Thoughts about the Benzene Poisoning of the Songhua River

(Clearwisdom.net) The poisoning of the Songhua River in late November because of a benzene spill gave rise to the great concern of many residents living near the river. They had to decide between staying and evacuating.

An article in Straight News, a newspaper in Fujian Province, China, reported that Harbin City government officials learned about the Songhua River water pollution on November 13, shortly after the explosion at the Jilin Petroleum Benzene production plant. Yet, the officials decided to hide the truth from the public after a meeting, with the excuse that "revealing the truth may cause panic." They told the public that they had to cut-off the metropolitan area water supply for four days for maintenance. At the same time, they put over 10,000 police on alert to prevent "social instability." The truth was only made public after they could no longer hide it.

Areas along the Songhua River: Polluted water is the red area. Green areas will be affected when the polluted water arrives.

Before the polluted water reached Harbin City, it had passed 8 counties and cities in 2 provinces, that is, about 300 miles. Yet the state controlled media did not release news or warnings about the pollution or the effects it would have on people's lives and their safety. The government did not take any emergency measures. CCP lies are directly responsible for the disaster.

Lying comes easily to the CCP. During the past 6 years, much information became known overseas, telling the world's people other shocking news: "More than 100 million Falun Gong practitioners are still suffering inhuman persecution." Under Jiang Zemin, the CCP has not stopped its brutal persecution, spreading rumors, and covering up the truth. It never admitted to the persecution, and is telling the international community that it applies "a healthy influence of education." Let us see if it is really "healthy influence of education" or an inhuman rule!

Falun Dafa Benefits People along the Songhua River, Just as Would a Clear Stream

The beautiful Songhua River passes through Jilin Province and Heilongjiang Province. As the symbol of Northeastern China, the river has nourished many of the area's people for generations.

In the spring of 1992, Falun Dafa spread to thousands of families in that area, just like a clear stream running through the people. It elevated people to higher moral standards.

Below are some pictures taken before July 1999 -- scenes of people practicing Falun Gong together. The pictures show practitioners of many different ages and from all walks of life. The pursuit of "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance" joined them together. Neither hot nor cold weather stopped them from improving their mind and body through this practice. We could see the great spiritual power of Falun Dafa correcting and purifying people's hearts from the serene and solemn scene.

In August 1998, Falun Dafa practitioners gather in memory of the 4th anniversary of Teacher's first lecture in Harbin City

10,000 practitioners in Daqing City doing group exercise - 1998, Daqing City, Heilongjiang Province

In May 1999, practitioners in Shuangcheng City performing group exercise in Dongmen Square

Group Exercise in Jilin City before July 20, 1999

Group Exercise in Yushu City, Jilin Province before July 20, 1999

Practitioners in Changchun City performing group exercises during the winter sports game in 1999

Practitioners in Changchun City performing group exercises on April 19, 1998 in the city

Practitioners in Changchun City performing group exercises before 1999 in Changchun City Culture Square

The persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in the Songhua River area is notoriously severe

In July 1999, Jiang's regime began its persecution of Falun Gong. Statistics on Minghui (Chinese version of Clearwisdom) show that among all provinces, practitioners in Heilongjiang Province and Jilin Province suffer the worst persecution in China. In terms of practitioners tortured to death, Heilongjiang Province ranked No. 2 (342 tortured to death) and Jilin Province ranked No. 4 (325 tortured to death). Persecution in the Songhua River Area has become the worst in Jilin City, Changchun City, Jiutai City, Yushu City, and Songyuan City in Jilin Province. In Heilongjiang Province, it is the worst in Daqing City, Zhaoyuan County, Suihua City, Zhaodong City, Harbin City, Shuangcheng City, etc.

