(Clearwisdom.net) Chen Zhili, currently member of State Council in charge of education, former Minister of Education (March 1998-March 2003) used her special relationship with Jiang Zemin and the power granted by Jiang to promote the persecution of Falun Gong in the Chinese educational system. According to the World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong, at least 61 faculty members at schools and those students who were Falun Gong practitioners have died as a result of torture. Numerous professors and students were sentenced to prison and sent to forced labor camps and detention centers. At least 18 practitioners at Tsinghua University were sentenced to prison; at least 300 others were illegally detained, fired, expelled from school or directly sent to forced labor camps.

Below are a portion of cases of abuse and deaths from torture of teachers and students in universities and colleges.

Teachers and students in universities and colleges who were tortured to death

Mr. Wang Dayuan, 36 years old, was a teacher at the School of Computer Science and Technology at Harbin Institute of Technology. The police arrested him in November 2002 and ransacked his home. He was detained for several months, after which he received an eight-year prison term to be served at Harbin City's First Prison. The Nangang Court's Criminal Division (phone 86-451-82704734) confirmed with a Clearwisdom reporter that Wang's case was found in the 2003 case archives, and the person in charge of this case was Chen Shouchang. On April 5, the guards who had previously beaten him again violently beat him at noon, and Wang stopped breathing. The prison authorities claimed three inmates beat him to death. His young wife, a child and his parents survive Wang Dayuan.

Mr. Bai Xiaojun, 35 years old, was a teacher at the Northeast Normal

University in Jilin Province and had a Master's degree in philosophy. In July 2000 he was sentenced to one year of forced labor for going to Beijing to appeal for Falun Dafa. In January 2002, after seven months of extended detention in addition to his one-year term, because he didn't give up his practice he was sent to the Xinglongshan Brainwashing Center and later to the Chaoyanggou Labor Camp in Changchun City. On July 18, 2003 he was tortured to death.

Mr. Wang Jiguo, 40 years old, was a staff member in the Mudanjiang City

Teachers' College, Heilongjiang Province. In March 2000, he went to Beijing to appeal for Dafa. He was arrested and taken back to Mudanjiang City, where he was sentenced to three years of forced labor. In August 2000, due to severe abuse and mistreatment, Wang Jiguo was on the verge of death in the labor camp. He was diagnosed with liver cirrhosis, ascites, and other liver and kidney problems. The labor camp had to agree to let him out on parole to be hospitalized for treatment. In December 2000, only three months after Wang Jiguo was released from the hospital, the authorities from Mudanjiang City Teachers' College ignored the fact that he was still urinating blood and had almost lost all sight in both eyes, and sent him back to the labor camp. Later, Wang Jiguo was sentenced and held in the Mudanjiang City Prison. There he was again abused to the brink of death. When he was sent to the hospital again for emergency treatment, it was too late to save his life. He passed away in September 2003.

Wang Jiguo's wife is also a Falun Gong practitioner who is currently being detained in a forced labor camp. Their child is only eight years old.

Mr. Zhang Chuansheng, 54 years old, associate professor of Chengdu

University, Sichuan Province, died from being beaten and strangled on February 15, 2002, for persisting in his Falun Dafa cultivation. The perpetrators were police at the Chengdu City Detention Center. His face was swollen, and was greenish, purple and black in color. There were many bloodstains on his face and mouth. On his neck there was a deep purple-green mark the width of two fingers. Police lied to his family, saying that Zhang had died from a heart attack.

Mr. Li Baifan, around 40 years old, was a lecturer at the East China Normal

University. Because he insisted on practicing Falun Dafa after the July 1999 ban, Mr. Li was detained at the Dafeng State Farm in Jiangsu Province and then transferred to the Qingdong State Farm in Shanghai. He was not allowed to see his family for two years. Because he refused to give up his belief in Dafa, at the end of April 2001, police officers threw Li out of a tall building. Mr. Li died from the injuries. The responsible parties are claiming that Mr. Li committed suicide.

