(Clearwisdom.net) Central News Agency reporter Zeng Zhiyuan's special report on February 18, 2002 from New York: Falun Dafa Information Center reports that the local governments' liaison offices in Beijing have been converted into temporary prisons for Falun Dafa practitioners who have gone to Beijing to appeal. Meanwhile, in order to more effectively control the local governments during the persecution campaign, the central government has implemented a "guilt by association" policy. Falun Gong practitioners from other cities are detained in the Beijing liaison office of that city, and that city's police department is also penalized.

The Falun Dafa Information Center, headquartered in New York, has pointed out that in order to advance their careers and personal interests, policemen from different provinces and counties stationed in Beijing have been very violent with Falun Gong practitioners from their jurisdictions. Quite a few death cases have already occurred in the Beijing liaison offices of the different provinces.

In order not to involve their families, many out-of-town Falun Gong practitioners have refused to disclose their names and addresses. Those practitioners who were tortured to death were treated as unidentified victims. Falun Gong practitioner Lu Shuqiu from Jilin City, Jilin Province was recently killed inside his home province's Beijing liaison office.

Falun Dafa Information Center has received information from within the Security Department that the Jiang regime has once again escalated its persecution of Falun Gong practitioners before the Chinese New Year. At least 369 Falun Gong practitioners have died as a direct result of police brutality in the two years since the persecution campaign against Falun Gong began.

In addition, Falun Gong's web site, Clearwisdom.net, has indicated that recently the death toll of Falun Gong practitioners has risen rapidly. There were 28 deaths reported in January alone, nearly one per day.