Dear officials in Beijing,

How are you? We are Falun Dafa cultivators. With infinite confidence in our country and government, we hereby report truthfully what we experienced and witnessed in Beijing Chaoyang detention center between May 9th and 19th. We hope it will call 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 did Falun Gong exercises openly and in public. We had to begin a hunger strike for our unconditional release and the right to practice Falun DaFa. The first in our cell to start the hunger strike was on May 9th and the last was on May 14. Because of this, Chaoyang detention center started force-feeding us with high-density salt water and soybean milk. The person performing the force-feeding, however, 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 plugged into the nose. We almost suffocated after being force-fed a few times.) Among us there was a female practitioner named Mei Yulan who was 44-years old and started to practice Dafa 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 regurgitated 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 started to spit out blood. We immediately reported this to the guards. A guard, last named Sun, paid no attention. She said," It doesn't matter, she won't die. I'll take responsibility if something really happens." Therefore no rescue measure 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 and then sent to a hospital. At night, she had an unbearable headache and experienced difficulty breathing. Gradually her hands and feet became-cold and her eyeballs stopped moving. We immediately reported 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 were covered with white tape. We called her name three times and got no response. Her chest beat up and down with the assistance of the medical devices. When we inquired about Mei's situation, the doctor only said that Mei was a special patient and all 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, 23rd.

All of us were deeply saddened. Mei was a lively, talkative and healthy person. Her death is a direct consequence from 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 the labor camp for not giving up the practice of Falun DaFa. Her 20-year-old daughter has no one to care for her. Many practitioners are paying close to attention to how the government handles 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 eyes and heard it with our 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 to the government the facts. We have been giving the government the time to get to know us. We have silently endured all kinds of unfair treatment from some government agencies --- maybe you are clearer on this than us. What a great benevolence and compassion we have demonstrated! More and more people came to know Falun Dafa in this one-year, and have gained an understanding of 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 with our lives in order to achieve the freedom in cultivating Falun Dafa openly? We are all human beings and we all know how valuable life is regardless of our age. Many compassionate Falun Dafa disciples have demonstrated that Falun Dafa is more important than their lives. Doesn't it break your heart to see that they would rather awaken people's conscience with their priceless lives than to give up their believes in the great law of the cosmos. "It should be known that once a person learns the truth and the genuine meaning of life's existence, he will not regret giving up his life for that." Our continuous efforts in appealing and protecting Falun Dafa with our lives are not just for ourselves. It is for more people to know the great law with their hearts, experience its power and to understand our high-virtue behaviors comes from cultivating the great law. ----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 voice and serve the people, not to mention that this involves a human life. We are looking forward to your reply.

Sincerely Yours

Falun Dafa practitioners

May 26th, 2000

P.S.:

We call for sympathy and concern 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. If you are willing, please leave your signature to give us the moral support and urge the government to solve the Falun Gong issue as soon as possible.

Translated on June 10, 2000 from Chinese original: http://www.minghui.ca/gb/0001/May/27/lett_to_BJleaders.html