NEW YORK, December 3, 2002 (Falun Dafa Information Center) -- The Falun Dafa Information Center has received confirmation of the deaths of fifteen Falun Gong practitioners in the last month.

Tortured to Death in the Wujiawa Detention Center, Liaoning Province

According to sources from Liaoning Province, Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Hongwei Li was abducted by officials from the Wujiawa Detention Center on the morning of September 26, 2002. He died in police custody on October 7. According to family members, his corpse was covered with injuries resulting from electric shock torture. One family member who took out a camera in order to take pictures of Li Hongwei's corpse was beaten by the police. The camera was destroyed on the spot. Read Full Story.

An Elderly Monk Dies After a Year of Persecution

Mr. Zhongquan Mei's life as a monk taught him discipline and persistence, and in the end he was forced to draw on this experience in a struggle for his life. A monk over sixty years old from Wuxue City of Hubei Province, Mr. Mei was kidnapped and sent to a brainwashing class because he practiced Falun Gong. At the class, he was persecuted by officials from the local "610 Office." Due to the persecution, Mr. Mei became very weak and was at the point of death when he was released. Despite medical treatments, he passed away about 20 days later. Read Full Story.

An Entire Family of Falun Gong Practitioners Torn Apart

Having been forced from her home in the Spring of 2001 due to persecution from local authorities, Ms. Baolan Su returned home in October 2001, to tell her family members the facts about her situation and the persecution against Falun Gong. Shortly after her return, she was kidnapped and taken to a brainwashing class. A few days later that local residents found her corpse floating in a river. Ms. Su's father and younger sister are now illegally detained in a labor camp, and her mother and other sister have been forced from their homes to escape persecution. Only her younger brother, who is not a Falun Gong practitioner, remains at home. Read Full Story.

Retired Schoolteacher Forced from His Home for 14 Months and Then Dies

Mr. Xiwen Liu was a 60-year old retired teacher from Zhenxing Elementary School in Suihua City. In March 2002, Mr. Liu was forced from his home and deprived of any income. Due to intense persecution over the next 14 months, Mr. Liu's mental and physical health became seriously impaired. On May 2nd, Mr. Liu's daughter brought him home, and on May 20, 2002 he passed away. Read Full Story.

Woman Falls into Coma, Dies from Prolonged Persecution in Police Custody

Ms. Fenghua Li, a 44 year-old Falun Gong practitioner from Jiamusi City, Heilongjiang Province was kidnapped by police from a police sub-bureau in October 2001. She was later sent to Xigemu labor camp for one year and endured severe brainwashing. Under the brutal persecution she was reduced to skin and bone and fell into a coma. She never awakened and passed away on November 8, 2002. Ms Li's relatives have presented her case to a court of law, but the local court refused to accept any cases related to Falun Gong. Read Full Story.

Woman Dies in Police Custody While on Hunger Strike to Protest the Illegal Detention

In August 2001, Ms. Ruizhu Kang was kidnapped and taken to a brainwashing class where she was handcuffed to a tree for one week. She managed to escape from the brainwashing class, but was forced into homelessness due to the persecution. On October 15th 2002, she was kidnapped off of the street and detained in a Huishe Town government building, and went on a hunger strike to protest her illegal detention. On October 27, news from the Pingshan County government and Public Security Bureau indicated that Ms. Kang had died. She was secretly cremated by police on the same day, and her ashes were kept in the crematorium. Read Full Story.

Practitioners Detained in Labor Camps Die from Abuse

Falun Gong practitioners who are sentenced to time in labor camps face torture and abuse on a daily basis. Many labor camps in China, such as the Wanjia Labor Camp, are notorious for their systematic, deliberate and intense torture of Falun Gong practitioners.

Upon arrival at the labor camps, detained practitioners are usually beaten and tortured by labor camp police.

Many practitioners have died in labor camps, either from excessive forced labor, torture and abuse, lack of adequate nutrition and medical attention, or a combination of factors. The cause of their deaths are routinely concealed and deceptively labeled as due to "natural causes" in an attempt by officials to escape responsibility for murder.

Ms. Guilan Cheng, a Falun Gong practitioner in her 70's from Tianshui City in Gansu Province, was kidnapped from her home by Beidao City Police and illegally detained. The next day she was transferred to a labor camp in Lanzhou where she suffered torture and other abuse at the hands of the authorities. By September 29th, 2002, Cheng was dead, and on October 1st the labor camp requested that her relatives come and retrieve her remains. Camp officials claimed that she had died of a heart attack, but her husband discovered large areas of bruises all over her body indicating severe torture and abuse.

Mr. Hongtian Wang is reported to have died from injuries sustained from intense physical persecution while held at the Yinmahe Labor Camp. Mr. Wang was taken home to Jilin Province from Jiutai City's Yinmahe Labor Camp on September19th, 2002, and died the following day. The conditions of his detention and the exact cause of his death are unknown.

