Clearwisdom Digest (Issue 15, July 21, 2004)
News and Events from Around the World
Torture and Killings Remain Rampant, Yet Signs of Hope Point to End of Falun
Gong Persecution in China
Voices of Justice
Facts of the Persecution
Media Reports and Opinions
Falun Gong Practitioners' Personal Experience
The People Awaken to the Truth
News and Events from Around the World
FDI Press Statement Marking Five Years of Persecution: Turning
of the Tide Torture and Killings Remain Rampant, Yet Signs of Hope Point to End of Falun
Gong Persecution in China
Five years ago today, men and women throughout China were taken from their
homes in the middle of the night to face an indoctrination process consisting of
scare tactics, brainwashing, and other forms of coercion meant to break their
beliefs.
Some were eventually tortured to death, while others sent to forced labor
camps for up to 18 years. To date, there have been over 30,000 documented cases
of severe abuse and torture of Falun Gong practitioners. According to
information from sources inside the Chinese government the death toll could be
well over 5,000; details of over 1,000 have already been documented.
Yet, after five years of violent suppression, there is something on the
horizon rarely seen amidst such terror: Hope. This hope is ushered in and
reaffirmed by three developments.
1) Jiang Zemin's crimes against the people of China, which include leading
the campaign against Falun Gong as well as a hand in the SARS cover-up,
fomenting hostilities with Taiwan, and embezzling enormous sums, have to some
degree been uncovered and reported by major media such as the Washington Post,
the New York Times, and CNN. Jiang is increasingly regarded as a cancer within
the Chinese leadership for his abuse of political power. Untold millions have
been spent hounding peaceful Falun Gong practitioners in Jiang's name, while so
many of China's needs suffer as a result of the depleted resources.
2) Millions of Falun Gong practitioners inside China -- engaging in perhaps
the largest grass-roots effort of civil disobedience in history -- have worked
for five years to unravel the web of fear and hatred spun by China's state-run
media. By hanging posters and handing out flyers in villages and cities across
the country, posting articles online, and most of all talking with fellow
citizens heart-to-heart, gradually the people of China are coming to tell the
facts from the fallacies. The people are realizing the extent to which state-run
media have distorted Falun Gong and just how far Jiang's faction has gone
terrorizing peaceful, non-political citizens.
3) Falun Gong practitioners, their families and supporters, and concerned
government officials around the world have dedicated countless hours to
penetrate the iron curtain of China's information blockade. A newfound awareness
is growing about what happens behind closed doors in China's police stations and
forced labor camps. Through these efforts, the crimes of Jiang's faction have
received greater and greater scrutiny, and are now being brought before court
rooms around the world. Indeed, the scales of justice are -- for the first time
-- beginning to judge Jiang and those who have followed him.
At this very moment, hundreds of thousands -- if not millions -- of Falun
Gong practitioners continue to languish in China's forced labor camps, so many
being tortured, enslaved. In July's first weeks alone, a dozen Falun Gong deaths
were verified, with many further cases of abuse and torture coming in.
And so we are called upon to not lessen our efforts in remitting these
wrongs, and inspired by knowing that everything we do -- be it writing a letter,
making a call, or supporting a congressional resolution -- is felt throughout
China. Lives can be saved as the powerful deterrent of international scrutiny
and the promise of -- in time -- rule of law, gives pause to would-be tormentors
as they are forced to reflect that, in the end, there will be no impunity.
The days of Jiang's campaign are numbered. It is painted in bright yellow
hues on walls and passageways throughout China, reading "Falun Dafa is great!"
It echoes throughout Beijing and its suburbs, gasped in collective, indignant
sighs of "Enough!" It is pledged in a growing chorus of voices among some
Chinese police and even government officials.
The tides are turning. May we see to it they turn sooner, surer. In this
there is great hope.
The Falun Gong Practitioners' Legal Prosecution Procedure
Officially Starts to Charge Chinese Heads of State for South Africa Shooting
On the afternoon of July 13, 2004, several Falun Gong practitioners from the
US, Australia, Germany, Canada, Taiwan, and Hong Kong held a press conference in
front of the Pretoria Art Museum in the capital city of South Africa, and they
announced that legal actions against Chinese heads of state have officially
begun. Mr. Rudolf Jansen, the attorney for Falun Gong practitioners, Mr. John
Nania, the spokesperson for Falun Gong practitioners, Ms. Jane Dai, a Falun Gong
practitioner whose husband was tortured to death, and her daughter attended the
conference. Chen Zhili, Chinese Communist Party State Councilor and former
Minister of Education, is currently on a Chinese cultural tour of Africa that
included a photo exhibit held inside the Pretoria Art Museum.
At the press conference, Mr. Rudolf said that he is currently investigating
the details of the crime and also discussing the case with Falun Gong
practitioners' attorneys in other countries. He said that the shooting incident
and the CCP officials' involvement in the crime would be investigated,
documented, and further investigation would be conducted on the shooting of
Falun Gong practitioner Mr. David Liang on June 28. Right now, the South African
police has listed the incident as "attempted murder" and turned it over to
higher police officers. Major newspapers, TV stations and broadcast stations
have made long reports on the incident.
Falun Gong spokesman John Nania gave a detailed account of how around 100
Falun Gong practitioners who were students or school faculty members were
tortured to death during Chen Zhili's term as the Minister of Education. He also
pointed out that legal actions against Chen Zhili are being processed.
Ms. Jane Dai from Australia said that her husband was tortured to death three
years ago because he refused to give up practicing Dafa. Now her friend David
Liang was injured from the gun shooting. She went to the press conference
because she wanted to help prevent these things from happening in the future.
At the same time, several big Chinese and English media based in Western
countries were prevented from entering the photo exhibit held inside the
Pretoria Art Museum by several un-identified persons who might have been hired
by the Chinese Embassy in South Africa. These media attended the press
conference held by Falun Gong practitioners on the same day.
