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6.3 Unfair Trials and Sentences of Falun Gong Practitioners
6.3.1 Key contact person of Falun Gong in Dalian secretly sentenced to 9 years in jail
Message received: February 11, 2000
Victim: Gao Qiuju, female
Location of incident: Beijing, China
Description:
The Hong Kong Information Center for Human Rights and Democratic Movement reported that Gao Qiuju, a key contact person of Falun Gong in city, was recently sentenced to 9 years in prison by the Court of Xigang district of Dalian. The center said that the authorities sentenced Gao Qiuju on February 1, while her family did not receive the notice of the sentence until February 10.
The 59-year-old Gao Qiuju was the president of a foreign trade company. She became the key contact person of Falun Gong in Dalian in 1994. She was arrested on July 24 1999 under the accusation of “organizing April 25 event”, “giving the government’s secret documents on cracking down Falun Gong to Wang Zhiwen in Beijing,” etc.
The center also disclosed that the four major contact people who were sentenced on December 26 of last year, Li Chang, Wang Zhiwen and Ji Liewu are being detained in the No. 1 Prison of Beijing, and Yao Jie is being detained in the Beijing Women Prison.
6.3.2 Practitioners in Shijiazhuang were sentenced
Message received: February 8, 2000
Victims:
1. Liang Yening
2. Duan Rongxin
Location of incident: Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province, China
Description:
According to sources, Liang Yening and Duan Rongxin were given sentences of 6 and 8 years in jail respectively on February 1, 2000.
6.3.3 Practitioners in Chengdu were sentenced before the Chinese new year
Message received: February 8, 2000
Victims:
1. Wang Xiaosong
2. Li Yan
3. Li Zhijie
4. Luo Minpu
5. Liu Tao
6. Chen Minyong
7. Tao Liu and some other Falun Gong practitioners
Location of incident: Chengdu, Sichuan Province
Description:
Before the Chinese New Year, some practitioners in Chengdu were sentenced. Wang Xiaosong was given a sentence of 7 years in jail. Li Yan, Li Zhijie and some other practitioners were sent to labor camps.
The arrest and sentence of Wang Xiaosong made a stir in his former workplace, the Dayi County education department. His supervisors and colleagues all went to the department of public security to question the police officers why such a well-known good person was arrested and sentenced. In the New Year’s celebration of his workplace, everyone felt sad when talking about his sufferings.
Currently, practitioners who are waiting for sentence in the Lianhua Village detention center of Chengdu are from all walks of life. There are workers, peasants, college students, professors, school president, senior engineers and retired officials like Cao Anrong and others.
In addition, graduate students of Sichuan University, Luo Minpu and Liu Tao, graduate student of Sichuan Industrial College, Chen Minyong, were transferred to Linxia Street Jail of Chengdu, waiting for severe sentence. They are detained together with murderers, drug dealers and other criminals. Jiang Yunhong was also transferred to the city jail.
To prevent practitioners from going to Beijing to appeal and exchange experience with each other, the “transformation class” held by the Chengdu public security department was still in operation on the Chinese New Year’s Day. Many enterprises stated clearly that practitioners could not take vacation during the New Year’s Day.
6.3.4 China sentenced practitioners to 2 years in jail because they exchanged experiences with others
Message received: February 5, 2000
Victims:
1. Jiang Liying, female
2. Chen Yang
3. Cao Zhiming
Location of incident: Changsha, Hunan Province
Description:
Chen Yang, Cao Zhiming and Jiang Liying were arrested in Beijing when they were exchanging experiences with other practitioner. Jiang Liying was secretly given a sentence of 2 years of forced labor. Chen Yang and Cao were given a sentence of 2 years in jail.
6.3.5 A professor in Sichuan University was sentenced
Message received: February 3, 2000 [Minghui News]
Victim: Hong Jirong, a professor of Sichuan University
Location of incident: Sichuan Province, China
Description:
Falun Gong practitioner, Hong Jirong, who was a professor of Sichuan University, was sentenced with 3 years of forced labor “education”, and was expelled from the Party shortly afterwards.
6.3.6 A Beijing court sentenced two sisters to six and seven years in prison
Message received: February 1, 2000 from AP, AFP
Victims:
1. Li Xiaobing, female
2. Li Xiaomei, female
and 30 other Falun Gong practitioners in Beijing
Location of incident: Beijing
Description:
BEIJING (AP) -- A Beijing court has sentenced two sisters who helped lead the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement to six and seven years in prison and 30 other members who held a protest to terms of up to two years, a rights group reported today. Dongcheng District Court in central Beijing convicted the 32 people in one-day trials in separate courtrooms on Friday, the Hong Kong-based Information Center of Human Rights and Democratic Movement in China said, citing relatives of the defendants. China’s entirely government-controlled news media did not report the trials. The trials were the capital’s biggest since four leading organizers of Falun Gong were sentenced to terms of up to 18 years on December 26.
The sisters ran a shop in Beijing that was the main
place in the capital for buying Falun Gong books, tapes
and other materials, and prosecutors claimed it had sold
1.8 million books, the center said. It added that they were
convicted of running an illegal business. Li Xiaobing got
six years in prison and her younger sister received seven
years.
The other 30 people, from Beijing and Jinzhou, a city in northeastern China’s Liaoning Province, were tried on the same day in a separate courtroom and convicted of using an evil cult to undermine the law, the group said. They were sentenced to terms ranging from four months to two years for unfurling a banner in protest in Tiananmen Square.
(AFP): February 1, 2000 -- A Hong Kong Information Center for Human Rights said that about 300 practitioners would be secretly sentenced before the Chinese New Year (February 5)
6.3.7 A practitioner from Zhejiang Province detained in the Shiliping labor camp
Message received: January 30, 2000
Victim: Xu Luhai
Location of incident: Shiliping labor camp of Longyou, Zhejiang Province
Description:
Practitioner from the Wenling of Zhejiang Province, Xu Luhai, is being detained in the Shiliping labor camp of Longyou for “extremely harsh” forced labor education.
6.3.8 The trial of 22 practitioners on January 28
Victims:
1. Li Xiaobin
2. Li Xiaomei
3. Chu Tong
4. Li Ling
5. Yao Hong
and other Falun Gong practitioners
Location of incident: Beijing, China
Description:
On January 28, the People’s Court of the Dongcheng District put 22 practitioners on trial in 3 different halls.
Li Xiaobin and Li Xiaomei, who were the former owners of the Ditan Cultural Bookstore, were tried in the first hall. Five practitioners who had unfurled banners of Falun Gong in front of the national flag were tried in the second hall. Another 15 practitioners were put on trial in the third hall.
