FDI: News of Seven Falun Gong Deaths Breaks through Jiang Regime's Information Blockade

NEW YORK (FDI) -- For more than three years, the Falun Dafa Information Center has received -- on a daily basis -- dozens of reports of arbitrary detention, forced-labor, extortion, torture, death and other forms of persecution against Falun Gong practitioners in China. These cases, however, are only the ones that made it out of China. A vast majority of the persecution remains hidden beneath a strictly enforced information blockade put in place by Jiang's regime to hide the persecution from the international community.

In the winter of 2001, for example, the Falun Dafa Information Center had verified and documented the deaths of approximately 300 people who died from police violence and torture after being detained because of their Falun Gong practice. Chinese government sources at the time, however, indicated that the real death toll was well over 1,600. Some inside sources suggested even higher figures.

Thus, for every case of arbitrary detention, forced-labor, extortion, torture, or death of a Falun Gong practitioner in China, there are five, or perhaps many more, that we don't know about.

This release presents what has been confirmed in the last few days about seven more Falun Gong practitioners who have lost their lives in this persecution:

• Ms. Fan Yaxiong, a middle school vice principal in her forties, Hebei Province.
• Mr. Ji Jingchang, a 53 year-old man from Changchun, Jilin Province.
• Mr. Li Xingze, from Sichuan Province, who died from the extreme conditions of forced labor in a brick kiln.
• Mr. Li Hongwei, a 50 year-old Beijing man who was arrested during the 16th Party Congress and died in police custody shortly thereafter.
• Mr. Zhang Quanfu, a 65 year-old man who died on the way to hospital from wounds inflicted during torture in a Changchun labor camp.
• Mr. Yan Yongdong, who police claim jumped from a train, though inspection of his body suggests torture as the more likely cause of death.
• Ms. Guo Renfeng, an otherwise healthy woman in her thirties, who died shortly after release from police detention in Hubei Province.

A Middle School Vice Principal is Tortured to Death

Ms. Fan Yaxiong, in her forties, was the Director of Education and Vice Principal at Zhangjiakou City No. 15 Middle School, Hebei Province. Respected by colleagues and students alike, Ms. Fan was given the "Teacher of Excellence" award. However after the persecution began, Ms. Fan was expelled from the Communist Party and removed from her position at the school.

On July 20th 1999 Fan Yaxiong went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong. She was arrested before she arrived. In January 2000, Ms. Fan again went to Beijing. Police on Tiananmen Square arrested her and sent her to Xuanhua Detention Center. Ms. Fan began a hunger strike to protest, and was held captive until her health declined dramatically.

In March of 2000 and again in May, Ms. Fan returned to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong. She was arrested each time and tortured brutally in both Xuanhua Detention Center and Shaziling Mental Hospital, then sentenced to three years of forced labor at Tangshan Labor Camp. She was beaten, cursed, and threatened, enduring it all even until her life was on the line. Fearing the rapidly declining state of her health, the guards released her. Two days after, Fan Yaxiong passed away.

53 Year Old Man Dies After Relentless Police Harassment

Fifty-three year old Mr. Ji Jingchang from Nanguan District. Changchun City was a handicapped person who suffered from many diseases. He began practicing Falun Gong in 1998 and after two months of practice, Mr. Ji regained his health and was able to once again walk normally.

After July 20th of 1999, Ji Jingchang and his family appealed to government officials many times to explain how Falun Gong could benefit society. As a result of the persecution that followed for Mr. Ji, his wife and young son, Mr. Ji's health deteriorated dramatically.

Mr. Ji's paralysis returned after being harassed into stopping his practice, police continued to raid his home. They repeatedly threatened him and his family, arresting his wife and even threatening their son with a gun. Under the stress, Mr. Ji's health quickly failed. He passed away on August 26th 2002.

Sichuan Province Practitioner Dies After Suffering Hard Labor and Physical Torture

Mr. Li Xingze endured very intense physical torture in Ziyang Detention Center. He was tortured with electric batons and brutally beaten. Mr. Li was also forced to do hard labor in a brick kiln, hauling heavy loads all day in extreme heat and dangerous conditions.

Unable to endure any longer, Li Xingze passed away in October of 2000.

50 Year-Old Researcher Dies in Police Custody After Hunger Strike

Mr. Li Hongwei, a fifty year-old researcher in Beijing's Chaoyang Agricultural Machinery Institute was arrested during the 16th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party in November, 2002.

Mr. Li's family was not allowed to visit him until his wife was told that he had died of a hunger strike in February 2003. She rushed to the detention center and took pictures of the bruises she found covering his body. Fearing exposure of their brutal crimes, officials seized the camera, smashed it, and confiscated the ruined film.

Chaoyangguo Labor Camp Kills 65-Year-Old Zhang Quanfu

Zhang Quanfu, a resident of Liaoyuan City was detained and brutally tortured by Chaoyangguo Labor Camp's No. 6 Brigade's Second Team, Changchun City. On January 2, 2003, Mr. Zhang died on the way to the hospital.

Yan Yongdong Dies from Torture

Mr. Yan Yongdong went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong after the persecution began on July 20th 1999. He was killed ten days later.

Police claimed that he jumped off of a train that ran between Beijing and Tianjin, but his family members found his body covered with bruises and his face twisted into an expression of great pain. It was clear to his family that he had actually died from torture.

Healthy Woman in Her Thirties, Guo Renfeng, Dies After Lengthy Detention

An employee of Hubei Province's Vehicle and Bridge Plant, Guo Renfeng endured long term detention at the order of the County "610 Office" Chief Liao Xuesheng.

Ms. Renfeng's physical condition was very weak when she was recently released from detention. She passed away in the hospital shortly thereafter.

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NEWS -- Mar. 18, 2003

Falun Dafa Information Center, www.faluninfo.net

Background

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa (about), is a practice of meditation and exercises with teachings based on the universal principle of "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance." It is a practice that was taught in private for thousands of years before being made public in 1992 by Mr. Li Hongzhi. Falun Gong has roots in traditional Chinese culture, but it is distinct and separate from other practices such as the religions of Buddhism and Taoism. Since its introduction in 1992, it quickly spread by word of mouth throughout China, and is now practiced in over 50 countries.

With government estimates of as many as 100 million practicing Falun Gong, China's President Jiang Zemin outlawed the peaceful practice in July 1999 (report), fearful of anything touching the hearts and minds of more citizens than the Communist Party. Unable to crush the spirit of millions who had experienced improved health and positive life changes from Falun Gong, Jiang's regime has intensified its propaganda campaign to turn public opinion against the practice while quietly imprisoning, torturing and even murdering those who practice it.

The Falun Dafa Information Center has verified details of 630 deaths (reports / sources) since the persecution of Falun Gong in China began in 1999. Government officials inside China, however, report that the actual death toll is well over 1,600, while expert sources estimate that figure to be much higher. Hundreds of thousands have been detained, with more than 100,000 being sentenced to forced labor camps, typically without trial.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT THE FALUN DAFA INFORMATION CENTER -- Gail Rachlin 917-501-4441, Levi Browde 914-720-0963, Erping Zhang 646-533-6147, or Feng Yuan 917-941-1097. Email: [e-mail], Website: http://www.faluninfo.net/