When the reporter and photographer from Pretoria News, the largest
media in Pretoria, tried to enter the museum with an invitation after attending
the press conference, seven or eight Chinese people who claimed to be from
Fujian Province and refused to speak English, were suspected of being hired by
the Chinese consulate, and refused to let them in. With intervention from South
African police, they were able to enter the museum. Ms. Cindy Zeilhofer from
Pretoria News said that she could understand the difficulty Falun Gong
practitioners in Mainland China are in, looking at it from the unreasonable
action of the Chinese heads of state on South African soil.
Former Wuhan TV Station Director Sued in the U.S. for Making
Propaganda film Inciting Hatred, Violence, and Genocide Against Falun Gong
On July 14, 2004, when Zhao Zhizhen was visiting New Haven, Connecticut, he
received a summons issued in a U.S. Federal District Court. Zhao Zhizhen is the
former Wuhan TV Station Director and the former Wuhan Radio Station Director in
Hubei Province, China. Several Falun Gong practitioners filed a class action
lawsuit in Federal Court in New Haven, Connecticut on July 13. Zhao Zhizhen is
being sued for making propaganda films that incite hatred, violence and genocide
against Falun Gong practitioners. This is the first lawsuit of its kind, which
argues that the people involved in producing the hate propaganda against Falun
Gong should be held responsible for the torture and genocide taking place in
China and for hate crimes against Falun Gong practitioners outside China.
According to co-consul for the plaintiffs Dr. Terri Marsh, "The Wuhan
Broadcasting and TV Bureau and TV Network Station were given primary
responsibility by the former President of the Peoples Republic of China to
create a climate of hatred, fear and violence against persons who practice Falun
Gong in China and abroad using the same propaganda tactics deployed in Nazi
Germany during the Second World War, in Rwanda, during the genocide of the Tutsi
by the Hutu, and in China during the Cultural Revolution."
Dr. Marsh added, "In all of these violent massacres, the target is first
demonized as having inherently evil qualities, equated with demonic forces, and
portrayed as criminals, murderers, and enemies of the state. In China, such
tactics, and the media programs of the Defendant, additionally call for the
'transformation' of practitioners [by torture] and/or their extra judicial
killing."
According to the World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun
Gong (WOIPFG) (1) under Zhao Zhizhen's direct instruction, the production team
of the popular "Scientific Time" TV program of Wuhan went to Changchun City and
produced a special film titled "The Story of Li Hongzhi." This film was used by
Jiang Zemin to force other Central Government leaders to agree on the
persecution of Falun Gong. Then the film began to be played over and over again
on CCTV starting from July 22, 1999, three days after the persecution officially
began. This film was the only TV propaganda program demonizing Falun Gong in the
early stage of the persecution. It is also one of the major tools used to
brainwash Chinese people nationwide. Later, this film was played in forced labor
camps, prisons, and mental hospitals for brainwashing purposes, and used as an
excuse to torture Falun Gong practitioners. After watching the program, many
police officers intensified their hatred towards Falun Gong and, as a result, it
aggravated the persecution.
Zhao Zhizhen was listed on the WOIPFG monitoring list. After hearing of his
travels outside China, the WOIPFG started a "global tracking system," and soon
obtained Zhao Zhizhen's travel itinerary.
Australia: Hundreds of Residents Gather Outside the Prime
Minister's Residence to Express Their Concern over the Shooting in South Africa
At noon on July 11, 2004, more than two hundred Australians from around the
country arrived at Prime Minister Howard's residence in Sydney. They
hand-delivered over one hundred personal letters and flowers to peacefully
express their concern over the shooting of Australian Falun Dafa practitioners
in South Africa. They also called upon the Australian government to pay
attention to the personal security of Australian citizens, extend assistance and
righteous support to injured Falun Gong practitioner David Liang in the shooting
incident in South Africa, and to resist the extension of similar terrorism to
Australia.
On June 28, 2004, Australian citizen David Liang was injured in a shooting
incident in South Africa. The evidence showed that this was not an accidental
event or attempted robbery, and the South African police have classified it as
attempted murder. David Liang and eight other Australian citizens were all Falun
Gong practitioners. They had traveled to South Africa to peacefully appeal for
Falun Gong during the visit of Chinese Vice-President Zeng Qinghong and Minister
of Commerce Bo Xilai in South Africa, and at the same time to serve these two
high-ranking officials of the Party with a lawsuit for participating in the
brutal persecution of Falun Gong practitioners.
Most of the people who were appealing at the Prime Minister's residence were
Australian citizens who practice Falun Gong. They peacefully held flowers and
letters, and walked from Sydney's Valentine's Bay or took the buses to gather
outside the Prime Minister's residence, where they quietly stood in a line in
the cold winter wind and heavy rains. The practitioners sincerely hoped that the
Australian Government and all kind-hearted people would condemn Jiang's group's
terrorist act in South Africa of hiring gunmen to shoot Falun Gong
practitioners, and thereby stop its extension of terrorism to the rest of the
world.
David Liang arrived outside the Prime Minister's residence in a wheelchair,
with both feet wrapped in thick bandages. In the past few years, Mr. Liang has
been placed on a blacklist by Jiang's group for practicing Falun Gong, and was
once refused entry into Hong Kong. Even though he was in Australia, Mr. Liang
has been harassed on several occasions: his vehicle's tires were punctured
because there were symbols of Falun Gong on his car, and his car window was
shattered and Falun Gong books and materials were stolen. Mr. Liang called upon
the Australian Prime Minister to pay attention to the shooting incident that he
and other practitioners experienced in South Africa, and he hoped that the
tragedy wouldn't happen to others.
Because the Prime Minister was having a meeting, he could not accept the
letters himself. However, the federal police accepted over a hundred letters on
his behalf, and expressed to the reporter that he appreciated Falun Gong
practitioners' peacefulness and rationality.
Australian ABC-TV and AFP conducted interviews on location.
