May 26, 2000

Dear Officials in Beijing,

How are you? We are Falun Dafa cultivators. We are writing to report truthfully what we experienced and witnessed in the Beijing Chaoyang Detention Center between May 9th and 19th. We hope it will get for your attention and help in this matter.

We are all Falun Dafa practitioners. We were detained in Nutong Cell # 607, Chaoyang Detention Center, Beijing, only because we openly did Falun Gong exercises. We began a hunger strike for our unconditional release and the right to practice our beliefs. The first hunger strike in our cell started on May 9th and the last was May 14th. Because of this, Chaoyang Detention Center force-fed us with high-density salt water and soybean milk. The person performing the force-feeding was not a doctor, but a criminal in custody. The guards claimed that she was a nurse in Chaoyang Hospital.

One after another, nine practitioners in our cell were force-fed. (It is extremely painful to have tubes forced down the nose. We almost suffocated after being force-fed a few times.) Among us was a female practitioner named Mei Yulan who was 44-years old and had started to practice Falun Dafa in 1998. She was detained because she did Falun Gong exercises at the practice site in front of her home. On the morning of May 17th, she was also force-fed. We heard her screaming miserably. She came back after a long time, with her chest covered with soybean milk and salt water. She was breathing heavily and told us the force-feeding had not been successful and all of the food was thrown out from her nose. Later she said she had a headache and could hardly sit down. She felt like vomiting and could not drink water. The same night she spit blood. We immediately reported this to the guards. A guard, whose last name is Sun, paid no attention. She said, "It doesn't matter. She won't die anyway. I'll take responsibility if anything really happens." Therefore no rescue measures were taken. The next day (May 18th) Mei was carried out on a criminal's back. She later told us that she was taken for a photo shot and then sent to a hospital. At night, she had an unbearable headache and experienced difficulty in breathing. Gradually her hands and feet became cold and her eyeballs stopped moving. We immediately reported this to the doctor on duty. She was then taken to the emergency room in the Civil Aviation Hospital.

On May 19th, every person in our cell was asked to provide an account of what we witnessed concerning Mei. Thereafter, seven of the eight practitioners were released with the exception of Jia Xiulan who took care of Mei. On May 22nd, two practitioners went to visit Mei in the hospital and found her eyes covered with white tape. We called her name three times and got no response. Her chest rose up and down with the assistance of medical devices. When we inquired about Mei's situation, the doctor only said that Mei was a special patient and all other information was to remain confidential.

As we visited her again on the night of 24th, we were informed that Mei had passed away at 4:10 PM, May 23rd.

All of us were deeply saddened. Mei was a lively, talkative and healthy person. Her death is a direct consequence of the force-feeding. We hope that both the Justice Department and Chaoyang Detention Center can investigate this matter and give a fair and honest response to Mei's relatives and all of Mei's fellow practitioners.

Mei's husband, Li Wanqing, now is serving a sentence in a labor camp for not giving up the practice of Falun Dafa. Her 20-year-old daughter was left alone at home. Many practitioners are paying close attention to the government's handling of this case. There are similar situations in many places around the country and many Falun Dafa practitioners are struggling on the verge of death. In addition, this incident happened in the best detention center (supposedly) in the state capital. We witnessed it with our own eyes and heard it with our own ears. How could we not grieve over it? Will this happen again in the future? That is what truly concerns us.

Since last April 25th, we have been appealing for Falun Dafa. We try to present the facts to the government. We have been giving the government time to understand us. We have silently endured all kinds of unfair treatment from some government agencies - maybe you know better about this than we. More and more people have come to know Falun Dafa in the past year, and have begun to understand us. In fact, no practitioner wants more than the truth of Falun Dafa to be presented to the world so more people could benefit from it. Do you know that we have presented the petition to the government in order to attain the freedom to practice Falun Dafa openly? We all know how valuable life is. Doesn't it break your hearts to see that some practitioners have been deprived of their priceless lives for their beliefs in Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance? Our continuous efforts in appealing for our beliefs are not just for ourselves. It is for more people to know the truth of Falun Dafa, experience its power and to understand that Falun Dafa enables one to become a better person. - That is what we want and who we are.

We are all citizens of the People's Republic of China and should have been trustworthy citizens to our government. We should be able to enjoy the lawful rights of citizens. We believe that the government could help us to investigate this matter. We also believe that the government is true to its word and will indeed listen to the people's voices and serve the people. We are looking forward to your reply.

Sincerely Yours,

Falun Dafa practitioners

P.S: We call for support from all people of goodwill on this unfortunate incident happened in Beijing. For it is not just about Mei Yulan and Li Wanqing's family, it also concerns all Falun Dafa disciples, their relatives, friends, children and millions of others. We do not want to see this type of incident happen again. Thank you!