Ms. Zhao Xin was a 32-year-old teacher at the Beijing University of Business and Industry. She was born on June 28, 1968. On June 19, 2000, she was arrested when doing the Falun Gong exercises in Zizhu Garden Park. She was held at a detention center under the jurisdiction of the Haidian Police Department. On June 22, the guards beat her until her fourth, fifth and sixth neck vertebrae were shattered. She lived but was paralyzed from the neck down. After suffering for six months, Zhao Xin passed away in the evening of December 11, 2000 at the age of 32.

Mr. Zhang Zhenzhong, 22 years old, from Xin County, Liaocheng City, Shandong Province, was an undergraduate student at the Business Administration School of Shandong Industrial University. He was an outstanding student. In May 2001, he was arrested when clarifying the truth with three other practitioners. The police beat and tortured them. The three practitioners held a hunger strike. The guards force-fed Zhang Zhenzhong, and he died from the force-feeding.

Ms. Shen Jianli was a lecturer in the Department of Applied Mathematics at the Nanling Campus, Jilin University. The local police tortured her to death in April 2002. Shen Jianli's husband Zheng Weidong, a teacher at Jilin's Electronics and Information Technology College, was illegally sentenced to prison for making Falun Gong materials and is still being held. Their young daughter is living with her grandmother in the countryside, and they are getting by with the help of relatives.

At least 18 practitioners from Tsinghua University sentenced to prison

Since 1999, the world-famous Tsinghua University was a heavily hit persecution target. According to one incomplete estimate, at least 300 professors, teachers, Ph.D. students, graduate students and undergraduate students from this institution were illegally held, fired, expelled or directly sent to forced labor camps.

Right now, 18 Falun Gong practitioners are known to have been sentenced to prison. Wang Weiyu was sentenced to eight years; Chu Tong, a lecturer at Electronic Design Institute, was sentenced to 11 years; Bai Rongchun was sentenced to 13 years; Yao Yue was sentenced to 12 years; Liu Zhimei was sentenced to 12 years; Meng Jun was sentenced to 10 years,;Wang Xin was sentenced to ten years; Dong Yanhong was sentenced to five years,;Ma Yan, a student in department of construction, was sentenced to five years; Yu Ping was sentenced to four years; Yu Jia was sentenced to three years; Liu Wenyu was sentenced to three years; Lin Yang, a student in the Water Conservancy Department, was sentenced to three years; Li Yanfang was sentenced to an unknown number of years; Li Chunyan was sentenced to an unknown number of years; Huang Kui, a student of the Precision Instrumentation Department, was sentenced to an unknown number of years; Jiang Yuxia, a student in the Water Conservancy Department, was sentenced to an unknown number of years; and Xu Zhiguang, a Ph.D. student in the Precision Instrumentation Department, was sentenced to one-and-a-half years.

Mr. Wang Weiyu, 30 years old, was in a class of 1999 Ph.D. students in the Precision Instrumentation and Machinery Department. He was suspended twice for refusing to give up Dafa practice. National Security Bureau agents abducted him in August 2002. He was sentenced to eight years in prison on April 22, 2004.

Ms. Chu Tong, 33 years old, was a lecturer at the Institute of Microelectronics at Tsinghua University. On October 27, 1999, she went to Tiananmen Square to appeal for Falun Gong and the police beat her. She was later sentenced to one-and-a-half years in prison. After her release she wrote a signed article that was published on Clearwisdom Net to expose the persecution. She went into exile to avoid arrest. In August 2002, National Security Bureau agents abducted her. On April 22, 2004, Chu Tong was sentenced to eleven years in prison, and her five-year-old son was left uncared for.

Xu Zhiguang, an outstanding student as well as an extraordinary individual, is a Ph.D. student, class of 1999. He studied in the Precision Instrumentation and Machinery Department. Since April 2002 he had been detained in brainwashing classes and detention centers several times. Around May 2003 he was sentenced to one-and-a-half years in prison and was held until his life was in danger. He was released in January 2004, before his term expired.

Fudan University

Mr. He Binggang, 28 years old, was studying towards his Master's degree at Fudan University in Shanghai. In 2000 he was forced to give up his studies. In 2001 the police arrested him again and sentenced him to three years in a labor camp.