Johannesburg, South Africa: Falun Gong Practitioners Beaten by
Assailants in Chinatown
On July 2, 2004, in Johannesburg's Chinatown, South Africa, Falun Gong
practitioners staged an exhibition demonstrating tortures suffered by
practitioners in China, to expose the Jiang regime's illegal persecution and to
clarify the truth about Falun Gong. These practitioners were maliciously beaten
by unidentified assailants.
Around 1:00 p.m., while several practitioners were preparing the exhibition, six or seven unidentified young Chinese people suddenly rushed in. First,
they tore down the Falun Dafa banners, then they beat the practitioners,
including an elderly Taiwanese practitioner and a young South African
practitioner. They slapped the South African practitioner's face and kicked him.
They also tore down the truth-clarifying photos that Falun Gong practitioners
had hung up, and they threatened the practitioners with abusive language,
telling them not to hold activities there. The Falun Gong practitioners were
very calm and peaceful, and immediately reported the incident to the police. The
police arrived soon after, but the gang of hooligans had already escaped.
The Falun Gong practitioners at the site indicated that this incident was
identical in nature to the recent shooting incident. The assailants tore down
the banners, beat the practitioners and fled the scene. They were clearly hired
to harass the practitioners. Most of the practitioners who took part in the
anti-torture exhibition came from other countries, and the South African
practitioner also came from another city, so there could not have been any
personal enmity with the local residents.
In recent years, Jiang's regime has escalated the harassment and persecution
of overseas Falun Gong practitioners. In 1999, soon after Jiang Zemin began to
brutally suppress Falun Gong, there were many reports of Chinese officials
threatening, harassing, and attacking Falun Gong practitioners. Public
officials, private enterprises and media outlets around the world have even
faced pressure and threats from the Chinese Government.
The exhibition showing the torture of Falun Gong practitioners began at 1:30
p.m. that day. Merchants and employees from various businesses in Chinatown and
passers-by stopped to watch the exhibition. They were shocked to learn the truth
about the persecution. Many people expressed their support in stopping the
persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. Some people also expressed interest in
learning the practice.
Voices of Justice
Danish MEP Condemns the Shooting Incident in South Africa
On June the 30th 2004, during an interview, Danish MEP Morgens Camre strongly
condemned the shooting of Falun Gong practitioners that took place recently in
South Africa.
Question: We received news that a Falun Gong practitioner was shot when
the Chinese Vice-President Zeng Qinghong visited South Africa. What is your
comment?
Answer: I do not understand the incident of the shooting, but it was
attempted murder, I am convinced it was attempted murder. I am sorry to say that
it is something which will happen in ill-managed countries and the security
situation is very bad in South Africa. But, I can see that this attempted murder
is aiming at those who bring criticism against the leaders in China. If
possible, they will even be slain, and it is against the ideas shared with the
whole western world, of course. Everyone should have the freedom of speech.
Frankly speaking, I cannot understand the mentality behind the shooting.
Question: Do you know how we can bring the persecution against Falun Gong
in China to an end?
Answer: Maybe China needs a revolution. I can say it needs a kind of
revolution. But right now, what western society can do is keep exerting pressure
on the Chinese government, spread information as often as possible, call on all
world organizations like the UN and all democratic countries, to criticize and
to slam the persecution and those who are behind it. We could explain to China
that the leaders are digging their own graves by resorting to violence.
Everybody knows that changing the status quo of China is a tremendous mission,
and it will not be done in one or two days. However, what is important is to
begin, which is a very vital starting point.
Canadian Mayor Robert Libman: We Extend Our Continued Respect
and Support for the Compassion and Tolerance Demonstrated by Falun Dafa
Practitioners Around the World
On June 18, 2004, Mayor Robert Libman of the Borough of Cote Saint-Luc --
Hampstead -- Montreal West wrote to Falun Gong practitioners to extend their
continued respect and support for the compassion and tolerance that is
demonstrated by Falun Dafa practitioners around the world.
Friday, June 18, 2004
Dear Friends of Falun Dafa,
Falun Dafa is a peaceful and healthy practice of mind and body that
transcends cultural and racial boundaries, resonates with universal truth and
bridges the gap between East and West. It emphasizes the assimilation of the
universal principles of "Truth, Compassion and Tolerance".
Members and practitioners of Falun Dafa have struggled to bring this
non-aggressive practice on the world stage since 1992, often with great
difficulty. Although misunderstood by many, society cannot ignore the benefits
that are reaped in our neighborhoods through the practice and peaceful
demonstration of its members who now count over 100 million in the world.
In January 2001, Council for the former state of Cote Saint-Luc were
supportive of this practice. Today, the borough of Cote Saint-Luc -- Hampstead
-- Montreal West stands firmly behind that commitment and we extend our
continued respect and support for the compassion and tolerance that is
demonstrated by Falun Dafa practitioners around the world.
Please accept our sincere best wishes for success in all your endeavors.
Yours truly,
Robert Libman, O.A.Q.
Borough Mayor
Letter from the President of the International Association for
Human Rights to the Chinese Ambassador in Vienna
Chinese Embassy
His Excellency Yonghua Lu
Ambassador to the Peoples Republic of China
Metternichgasse 4
1030 Vienna .
June 29th 2004
Dear Ambassador Yonghua Lu,
We were appalled to hear about the latest incident on June 28th in South
Africa, in which Falun Gong practitioner Mr. David Liang was shot in broad
daylight while driving a car. It dismays us that this shooting was most likely
directed by high levels in Chinese circles.
To be accurate, we will quote from a press release by the Falun Dafa
Information Centre:
David Liang was driving one of two cars en route from Johannesburg airport to
Pretoria around 8:30 p.m. local time, Monday, June 28th. A white car with three
occupants overtook them and fired at least five shots into the vehicle carrying
the Falun Gong practitioners. Liang was hospitalized with bullet wounds in both
legs and his car was disabled in the incident.
The driver of a passing car assisted them immediately. Liang and eight other
Falun Gong practitioners from Australia arrived in South Africa to assist locals
in revealing the nature of the persecution of Falun Gong in general, and the
heinous actions of the two visiting officials in particular. They intended to
hold a press conference to expose the crimes of the two officials and to have
legal papers served against them.
