FDI: Internal Organs Missing from Body of Falun Gong Practitioner Killed in Police Custody

After posting on the Internet her account of being tortured in a Chinese labor camp, 56-year-old Ms. Zhao Chunying was arrested and tortured to death by police. (View photos) Warning: graphic material.

NEW YORK (FDI) C The second of two autopsies performed on the body of a Falun Gong practitioner who was beaten to death in police custody revealed that several internal organs had been removed, presumably shortly after her death.

On April 23, 2003, 56-year-old Ms. Zhao Chunying was detained by Chinese police for posting a story on the Internet about torture she had previously suffered in police custody. Less than a month later, she was dead and photographs taken by her family indicate her death was horrifyingly brutal.

The Falun Dafa Information Center reported Zhaoí s death on October 2, 2003. (Full story)

After repeated demands from her family, the Jixi City Procuratorate conducted an autopsy on Zhaoí s remains. The autopsy revealed a large knife wound to the head, four broken ribs and numerous black and purple bruises indicating a violent beating. The autopsy also discovered considerable internal bleeding.

According to reports from China, Zhaoí s family has initiated legal action against the police who allegedly killed her.

On November 15, 2003, the Heilongjiang Judicature Appraisal Committee carried out a second autopsy on Zhaoí s remains. In addition to the findings of the first autopsy, the second autopsy discovered a fractured skull.

The second autopsy also revealed that the heart, spleen, pancreas and other internal organs were missing.

It is not known when the internal organs were removed or for what purpose, although illegal human organ trafficking in China has been identified as a serious concern by international human rights groups. In June 2001, Chinese Dr. Wang Guoqi testified before the U.S. Congress about the nearly 100 operations he reportedly performed on executed prisoners in China to extract their organs for sale.

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NEWS - Dec. 11, 2003
Falun Dafa Information Center, www.faluninfo.net

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." Practiced in over 50 countries world-wide, 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. With government estimates of as many as 100 million practicing Falun Gong, China's Communist leader Jiang Zemin outlawed the peaceful practice in July 1999 (report). Since that time, Jiang's regime has intensified its propaganda campaign to turn public opinion against the practice while imprisoning, torturing and even murdering those who practice it. The Falun Dafa Information Center has verified details of 827 deaths (reports / sources) since the persecution of Falun Gong in China began in 1999. In October 2001, however, Government officials inside China reported that the actual death toll was well over 1,600. Expert sources now estimate that figure to be much higher. Hundreds of thousands have been detained, with more than 100,000 being sentenced to forced labor camps, typically without trial.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT THE FALUN DAFA INFORMATION CENTER
Contacts: Gail Rachlin (+1 917-501-4441), Levi Browde (+1 914-720-0963), Erping Zhang (+1 646-533-6147), or Feng Yuan (+1 917-941-1097).
Fax: 646-792-3916 Email: , Website: http://www.faluninfo.net/

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