The Facts of the Persecution of Falun Gong -- October 14, 2007

Issued by Clearwisdom Net

Content

On September 17, 2007, CCP authorities again arrested Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Li Zhi and her brother, Mr. Xu Xiaolong, from Chengdu City, Sichuan Province. Ms. Li Zhi went on a hunger strike on September 18, 2007 to protest the illegal detention. No one knows her present whereabouts. Her family still has not received any legal documentation regarding her arrest and disappearance.

Ms. Li Zhi is 44 years old. She lives in the Xinyuan Residential Area, West Fuqin Road, Chengdu City, Sichuan Province, and used to be a teacher in the 4th Middle School of Xindu. Ms. Li began to practice Falun Gong in March 1998.

After the CCP started the persecution, authorities sentenced Li Zhi to one year and 53 days in a forced labor camp. Officials had also held her in a detention center twice (for a total of 30 days) for so-called "public security" reasons. Furthermore, they even kept her for 30 days as a criminal detainee and unlawfully incarcerated her in a police station eight times. Ms. Li endured two months of brainwashing. Her house was ransacked many times. Erqi Detention Center officials extorted 700 yuan in cash from her. Someone else extorted another 300 yuan from her. Her personal property (including a copy machine) worth 6,000 yuan was confiscated during the home search. She was made to quit her job. Agents from the local police station, from the residential administration office, and from the police department searched her house 18 times. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials harassed her by telephone and frequently kept her under surveillance. She has been deprived of her freedom--in violation of the Chinese Constitution--a total of 478 days.

The afternoon of September 17, 2007, ten people from the First Section of the Jinniu Police Department in Chengdu City and from the Baiguolin Police Station divided into two groups. They broke into the Xinyuan Residential Area and used a master key to open the homes of Falun Gong practitioners Ms. Li Zhi and Mr. Xu Xiaolong. Without showing any identification or paperwork, they started ransacking and arresting people. Xu Xiaolong was eating lunch with his 80-year-old father and his paralyzed mother.

The invaders snatched Mr. Xu Xiaolong's newly-bought bag, a notebook computer, and a palm computer. They even grabbed a broken MP3 player and the bedsheet and extorted more than 7,400 yuan. Counting the money in front of the elderly father, they even claimed it was only 6,800 yuan. Five people participated in arresting Xu Xiaolong. One of them wore a uniform; the other four were plainclothes agents. When they attempted to destroy Master Li's picture, the father tried to stop them. One of them claimed, "I am committing the crime!" Then they pushed the Mr. Xu's father away.

At Ms. Li Zhi's house the police confiscated more than 140,000 yuan in cash (Li Zhi's husband had just withdrawn this from the bank for an urgent need at his company), a computer worth 10,000 yuan, a duplicate reading machine, a tape recorder, a digital camera, an MP4 player, an MP3 player, and a cellphone. They did not give any receipts.

Li Zhi and Xu Xiaolong were sent to the Baiguolin Police Station in the Jinniu District. The afternoon of September 18, they were forced to stay in the police van until dark. That same night they were secretly sent to a brainwashing center (the so-called "Legal Education Team") with their heads covered with black garbage bags.

The so-called "Legal Education Team" is, in fact, a living hell. Several Falun Gong practitioners became disabled from abuse there, have mentally collapsed, or died. Some were beaten to death. Some who went on a hunger strike were force-fed and died as a result of brutal force-feeding.

Practitioner Ms. Zhu Xia from Chengdu City was raped in the brainwashing center and suffered a mental collapse. Ms. Liu Ying was injected with unknown substances. Presently, both of them are mentally traumatized and unable to take care of themselves.

By a Falun Gong practitioner from Jilin Province, China

In early January 2007, two Falun Gong practitioners and I went to the countryside of Longjing City to distribute truth clarification materials and were stalked and reported on by the village guard. We were arrested and taken to Longmen Police Station in Longjing City where I was beaten severely and tortured with "hanging up in the air," iron chair, "pouring freezing cold water over people," for 10 hours by Vice Director Zheng and other policemen. The police also stomped on my stomach which caused me to empty my bladder immediately.

I was taken into a big room on the first floor of the police building and many policemen came up and surrounded me, discussing what to do to me. Most of them left the room except for those who had arrested me. They told me to sit down, but I refused, so they kicked me at the back of my knees to force me to sit down. They began asking me questions, but I refused to answer, so they continued to beat me and kick me.

