The Falun Dafa Information Center recently received reports from sources inside China that at least five more Falun Gong practitioners have died resulting from torture in police custody, bringing the death toll for the two-year persecution to 258.
Mother Witnesses 33-year Old Son's Scarred and Battered Body
A 33-year-old man arrested in China for his refusal to stop practicing Falun Gong has died after being tortured. This story was reported on Aug. 2, 2001, by AP, AFP and the Hong Kong-based Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy. Li Changjun, a Masters degree graduate, was detained on May 16, 2001 in Wuhan for printing materials that revealed the human rights abuses against Falun Dafa practitioners in China. On June 27, after forty days of torture, Wuhan police notified Mr. Li's family of his death.
Li Changjun's mother, Wei Sumin, was allowed to see her son's body shortly after he died and described his condition: "...he had only skin and bones left. His face and neck were black and blue. His fists were clinched. His teeth were out of place. His face was distorted. His whole back looked as if it was burned and cooked. The scene was horrifying."
A Falun Dafa Information Center reporter called the special telephone line of the Wuhan City Mayor for details, but was told, "For Falun Gong issues, [we] can only listen, but cannot talk; and [we] only do things according to the policy of the Central Government."
"We hope that this blatant criminal act will not go unnoticed by the international community," said Erping Zhang, a Spokesman for Falun Gong, "Li Changjun was not alone. So many Falun Gong practitioners are in a similar situation and facing a similar fate, like U.S. resident Dr. Teng Chunyan."
"We all have to act together to ensure she and the thousands of other Falun Gong practitioners don't meet the same senseless, sad fate, and that is why we make an urgent call to rescue Falun Gong practitioners being persecuted in China," said Zhang.
Mr. Wang Xianyou Dies After Force Feeding
Wang Xianyou, of Yushu City, Jilin Province, died after being force fed by police in the Fenjin Labor Re-education Camp in Jilin. Wang was on a five-day hunger strike to protest his illegal detention. While the details of his death are sketchy, many cases of death while forced feeding have been documented as inexperienced police officers inserted the feeding tube into the victims lungs instead of the stomach or used excessive force, causing injury to the lungs and other internal organs.
Two Falun Gong Practitioners Die in Dalian Labor Camp
Local sources have confirmed that at least two Falun Gong practitioners were killed in the Dalian Labor Camp on or about July 10th, 2001. Since then, the labor camp has enforced a strict information blackout, forbidding all Falun Gong practitioners and other prisoners alike to meet with, or obtain supplies from, family members.
Dalian Labor Camp has been described by survivors as "dreadful." Falun Gong practitioners - even those in their 70's - are forced to perform heavy labor from 4:30 AM till 10:30 PM every day. The cells are muggy, full of mosquitoes, and extremely crowded. Practitioners are rarely allowed showers, and many are reportedly suffering from scabies.
Forced to Drink Disinfectant
Mr. Wu Qingbin, 37, father of a 12-year-old boy, was killed on July 20, 2001 after being forced to drink disinfectant at Huainan labor camp, according to sources inside the labor camp. Wu had been in and out of reeducation and labor camps since March, 2000, and had suffered repeated beatings and torture for his refusal to renounce his faith.