On October 27 1999, the day before the People’s Daily published an article defaming Falun Gong as an “evil cult”, 17 practitioners climbed up the rostrum of Tiananmen and unfurled banners of Falun Gong. 2 of them were escorted back to their hometowns waiting for sentence. The other 15 practitioners were put on trial in Beijing. Among these 15 practitioners, 2 of them pleaded “guilty” due to the overwhelming pressures from the government. But the other 13 practitioners all pleaded innocent righteously and made strong statements to defend Falun Gong. These 17 practitioners did not know each other before. They decided on their action on the morning of October 27. During the whole trial, these 13 practitioners were all at ease.
During the detention, Tong Chu had been on hunger strike for 9 days to defend her right of studying and practicing Falun Gong. Li Ling and Yao Hong were once handcuffed and hung up on the door. Yao Hong lost her consciousness very soon. Then Yao Hong fell down to the ground. All her cellmates cried and rushed over to help her.
During the defense, a practitioner said, “I had suffered life-threatening illness when I was only 30 years old. It was Falun Gong that saved me. It was Falun Gong that taught me how to become a good person: it changed a selfish me to an unselfish person...” The prosecutors, the judge, the lawyers, and people auditing the trial were all moved.
These 15 practitioners were sentenced to four months to 2 years in jail. 18 practitioners from Beijing got arrested for trying to audit the trial.
6.3.9 A practitioner sentenced to one year in labor camps for joining the group practice
Message received: January 28, 2000
Victim: Wang Ruirong, female
Location of incident: Chaoyang District, Beijing
Description:
Practitioner from Anhuili of Chaoyang District of Beijing, Wang Ruirong, was sentenced to one year of forced labor “education” for joining the group practice of Falun Gong exercises at Asian Sports Village on December 12. Since then, she has been detained in the Chaoyang District detention center. During her detention, she has been transferred from one cell to another many times, and has been beaten up by the other inmates.
6.3.10 China begins key Falun Gong trial, security tight
Message received: January 26, 2000 [Reuters]
Description:
Below are the pieces of media report about the trial of four contact persons on January 26, 1999.
Chinese police on Sunday threw a security blanket around a Beijing court and a rights group said four lead-ers of China’s banned spiritual movement Falun Gong were on trial inside.
Officials could not be reached for comment and telephones in the Beijing Intermediate People’s Court were left unanswered, while police stopped and checked the identities of passers-by.
The Hong Kong-based Information Center of Human Rights and Democratic Movement in China said four Communist Party members -- Li Chang, Wang Zhiwen, Ji Liewu and Yao Jie -- were being tried on charges of “using a cult to break the law”.
Li, Wang, Ji and Yao on trial
The center said the trial had been postponed twice, apparently due to international pressure. At least 20 Falun Gong adherents were rounded up outside the court earlier this month as they showed support for the defendants, it added. The center said three of the four had already been tried behind closed doors on charges of stealing and leaking state secrets, which could carry life sentences.
Last month, during the first Falun Gong convictions, a court on Hainan Island jailed four of the movement’s leaders for up to 12 years for “using a cult to violate the law.”
No firm figures are available but a cabinet spokesman said by November 22 at least 150 Falun Gong members had been arrested or were being sought on charges ranging from disturbing social order to stealing secrets.
Hundreds have been sent to labor camps to undergo “‘re-education” -- punishment which requires no court hearing -- and rights groups say at least six adherents have died in police custody.
6.3.11 A major organizer of the Falun Gong news release in Beijing sentenced to 12 years in jail.
Message received: January 25, 2000
Victim: Jiang Zhaohui from Fujian Province
Location of incident: Beijing
Description:
It was said that Mr. Jiang Zhaohui, the major organizer of the Falun Gong news release in Beijing (held on the same day as the Chinese communist regime slanderously defamed Falun Gong as a cult) and the 1999 Guangzhou Falun Gong experience sharing conference, was sentenced to 12 years in jail.
Report from AP (Shanghai, China): January 24, 2000
Falun Gong leader reportedly told he couldn’t plead innocent.
A leader of the banned Falun Gong spiritual group went on trial Monday after the court prevented him from denying charges of cult activity, a human rights group said.
Li Jianhui’s trial in Futian District Court in the southern city of Shenzhen ended after 2 hours, but no verdict was announced, the Hong Kong-based Information Center of Human Rights and Democratic Movement in China said.
The Chinese police detained nine Hong Kong journalists who tried to cover the trial of Mr. Li. The Information Center says about 5,000 Falun Gong members have been sent to labor camps without being tried and about 300 others face trial. In December, four members were sentenced to up to 18 years in prison.
Original report can be found at:
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/ap20000124867.html
6.3.12 Air Force General sentenced 17 years in prison because of practicing Falun Gong
Message received: January 13, 2000
Victim: Yu Changxin, 74 years of age, Professor, Chinese Air Force General, the China Institute of Air Command, Beijing
Location of incident: Beijing
Description:
According to reliable sources, Falun Gong practitioner, Professor Yu Changxin of the China Institute of Air Command was secretly given a sentence of 17 years in prison last Thursday by the Air Military Court under the accusation of “supporting Falun Gong”.
It was reported that 74-year-old Yu Changxin is an important military official with high authority who has performed outstanding service to the air force. His research has tremendously reduced the occurrence of air accidents.
Yu Changxin’s sentence is one of the heaviest since the Communist Party outlawed Falun Gong last summer and follows an 18-year sentence meted out by a Beijing civil court last month to Falun Gong practitioner Li Chang. He has already appealed to the Advanced Military Court of People’s Liberation Army.
6.3.13 The Court in Shijiazhuang put Ms. Liang Yening on a show trial
Message received: January 12, 2000
Victim: Liang Yening, female
Location of incident: Shijiazhuang, HeBei Province
Description:
The Court of Changan District, Shijiazhuang, put Falun Gong practitioner, Ms. Liang Yening, on a show trial. Although a poster outside the Court claimed that people from all walks of life were “welcome” to attend the trial, many practitioners had received a notice from their supervisors that they were not allowed to take leave to attend the trial. The police dispelled more than 50 people who attempted to attend the trial to 20 meters away from the Court. The show-trial lasted for only one hour and half. Liang Yening had been detained for more than 3 months before she was put on the show-trial.
