(Minghui.org) Since April 2014, many officials in Anshun City, Guizhou Province, have overseen involuntary blood draws from Falun Gong practitioners at police stations, local offices, neighborhood committees, and community hospitals.
In some cases, Falun Gong practitioners have been taken from their homes or their jobs to have blood drawn; other times, samples of their blood have been taken wherever they were apprehended. Their families are often threatened to cooperate to help locate the practitioners.
Recent incidents in brief:
Ms. Li Chunxiang, an elderly practitioner, lives near Hongji Factory. In April, Liu Yongchao and others from the Dongguan Police Station took her away to have her blood drawn.
Ms. Zhou Zhijun lives with her son in the Paili Garden Residence of the Development District. This past May, three people from the Paili Garden Neighborhood Committee notified her that she had to have a physical exam, which included a blood draw. They also informed her that the Civil Affairs Bureau would pay her 300 yuan for her cooperation. Ms. Zhou refused to go.
However, in mid-August the same people approached her again. This time they ordered her to write a statement promising that she would not go out to speak with people about Falun Gong. They told her that she would no longer be bothered if she signed. Ms. Zhou refused and instead clarified the facts regarding the persecution of Falun Gong.
Ms. Ma Lijie is a teacher at the Yunma Factory school. In late May, Meng Ping and someone else from the Xuanpu Town Police Station went to see her at school. They wanted to take a sample of her blood and test her DNA for storage in a database. Ms. Ma refused to comply.
In early June, Meng Ping and others went to the Palace of Culture, where Ms. Ma was cleaning as part of a side job. They again wanted to draw her blood. They tried to persuade her again and again, but she was determined not to participate.
That same day, they went to the homes of other Falun Gong practitioners, including Qiao Yingmin, Zhu Ping, Xie Xianfen, Gao Yumei, and Luan Yuq, to get samples of their blood. Each practitioner refused.
In early August, Xuanpu Town Police Station deputy director Liao Hong went to Ms. Ma's home to try to get her husband to help persuade Ms. Ma to have her blood drawn. When he refused to help, officer Wen Bo later called him repeatedly, but he never complied.
Ms. Wang Yu works at the Anji Factory school. In June, Hu Jun and others from the Caiguan Town Police Station went to the school and attempted to get a sample of her blood. Ms. Wang refused to allow it.
They then asked her principal to help. The principal had Ms. Wang come to his office to ask for her cooperation. The principal himself went so far as to jab Ms. Wang's finger with a needle when she looked away, and he collected a sample of her blood with a cotton swab.
Ms. Huang Mingying lives in Xishuiguan. On June 17, officer Liang Rongzhang and an office director from the Bei Street Police Station went to her home. They lied to her and told her that she had been chosen by the residential area to undergo a free physical exam, which included a blood test. Not fooled, Ms. Huang turned them away.
When Ms. Huang left her building on August 18th,she encountered Liang Rongzhang and three others. They stopped her and started making phone calls. At least two police cars and a dozen officers arrived. They grabbed her and attempted to draw her blood. Ms. Huang resisted, and eventually they put her into one of the police cars. During the scuffle, someone indeed managed to slice her finger and collect some blood on a cotton swab. Her foot was also injured.
Ms. Peng Xueqiong lives in the Fenghuang Mountain Residential District. In July, several people from the local residential committee and the East Street Office went to her home to draw her blood. Ms. Peng refused their advances and shared information about the persecution with them instead. They gave up and left.
Several officers paid a visit to Mr. Luo Peixiang at around 10 a.m. on July 18. Officer Zhong Liang from the Huaxi Police Station, Security Office director Wei Baoping of the Train Station Residential Committee, and another person with last name of Chen went to Mr. Luo's home and asked for a sample of his blood. Mr. Luo refused to comply.
Ms. Zhou Fengyin (around 80 years old) lives in an urban area. In August, her son came to see her with some people who wanted to draw her blood. They informed her son that they would take Ms. Zhou's name off the blacklist once they had a sample of her blood.
Mr. Zhang Hui is retired from the Yunma Factory. In October he went to the Xuanpu Town Police Station to apply for an identification card. The officials there said that he had to have his fingerprints taken and blood drawn first. When Mr. Zhang refused to give a blood sample, the station refused to give him an identification card.
A police officer who works for public security revealed that the directive to obtain blood samples was ordered by the Guizhou Province Public Security Bureau. Blood samples are to be secured from all those who practice or who have practiced Falun Gong in order to construct a DNA database.
During this time, however, many officers who have become more aware of the persecution have chosen not to participate.