Below are some recent examples of the persecution (the information was received overseas by breaking through the information blockade):

Mr. Li Yequan, a 38-year old practitioner from Daqing City, Heilongjiang Province, had his wages suspended during the last six years because of his faith in Falun Gong. He had been arrested numerous times and forced to move from place to place to avoid the persecution. He is now being brutally abused at Daqing Detention Center. He went on a hunger strike for 56 days to protest the illegal treatment. Every day, for twenty-four hours, he is being handcuffed, shackled around his ankles and forced-fed. A villain named Wang Yingzhou, and inmates, forced a liter of hard liquor down his throat and also spit on him. Cold water was also poured on him. Due to being forced fed three times a day, Li's esophagus has been severely injured. Li showed symptoms of pneumonia and mental disorder and his body temperature is too low. He is extremely weak. His white cell count is 20,000. He has slipped into coma many times and he is now dying.

Falun Gong practitioner Ms Huang Yanzhen, 62, is currently held in a prison. She comes from the Wenxin area, Shuangcheng City, Heilongjiang Province. Before practicing Falun Gong, she suffered from many diseases. After practicing Falun Gong, all her diseases were cured without medication. After the persecution started on July 20, 1999, she went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong several times and also clarified the truth about Falun Gong locally. The police arrested her several times, and she escaped several times from the detention center, forced labor camp, and brainwashing center. On October 8, 2004, while Ms. Huang and Guo Fenglan were clarifying the truth about Falun Gong on a bus, policemen from Wujia County arrested them. They were detained at the police station in Shuangcheng City. On October 18, the local court issued an authorization for their arrest, and they were detained at a second detention center in Shuangcheng City on October 20. On October 26, without going through any legal process, both of them were sentenced to seven years in prison.

Suihua Forced Labor Camp closely followed Jiang's regime in persecuting practitioners. Persecutors used electric batons to torture practitioners, pour hot pepper water into practitioners' eyes, and insert hot pepper into practitioners' anuses. They also force-fed practitioners and forced them to watch video programs that slander Falun Dafa.

Practitioner Mr. Zhao Yinge (60), Mr. Zhang Bin (38), and Mr. An Senbiao (38) were sent to the forced labor camp on March 15, 2005. Because they refused to cooperate with the evil, they were tortured cruelly. For 3 to 4 days, they forced the three practitioners to watch video programs that slander Dafa after 9 p.m., when all other inmates were asleep. They beat these three elderly people. Mr. Zhan's skin was burnt with electric batons. All three practitioners remained firm in their belief.

Before he was sent to the forced labor camp, Mr. An Senbiao had been on a hunger strike. Staff from the forced labor camp inserted a feeding tube into his stomach and left the tube there. They also tied him with handcuffs to an iron bed and kept him like this around the clock. As a result, Mr. An became emaciated and very weak. Beginning June 1, 2005, the guards ordered furtively that inmates torture Mr. An. They were trying to kill him. Inmate Li Yunlong was very vicious in torturing practitioners. He kicked Mr. An's chest very hard, causing him to vomit blood. He also poured hot pepper water into Mr. An's eyes, making him unable to open his eyes. Li also inserted hot pepper into Mr. An's anus. By July 4, 2005, Mr. An had been on a hunger strike for over 100 days -- he was in critical condition.

Minghui published the following articles on November 23, 2005:

Since early 2004, all Falun Gong practitioners at Harbin Women's Prison have refused to wear jail uniforms, and to respond to roll call. They refused to be treated like prisoners. Consequently, they have suffered solitary confinement for five, six, or more months. Jail guards made using the toilet a privilege for practitioners and prisoners frequently berated them.

Starting in September 2004, practitioners have suffered more severe tortures. Some practitioners were hung from the upper frame of a bunk bed by their back-cuffed hands with their feet above the ground for over three months. Others were forced to sit on the concrete floor for up to four months. These corporal punishments have been used in the First, Fifth, Eighth, and Ninth divisions in the prison. Practitioners in the Eighth Division went on several hunger strikes, each lasting about a month, to show solidarity with practitioners still under solitary confinement. Practitioner Li Yushu had been on a hunger struck for over six months.