6.3.14 The contact person of Falun Gong in Wuhan sentenced to eight years in prison.
Message received: January 10, 2000
Victims:
1. Xu Xianglan, female, chief Falun Gong contact person in Wuhan
2. Wang Hansheng, Ms. Xu’s husband
Location of incident: Wuhan, Hubei Province
Description:
The Wuhan No. 1 Intermediate People’s Court sentenced Xu Xianglan, the chief contact person of Falun Gong in Wuhan, Hubei Province, and her husband, Wang Hansheng, to eight years and six years in prison respectively on Thursday.
The court was unable to find evidence to support accusations in state news media that Falun Gong founder, Mr. Li Hongzhi, shared huge profits made by the couple’s sales of Falun Gong books and photos. It said the couple had not yet been able to discuss an appeal with their lawyer.
6.3.15 A government official was sentenced four years in jail
Message received: January 5, 2000
Victim: Xu Xinmu, a deputy director at Shijiazhuang’s personnel division in central China
Location of incident: Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province
Description:
The Chinese communist regime has sentenced Mr. Xu to four years in jail for leaking a speech by the general secretary of the Communist Party Jiang Zemin on persecuting Falun Gong, a Hong Kong-based human rights group said on Tuesday. By “leaking” that speech, Mr. Xu exposed the conspiracy of the communist party against tens of millions of Chinese people.
6.3.16 China sentenced an assistant professor at Xinxiang Medical College to four years in prison
Message received: December 26, 1999
Victim: Li Fujun
Location of incident: Henan Province
Description:
Li Fujun was an assistant professor at Xinxiang Medical College in central Henan Province. The Chinese communist regime has sentenced Mr. Li to four years in prison, a Hong Kong-based rights watchdog said on Monday. The center said Li Fujun had been arrested in October, and that the court accused him of posting an article on the Internet on how Falun Gong could cure illness.
6.3.17 Falun Gong leaders jailed for up to 18 years
Message received: December 26, 1999 [Reuters]
Victims:
1. Wang Zhiwen
2. Li Chang
3. Ji Liewu
4. Yao Jie
Location of incident: Beijing
Description:
BEIJING (Reuters) -- A Chinese court sentenced four leaders of the banned spiritual movement Falun Gong to up to 18 years in prison Sunday on charges ranging from stealing state secrets to causing deaths. Police threw a security blanket around the Intermediate People’s Court for the one-day trial in western Beijing, and the defendants now have 10 days to appeal.
The court sentenced Li Chang, 59, a former deputy director of the Public Security Ministry, to 18 years in prison for illegally obtaining state secrets and using a cult to undermine the implementation of the law and cause human deaths, Xinhua said. The court also sentenced Wang Zhiwen, 50, a former Railways Ministry official, and Ji Liewu, 36, a former manager of a state-owned non-ferrous metals company in Hong Kong, to 16 and 12 years in prison respectively, Xinhua said. Yao Jie, a 40-year-old woman who worked at a real estate firm, received a seven-year prison sentence, it said.
All four are members of the Communist Party, the Hong Kong-based Information Center of Human Rights and Democratic Movement in China said. The center said the trial had been postponed twice, apparently due to international pressure. U.S. concerns over religious freedom in China have recently focused on Beijing’s harsh crackdown on the movement.
At least 20 Falun Gong adherents were rounded up outside the court earlier this month as they showed support for the defendants, the center said. It was not immediately known if any of the passers-by questioned by police outside the court Sunday were practitioners of Falun Gong, which claims a global membership of more than 100 million.
6.3.18 Stealthy trial sentences four Falun Gong practitioners to avoid international scrutiny
Message received: December 27, 1999 [AFP]
Victims:
1. Li Chang
2. Wang Zhiwen
3. Ji Liewu
4. Yao Jie
Location of incident: Beijing
Description:
As reported by AFP, December 26, a Falun Gong spokeswoman in New York said the four were punished “for exercising their Constitutional right to freedom of belief, freedom of association, and freedom of assembly, because there was no criminal wrongdoing found against them.” The spokeswoman, Gail Rachlin, said in a statement issued Sunday that the defendants were not given outside legal representation and were allowed to have only one family member each present at the trial.
“This show-trial hastily took place without any announcement in advance and only one day after Christmas, when Western media was unavailable for it,” Rachlin said. The trial had been delayed beyond its originally scheduled December 1 opening. Its occurrence Sunday came just 3 days after the United States imposed symbolic sanctions on China and four other countries for failing to respect religious freedoms.
BBC News, December 26 reported Police guarded the courtroom building to prevent protests, while other officers questioned passers-by outside the Beijing court. Relatives of the defendants were also detained ahead of the court hearing according to a Falun Gong member. Police told foreign reporters at the courthouse that their presence was a violation of regulations controlling newsgathering and ordered them to leave.
Statement on the Show Trial against Falun Gong Practitioners
Gail Rachlin and Zhang Erping, Falun Dafa (Falun Gong) Spokespersons, delivered this statement in response to the show trial.
The show-trial held on December 26, 1999, has made a mockery of the Chinese government, one that is trying to paint itself as a regime ruled by law. This show-trial took place secretly without outside legal representation for the four innocent Falun Gong practitioners. Only one family member for each accused Falun Gong practitioner was allowed to be present. There was no open media coverage, and no specifics were given on the groundless charges. The Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People’s Court issued a court rule on June 10, 1998, that anyone over 18 years old can witness a court proceeding. But why should this court violate its own rule by holding the trial secretly? What does the Chinese government have to hide from the public? The show-trial hastily took place without any advanced notice and only one-day after the Christmas holidays when the Western media was unavailable. Ironically, these four innocent Falun Gong practitioners were punished (from 7 up to 18 years in prison) for exercising their Constitutional right to freedom of belief, freedom of association, and freedom of assembly, because there was no criminal wrongdoing found against them. In actuality, this show-trial has demonstrated clearly the Chinese government’s unwillingness to respect its own Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, its disregard for the will of its own citizens, and its fear to let the public know the truth. Such cowardly conduct reminds the world of the grim time of the “Cultural Revolution” and that, in this day and age, there is no rule of law for spiritual freedom in China. We call on the international community to speak out against the Chinese government’s gross violations of international laws and human rights.
Falun Gong is a peaceful and traditional spiritual practice based upon the universal virtues of “Truth, Compassion, and Tolerance.” As a nonpolitical practice, it teaches good moral values and has enabled tens of millions of practitioners in China, and around the world, to improve health and attain spiritual growth. In the interests of the state, the citizens of the People’ s Republic of China, and their leaders, we hope that the Chinese government will stop persecuting Falun Gong practitioners and engage in direct dialogue with us to resolve the issue peacefully.
6.3.19 Practitioners tortured for attending the trial
Message received: December 26, 1999
Victims: Cheng Fengrong, and four other Practitioners
Location of incident: Beijing
Description:
Five practitioners were arrested because they had attempted to attend the trial of the former four major contact people of Falun Gong on December 26. 2 practitioners were detained in the 3rd cell of Nihe detention center of Shunyi County of Beijing.
Cheng Fengrong, 42 years old, was one of them. Police slapped Cheng while handcuffing her to a tree. She was later brutally beaten up by police using a broom until the broom was broken into 2 pieces. Later on she was forced to stand on the snow barefooted. She was handcuffed to the tree and forced to half squat down. She would be punched and kicked if she could not stand firm. Police also poured 2 basins of cold water on her back with the cold water frozen into ice under her feet. Even now, bruises are still clearly visible on her legs. Some other fellow practitioners who had attempted to attend the trial together with her also suffered physical tortures of various degrees.
Another 52-year-old practitioner showed us the bruises due to police torture. She told us that a police officer had used keys to scratch back and forth on the bridge of her nose. The bruises on her face were very obvious when she was sent to the detention center.
In detention center, one female practitioner went on hunger strike, police fed her with medicines, salt water and food. The male criminals pushed her down on the ground and plugged a pipe in her nose, which made her nose bleed for half a day. Later she was put in shackles and nailed to the hardwood bed.
6.3.20 An Inside Story: On the trial of “Publishing Falun Gong Materials” in Wuhan, China
Message received: December 26, 1999
Victims: Lu Anqiu and other 20 practitioners
Location of incident: Xishui, Guizhou Province
Description:
The trial of those involved in publishing Falun Gong materials finally began behind a veil. The whole process is a drama. The script was finished with the cooperation of the trial attendees, the prosecutor, and the security bureau was under supervision of an official of the central government. From prosecution to the trial at the court, from collecting evidence to lawyers, as to what each should say and what should be said, all were made up beforehand and approved. Since the case involved too many people, to avoid catching people’s attention and leaking out the secrets, audience was limited. It was called a “small-scale trial”. Journalists like us were not invited. Only news agencies like CCTV and Xinhua news agency would be invited because they could read the mind of the authorities and would know how to “edit”.
I am a journalist. I paged for a friend who works in the Court, and asked him what was happening. He said the case of publishing Falun Gong materials would be tried. I asked him whether he could let me in to witness the case. He said he could not because it was not an open trial. He asked me to leave quickly and said there were many policemen in plain clothes around and everything would be videotaped. I went over there. I saw a man scolding an old man loudly, and the old man was begging for something with tears. I knew the man was a plain-clothed policeman. When the policeman left, I heard a vendor saying that they were putting up a show. He saw the police put up the notice of an “open trial” but at the same time they imposed the curfew. He also said that most people on the street were plain-clothed policemen and he saw them greeting one another, and many came down from those cars. He said he could not do any business that day. I wished to hear more but was afraid of getting into trouble, so I only listened quietly in the crowd. I found that most people were not Falun Gong practitioners but relatives of defendants. They were waiting there hoping to have a glimpse of their relatives whom they had not seen since they had been arrested. The accused was not taken out until the afternoon. As I discovered that many plain-clothed policemen had left, I paged for my friend in the court again and was told that all the accused had been taken away. No verdict was pronounced.
6.3.21 China prevented practitioners from auditing the trial of Falun Gong contact people.
Message received: December 25, 1999
Victims: Beijing Falun Gong practitioners
Location of incident: Beijing
Description:
Beijing practitioners were prevented from attending the trial of four major Falun Gong contact people. Today many practitioners received a notice from the police station that there will be a trial next day and they should not go to the Court to audit.
Some practitioners were ordered to stay at home; some practitioners were ordered to watch TV report of the trial; some practitioners were ordered to go to the police station to report before 9:00am tomorrow morning.
6.3.22 “Auditing” was changed to “detention”
Message received: December 24, 1999
Victims: 7 Falun Gong practitioners
Location of incident: Beijing
Description:
“Attendees” became “detainees”
On December 2, local police informed seven practitioners in Beijing that there would be a trial for the four major contact people of Falun Gong on the next day. The police asked whether they would go there to be audience. If they would, the police would offer them a ride. These practitioners answered yes. The next day, the police indeed came to pick them up. But instead of sending them to the court, the police took them to the police station. Later these 7 practitioners were detained. So far, only one has been released.
Practitioners were ordered not to attend the show-trial on December 26. Today, my supervisor informed me that I should not go to audit the trial of four major contact people of Falun Gong on December 26.
6.3.23 Beijing trial postponed, attendants arrested
Message received: December 4, 1999
Victims:
1. Wang Zhiwen
2. Li Chang
3. Ji Liewu
4. Yao Jie
Location of incident: Beijing, China
Description:
On the afternoon of December 2nd, the attorneys of the defendants Wang Zhiwen, Li Chang, Ji Liewu and Yao Jie were informed that the trial scheduled on December 3rd was postponed.
Before December 2nd, some policemen talked with some practitioners that there would be a trial and asked them whether they would like to attend the trial. On the night of December 2nd, many practitioners were taken to the police station and were not allowed to go out. On December 3, 1999, many practitioners went to the People’s Court. Some journalists might have also gone there. Many police vans parked near the First Intermediate People’s Court. They arrested all practitioners who went there.
6.3.24 Falun Gong gathering delays trial
Message received: December 4, 1999 [Agence France Presse]
Location of incident: Beijing, China
Description:
A trial of Beijing leaders of the Falun Gong was postponed for the second time yesterday.
193
“At least 300 of us were there, but they said that the trial wouldn’t be held today,” said Falun Gong practitioner Zhang Lingling. “They brought in a bus and forced many people on to it.” It was the second time the authorities had postponed the trial, which was originally scheduled to begin on Wednesday.
Defense lawyers were not sure when their trial would be rescheduled. Cases involving state secrets are generally held behind closed doors. At least 3 of the accused were thought to be former government officials or lead-ers of state-owned enterprises.
6.3.25 The court put Gu Zhiyi, a retired senior lecturer of Tax School on show trial
Message received: November 24, 1999
Victim: Gu Zhiyi, 63 years of age, female, a retired senior lecturer of Tax School of Chongqing
Location of incident: Chongqing, Sichuan Province
Description:
Gu Zhiyi, a Falun Gong contact person in her 60s in Chongqing, was arrested on July 19th. In the jail, she endured 24 types of inhumane tortures, including the “Tiger Stool” (lash thighs on a bench and then bent legs to the opposite direction by adding bricks under the heels), piercing through fingers with sharp bamboo sticks, electric chair, and electric shocks by connecting the head and bottom, etc. When Gu Zhiyi was asked whether she would continue to practice Falun Gong, she answered “Yes” firmly all the time. Gu is still in custody.