Mr. Jiang Bin, 26 years old, Ph. D. student at Fudan University, was sentenced at the end of August 2001.

Ms. Lin Yuanxun, a student at Fudan University, escaped from the school at the beginning of 2001.

Mr. Zhang Gonghua, Master's Degree candidate at Fudan University, left the school in 2000 and went into exile.

Mr. Liu Xueyan, around 29 year-old, was a Ph.D. student at the College of Management at Fudan University. At the end of October 2000, he was arbitrarily arrested by people from the Shanghai Public Security Bureau and unlawfully imprisoned in a jail in Shanghai. In August 2001, after he had already been detained for ten months, he received a three-year prison sentence.

Chongqing University

Professor Zhang Yougao, male, 64, was a senior engineer, professor and optical electronics scientist. He was sent to the Baihelin Detention Center in Shapingba District and cruelly tortured for several months because he went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Dafa. He was subsequently arrested again and sent to the Xishanping Forced Labor Camp, where he was tortured for one year. After his term had expired, the labor camp authorities arbitrarily extended it by six months. After he was released, he was sent to a brainwashing class held by the local government, as ordered by the "610 Office."

Mr. Gu Jiushou, 64, is an engineer at Chongqing University. He was unlawfully detained and sent to forced labor because he went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Dafa.

Mrs. Wei Xingyan, 28 years old, was a third year graduate student earning a Master's degree in high voltage power transmission at Chongqing University. She was arrested on May 13, 2003. The police took her to a room in the Baihelin Detention Center and ordered two female inmates to strip off all her clothes, and then a guard raped her in front of the two inmates.

Many student practitioners at Chongqing University suffered persecution, including Yang Chengbao, Lu Zhen, Wang Zangkun, Wang Lei, Wu Jie, Mi Xiaozheng, Mei Guinan, and Zhang Zhihu. Some professors and associate professors were sent to forced labor camps or brainwashing classes.

Dalian University of Technology

Zhu Hang is an associate professor in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences. She was arrested when practicing the Falun Gong exercises in a park on August 30, 1999, and was held in the Dalian City's Yaojia Detention Center. She was later sent to a mental hospital in Dalian City, where she was force-fed with nerve-numbing drugs. As a result, she could not take care of herself.

Mr. Huang Hongqi is a Ph. D. candidate in the Mechanical Engineering Department. He was unlawfully detained in September of 1999. In December he was sentenced to three years' imprisonment in a labor camp and was expelled from school.

Mr. Jin Xin, 33, was a Ph. D. candidate in the Chemical Engineering Department. He was unlawfully detained in September of 1999. In December he was sentenced to three years of forced labor and expelled from school.

Mr. Zhang Tongbin, 28, was a post-graduate student in the Chemical Engineering Department. He was unlawfully detained twice, in September and November of 1999, respectively. Later he was expelled from school.

Mr. Ye Mingjun, 25, a student in the Civil Engineering Department, was detained in November of 1999. Later he was expelled from school for his belief in Falun Gong.

Ms. Liu Jia, 25, a student in the School of Telecommunications, was arrested and detained in 1999. Later she was expelled from school for her belief in Falun Gong. In 2001 she was sentenced to three years imprisonment in a labor camp.

Ms. Tian Songsong, 27, a student in the School of Telecommunications, was arrested in 1999 and later suspended from school for one year.

Shanghai Jiao Tong University

Yang Yining is a graduate student pursuing a Doctorate degree in the Computer Department of Shanghai's Jiao Tong University. He went to Beijing twice in 1999 to appeal for Falun Gong. The police handcuffed him and sent him back to Shanghai. After several months of detention the police sent him to the Hefei Mental Hospital and held him there for three months.

Guo Xiaojun was a teacher in the Electronics Information College of Shanghai's Jiao Tong University. In August 2000, he was illegally detained for persisting in practicing Falun Gong and distributing Falun Gong truth clarification materials, and was sentenced to five years in prison.