The shooters did not stop when Liang was shot and his vehicle was disabled.
Liang, of Chinese origin, was the only one shot, and was the only one in the car
wearing a jacket with the words "Falun Dafa." These facts, and others that are
sure to emerge, point to this conclusion: the shooting was a premeditated action
specifically targeting Falun Gong during the two officials' visit. Zeng, Bo, and
other high officials have given orders in China that have resulted in torture
and death. During the nearly five years of persecution against Falun Gong,
harassment, interference in basic rights, death threats, beatings, break-ins,
and now an assault with guns have targeted practitioners of Falun Gong on
foreign soil, outside China.
We wish you to take note that such means are not conducive towards rational
discussion regarding the human rights problems in your country.
We also wish to point at this time the overall catastrophic human rights
situation in the People's Republic of China. We wish to specifically point to
the situation of those who are persecuted and suppressed because of their
belief, in particular the Tibetans, Uighurs and Christians. This happens only
because they wish to freely practice their religious beliefs.
We wish to thank you for paying attention to our correspondence.
Sincerely,
(Signature)
Katharina Grieb,
IGFM President, Austria
For Erich Leopold
Statement from the Chairman of Olympic Watch on the United
Nations International Day to Support Victims of Torture
Jan Ruml is a Senator and Vice-Chairman of the Czech Senate, as well as being
the Chairman of Olympic Watch. The following is a statement he wrote for a Falun
Gong press conference held in Prague on June 26, 2004, the United Nations
International Day to Support Victims of Torture:
On the United Nations International Day to Support Victims of Torture, June
26th, Olympic Watch calls on the government of the People's Republic of China to
stop the abhorrent practices of torture and ill treatment throughout the PRC. We commemorate the victims of torture by the communist authorities in China,
be it Falun Gong practitioners, political prisoners, or other people. Torture
can never be excused and the People's Republic of China has pledged to eradicate
it by its ratification of the Convention against Torture.
Olympic Watch therefore condemns all the more strongly the recent decision by
the Beijing government to prevent the long-awaited inspection by the UN special
rapporteur on torture. We believe that the postponement was caused by the
government's fear of disclosure of its true current practices.
Olympic Watch calls on the government of the People's Republic of China:
-to stop its terrible practices of torture and ill-treatment, and thus to
respect the Convention against Torture and its other international legal
commitments
-to allow full international oversight over the situation
-and generally to respect human rights of the people in China, including
freedom of speech and freedom of religion, so that by the 2008 Olympic Games
there is visible progress in human rights in China, which the Beijing government
had promised, but which is still completely absent.
Prague, June 26th 2004
Jan Ruml Chairman, Olympic Watch
Statement of Support by Member of Czech Parliament, Jaroslav
Zverina
Mr. Jaroslav Zverina sent the following statement of support to a Falun Gong
press conference in Prague's Krizovnicke Square on the 26th of June 2004, which
was the United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture:
One of the original curses of mankind is its predisposition to violence.
Human beings, like their subhuman relatives, can be very cruel not only to their
real enemies, but to their presumed ones as well. The essence of cruelty is
continuously censored by mankind's culture as inhuman and immoral. Unfortunately
this cultural influence never applies universally and perfectly. Too often
people allow themselves to be seduced into aggressive behavior toward their
fellow man.
The tragedy is that people don't deal with their real enemies but are cruel
to others who don't harm them and who are in fact just the opposite: those who
believe in truthfulness, kindness and rational contemplation. Among such tragic
manifestations is the persecution and torture of Falun Gong practitioners by the
present Chinese Communist regime. I have come to understand the teachings of
this movement, I think quite well, and I can hardly imagine what has caused the
ruling regime's hatred.
I would like to believe that one day we will all wake up to a world without
violence, terrorism and ideological repression. Equality for all in the eyes of
the law and human freedom are basic democratic values. Let us remember them
especially today when we take our stand against torture and political ill will.
Jaroslav Zverina
Member of Parliament of the Czech Republic and Vice Chairman of the Committee
for the Matters of the European Union
Facts of the Persecution
More Evidence of Jiang Group's State-Terrorism: The Verified
Death Toll of Falun Gong Practitioners Has Reached 1,000
According to statistics gathered by Minghui.net, from July 20, 1999 to early
July 2004, at least 1,000 Falun Gong practitioners are verified to have died of
torture because they refused to give up their belief in
Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance. Among these practitioners, 52% are women and
48% are men, with an average age of 44. The youngest practitioner was a
17-year-old female high school student Chen Ying from Heilongjiang Province, and
the oldest practitioner was an 82-year-old gentleman, Yang Yongshou, from
Sichuan Province. Since July 1999, the average death toll per month is about 17.
1. The Persecution Has Covered All of China
These 1,000 death cases happened in 30 provinces, autonomous regions and
autonomous cities. The provinces with the most death cases are: Heilongjiang
Province (159), Jilin Province (126), Liaoning Province (110), Shandong Province
(107), Hebei Province (103), Sichuan Province (66), Hubei Province (44),
Chongqing City (30), Henan Province (29), Beijing City (27), Guangdong Province
(27), Gansu Province (26) and Hunan Province (25). [Note: numbers in parentheses
indicate the numbers of death cases in that province.]
These 1,000 cases have been verified by various channels; however, they make
up only part of the actual death toll. According to some internal statistics
gathered at the end of October 2001 by the Chinese government, the actual death
toll of Falun Gong practitioners tortured to death had reached 1,600; at least
6,000 practitioners have been illegally sentenced to prison; over 100,000
practitioners have been sent to labor camps; thousands of practitioners have
been sent to mental hospitals to be injected with drugs that damage the central
nervous system; numerous practitioners have been abducted to brainwashing
classes to suffer mental persecution; even more people have been beaten and had
money extorted from them.
Falun Gong practitioners cultivate Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance. They
strive to be good people with noble characters. They are from all walks of life.
In the state-run terrorism carried out by Jiang's group, the practitioners
directly affected by the persecution number from 70 to 100 million. If we count
their family members and relatives who are implicated by the persecution, then
several hundred million people have been affected. The number of people affected
by the persecution is unprecedented.
2. State-run Terrorism is Appalling
The reason that so many practitioners have been tortured to death is that
they refuse to give up their belief in Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance and
they strive to be kindhearted people. The deaths of these practitioners were all
unnatural. Even though each of them may have been subjected to different
tortures, they are all direct victims of Jiang's state-run terrorism. Some of
them were beaten to death; some were tormented to death gradually; some died of
force-feeding; some perished after being injected with drugs that damage the
central nervous system; some passed away after being driven to mental collapse.
For instance, according to an April 23, 2000 report from the Wall Street
Journal, 59-year-old Chen Zixiu from Xujiaxiaozhuang, Beiguan, Weicheng
District, Weifang City, Shandong Province was arrested on February 16, 2000. She
was beaten to death on February 21, 2000.
Wang Bin, male, about 47 years old, was a computer engineer at the Design
Institute of the Daqing Oil Management Bureau. He was once awarded the second
prize of the National Science and Technology Award. He was sentenced to forced
labor for going to Beijing to appeal. While being detained at the labor camp,
Wang Bin was severely beaten up by 4 or 5 prisoners on the night of September
27, 2000. The beating was instigated by Feng Xi, the director of the Second Team
of the labor camp. The torture caused the artery in Wang Bin's neck and major
blood vessels to break. His tonsils were injured, his lymph nodes crushed (they
had their circulation cut off), and several bones were fractured. He had
cigarette burns on the back of his hands and inside his nostrils. There were
also many bruises all over his body. On the night of October 4, he died of
severe injuries, including ruptured blood vessels and heart failure. After his
death, his heart and brain were taken out of his body. Two legal medical
experts, Wang Chunbiao and Qi Jingfu, took his heart and brain to Longnan
Hospital for dissection before they threw them away.
The shooting of a Falun Gong practitioner on June 28, 2004 in South Africa
shocked the international community. As a matter of fact, such terrorism has
long existed in China. For example, on March 5, 2002, 32-year-old practitioners
Liu Chengjun from Changchun City, Jilin Province was chased by police for
broadcasting programs clarifying the truth of Dafa. After capturing him, the
police fired two shots at Liu's legs, causing severe injury. He was sentenced to
19 years in Jilin Prison, where he suffered numerous tortures. At 4:30 a.m. on
December 26, 2003, he passed away at a hospital in Jilin Province. In order to
cover up their crimes, the police disregarded Liu's family's opposition, and
forcefully cremated his body at 10:40 a.m. on the same day. Witnesses say that
blood came out of Liu's nostrils, ears and legs.
Because of the tight information blockade by Jiang's group, the true
situation of the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners cannot be fully
illustrated by some mere statistics. Jiang's group manipulates the Chinese
government to systematically persecute or even kill its own citizens. The degree
of the brutality of such persecution is unprecedented. All kindhearted people in
the world should stand up to condemn and help stop this persecution that is
ruining humanity.
Barbaric Torture in the Fuzhou Female Prison: Biting
60-Year-Old Professor and Coating the Wounds with Hot Peppers, Pulling Out All
Pubic Hair
Team 16 in the Fuzhou Women's Prison, Fujian Province, under the order of
Prison Commissar Li, has been using criminal inmates to viciously torture Falun
Gong practitioners in an attempt to force them to renounce their belief.
Ms. Wang Lei, a professor in her 60's, had been illegally sentenced to prison
for practicing Falun Gong. She has suffered all kinds of inhumane torture since
her imprisonment. She was forced to wash the public bathrooms and work overtime
all night. She was forced to maintain a standing position for several
consecutive days and nights. Her legs are still swollen from this abuse and the
pain was hard to endure. The inmates intentionally did not let her have enough
food. Oftentimes, when she had only finished half of her meal, they would slap
her face, causing her nose and mouth to bleed and her bowl to fall to the
ground. They did this in order to keep Ms. Wang Lei hungry all year long, and at
the same time, they overloaded her with forced slave labor. As a result, Ms.
Wang Lei has become dangerously thin.
There is yet additional savagery: the criminal inmates did not permit Ms.
Wang to finish using the toilet. The criminals would pull her up, pull her back
to the cell and beat her up, not even giving her a chance to put on her pants.
They often beat her up to the point of her losing consciousness. Afterwards they
would force-feed her unknown drugs or other harmful substances. Sometimes, as
soon as Ms. Wang fell asleep, they would strip her, beat her up, and shamelessly
clamp her nipples with clips and pull out all her pubic hair. Criminals Su
Jingxuan and Shi Suyuan would even bite her and coat her bite wounds with hot
pepper solution, causing Ms. Wang to scream in extreme pain.
The Death of Mr. Bi Guohua While being Arrested by Police in
Weihai City, Shandong Province, China
July 3, 2004. In June 2004, the authorities from "610 Office" in Weihai City,
Shandong Province staged a citywide sweep to arrest Falun Gong practitioners.
The police raided people's home and seized them like bandits. After they broke
into Bi Guohua's house, they found the 64-year-old Mr. Bi home alone. They
violently assaulted him, and as a result, Mr. Bi died.
Bi Guohua lived in Beiche Village, Shidao Township, Shandong Province. On the
morning of June 4, 2004, the "610 Office" personnel and seven policemen came to
make an arrest at his house. They violently beat him up, causing him to suffer
multiple injuries. Bi Guohua died on the way to hospital. Police told the public
that "Bi Guohua died of a heart attack after he fell to the ground."
According to what Bi's family members witnessed after they viewed his body,
there was a big lump on the right side of Bi Guohua's forehead. His left elbow
had been scraped, and apparently, these injuries were not due to a fall. People
close to him said Bi Guohua was very healthy. He never had any problems with his
heart.
Villagers and local officials in Beiche Village strongly condemned this
atrocity by the "610 Office." Bi Guohua's family members strongly demand
justice. They vowed to seek legal action against the responsible people.
Photos Reveal Electric Shock Torture Commonly Used on Falun
Gong in China High-voltage Electric Current Burns and Disfigures Woman's Face
Photos of 36-year-old Ms. Gao Rongrong, whose face was severely disfigured
from seven hours of electric shock torture, were obtained from sources inside
China last week. (photos
at www.faluninfo.net) WARNING: These photos contain graphic content.
The photos offer a glimpse of the systematic beatings and torture of Falun
Gong practitioners in police custody and inside labor camps throughout China.
This type of torture is widespread under Jiang Zemin's regime, but rarely
documented on film because officials closely guard any evidence as "state
secrets".
Ms. Gao was an accountant at the Luxun Fine Arts College in Shenyang City.
Because she persisted in her practice of Falun Gong, she lost her job shortly
after former Chinese leader Jiang Zemin launched the persecution of Falun Gong
in 1999. Gao made peaceful appeals in Beijing to call for an end to the
persecution and was detained by authorities for several months.
In July 2003, Gao was sent to the Longshan Forced Labor Camp. During her
detention, Gao had been beating by camp officials, according to sources familiar
with her case.
At approximately 3:00pm on May 7, 2004, Tang Yubao, the deputy head of the
No. 2 Brigade along with team leader Jiang Zhaohua, called Gao to the duty
office and began to torture her with electric batons for 7 hours, according to
these sources. Those detained with Gao in the labor camp say she sustained burns
on her face, head and neck, which caused her face to swell and become
disfigured. Her face was covered with blisters, and her hair was matted with pus
and blood. Gao could only open her eyes a crack because of her swollen face and
her mouth was severely swollen and deformed.
In a desperate attempt to escape her torturers, Gao jumped from the 2nd floor
office window, fracturing her pelvis, thigh and legs.
Gao was hospitalized for her fractures making it possible to secure photos of
the scars on her face, neck and body.
According to sources familiar with the Longshan Forced Labor Camp, the camp
director Li Fengshi often personally participates in the persecution of Falun
Gong practitioners.
According to an investigation by the World Organization to Investigate the
Persecution of Falun Gong Practitioners, in late 2001, the Longshan Labor Camp
received a 400,000 Yuan reward for its "achievement" in persecuting Falun Gong
-- a bonus often handed down to labor camps who exhibit a proficiency for
forcing Falun Gong practitioners to sign statements renouncing their faith.
Media Reports and Opinions
RFA: Hong Kong Falun Gong Practitioners Parade to Protest the
Persecution
On July 18, several hundred Hong Kong Falun Gong practitioners marched to
Chinese Liaison office and then to Hong Kong SAR government office to protest
the persecution of Falun Gong in China since July 1999. Below is a report of RFA
reported by Shan Shi on the same day:
The parade started noontime on Sunday (July 18). About 250 Hong Kong Falun
Gong practitioners first gathered at Wanchai and then marched to the SAR
government office compound. AP said that the parade was peaceful with no
conflicts.
Before starting the parade, practitioners held a press conference. One
spokesman said that the persecution has no legal base and he demanded China stop
the persecution of Falun Gong. Another spokeswoman Ms. Chen recounted her
father's plight. Her farther went to China for sightseeing and was arrested by
police and forced to sign a statement claiming guilt. She requested the Chinese
authority to release her farther.
Hong Kong Falun Gong spokesman Kan Hung-cheung said that China started to
persecute Falun Gong in July of 1999 and they choose this date to stage the
parade to protest the persecution.
Kan said that Falun Gong was introduced to Hong Kong in 1994 and had about
1,000 practitioners at its peak time. However, the number declined a little
after the persecution started. He said that Falun Gong practitioners could still
freely practice and hold activities in Hong Kong.
Kan said that he is concerned about Hong Kong Falun Gong practitioners being
harassed by gangsters though such incidents haven't happened.
Mr. Kan said that Falun Gong activities in Hong Kong have encountered many
interferences because of the pressure from the Chinese government. In the past
several years, it happened many times that overseas Falun Gong practitioners
were barred from entering Hong Kong and such pressure is becoming larger and
larger.
Asia Times: Falun Gong Legal Team Plans to Sue Jiang and Other
High Ranking Chinese Officials in 11 Countries
Asia Times reported on July 18: July 20 will mark the 5th
anniversary of the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China. Several
thousands Taiwan Falun Gong practitioners yesterday gathered at Taipei
protesting the persecution.
17 lawyers from 4 continents have formed a legal team and the team is
planning to sue 13 high ranking Mainland officials, including Jiang Zemin for
persecution.
Taiwan Falun Gong practitioners yesterday rallied at the plaza of the Chiang
Kai-Shek Memorial Hall to commemorate the practitioners who have been persecuted
to death and to stage an "Anti-Torture Exhibition" using real-life models to
showcase the torture methods employed by Mainland police against Falun Gong
practitioners.
Liu Binghua (Phonetic) said that not only have Mainland Falun Gong
practitioners been persecuted, but also many Taiwanese Falun Gong practitioners
who went to Mainland on business, to visit relatives or for sightseeing had been
detained by Mainland police. Some Mainland brides who married Taiwanese citizens
have been detained after going back to China to visit their relatives.
On behalf of the legal team, Taiwan lawyer Chu Wan-chi announced a statement
which said that the team was planning to launch lawsuits in 11 countries against
Jiang Zemin and other high-ranking officials responsible for the persecution.
The statement said that the team would also file complaints with the UN Human
Rights Commission and Anti-torture Commission against those perpetrators.
The Pretoria News (South Africa): Chinese bar Pretoria News
from art museum
By Cindy Zeilhofer
July 14, 2004
Journalists were yesterday refused entry to the grounds of the Pretoria Art
Museum to report on Deputy Prime Minister Chen Zhili's visit to promote Chinese
culture. A Pretoria News team dispatched to cover that visit, as well as a
peaceful protest by Falun Gong followers near the museum, was barred, seemingly
by Chinese security officials, from even crossing the park to get to their
vehicle.
After having briefly interviewed several of the demonstrators who had
gathered on the opposite side of the sidewalk to the museum, the Pretoria News
reporter and photographer made their way back to the museum. However, even after having shown their Press cards, the journalists were still
denied permission to walk across the pavement to get to their vehicle in the
parking lot.
Several requests were made for the Chinese officers to identify themselves
which they flatly refused. They would only gesture "no entry" with their hands. This led to journalists asking for assistance from members of the South African
Police Service.
A police captain "gave permission" for them to cross the park. The Chinese
entourage insisted on walking next to them, jostling them all the way to the
entrance of the museum.
The media requested access to the museum, to which an organiser responded:
"You are too late to come in."
The Falun Gong protesters staged a peaceful demonstration under the watchful
eye of the unidentified Chinese security officials. They were highlighting what they referred to as the "persecution of millions of
Chinese people at all levels in the entire educational system". Jie Liu, a spokesman for the group, claimed in a statement that at least 61
students, teachers and professors had been tortured to death for being members
and practitioners of Falun Gong. Rudolph Jansen, of Lawyers for Human Rights, has been engaged by Falun Gong
representatives. Jansen said the case was in its early phases and, should it go
to court, it would be a first for South African law to "exercise universal
jurisdiction in respect of a crime". He said: "We are waiting for a draft Bill to be passed in Parliament before we
can continue." Jansen said there were 16 other countries currently fighting cases against the
Chinese officials allegedly responsible for the death of Falun Gong
practitioners.
Radio France Internationale: Falun Gong Sues Li Changchun
During His Visit to Paris
Radio France International (RFI) broadcast the following report in Mandarin
to Mainland China and the Mandarin-speaking area of Paris on July 2, 2004:
Three members of the Falun Gong Spiritual movement have filed a lawsuit in
Paris against Li Changchun during his visit. According to their attorney, Mr. Li
was accused of being the accomplice to crimes of torture against members of the
group. The following news came from Zhang Jianping, spokesperson for Falun Gong
in France.
Representing three Falun Gong practitioners, Delva, a French attorney, has
filed a lawsuit in Paris against Chinese Politburo Standing Committee member Li
Changchun.
The plaintiffs said Mr Li was responsible for "supporting crimes of torture
against members of the group as an accomplice."
"As a Politburo Standing Committee member, Mr. Li is in charge of information
and media control in China. He has held many meetings, which aim at inciting
hatred by deliberately demonizing Falun Gong, to call through the media for the
elimination of Falun Gong practitioners."
"He supported brainwashing and torture of Falun Gong practitioners while
serving as the Communist Party Secretary of Guangdong Province. So far,
twenty-six Falun Gong deaths from torture in Guangdong prison have been
verified. Of China's thirty provinces, the number of deaths of Falun Gong
practitioners in Guangdong ranked 8th, " says Zhang Jianping.
"Some people may doubt the results of our efforts, because we are facing a
monstrous national terrorist regime. However, we care more about the process
than the final result. We also believe, as long as more and more people know
what horrible things they have done and how disgraceful they are in this brutal
persecution, they will be brought to justice sooner or later."
"Li Changchun, this evening, is holding a party for the end of the Chinese
Culture Year in France, This lawsuit will be a blow to him," Zhang Jianping
says, "We are not against friendship between France and China, but the real
criminal should and will be brought to justice."
Purdue Exponent: Practitioners of Falun Gong protest
An Asian man lay strapped onto a table, his forehead gleaming with sweat from
the midday sun and a dried, red substance splattered on his white clothing. A
wound was painted on his temple. He was still except for the slight rise and
fall of his chest with each breath, stoic, transformed into a temporary, living
monument to the persecution of the Falun Gong in China.
He was silent, like the rest of the actors, like the rest of Riehle Plaza on
Friday and Saturday, for the demonstration of the Falun Gong's persecution.
Indiana Falun Gong practitioners presented the exhibition.
The title for the display was "Persecution Meets Principle," and organizers
such as Dana Cheng described to visitors how Falun Gong, or Falun Dafa, is about
the virtues of truth, compassion and forbearance, along with exercises and
meditation so that the practice sculpts body and mind.
It is practiced in 60 countries and has been practiced by over 100 million
people.
Cheng and others would then discuss how the Chinese government is persecuting
followers.
Organizers made a circle along the rim of the plaza with boards of
information about the persecution and their beliefs, and actors, like the man
strapped to the table, physically demonstrated documented Chinese methods of
torture for practitioners.
Cheng pointed to the man on the table and said one of her friends was tied
down like that for five months. Large print boards nearby display other kinds of
torture: old-fashioned methods using heat, cold and food and sleep deprivation,
while others had a distinctly Asian flair, like sharpened bamboo shoots stuck
through fingernails. On one large piece of poster board, there was a drawing of
a man being held upside-down on a wooden device that looked as if it were
somewhere between a table on its side and a cross.
Another of my friends, said Cheng, was tied to a cross like that and hung
upside-down for three days.
"Nine of my friends are in jail," she added.
Since the persecution began more than five years ago in China, at the
direction of then-President Jiang Zemin, more than 950 Falun Gong followers have
been killed for their beliefs. Countless more have been put into labor camps,
mental hospitals or were tortured until they renounced their beliefs.
As visitors walked through the plaza, brought by curiosity or by simply being
in the area, they received pamphlets and heard first-hand knowledge about the
practice, about the persecution.
Organizers used terms such as "human rights violations" and "civil
disobedience." They talked of lawsuits and promoting awareness.
"I can't believe other people do this to other people for what they believe,"
said Anne Bosse, a Lafayette resident who had met with friends nearby and
stopped to see what the exhibition was about. She stared at the posters as she
spoke.
Bosse said that as an U.S. citizen, she has never had to worry about being
oppressed for believing in something. She reiterated her quiet disbelief one
more time before moving on.
As Bosse and other visitors circled the ring of displays around the plaza,
there was much to see, unsettling as it was for some.
But the graphic depictions were not the primary source of such discomfort.
Instead, it was the constant reminder that the vivid displays were merely token
samplings of what is happening on the other side of the world.
In between the boards of information, an actress sat in a cage that would be
uncomfortably small for a medium-sized dog, her hands cuffed to the top of the
cage, her face almost in tears, her body silent, still. A man next to her was in
a taller cage but the inside of the cage was filled with nails, so he could not
lean against anything for support, for rest. His hands were also cuffed to the
top. His face was sullen and shiny with sweat and his hair was ruffled. Another
scene depicted a man tied to a chair in a mental hospital.
Most of the actors were splattered in fake blood.
All looked miserable.
And in the middle of it all, physically and metaphorically, sat a small woman
in a yellow Falun Gong T-shirt and hat, serenely meditating.
Falun Gong Practitioners' Personal Experience
A Dying Person Goes Back to Work in the Fields After
Cultivating in Falun Dafa for Only Ten Days
I'm now seventy-two years old. Forty years ago I suffered from heart disease,
lung disease and arthritis. When I was very sick I couldn't fall asleep for
several days and nights and wouldn't eat. When walking, I would fall if the wind
were too strong. My body was only skin and bones. Every year I spent almost
10,000 Yuan in medicine, which made the whole family so poor that it looked like
we had suffered through a flood. I really felt that I was an unwanted person in
the family and very miserable.
In the summer of 1996, my health became worse. Realizing that my life had
already reached the end, I asked my family members to prepare a funeral for me
and told them some things to do after my death.
At this very point of despair, a friend came to visit me. He introduced the
wonders of Falun Gong to me and told me that this practice was a cultivation
practice of mind and body, which is based on "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance"
and practitioners were to be good persons, people who cared nothing about
personal fame and interest and didn't fight with others. He also told me that if
my true wish for cultivation came out, Master's law body would come and
safeguard me. He also said through doing the exercises, supernormal abilities
would be strengthened and karma would be eliminated, which would then change my
body.
Upon hearing of this, I used all of my energy to grasp his hands and told
him, "I want to learn Falun Gong. I believe Falun Gong is good."
A few days later I got the book Zhuan Falun. Although I had lain in
bed for almost half a year, I suddenly felt an inexhaustible energy. I got up,
held the book, and looked at Master Li's picture, tears spilling like a
fountain.
Since that day I asked children one by one to read the book to me in their
spare time. All that Master speaks of I bear in my mind. I felt myself come
alive again.
Ten days later I then got up to do some work. My children, neighbors and
friends all exclaimed at my change.
I bear Master's teaching in mind, letting go of having my illnesses healed
and [concentrate on] cultivating my character everywhere and with everything.
For several years now, my body has been really well. I never take any
medication, but am always in good health and full of energy. Many of my
relatives and friends began to practice Falun Gong.
Illness Disappears After Practicing Falun Gong
By a practitioner from Qingdao City, Shandong Province
I am a practitioner from Chengyang District, Qingdao City, Shandong Province.
I want to thank our great Teacher for giving me a new life.
I was afflicted with a strange sickness in 1994 and it incapacitated me. It
became severe by 1996. My upper eyelid drooped, the eyes slanted, my mouth
turned crooked and I was incapable of speaking. I would eat 2 pieces of biscuits
softened by water for food. My sickness financially devastated my already poor
family. The hospital diagnosed it to be thymoma, and the size of the lump grew
to that of a chicken egg. The doctor said that the only way to cure it was to
undergo surgery in Beijing. They would need to cut open my chest. My family
couldn't support the enormous medical bill. During that dark period I wanted to
kill myself, but I couldn't even do that without my strength.
Just when I couldn't heal or kill myself, one of my relatives led me to
practice Falun Gong. I studied Zhuan Falun, practiced the exercises and
then Teacher started adjusting my body. I expelled two lumps of material that
resembled pus from my body.
I did everything just the way Teacher taught us. I conducted myself according
to the standard of "Truthfulness, Compassion and Tolerance." I was committed to
being compassionate and guarding my virtue. I lived by the high standard of a
practitioner.
I went from being an invalid to a very healthy person. This enormous change
came after I started practicing Dafa. I could perform demanding labor tasks. My
previous sicknesses, such as rectal pain, throat pain, uteral lumps, dizziness
and others were cured. When I walked, it felt like I was walking on a cloud. I
didn't need any medicine after I started practicing and I looked extremely
healthy. A nearly broken family thus enjoyed the pleasure of laughter again.
People Awaken to the Truth
Security Guard Rejects the Jiang Regime's 'Award'
A community security guard told his mother, "At a meeting our superior told
us to try harder to seize Falun Gong materials. Once we find them, we're to just
keep quiet and figure out the situation, and then report to the police station.
They will take care of the arrest, and we can get an award of 100,000 Yuan."
Upon hearing this, his moteher replied seriously, "That business is selling
your soul. We would never do anything for the persecution of good people, even
if we were offered a million Yuan."
He nodded his head and agreed with his mother, "We won't do anything that
betrays our conscience."
Colleagues Realize the Truth
A colleague had many opportunities to talk with Falun Gong practitioners, and
over time realized the truth through their words and actions. Recently, one of
her former schoolmates gave her a call to tell her the news that he had been
promoted to be in charge of the local "610 Office" in another city. She said to
him right away, "Do you have nothing else to do? Be honest with yourself, if you
do this kind of thing I don't think we can be friends anymore."
One day at her workplace, she ran into her boss who had just recovered after
a hospital stay. She told her boss, "Don't you think you should think it over?
Isn't it because you said bad things about a Falun Gong practitioner here? Don't
say anything bad about Falun Gong from now on."
His boss replied, "Yes, indeed, you are right."
In this persecution, she always stands on the side of Falun Gong
practitioners. A few years ago, when she passed by a train station, the
authorities were forcing passengers to step on photos of Teacher Li. She refused
to do so, and many others followed her lead and also refused.
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