mr. Zhao recalled, on one occasion
"I was subjected to a very severe beating during the first month in the labour camp by 10
inmates, who later told me they had done this on the instructions of the guards. I was kicked and
punched on my thighs and body. My thighs were afterwards black with bruises and I was unable to walk
for 2 weeks... On some occasions I was not allowed to sleep at all and on other occasions I was
allowed to sleep for only 2 or 3 hours per night. On occasions I was subjected to torture by
electric shock." In total, Mr. Zhao spent almost 1 and a half years in Tuanhe labour camp. He was
released after widespread support from the Irish government and international community. (From: http://www.clearharmony.net/articles/200211/8148.html)
Name: Feng Liu, 23
Personal Details: Business Student, (Chinese male);
Name: Fang Yang, 31
Personal Details: Accounting Student, (Chinese female).
Location of incident: Dalian City and Shenyang City, Liaoning Province, China
Description:
Name: Dongxue Dai, 35
Personal Details: Computer Engineer (Chinese female)
Location of incident: Dublin, Ireland
Description:
Name: Ming Zhao, 31
Personal Details: Computer Science Postgraduate student (Chinese male)
Location of incident: China
Description:
