The Facts of the Persecution of Falun Gong  -- December 17, 2006

Issued by Clearwisdom Net

Content

  • Ms. Zhang Fengying Missing After Being Persecuted Relentlessly in Funing County, Qinhuangdao City, Hebei Province

  • Mr. Wei Chunping Brutally Tortured at Hubei Province's Qinduankou Prison

  • Falun Gong Practitioners Speak Out against Slanderous Accusations in Longshan District Court in Liaoyuan City, Jilin Province

  • Four Practitioners Died under Persecution in Gansu, Liaoning, Heilongjiang, and Henan Provinces

  • Police in Taiyuan, Shanxi Province Arrested 18 Falun Gong Practitioners Within One Month




  • Ms. Zhang Fengying Missing After Being Persecuted Relentlessly in Funing County, Qinhuangdao City, Hebei Province

    Ms. Zhang Fengying is a Falun Gong practitioner from Naziyu Village, Yuanko Region, Zhucaoying Town, Funing County, Qinhuangdao City, Hebei Province. Because she persevered in her practice of Falun Gong and tried to be a good person according to the principles of "Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance," she was illegally arrested, forced to go through brainwashing sessions and tortured numerous times by the authorities of Funing County. Her home was also ransacked many times. In addition, she was sentenced to one year of forced labor and has had thousands of yuan extorted from her by the authorities. Ms. Zhang's whereabouts are currently unknown, and her child and husband are left alone without her, which has brought great suffering to the family.

    On July 20, 1999, the persecution of Falun Gong began in China, and Falun Gong practitioners were arrested on a large scale throughout the country. Many Falun Gong practitioners from Qinhuangdao City were arrested. To protest the persecution, Ms. Zhang Fengying, like other Falun Gong practitioners from her city, went to the city government to ask for the immediate release of those arrested Falun Gong practitioners. The government officials told them: "We have no other choice. We have been ordered by our superiors to arrest Falun Gong practitioners."

    Ms. Zhang then, without any rest, headed directly to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong. Midway, she was intercepted by police from the police department of Qinhuangdao City. She was released only after she had been held in the Zhucaoying police station for three days.

    One night in September 1999, when Ms. Zhang was reading at home, the policemen Wang Baohe, Pan Weixing and Yang Yinlong from the Zhucaoying Police Station broke into her home and took away her Falun Gong books. They said to her: "You have already been forbidden to practice Falun Gong. Why do you insist on reading Falun Gong books?!" Then they arrested Ms. Zhang and detained her in the police station, where police officers Wang Baohe and Yang Yinlong beat her cruelly. After the beating they shackled Ms. Zhang to an iron ring in the corridor. The following day, they tried to force her to write a guarantee statement to give up Falun Gong. Zhang Fengying refused to do so, for which she was taken to the Funing County Detention Center and held for 10 days. The food in the detention center was extremely poor quality, but Ms. Zhang was forced to pay 20 "yuan" daily for it. Every day they tried to force her to read materials slandering Falun Gong, and subjected her to brainwashing sessions. During that time, some prison guards took some video footage of Ms. Zhang and several other Falun Gong practitioners. The footage was then broadcast as part of Qinhuangdao City's evening news, in which it was claimed that those Falun Gong practitioners had been "saved by the government" and had declared they would give up Falun Gong.

    After Ms. Zhang was released, she continued to be harassed constantly by police from the Zhucaoying Police Station.

    In December 1999, Zhang Fengying once again went to Beijing to appeal for justice for Falun Gong. She was arrested and taken to the Qinhuangdao city office in Beijing, where police from the Shanhaiguan City Police Department beat her cruelly. She was then taken back to Funing County by Dang Baogui, the county head of the Political and Security Section. Seizing the opportunity for personal gain, Dang Baogui took 130 yuan from Ms. Zhang and kept it for himself. She was then taken to the Funing County Detention Center, where she was held for one month. To secure her release, Ms. Zhang was forced to pay 600 yuan for food in the detention center and 3,000 yuan as a fine.