Qu Yanlai is a graduate student of the Energy Engineering Department of Shanghai's Jiao Tong University, class of 1995. He was arrested twice for practicing Falun Gong, and the police beat him until one of his legs was broken. He was abducted again on September 30, 2002, and was physically and mentally abused and mistreated until he was extremely weak.

Li Tao was a graduate student in the Department of Power Machinery of Shanghai's Jiao Tong University. In 2000 he was detained in Beijing for appealing for Falun Gong. After the perpetrators forcibly detained him and tried to brainwash him for half a year, Li Tao was imprisoned in a forced labor camp, as he refused to give up his belief in Dafa.

Mei Jianqi was enrolled in the Department of Machinery of Shanghai's Jiao Tong University in 1996. He was arrested in 2001 for distributing Falun Dafa truth clarification materials and was later sent to a forced labor camp.

Jilin University

Ms. Shen Jianli, 34, was a lecturer of the Department of Applied Mathematics at the Nanling Campus, Jilin University. Local police tortured her to death in April 2002. Shen Jianli's husband Zheng Weidong, a teacher in Jilin's Electronics and Information Technology College, is also a Falun Gong practitioner. Police arrested him for making Dafa truth-clarifying materials. He is still being held. Their young daughter is living with her grandmother in the countryside and they are eking out a living with the help of relatives.

Zhao Bo, a teacher at a foreign language center, was tortured to near-death and the persecutors suspended his salary.

Zeng Lingwen is in her 60s. She is a professor at Department of Physics at Jilin University. She was held at a forced labor camp for two years.

On December 10, 2003, Jilin University fired four teachers who persisted in Falun Gong practice. These four practitioners are Wang Yuejian who teaches mathematics, Feng Gan who teaches at the Mechanical Science and Engineering Institute, Meng Juanjuan who teaches at the Philosophy and Sociology Institute, and Liu Yong.

Harbin Institute of Technology

Mr. Lin Yanqing, 34 years old, is a post-doctoral research fellow at the School of Civil Engineering at Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT). Because he persisted in his belief and went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Dafa, he was arrested several times and disqualified from post-doctoral studies. Later he was sent to the Rujiang Forced Labor Camp in Fuzhou City. Lin Yanqing lost seven of his ten fingers to frostbite in January 2000 when he was escorted back from Beijing. He had to use his feet to wash his clothes at the labor camp.

Lin Yanqing is still being held at the Rujiang Forced Labor Camp, where he held a hunger strike to protest the brainwashing. His life was in danger. In February 2004, his wife and parents-in-law, all Falun Gong practitioners, were arrested and sent to a brainwashing class. His five-year-old daughter is in the care of his relatives.

Mr. Wang Dayuan, 36 years old, was a teacher at the School of Computer Science and Technology at Harbin Institute of Technology. He was arrested in November 2002 and sentenced to eight years in prison. He was beaten to death by guards at No. 1 Prison in Harbin City on April 5, 2004.

Beijing University

Ms. Yuan Lin, 48, was an administrative employee at Beijing University. She was sentenced to seven years in prison for practicing Falun Gong. In early 2002, she was held at Division 3 of the Female Prison, where she was beaten until she went deaf in one ear and was left with many scars on her body.

Zhejiang University

Mr. Pan Kaixiang, an associate professor at Zhejiang University, was sentenced to five years in prison on June 18, 2001 for practicing Falun Gong.

Tianjin University

Ren Zejun and Zhang Yuanxing made and distributed Falun Gong truth clarification VCD's. As a result, they were arrested in late 2002 and sentenced to three and four years of forced labor respectively and were held in the Shanghai Prison. Ren Zejun previously worked for the Architectural Design Institute at Tianjin University, and Zhang Yuanxing previously worked for the school library.

Wuhan University

Ms. Huang Liyu was enrolled in the Trade and Finance Section at Wuhan University. She went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Dafa on December 25, 2000 and was sentenced to one year of forced labor. She was held at the Hewan Forced Labor Camp in Wuhan City.

Mr. Hong Dongqiang majored in architecture and began studying at Wuhan University in 1998. He was arrested in March 2001 when he went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Dafa. He was sentenced to forced labor and is still being detained.