The policemen who abused me included Li Shenggen, who was the one that arrested me, and Jin Qianji, who was only in his 20s but was the most violent. He handcuffed me onto the window frame and beat me. My whole body, because of being hung up to the window frame, was almost completely hung in the air except for my toe tips which slightly touched the floor. In a few minutes my wrists started bleeding and aching terribly. Before long, my arms, waist, and other parts of my body went numb. However, Jin Qianji wouldn't stop here, rather, he picked up a strong and thick wooden board from the next room and beat me with it on my body. The wooden board broke when he hit my head with it so he went to pick up another one. He kept beating me until he felt tired.

After Jin Qianji left, Zheng, the Vice Director of the police station came into the room. They took me down from the window frame and began to question me. Since I still refused to reply to them, Zheng slapped my face brutally. After that, they dragged me to a room on the fifth floor.

Torture Method Illustrations:

Hanging Up in the Air and Beating

Iron Chair

Pouring Freezing Cold Water over People

This happened in an interrogation room with a steel table and chair in the middle. It was equipped with specially made cuffs that hold the person to the chair very tightly. The police told me that it was what they used to question homicide criminals. Nevertheless, they tied me to the chair and started to question me again. One policeman poured cold water into my collar upon seeing me not answering.

As they couldn't make me talk at all, they called Ying Zaidong, a policeman from the Criminal Group to come and deal with me. Ying Zaidong walked towards me after having studied me for one or two minutes and suddenly punched my arm, which made my arm hurt as if it was broken. He switched arms to beat me when he felt tired. After having beat me for a while, he went to my back and pulled my hair very forcefully. I was so hurt that I almost lost my consciousness.

They tortured me with various methods for over 10 hours from midnight to noon the next day. When they finally stopped torturing me and dragged me downstairs, I was disabled. However, the policemen stomped heavily on my stomach, which caused me to empty my bladder against my will immediately. They cleaned the floor with a mop, and wiped my face and head with the dirty mop.

My experience is merely a tip of the iceberg, and even more cruel torture and killings are still going on. I hope people with righteous hearts, outside and inside China, will help stop the persecution.

Since September 2007, Fujin City Police Department officials have used the Chinese Communist Party's 17^th Conference as an excuse to harass Falun Gong practitioners. Officials have covertly photographed practitioners, coerced them to provide their signatures, monitored, shadowed and arrested them, ransacked their homes and stolen or confiscated their property.

Eight Fujin City Falun Gong practitioners were illegally arrested, and many practitioners decided to go into exile to avoid further persecution and arrest.

On September 17, 2007, practitioner Mr. Wang Jibao was arrested and his home ransacked.

A group of police officers arrested three siblings, Mr. Gao Liansheng, Ms. Gao Yumei and Ms. Gao Yumin, at noon on September 19, 2007. The police officers confiscated equipment including a CD burner from Mr. Gao Liansheng's home, and confiscated 2,000 yuan in cash.

On September 22, 2007, police officers ransacked practitioner Mr. Tian Haitao's home and confiscated all the Falun Gong books and a computer. They seized his wife Ms. Jin Guiling and released her later when a relative posted bail.

Sometime after 9:00 a.m. on September 17, 2007, police agents unexpectedly nabbed practitioner Wang Xin in the street. A group of police officers went to Wang Xin's home at 11:00 a.m. and let themselves in, with Wang Xin's keys. The police seized Wang Xin's mother, practitioner Ms. Wang Guifang, ransacked her home, stole more than 6,000 yuan in cash, and took away all truth-clarification materials.

Practitioner Ms. Liu Guizhen was arrested at work on the morning of September 17, 2007. The police officers found her keys and let themselves into her home. They confiscated a computer and more than 9,000 yuan in cash. The cash and computer are valued at more than 20,000 yuan. Ms. Liu Guizhen's sixteen-year-old daughter Han (given name not known) had been followed for several days. When she returned home for lunch that day, the police also took her away and didn't release her until that night. Ms. Liu Guizhen's husband had previously decided to go into exile to avoid further persecution and arrest.

It was reported that the Fujin City Police Department authorities had followed Falun Gong practitioners Liu Guizhen, Wang Guifang and their family members since early September. As soon as Ms. Wang Guifang left home, plainclothes police would follow her and covertly photograph her. They had also been to her older sister's home to get information from her sister, such as Ms. Wang's identity, age, employer, retirement date and other data. They had parked a car by her home and monitored her day and night.

Practitioner Chen Lixian from Tongjiang City, Heilongjiang Province is now also imprisoned in Fujin City Detention Center.