Practitioners in the Ninth Division suffered the worst persecution. On March 12, 2004, this division organized a brainwashing class. In June, jail guards attempted to brainwash practitioners from the service team and the Third team. Four or five male guards have often tortured one female practitioner and forced her to watch brainwashing videos non-stop. Guards would seal a practitioner's mouth with duct tape, tie her hands to her head, and verbally insult her, whenever she recited Dafa scriptures. Guards have also ordered inmates to kick practitioners' vaginas and breasts, to strike their head and feet with broomsticks, and to use other physical and verbal abuses.

On November 23, 2005, Minghui reported: Falun Dafa practitioners Ms. Wang Shouhui and her son, Mr. Liu Boyang, were from Changchun City, Jilin Province. On October 28, 2005, policemen from the Kuancheng District Police arrested them. Mr. Liu Boyang was tortured to death that same night, and his mother, Wang Shouhui, was transferred to Shuangyang Detention Center after being interrogated. On November 10, 2005, her family received a phone call saying that Ms. Wang Shouhui had died in the China-Japan Friendship Hospital from a heart attack. Witnesses said that Ms. Wang Shouhui's body had not been looked at, but people noticed that her face and eyes were very badly bruised, and her left ear had blood in it.

Ms. Wang Shouhui and her son Liu Boyang's bodies are both frozen and waiting for autopsies. After that they will be cremated.

Minghui reported on January 17, 2005:

"Mr. Yu Shujin Was Transferred to Tiebei Prison in Changchun, Jilin Province While in Critical Condition

... Yu Shujin is 55 years old, and he is from Kouqian Township, Yongji County, Jilin Province. Police from the National Security Division arrested him on June 25, 2004 and brutally tortured him. Torture included severe beating while being force-fed with black mustard oil. The brutal torture made Mr. Yu severely ill. During emergency treatment, the doctor diagnosed him with late-stage liver disease. Yu Shujin developed edema. His abdomen and legs were badly distended and his internal organs were failing. It was difficult for him to eat and his body was so weak that he could not take care of himself. He was in extremely critical condition."

Some torture methods used at Yinmahe Forced labor Camp in Jiutai City, Jilin Province (Reenactment Photo)

It has been verified that at least 7 practitioners were tortured to death at Yinmahe Forced Labor Camp in Jiutai City, Jilin Province. Many others were seriously injured or became handicapped. Brutal torture methods in the labor camp include sleep deprivation, forcing practitioners to stand straight or stand with the upper part of their body bend down for a long time, beating and kicking, hitting with batons, burning with fire, pouring cold water on practitioners' bodies and freezing them, baking under the sun, tying up with ropes, and electric shocks.

Below are cruel tortures Falun Gong practitioners suffered in Jilin Prison:

Re-enactment: A wooden board placed vertically between the lower back and the "constraining bed"

The "Constraining bed"

Around the end of September 2002, another inhuman torture method was used in the 10th cell of the 5th Ward in Jilin Prison. Since practitioner Zheng Weidong refused to cooperate, division chief Li Zhibin ordered policemen to monitor him around the clock. They didn't allow him to sleep for 7 to 8 days. Even so, Zheng Weidong still firmly refused to sign the three statements. They therefore set up a "constraining bed" in the 9th cell for torturing practitioners. They tied Zheng Weidong to the bed, and ordered criminals to ask him whether he would sign the three statements. Zheng ignored them. Therefore, they placed a bottle and a wooden board vertically between Zheng's lower back and the bed. He was tortured like this for 5 days.