Other Death Cases Resulting from Abuse and Torture

Ms. Guiying Liu was 43 years old and a Falun Dafa practitioner from Mishan City, Heilongjiang Province. In March 2002, Liu was detained in Mishan City Detention Center for openly telling the facts of the persecution against Falun Gong to others. After being detained, police attempted to transfer her to the notorious Wanjia Labor Camp, but the camp turned her away because she showed symptoms of hypertension. Ms. Liu was instead transported back to Mishan City Detention Center where she died in police custody on October 24, 2002. Her body was secretly cremated by authorities two days later.

Mr. Kaijun Luo from Macheng City in Hubei Province traveled with two family members to Tiananmen Square in Beijing on December 3rd, 2000. All three were arrested and taken back to the local police station. Police proceeded to beat Mr. Luo until his entire body was swollen and his mouth and nose were bloody. He was unable to drink, eat or move for 3 days. When the police realized that he was dying, they quickly sent him to the hospital for emergency treatment. He was sent home on April 28th, 2001, but never fully recovered and died at 4:00 am on September 23rd, 2002. His wife remains in detention in the Shayang Farm Labor Camp in Hubei Province.

Mr. Erzeng Liu, a 40 year-old resident from Chengguan Town, Heibei Province, was detained for 2 months after going to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong in the spring of 2000. In June 2001, he was kidnapped from a fellow practitioner's home and taken to Pingshan County Detention Center Brainwashing Class. Later, he was sentenced to 3 years of labor education. He was tortured to the point of extreme physical weakness in Shijiazhuang Labor Camp and was released in May 2002. Liu died a few months later.

Ms. Gai Liu was a 60-year-old Falun Gong practitioner from Jiaozuo City, Henan Province. On September 26, 2002, she was arrested by Zhangruji Police Station, and two nights later on September 28th, she was sent to the hospital and died shortly afterwards. Police reports claim that the cause of death was related to disease, but Ms. Liu's relatives found a knife wound on her wrist 10 centimeters long and 2 centimeters deep. A policeman from the Zhangruji Police Station claimed that Ms. Liu died of "brain bleeding caused by hypertension...after a failed attempt to save her life in the hospital." The policeman is also quoted as telling the family members, "Do you want to expose us in the newspaper? ....Oh, no, no, no, what I told you about her case is all true."

Mr. Deming Shen, a 29-year-old Falun Gong practitioner from Xiantao city, Hubei province, was employed in Shenzheng city, Guangdong province. Mr. Shen appealed to the Appealing Office in Beijing twice during 1999 for the right to practice Falun Gong, and was detained the second time by police. After being taken back to Xiantao city, he was illegally held for more than 30 days and suffered persecution until his family paid a 6000-Yuan fine. Following that he was sentenced to one year in labor camp outside of Xiantao City. Mr. Shen was later arrested by police while posting fliers on the street, and detained in Jiujie Village Detention Center, Shenzheng city for 6 months. By the time he was released, Mr. Shen was weak, thin and mentally unstable. He died on September 8, 2001. The details surrounding his death remain unclear.

Ms. Fazhi Que a 47 year-old resident of Panzhihua City traveled to Beijing to appeal for the right to practice Falun Gong and was arrested by Beijing police on June 3, 2002. Police took Ms. Que to a strictly guarded basement every day and used an unknown instrument on her, claiming that they were conducting "physical examinations." Ms. Que lost the ability to take care of herself by the time she was sent home on June 28. Her entire body was swollen and she was experiencing difficulty breathing and sleeping, and was in extreme pain. She was returned to the Miyi Public Security Bureau after 10 days of detention, became seriously ill and died on October 30, 2002.

Mr. Baoyuan Liu from the town of Gaoli died from abuse received at the hands of the Gaoli Town Government authorities sometime during the month September 2002. All details regarding Mr. Liu's case remain hidden.

Background

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa (about), is a practice of meditation and exercises with teachings based on the universal principle of "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance." It is a practice that was taught in private for thousands of years before being made public in 1992 by Mr. Li Hongzhi. Falun Gong has roots in traditional Chinese culture, but it is distinct and separate from other practices such as the religions of Buddhism and Taoism. Since its introduction in 1992, it quickly spread by word of mouth throughout China, and is now practiced in over 50 countries.

With government estimates of as many as 100 million practicing Falun Gong, China's President Jiang Zemin outlawed the peaceful practice in July 1999 (report), fearful of anything touching the hearts and minds of more citizens than the Communist Party. Unable to crush the spirit of millions who had experienced improved health and positive life changes from Falun Gong, Jiang's regime has intensified its propaganda campaign to turn public opinion against the practice while quietly imprisoning, torturing and even murdering those who practice it.
 

The Falun Dafa Information Center has verified details of 521 deaths (reports / sources) since the persecution of Falun Gong in China began in 1999. Government officials inside China, however, report that the actual death toll is well over 1,600, while expert sources estimate that figure to be much higher. Hundreds of thousands have been detained, with more than 100,000 being sentenced to forced labour camps, typically without trial.