Recent Report on Persecutions Against Falun Gong Practitioners (#11)

[Beijing]

1, On May 2 of 2000, Ms. Yan Bao-shuang went to the Tiananmen Square with her mother in 70s and her 11-year-old son to appeal for Falun Gong. She and her mother got detained in the Chao-yang District detention center of Beijing afterwards. In the detention center, many practitioners went on hunger strike to protest the illegal detention and to request the government to release detained practitioners unconditionally. The guard punished practitioners on hunger strike together with their inmates who were criminals. Therefore, the criminals vented their anger on those practitioners and would beat up whoever going on hunger strike. The criminals beat up practitioners one by one. When the criminals beat up one practitioner, other practitioners would be pressed down to the ground and could not move. After a practitioner named Wu Dan was beaten up for over 40 minutes, Ms. Yan Bao-shuang struggled to set herself free and tried to protect Ms. Wu. She said, "Stop beating her! You are violating the law!" Then, those criminals turned around and started beating her instead, until her face was disfigured and she became unconscious in the end. At that time, she was on her sixth day of hunger strike. Many practitioners including Wu Dan had been force-fed during the hunger strike.

2, Ms. Du Xiu-yun, in 50s, a teacher, got arrested for practicing Falun Gong in the public area. She had been on hunger strike during her detention. On the ninth day, she was sent to the hospital for injections. After she was back from the hospital, she had been in a state of coma until the next day. Then she was sent back to the hospital again for emergency treatment and got released afterwards.

3, On May 8, 18-year-old Niu Dan and 20-year-old Zhang Shuai went to practice Falun Gong with other fellow practitioners on the Golden Water Bridge in the Tiananmen Square. They also got detained in the detention center afterwards. The guard did not allow them to study and practice Falun Gong and asked them to speak in the squatting position, as criminals are treated. They refused to do that and were then put on handcuffs and shackles. Although they were beaten and cursed, they were always smiling and encouraged other practitioners to be righteous and noble in any circumstances.