    After Ms. Zhang was released, she was monitored by policemen from the Zhucaoying Police Station. On January 23, 2000, after she had paid a visit to another Falun Gong practitioner in her village, policemen Wang Baohe, Pan Weixing and Yang Yinlong broke into and ransacked her home, and took Ms. Zhang to the local police station. They shackled her to the gate of the police station in an uncomfortable posture from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. January in northern China is very cold, and it had just snowed heavily, yet they shackled her for 12 hours, wearing only thin clothes. That night Ms. Zhang's husband went to take her home. The police slapped him in the face and shouted abusively at him: "Why didn't you keep a good watch on her, but instead let her visit other Falun Gong practitioners freely?!"

    On the morning of February 9, 2000, not long after the Chinese New Year, policemen from the Zhucaoying Police Station again arrested Ms. Zhang from her home without any legal procedure or stated reason and sent her directly to the Funing County Detention Center, where she was held for 15 days. Every day she was forced to pay 20 yuan for the food in the detention center. She was given only thin soups with little rice and drank water that had been used to wash the cooking pots. She had to sleep on the ground without anything to cover herself with for warmth. Over that period Ms. Zhang was frequently cruelly beaten and shocked with electric batons by prison guards. Two weeks later, she was transferred to another detention center in Funing County, where she was held for a further 15 days. The police said that they could release Ms. Zhang if she paid them some money. Her husband then paid more than 2,000 yuan, but the police still refused to release her.

    After 15 days in the detention center, Ms. Zhang was sentenced to one year of forced labor. She was taken to the Kaiping Labor Camp of Tangshan City, where she was forced to do heavy labor in a factory. All the while she was subjected to all kinds of tortures, including being shocked with electric batons, being slapped in the face, being hung from a tree with rope, force-feeding sessions, and the injection of unknown chemicals. Zhang Fengying was not released until 10 days after her one-year term in the labor camp finished.

    Because Ms. Zhang refused to give up her belief in Falun Gong, the Funing County police constantly went to her home to harass her. In addition, they sent more than 10 people who had turned against Falun Gong to her home to try and turn her against Falun Gong, but they failed. They then arranged to send Ms. Zhang to a brainwashing center, forcing her to leave her home to avoid further persecution. They demanded that her husband find her and bring her back.

    On the morning of March 1, 2005, Ms. Zhang was reported to the police by some people who were ignorant about the truth of Falun Gong. Nine police officers including Ru Hongxi and Song Changtai from the National Security Group of Funing County, and Pan Weixing and Miao Hui from the Zhocaoying Police Station, broke into and ransacked Ms. Zhang's home and arrested her. Her husband and son tried to stop them, and were consequently themselves arrested and taken to the Zhucaoying Police Station. They were not released until that night.

    Ms. Zhang was taken to the Shimenzai Police Station, where she was shackled and tortured on a tiger bench. Then she was taken to the Funing County Police Department. Police officer Ru Hongxi tried to extort a confession from Ms. Zhang by slapping her face and punching and kicking her until she lost consciousness. Fearing to take responsibility, the police sent her to a hospital. After regaining consciousness, Ms. Zhang was sent to the Funing County Detention Center. The prison guards frisked her and took away 500 yuan, as well as her watch. During her detention, the prison guards and 610 Office officials daily tried to extort a confession from her, as well as to obtain information about other Falun Gong practitioners. To achieve their goals, the head of the 610 Office threatened her husband and son and demanded they go to the detention center to persuade Ms. Zhang. To protest the persecution she was suffering, Ms. Zhang went on a hunger strike. More than 10 policemen carried out force-feeding. Two weeks later, she was sent to a hotel on the opposite side of the People's Hospital of Funing County for 10 days of brainwashing. The police called her husband and threatened: "If your wife does not confess, she will be sentenced to imprisonment of 5 to 7 years." The police also threatened: "Zhang Fengying's husband will have to pay for all the food and living expenses of those who watch her."

    Around March 24, the head of the Funing County 610 Office ordered police officers from the Zhucaoying Police Station to keep watching Ms. Zhang's family, saying that she had escaped when her guards were eating. Insiders said that Ms. Zhang was so feeble after many days of hunger strike that she even could not support herself to walk. How could it be possible for her to escape when she was detained upstairs?

    Early August 2006, six policemen from the National Security Group of Funing County and the Zhucaoying Police Station went to Ms. Zhang's home to search for her, further disrupting her husband's life. They wanted him to tell them the whereabouts of his wife. Her husband inquired in response: "It should have been me asking you for her. How come you have come to me now? My wife has been under your arrest for more than one year. Now she is missing and I have heard no information. Where are you hiding her away?" The police answered: "Your wife jumped from an upper floor to the ground and escaped." Her husband said: "You had so many people watching her closely, and she was in such a bad physical condition. How could she escape? Who can believe your words?" Having no words of reply, the police left.

    According to reliable information sources, the Funing authorities had issued an arrest warrant to the Zhucaoying Police Station, ordering that they immediately arrest Ms. Zhang. But where is Ms. Zhang now? According to some people with inside information, the 610 officials of Funing County had taken Ms. Zhang's case very seriously because they wanted to be appointed to higher positions through "transforming" her. So they assigned many people to keep a very close watch on her. They took turns to watch her even when they slept at night and ate during daytime. Ms. Zhang had been on hunger strike for many days, and all her money had been taken away. She had suffered so much from all kinds of torture, and her physical condition was poor. Where is she now? The police from Funing County must take responsibility for this. Ms. Zhang's family members are so terrified that they do not dare to ask the police to bring her home.



    Mr. Wei Chunping Brutally Tortured at Hubei Province's Qinduankou Prison

    Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Wei Chunping is a native of Wuhan City, Hubei Province. He was arrested and held at the First Division of Wuhan Police Department on October 2, 2001. An official surnamed Fan from the Hubei Province 610 Office held him on fabricated charges and urged policemen to beat him. Six police officers headed by Lu Xinhua encircled Mr. Wei and beat him violently.

    The police transferred Wei Chunping that same night to the Wansong Street Police Station in the Jianghan District, Wuhan. He was handcuffed and hung up by the handcuffs to a high metal frame. The tormentors whipped him with the metal buckle of a belt and burned his naked heels with cigarettes. Mr. Wei was deprived of sleep for forty consecutive hours.

    In December 2002, the Hubei Province 610 Office designated agents at the Jianghan District Court and at the Wuhan Intermediate Court to sentence Wei Chunping to five years in prison. He was then held at the Qinduankou Prison.

    In late December of 2002, guard Liu Wensheng ordered criminal inmates Wang Wei, Huang Qishun and Fang Wei to hang a bucket full of water weighing over 80 pounds by a thin plastic cord around Mr. Wei's neck. They told him not to spill any! As soon as Wei Chunping could no longer hold still and water spilled out, the evildoers beat and kicked him fiercely. They battered Mr. Wei's chest with their elbows and kicked him with the steel ends of leather boots. The beatings sometimes lasted forty hours, sometimes 17 hours without any break. The guards forced Wei Chunping to perform heavy labor on a regular basis and also subjected him to brainwashing. In addition they often forced him to stand 1-1/2 feet away from a wall and pushed his head against the wall as a punishment using various excuses, which they referred to as "digging retrospectively into the roots."

    Between April and July 2003, Wei Chunping was sent to the prison hospital for treatment of fluid accumulation in the chest. More than 800 milliliters of fluid was extracted during treatment.

    In early April 2004, guard Kuang Min, who was also the political head, together with several criminals, assigned Falun Gong practitioners to perform the most labor intensive and most filthy labor and ordered criminals to monitor them 24 hours a day. Although Mr. Wei was extremely weak by then, he was assigned to perform unbearable, intensive labor. Wei Chunping was again found to have fluid accumulation in his chest on April 27, 2004. His voice was weak; others could not even figure out what he was saying. He could get no sleep due to the excruciating pain from the illness.

    On June 1, 2004, Wei Chunping submitted a personally handwritten, detailed indictment to Kuang Min. Afterwards, he kept inquiring where the indictment went and found out Kuang had confiscated it.

    Between August 3 and Aug 27, 2004, Mr. Wei was forced to finish work tasks and "reform" tasks in an attempt to coerce him to admit he was wrong because he had refused to attend a brainwashing class.

    Kuang Min designated criminal Gao Xiang to be the personal monitor for Falun Gong practitioners on September 6, 2004. Gao took Mr. Wei to the labor field where no one was around. Without a word, he punched Mr. Wei's face brutally with his fist. Wei Chunping was immediately knocked to the ground. Gao kicked him all over his body with all his strength. When Gao was out of breath during the beating, Wei Chunping took this opportunity and struggled to run to a place where others could see. Only then did Gao stop the beating.

    Wei Chunping then rushed to the office of the 12th Squadron to file a complaint. Kuang Min had a private conversation with criminal Gao Xiang and then made up an investigation report saying, "Wei hurt himself." As a matter of fact, Wei's clothes were torn to pieces and his nose was heavily bleeding. It was obvious that someone else had beaten him.

    Wei Chunping became extremely weak. On May 13, 2005, he wrote an essay entitled, "My sufferings" on the exam report spread by the prison system's education section. The exam report was again confiscated. On the same day, at five o'clock in the afternoon, criminal Wang Yongsheng slapped Mr. Wei's face ferociously seven times.

    Due to the prolonged torture, Wei Chunping often suffered unbearable pain. He walked slowly. On June 28, 2005, criminal Ma Zhiqiang, a team head who slater committed suicide during the 2006 Chinese New Year, beat and kicked Mr. Wei, using the excuse that he moved around too slowly. Ma punched his back, abdomen and chest harshly. Mr Wei was beaten so severely that he lay on the floor, unable to move. Other criminals who came to see what was going on dragged Ma aside and stopped him. Wei Chunping later reported the beating to cadres Cai Hong and Zhang Qinhua and requested to be sent to a hospital for treatment. The two cadres immediately agreed, but they tried their best to delay an examination and treatment for Mr. Wei.

    Between October 1 and October 27, 2006, Wei Chunping was sent to the 610 Office brainwashing center, as ordered by an official surnamed Fan from the 610 Office.


    Falun Gong Practitioners Speak Out against Slanderous Accusations in Longshan District Court in Liaoyuan City, Jilin Province

    At 8:10 a.m., on December 6, 2006, the Longshan District Court of Liaoyuan City, Jilin Province put nine Falun Gong practitioners, including Ms. Xiang Lijie (wife of a Taiwan resident), Mr. Zhao Yan, Mr. Liu Xingquan, Mr. Zhang Shunhong (younger brother of tortured-to-death Mr. Zhang Shunlong), Ms. Liu Xiangzhuo, and others on trial. These nine practitioners resisted the slanderous accusations with righteous thoughts. After more than three hours, the Court session concluded without resolution.

    The Court notified each Falun Gong practitioner that they could have two family members sit in the Court, with IDs but not any cell phones. More than ten family members witnessed the whole process. Ms. Xiang Lijie was the first one to step forward. She was obviously tortured until she was very weak. She took out prepared statements when the defense session started, but was rudely interrupted. Another Falun Gong practitioner solemnly pointed out, "Every one has the right to defend themselves!"

    Ms. Xiang Lijie kept very strong righteous thoughts the whole time, and she did not accept any slander under this illegal persecution.

    The second person to step forward was Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Zhao Yan from Dongfeng County. After being detained for nearly eight months, this young man's weight had gone from 200 pounds to 150 pounds. His face was very sallow. He was asked, "Do you admit to all the crimes you have committed?"

    He answered, "No, cultivating Falun Dafa is an innocent act!" The Judge was very angry and ordered, "Record what he says!"

    The third practitioner was a gentleman that was tortured so severely that he had to be helped by two people to stand up.



    Four Falun Gong Practitioners Died under Persecution in Gansu, Liaoning, Heilongjiang, and Henan Provinces

    Mr. Liu Baiyuan Died after Being Tortured in Ping'antai Labor Camp

    Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Liu Baiyuan, 48, lived in Caotan Village, Pengyuan Township, Qingyang City, Gansu Province. In October 2001, he was sentenced to two years of forced labor just because he was handing out truth clarifying materials. He was transferred to the Ping'antai Labor Camp in January 2002, where he was cruelly tortured, punched, kicked, and forced to do heavy labor until his life was in danger. Mr. Liu was released on bail for medical treatment at the end of February 2002, and his children picked him up. A little over one month after he returned home, he died on April 8, 2002.

    Mr. Ren Guangxin Beaten to Death by Local Policemen

    Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Ren Guangxin, 48, lived in Xiaoshi Town, Benxi County, Benxi City, Liaoning Province. He used to work for the local railroad company. In December 2003, Mr. Ren was arrested in Tongyuanpu Town, Fengcheng City, Liaoning Province. Because he refused to cooperate with the evil, he was beaten to death by local policemen. His family members saw that his body was covered with bruises and his chest was especially black. It was tragic to see. Due to the information blockade, further details are yet to be investigated.

    Mr. Qiu Wenbin Died after Being Tortured in Tailai Prison

    Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Qiu Wenbin, 40, lived in Qiqihar City, Heilongjiang Province. He started cultivating Falun Gong in 1994. In 2000, Mr. Qiu was arrested and cruelly tortured by policemen from the Anshun Station, and he was sent for one year of forced labor in the Shuanghe Labor Camp. In 2003, Qiu Wenbin was sentenced to four years in prison because he was producing truth-clarifying material. He was tortured in the Tailai Prison in Qiqihar City until he was in critical condition. The prison administration notified his family to pick him up. Mr. Qiu died in August 2006.

    Mr. Guo Shengxun Died under Persecution in Henan Province

    Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Guo Shengxun, 67, used to be an employee of the Xinxiang City Railroad Construction Company in Henan Province. He began practicing Falun Gong in 1996. In December 1999, Mr. Guo was detained in the Xinxiang City Detention Center for two days because he went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong. Afterwards, he was coughing heavily, and he died after his family sent him to the hospital.



    Police in Taiyuan, Shanxi Province Arrested 18 Falun Gong Practitioners Within One Month

    Since October 30, police in Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province have arrested eighteen Falun Gong practitioners, including Dong Ailing, Wen Shuoyan, He Lifang, Shi Guihua, Li Yukun, Li Caiyun, Duan Fengqin, Shi junior, Zhang Ruilian, and Zhang Yan. The practitioners are all "illegally imprisoned" at the Taiyuan City Detention Center.

    Practitioner Ms. Li Yukun, over 40, from Taiyuan City, lived at Taoyuan Road. On Saturday, November 25, at 7:00 a.m., four people from the National Security Group of the Police Department in the Xinghualing District of Taiyuan City took her from her home, claiming that she was accused of distributing copies of the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party. On November 26, Ms. Li was illegally imprisoned in Taiyuan City Detention Center.

    On November 14, 2006, officers from the Sanqiao Police Station in the Xinghualing District arrested three practitioners, including He Lifang and Shi Guihua; the details require further investigation. Among the instigators is Deputy Chief Shang Hua.

    On November 14, 2006, Li Caiyun, Duan Fengqin, Shi junior and Zhang Ruilian were arrested by the municipal police department in coordination with the Wanbailin and Ximing Police Stations. One of the participants in the arrests is policewomen Lu Hongyan from Ximing.

    From October 31 to November 3, 2006, four practitioners, including Dong Ailing and Wen Shuoyan, were arrested by officers from the Sanqiao Police Station in the Xinghualing District and imprisoned at the Taiyuan City Detention Center.

    Approximately twelve people from the 610 Office of the Wanbailin Police Department in Taiyuan City, the Shanxi Province Detention Center and the Ximing Police Station intruded into practitioner Zhang Yan's home at about 10:00 a.m. on November 24, 2006. Practitioner Li Caiyun from the Xishan District, Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province was arrested the week before. (Bao Hongbin, the chief of the Political Security Section who committed all kinds of evil, was awarded a second class merit citation by the Chinese Communist Party for persecuting Falun Gong.) They took Zhang Yan away at 11:00 a.m. and confiscated her property. They took all her Falun Gong books and materials, compact discs, a computer, a printer and other items from her home, as well as the key to another Falun Gong materials production site which they later sealed up.

    The police had tracked Zhang Yan for nearly three months before this arrest. The person in charge of this operation dispatched the so-called "supervising group," and because of their concentrated effort, the Xinghualing District police were awarded 100,000 yuan. Police from other cities have also participated, with those in the Wanbailin area being the main players.