The following is provided by Chongqing Falun Gong practitioners.
From 9:00am to 8:00pm of November 21, 1999, the Court of Yuzhong District in Chongqing opened a trial for Gu Zhiyi. During the whole trial, Gu Zhiyi appeared calm and kind, while the prosecutor and the judge often appeared angry and emotional. It was often the case that after the prosecutor finished his statements, the judge would ask Gu, “Gu Zhiyi, Did you hear that?” Gu replied, “Yes, I did.” The judge asked again, “Do you have any different opinion?” Gu Said, “Yes, I do.” But before Gu could finish her statement, the judge would interrupt her, “Gu Zhiyi, you cannot repeat what you have said.” During the whole course of trial, the defendant was repeatedly interrupted. He sighed, “two sides should be equal in the court. But this is not the case. We do not have the equal opportunity to speak. Why don’t they just go ahead and sentence her?”
6.3.26 Four Falun Gong contact persons sentenced up to 12 years in prison
Message received: November 13, 1999 [Agence France Presse]
Victims:
1. Song Yuesheng, Haikou, Hainan Province
2. Chen Yuan, Haikou, Hainan Province
3. Jiang Shilong, Haikou, Hainan Province
4. Liang Yulin, Haikou, Hainan Province
Location of incident: Haikou, Hainan Province
Description:
BEIJING, Nov 13, 1999 (Agence France Presse)
At least 300 members of the banned Falun Gong group are awaiting trial in China, while up to 1,000 are expected to be sent without trial for “education through labor” in camps, a Hong Kong-based rights group said Saturday.
China’s State Council announced earlier this week that 111 followers of the group had been formally arrested as of November four. On Saturday, the center said scores of others had been arrested since. Meanwhile, the center estimated that more than 1,000 members of the group were locked up in some 300 Chinese “education through labor” camps, with at least 150 in an all women camp in Changchun, in the northern Province of Jilin, and some 50 in a camp in Tangshan, Hebei Province. China’s state press also reported fully on Saturday on the trial of the Haikou four Falun Gong practitioners, who were said to have organized an illegal exercise session of 183 local Falun Gong members in a Haikou park on August 8, two weeks after the central government banned the group.
The court sentenced Song Yuesheng to 12 years, Chen Yuan to seven years, Jiang Shilong to 3 years and Liang Yulin to 2 years on additional evidence that the four traveled around China and “exchanged experiences” with other Falun Gong practitioners, the leading People’s Daily newspaper said.
The rights group estimated that hundreds of Falun Gong practitioners throughout China face sentencing and that more than 1,000 have been sentenced so far.
6.3.27 China jails first group of Falun Gong contact people
Message received: November 12, 1999 from Reuters
Victims:
1. Song Yuesheng
2. Jiang Shilong
3. Liang Yulin. female
4. Chen Yuan
Location of incident: Haikou, Hainan Province
Description:
Reuters (November 12, 1999)
BEIJING, Nov 12 (Reuters) - China jailed four lead-ers of the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement for up to 12 years on Friday in the first known trial for practitioners of what the Communist government has decreed an “evil cult.”
The Intermediate People’s Court in Haikou, capital of the southern island Province of Hainan, sentenced Song Yuesheng to 12 years in prison after a seven-hour trial, a court official said. Chen Yuan was jailed for seven years on similar charges of using a cult to violate the laws, Xinhua said. The court showed leniency to Jiang Shilong, who received 3 years for showing sincere remorse, it said.
The fourth, Liang Yulin, a woman, “admitted guilt with a good attitude” and was given a 2-year jail term, it added.
The sentences were the first meted out by a Chinese court since the government banned Falun Gong in July and launched a crackdown. The movement claims 100 million members worldwide.
MORE FACE TRIALS
More than 100 Falun Gong members have been formally arrested in a nationwide crackdown and are expected to face trial. Many more are under various forms of administrative detention, like labor camps, which are not subject to the judicial process.
6.3.28 China has charged a student with spreading information on the Falun Gong on the Internet
Message received: November 8, 1999 [Reuters]
Victim: Zhang Ji, a student at Qiqihar University in northeast China
Location of incident: Heilongjiang Province
Description:
Reuters (Nov 8, 1999)
China has charged a student with spreading information on the outlawed Falun Gong movement on the Internet, a Hong Kong-based human rights group said Monday.
The Information Center of Human Rights & Democratic Movement in China said the authorities Monday charged Zhang Ji, a student at Qiqihar University in northeast China, for ``using the Internet to spread subversive information.’’ The group said Zhang sent information through cyberspace to the United States and Canada in August on what was happening to Falun Gong in Heilongjiang Province.
Zhang, 20, was arrested last month and was expected to receive a jail term of between 3 and five years, it said.
6.3.29 Ten Falun Gong practitioners in Shijiazhuang were due to be trailed
Message received: November 6, 1999 [Associated Press]
Victims:
1. Xu Xinmu
2. Zhou Ximeng, female
and others
Location of incident: Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province
Description:
Associated Press (November 6)
Song Yuesheng and Liang Yulin on trial.
Authorities in northern China have linked 10 members of the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement to alleged leaks of state secrets, and are building cases against at least four of them, a state-run newspaper reported Saturday. Of the practitioners named by the Legal Daily as having helped obtain and leak Communist Party documents, at least four were government officials, including 2 who worked in air defense. Their positions reflect the influence of the popular exercise and meditation movement.
The 10 Falun Gong practitioners named in the Legal Daily were from northern Hebei Province, although it was unclear from the report whether all 10 were under arrest. The newspaper mentioned only that cases were being investigated against the four officials, including Xu Xinmu, who worked in the provincial government. A Hong Kong-based rights group said Saturday that nine principal members of Falun Gong in Hebei Province, which borders Beijing, have been sentenced without trial to labor camps for between 2 and 3 years. One of them, Zhou Ximeng, was also named in the Legal Daily report.
6.3.30 A Chinese policemen who put his loyalty to the Falun Gong has been detained and charged
Message received: November 5, 1999 from Associated Press
Victims:
1. Wang Zhiguo; a 37 year old Communist Party member and policeman
2. Yong Fang, female
3. Wang Wei, female
4. Shang Fengzhi, female
Location of incident: Anshan, Liaoning Province
Description:
According to Associated Press (November 5):
A Chinese policemen who put his loyalty to the Falun Gong spiritual movement ahead of orders to crush the group has been detained and was being escorted today back to his hometown for likely punishment, a law enforcement official said.
Wang Zhiguo, a 37 year old Communist Party member and policeman who also practices Falun Gong, defied authorities and came to Beijing to protest a government ban on the group. The policeman, Wang, was one of 30 followers of the meditation group who held a daring, secretively convened news conference last week to air their grievances about the government crackdown.
3 other principal Falun Gong members were also arrested, said the official from an Anshan government office coordinating the city’s crackdown against Falun Gong.
The center said Wang Zhiguo was detained October 30 and charged today with using a cult to undermine enforcement of laws.
6.3.31 Chongqing Falun Gong contact person was charged
Message received: November 3, 1999 from Associated Press
Victims:
1. Gu Zhiyou, female, from southwestern Chongqing
2. Cui Weirui, female, from the eastern part of
Qingdao
Location of incident: Chongqing and Qingdao
Description:
According to Associated Press (November 3):
Gu Zhiyi (in fact, the name should be Gu Zhiyou) from southwestern Chongqing and Cui Weirui from the eastern port of Qingdao -- were charged in their home-towns, the Hong Kong-based Information Center of Human Rights and Democratic Movement in China said. Gu faces charges of organizing demonstrations, and Cui is accused of getting Falun Gong members to travel to Beijing.
The Hong Kong-based human rights center also reported that China’s top prosecutors agency issued nationwide orders Tuesday to quickly detain and charge “backbone members” of the group.
6.3.32 Falun Gong contact person in Shijiazhuang “officially” arrested
Victims:
1. Duan Rongxin, a key contact person of Shijiazhuang Falun Gong Assistance Center,
Hebei Province
2. Xu Xinmu
Location of incident: Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province
Description:
Mr. Duan was “officially” arrested under the accusations of “disturbing social orders” and “leaking state secrets”. Xu Xinmu was “officially” arrested under the accusation of “leaking state secrets”.
6.3.33 China’s Rule of Law
Message received: November 2, 1999 [Washington Post]
Relative part of the report:
China’s communist leaders often insist that theirs is, in fact, a system of laws - that human rights activists who complain about a lack of democracy are just hung up on minor details, like elections. In the past week, events have proven the leaders absolutely right. When they found themselves without the laws they needed to vigorously persecute a peaceful meditation society, the Party simply ordered up some new laws. Now these will be applied -- retroactively, of course -- in show trials that could lead to execution for the group’s leaders. This is what the regime calls “smashing them rigorously in accordance with the law.” By these standards, Stalin was a scrupulous observer of civil rights.
6.3.34 Four key members of the Falun Gong have been arrested in China
Message received: November 1, 1999 [Agence France Presse]
Victims:
1. Li Chang
2. Wang Zhiwen
3. Ji Liewu
4. Yao Jie, female
and others
Location of incident: Beijing, China
Description:
According to Agence France Presse (November 1)
Four key members of the Falun Gong have been arrested in China on a range of charges that include holding and deliberately leaking state secrets, the official media said Sunday.
Li Chang, Wang Zhiwen, Ji Liewu and Yao Jie were arrested on October 19 on suspicion of “organizing and using a cult to undermine the implementation of laws,” the Xinhua news agency reported. Details of the arrests were released a day after China’s parliament passed legislation on Saturday designed to “smash” all cults including the Falun Gong. Gail Rachlin, a spokeswoman for Falun Gong in New York, said she feared the Chinese government would use the new law to impose harsh penalties on Falun Gong leaders. “They passed the law because they realized what they’ve done in the past isn’t working,” Rachlin said by telephone from the group’s New York headquarters. “Before they passed this law, they had no real basis to sentence them.”
Under the legislation passed Saturday, Falun Gong members will be prohibited from gathering in groups or disseminating information. More serious cases, including those involving contacts with Falun Gong followers in other Provinces or overseas, would carry a stiffer penalty. Rachlin denounced China’s action as a violation of human rights. “This is all fabricated lies they’re conjuring up to try to justify what they’re doing,” Rachlin said. “The committee that passed the law isn’t even elected by the people.”
Up to 30 others could be tried under charges of “leaking state secrets” later in November, with some facing the death penalty, the Information Center for Human Rights and Democratic Movement in China said. “It’s going to be a kangaroo court. This is laughable,” Rachlin said. The group said 30 to 50 leaders remained in custody, some since July when the Chinese government banned the group, while others are missing.
6.3.35 Appealing from a mother---Save my daughter
Message received: October 1999
Victim: Liang Qing
Location of incident: Dalian, Liaoning Province
Description:
Below is an appeal from her mother
My family lives in Dalian. My daughter Liang Qing was arrested at the end of October because she practices Falun Gong. She was directly thrown into the jail under the accusation of “leaking state secrets”. My daughter is not a state official. She has no way to access state secrets, how could she leak the state secrets. She was thrown into the jail for some groundless accusations only because she refuses to give up her belief. Is that true that all Falun Gong practitioners can be arrested at will and then sentenced with some groundless accusations?
6.3.36 Song Yuesheng and six other Falun Gong practitioners now on trial
Message received: October 17, 1999
Victims: Song Yuesheng and six other Falun Gong practitioners
Location of incident: Hainan Province
Description:
Song Yuesheng and six other Falun Gong practition-197
ers from Hainan Province who continued to hold protests after Falun Gong was banned are now on trial, the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported on October 17. Their trials are currently under way, it said without giving any details. State television news showed Song and others signing documents and wearing handcuffs while being escorted by police. Trials of Falun Gong leaders have been widely expected, but China’s entirely government-controlled news media hasn’t released much information about them.
6.3.37 Falun Gong contact person in Qingdao will be put on trial.
Message received: October 11, 1999
Victim: Cui Weixin
Location of incident: Qingdao, Shandong Province
Description:
Cui Weixin was a Falun Gong contact person in Qingdao. The Qingdao prosecutor office approved her arrest after she had been detained for 30 days. She was charged with obstruction to justice using superstitions and would be put on trial.
6.4 Disappearance of Falun Gong Practitioners
6.4.1 Ten Falun Gong practitioners from the Hospital of Shengli Oil Field were arrested
Message received: October 18, 1999
Victims: Zhou Tianrong, and nine other people (all Falun Gong practitioners); employees of the Hospital of Shengli Oil Field, Dongying, Shandong Province
Location of incident: Beijing
Description:
On October 16, about ten Falun Gong practitioners including Zhou Tianrong from the Hospital of Shengli Oil Field in Dongying of Shandong Province went to Beijing to appeal. They were arrested the next day in Beijing. Now their whereabouts are unknown.
6.4.2 Twenty practitioners arrested when practicing exercises
Message received: October 16, 1999
Victim: Wu Guoyi
Location of incident: Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province
Description:
On October 15, about 20 practitioners were practicing in front of the Hebei Auditorium when dozens of policemen came and took them away by force. Wu Guoyi, who was passing by, was also taken away because he stopped to ask the policemen what was happening. So far, his whereabouts are unknown.
6.4.3 Xu Yanfeng was arrested for continuing to practice Falun Gong
Message received: October 16, 1999
Victim: Xu Yanfeng, female, an employee of the Bank of Huabei, Medicine Factory in Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province, China
Location of incident: Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province
Description:
Xu Yanfeng was arrested by police because she told the leaders in her workplace that she would continue to practice Falun Gong and would go to Beijing to appeal. So far, her whereabouts are unknown.
6.4.4 Wang ZhiHui from Jinzhou was arrested when attempting to appeal to the central authorities
Message received: October 12, 1999
Victim: Wang Zhihui, resident of Jinzhou, Liaoning Province, China.
Location of incident: Beijing
Description:
Wang ZhiHui from Jinzhou was arrested when he was in Beijing attempting to appeal to the central authorities on September 27. He was then sent back to Jinzhou detention center where he fasted for 7 days. He was brutally beaten up to the point where his gums became loose. He went to Beijing again on the night of October 5 after he was released from the Jinzhou detention center. On October 8, he went to the Central Appealing Office to appeal again and was arrested again. His whereabouts are unknown.
6.4.5 A woman disappeared after she spoke with a Falun Gong practitioner in US on the phone
Message received: October 10, 1999
Victim: A woman with a newborn baby
Location of incident: Changchun, Jilin Province
Description:
Chinese police are monitoring many practitioners’ phones. This woman disappeared after she called a Falun Gong practitioner in US about her experience in a detention center in China. The U.S. practitioners provided the following statement on October 10:
“This morning, a female Falun Gong practitioner from northeastern China made a phone call to me. She has a newborn baby, and is experiencing great financial difficulties. She was risking her life to make the phone call. The following is the phone conversation between this practitioner (A) and me (B).
A: We have not talked to each other for a long time.
B: I have not called you because I am afraid that I may bring trouble to you if I call you.
A: It doesn’t matter. I have been arrested many times. Today I call you to tell you that there are still several hundred Falun Gong practitioners detained in jails in Changchun. Some practitioners were brutally beaten up. Regardless of gender, they were beaten up with clothes taken off. They were wounded all over their bodies. The policemen even beat up pregnant women. Ms. Xu was beaten up while being handcuffed and hanged up. Her back was wounded everywhere... I was not beaten up. Everyone had a different experience. The policemen asked me why I went to Beijing. I told them that the government did not understand Falun Gong practitioners. If the government really understood us, it should not have made such a mistake. They asked me whether I would still practice Falun Gong or not, I told them I would. They asked me whether I would go to appeal again after I was released. I told them I would. They asked me whether I had watched the TV programs defaming Teacher Li Hongzhi, I said I knew all of these. They were all sheer fabrications.
B: Now many Falun Gong practitioners have lost their jobs. How do they support themselves?
A: They are borrowing money from each other. I do not want to talk about this. It is not important. We all know what Falun Gong practitioners abroad did, including going to the United Nations on October 6. You have done many great things...
The phone was suddenly cut off. When I dialed her number, it did not connect. When I tried again, I still could not reach the other end. When I tried one hour later, the phone was connected. But after a long ring. there was nobody answering.”
6.4.6 A Falun Gong contact person detained, her whereabouts is unknown
Message received: September 26, 1999
Victim: Zhou Ximeng, female
Location of incident: Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province
Description:
Zhou Ximeng, born on May 7th 1965, graduate of Chongqing Architectural Industrial Institute and president of Shijiazhuang Tianming Architecture and Decoration Company in Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province, China. She was also the key contact person at the Shijiazhuang Falun Gong assistant center.
Photos of Zhou Ximeng with her husband and other family members.
She was one of the targets in the large-scale arrests of Falun Gong contact persons in the early morning hours of July 20th, but she escaped it since at that time she and her husband Jia Zhicun were visiting relatives in Sichuan Province. When the police tried to catch her in Sichuan, she and her husband were already on their way to appeal in Beijing. Seven days later, they arrived in Beijing. On July 26th, she was arrested by the Beijing public security department and was sent back to the Shijiazhuang detention center. After a month of detention, she was secretly transferred out of the detention center. Now her whereabouts are unknown.
6.4.7 “China cracks down on Falun Gong before anniversary”
Message received: September 20, 1999 [ Reuters ]
Relative part of the report, “BEIJING (Reuters) --China has arrested at least 300 members of the banned Falun Gong quasi-religious sect in a nationwide sweep ahead of celebrations marking 50 years of Communist rule, a Hong Kong rights group said Sunday. The Information Center said “10 sect members were taken from a public garden in Changsha early Sunday. Their whereabouts were not known. ?”
6.4.8 A Falun Gong practitioner disappeared
Message received: May 1999
Victim: Wang Huizhong
Location of incident: Beijing
Description:
Wang Huizhong, an employee of the Water and Electricity Department of the Armed Police, lost all contact with his family. It was known that he was being followed since April 25th 1999. Some sources revealed that he has been jailed somewhere in one of Beijing’s remote suburbs.
6.5 Illegal Detentions of Falun Gong Practitioners
6.5.1 Practitioners in Linyi illegally detained, fined and denied salaries
Message received: February 21, 2000 [Buohuo Net]
Victims:
1. Zhang Xiuxin
2. Ma Yanming
3. Qiao Xiangying, female
4. Yang Xin
5. Wang Yunan
6. Sun Xianliang
7. Liu Xiunan
8. Ma Xinyuan
and other Falun Gong practitioners
Location of incident: Linyi, Shandong Province
Since last December, over 100 practitioners have been arrested and detained for having gone to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong. The Linyi Common University detained practitioners Zhang Xiuxin, Ma Yanming, Qiao Xiangying, Yang Xin, Wang Yunan, Sun Xianliang, and some others separately in different rooms of the hotel owned by the university. The authorities do not allow their family members to visit them. They were denied salaries and each of them was required to pay 28 Yuan of living expense to the university per day during their detention. Up to now, some of them have been detained for two months. The university authorities said that they would release these practitioners upon receiving order from the high authorities.
Liu Xiunan, a practitioner from the Goods and Materials Bureau of Linyi, was detained in the guest-house of her workplace after she got released from the detention center on last December 27. She has been there for 50 days, and there is no sign for her to get released in the near future.
Ma Xinyuan has been under home arrest under the surveillance of his workplace, the TV station of Linyi, for over 60 days. He is guarded 24 hours a day and not allowed to contact the outside.
The Linyi government persecuted practitioners by depriving their political and economic rights. For example, the children of practitioners were not allowed to join the army, or to be promoted etc. The son of Zhu Guoling applied to join the army but was rejected because Zhu’s wife practices Falun Gong. Some practitioners were removed from their posts, denied salaries, and had their apartments confiscated etc. Upon getting released, each of them was demanded to pay 3,000 Yuan as a deposit. Their workplaces were demanded to pay another 5,000 Yuan in addition. Sometimes, the practitioners had to cover this deposit of 5,000 Yuan by themselves too. For example, the department of health asked Li Xiumei’s fiance to pay the deposit of 5,000 Yuan.
6.5.2 Practitioners arrested by the head of village, beaten up and denied access to the toilet.
Message received: February 18, 2000
Victims:
1. Zhang Wensheng
2. Wu
Location of incident: Dongmao Village of Chicheng County, Hebei Province
Description:
Practitioners from Dongmao Village of Chicheng County of Hebei Province, Zhang Wensheng and Ms. Wu, got arrested by the head of village and were put on handcuffs and shackles. They were beaten up and denied access to the toilet.
6.5.3 Prolonged detention without any reason
Message received: January 26, 2000
Victim: A Falun Gong practitioner from Qinhuangdao, Hebei Province
Location of incident: Tiananmen Square, Beijing
Description:
A practitioner from Qinhuangdao, Hebei Province went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong on October 20, 1999. He was kidnapped on the Tiananmen Square by the police and then escorted back to the Qinhuangdao Police Department. Then he has been detained there for the accusation of “disturbing social orders ” since that time. They kept prolonging the detention without any reason.
6.5.4 Four practitioners arrested for disclosing Zhao Jinhua’s death to international community
Message received: January 4, 2000 [AP, AFP, and Reuters]
Victims:
1. Liu Jinling
2. Chi Yunling
3. Li Nanying
4. Chen Shihuan
Location of incident: Shandong Province
Description:
Four practitioners from Shandong Province, Liu Jinling, Chi Yunling, Li Nanying and Chen Shihuan disclosed how Zhao Jinhua had been beaten to death to
international community by risking their own lives. Later these four practitioners were arrested. The police sentenced Li Nanying and Chen Shihuan to 3 years of forced labor without any trial to avoid international attention. The other 2 are still in police custody. They might also be sent to forced labor camps.
6.5.5 Two hundred practitioners are detained in Changchun
Message received: November 3, 1999
Victims: About 200 Falun Gong practitioners
Location of incident: Changchun, Jilin Province
Description:
About 200 Falun Gong practitioners are being detained in the Changchun Daguang detention center. Some of them were escorted back from Beijing. Some were arrested locally without any reason. Although most of them have served the maximum detention period, but the police still refuse to release them. They are afraid they continue to go to Beijing to appeal. Some had been transferred to Tiebei Jail while waiting for sentence or labor education. Their families were not allowed to visit.
6.5.6 A Falun Gong practitioner was tricked into detention
Victim: Wang Yinke
Location of incident: Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province
Description:
One day, Wang Yinke received a call from his friend Liu Zhonghua. Liu Zhonghua was a police supervisor at Oujing Police Station. Liu tricked Wang to meet him at the police station to discuss some urgent matters. Wang was put in to custody when he arrived at the police station.
6.5.7 Practitioners are put into “secret detention centers” without legal reasons
Message received: October 13, 1999
Victims: Falun Gong practitioners
Location of incident: Jimo, Jinan and Jiaozhou, Shandong Province
Description:
In cities such as Jimo, Jinan and Jiaozhou, there are secret detention centers that are named custody center of city appeal bureau. The so-called custody center is actu-201
ally like jail, there is no personal freedom there. The guards are temporarily workers and hatchet men. The relatives are not allowed to visit. Many people who went to appeal about injustice long time ago are detained there for many years. Among those people, there are 70-year-old man and 7-year-old child. Most of them went to appeal because the local governments increased the burden on the farmers without a reason. Very few people know this place. This place is damp with rat running under the roof and maggots crawl out of the restrooms. The surrounding walls are more than 3 meters high with sharp glass sticking on it to prevent people from escaping. The cost of living for each inmate is less than 2 Yuan (Chinese currency) per day. Every meal is steamed bun and pickles. Someone resisted by fasting for 7 days until spitting blood, but was still not released. For a long time, such custody centers have seriously violated the laws and human rights and have become the “Chinese pseudo-jails”. Many kind people are secretly detained in there for months and years.
At night of September 8, 1999, these places were used to secretly detain Falun Gong practitioners. Some practitioners who refused to renounce Falun Gong were labeled as “attacking the government” and were taken away from their homes without warrant. Some practitioners were put into the detention centers and were expected to stay there for a long time. In these detention centers, there are rules such as “No visit”, “No outside phone calls” and “No practice of Falun Gong”.
6.5.8 More than 150 practitioners have been detained since September 30th in Huludao
Message received: October 11, 1999
Victims: More than 150 Falun Gong practitioners
Location of incident: Huludao, Liaoning Province
Description:
More than 150 practitioners have been detained since September 30th. Some of them would be confined for 30 days as a disciplinary sanction. Some practitioners were charged and might be detained indefinitely. Among them were those who practiced the exercises in public. 3 practitioners who have been seen carrying a radio or banner were handcuffed, shackled and tortured. The police beat up the detainees until they denounced their belief. Many practitioners have gone on a hunger strike. Some 120 people who refused to denounce their belief were still in custody. A few assistants were arrested at their homes without any reason.
6.5.9 Any gathering of more than 3 practitioners is illegal
Message received: September 8, 1999
Victims: Falun Gong practitioners in China
Location of incident: Beijing
Description:
On September 8, the Security Department of Beijing announced that any activity related to Falun Gong is prohibited, including private practice at home. Any gathering of more than 3 practitioners is illegal.
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