Wang Juncheng was jailed in the "small cell" and tortured on the "constraining bed" for 30 days, from October 27 to the beginning of December 2003. Practitioner Zhang Hongwei was tied to the "constraining bed" for 58 days. Li Dehai was tied to it for one and a half day for writing a solemn declaration, and the torture caused him to bite his tongue so hard that it was injured. Bai Ye was tied to it for 15 days. Cao Hongyan went on a hunger strike for 6 days and then he was tied to the "constraining bed." His arm was broken. He often woke up in pain after he was released from the bed. Wang Hongliang was tortured on the "constraining bed" with a large amount of pressure on his body for 4 hours. He was confined in the "small cell" for two weeks. Dafa practitioners Lei Ming, Zhang Hongwei, Wang Fengcai, Zhang Wen, Zheng Gang, Liang Zhengxing, Tang Yuqiang, Wang Jing, Liu Zhaojian, and Zhang Chunyu have all been tortured on the "constraining bed."

Re-enactment: A soft-drink bottle placed vertically between the lower back and the "constraining bed"

Turning a bed into a torture instrument

In Jilin Prison, the policemen force steadfast Falun Gong practitioners to sit underneath a bed on the concrete floor. They put practitioners' heads up through the bed boards and wedge the practitioners' necks between the bed boards, leaving only their heads above the bed boards. Their bodies cannot move at all. If practitioners refuse to renounce Falun Gong, the criminals will beat practitioners' heads with their fists or bed boards. As their necks are locked, and cannot move, they are unable to dodge the fierce blows. Some practitioners' teeth were knocked out and some of them were black and blue from the beating. If the practitioners still refuse to write the so-called "Guarantee Statement," they will be confined in the "strictly controlled unit" or the "small cell" for more torture.

Torture tool made by the persecutors, Re-enactment: Beating a practitioner on head with a piece of bed board

Re-enactment: Beating a practitioner

Torture: Sitting on a stool torture

The "sitting bed" is yet another torture method used in Jilin Prison. Practitioners are forced to sit on a small stool that has sharp ridges on the surface. One has to sit straight and still, and the guards will beat them if they move. Very often, practitioners' buttocks are rubbed raw from sitting on the ribbed stools; sometimes even the bones are exposed. Every day, from 7 a.m. until 10 p.m., except for mealtimes and using the toilet, practitioners are forced to sit still on a specially constructed stool with their legs stretched forward. They cannot put any cushion between their buttocks and the sharp ridges. Meanwhile, they are forced to memorize the prison rules in a given amount of time. If the practitioners refuse to renounce Falun Gong, they will be forced to sit on a wooden stick or narrow wooden board, which will cause their buttocks to be rubbed raw within 2 days.

When confined in the "strictly controlled unit," practitioners are forced to sit on the wooden bed board, with legs stretched forward at a 90-degree angle from the body. They are not allowed any movement; otherwise criminals, assigned to monitor them, will beat them. From 5:30 a.m. to 7:20 p.m., except for mealtimes and going to the toilet, they have to sit like this. Even time for using the toilet is limited. After a few days, their buttocks will have bloody blisters and they cannot walk any more. Then policemen will force practitioners to write the three statements. Practitioner Yun Qingbin refused to write the three statements, so the policemen didn't let him sleep for several days.

Re-enactment: Stool with raised ribs

Sitting on the stool with raised ribs and beaten by criminals

Re-enactment: Wooden bed board with raised ribs

Re-enactment: Beaten by criminals with a wooden board

According to the well known Chinese principle of "The Unity of Heaven and Man," heavenly (natural) disasters are often caused by man-made activities. In the past 6 years, the continued persecution of Falun Gong practitioners and their belief in "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance" have caused damage to people in the Songhua River area. Furthermore, the persecution has brought tremendous damage to the country's ecosystem and natural resources, and society's morals were severely degraded by the persecution.

Lies will always be revealed and exposed. The SARS incident and the Songhua River pollution are similar. The hate propaganda, covering up the facts and information blockade, and the genocide of Falun Gong practitioners have also been exposed. People will become clearer about the evil nature of the CCP.

11/28/2005