Falun Dafa Information Center Reports the Death of Six More Falun Gong Practitioners

NEW YORK, October 10, 2002 (Falun Dafa Information Center)--Witnesses say that a local egg seller found Ms. Guo Xiumei kneeling on the pavement on the Southwest Road of Huaiyang County Xiguan Health Bureau in the early morning hours of September 23rd. Doubled over from pain, her face black and blue with one eye punctured, she clutched her stomach. The egg seller called for the police.

Ms. Guo was still alive when police arrived. What followed, however, was not the rescue and treatment of a beaten woman, but the final step in Ms. Guo's cruel death at the hands of the authorities because she chose to practice Falun Gong.

As she kneeled, face down on the pavement, police spread Falun Gong literature all around her, then photographed and videotaped the scene for evidence. After that they walked away.

"She died from illnesses," the police reported, "while distributing literature about Falun Gong." The official cause of death ended up recorded as "heart disease and cerebral hemorrhage."

The truth of what happened to Ms. Guo will not be reported by the state-run Xinhua news desk, nor will it be discussed openly in the Huaiyang County Epidemic Prevention Station where she worked.

It will, however, be remembered and recorded by witnesses and other practitioners of Falun Gong. Like hundreds and likely thousands of others, Ms. Guo was detained and tortured to death for her practice of the peaceful Falun Gong meditation, and for exposing her country's leader's brutal suppression of her beliefs.

According to another witness Ms. Guo's body was found at 11a.m., five meters from the Xiguan Health Bureau's Southwest Residential Building. She was lying face and palms up, with her head bent to one side. Her face, neck, and chest were swollen with injuries, and her left eye socket was collapsed, bearing a fist-shaped bruise. One leg was bent at an angle.

The witnesses report that Ms. Guo's death was directed by the notorious "610 Office," an "above-the-law" government agency formed by Jiang Zemin in order to eradicate Falun Gong without the hindrances of the Chinese constitution. Ms. Guo's story, however, and the pattern of detention, beating, torture, and eventual death, are far from uncommon.

Similar cases were confirmed by the Falun Dafa Information Center this week.

Five Other Deaths Reported in the Last Week -- Chinese Authorities Responsible

The following deaths have recently been confirmed by the Falun Dafa Information Center:

Ms. Zhou Yuling from Fushun City in Liaoning Province was arrested on August 30th, 2002 while posting Falun Gong flyers. By September 20th, 2002, Zhou was officially pronounced dead after 20 days of detention in Dashagou Detention Center, and her remains were cremated by the police. A suspicious death certificate was provided by the county hospital stating that the cause of death was heart disease. Because she did not have a history of heart disease, Zhou's family members persisted in their efforts to discover the true cause of death; however, police threatened to arrest her brother if they continued to investigate.

In October 2000, Mr. Xie Nengyang, a 51-year-old male locomotive operator who worked for the Guiyang City Railroad Bureau, was arrested while distributing Falun Gong flyers in Guiyang City and was interrogated for 12 hours until his employer bailed him out. Officials threatened to harm his son, who was in college at the time, if he did not sign a pledge to abandon his spiritual beliefs. Following his refusal to comply, the police regularly broke into his home during holidays or nationally sensitive days. In addition, he was forced to attend brainwashing classes on a regular basis, in which citizens are forced to watch anti-Falun Gong television shows. The two final break-ins occurred on February 4, 2002, and Xie died later that night from abuse. His wife, also a Falun Gong practitioner, was forced into homelessness to avoid arrest after she returned to her hometown in the countryside.

Sent to Hospitals to Die -- Police Attempt to Shift Responsibility

Practitioners of Falun Gong who are tortured to the point of unconsciousness are frequently sent to nearby hospitals to die, which allows the authorities responsible to avoid being present at their death. Their autopsy reports are also routinely fabricated to indicate that the cause of death was natural and not the result of physical abuse and torture. The following are recently confirmed cases of practitioners who were tortured to the brink of death and then sent to hospitals to die without medical attention:

Mr. Zhang Tao, a 50 year-old male from Shuangcheng City was illegally detained in Changlinzi Labor Camp multiple times. In July 2002, Zhang was force-fed with an unknown drug while in the labor camp, causing vomiting, diarrhea and a high fever. Despite his extremely serious condition, he was hung up in a confinement room and beaten to unconsciousness. Following this he was sent to Wanjia Hospital, but was not given any care. He died the next day. A similar case also resulted in the death of another Falun Gong practitioner, Li Hongbin, on July 14th, according to witnesses inside the camp.

Mr. Chen Baoliang, a 63 year-old male, was persecuted to death at Shuangkou Labor Camp in Tianjin City on August 17th. On August 8th 2002, police in the camp began searching Falun Gong practitioners for articles by Mr. Li Hongzhi, the founder of Falun Gong. Other inmates were recruited to spy on Falun Gong practitioners with the promise of 10 to 15 days off their prison terms if any articles were found. Practitioners were not allowed to close their eyes, as they would be considered to be "meditating," which is forbidden in the camp. Police in charge forbade practitioners from moving or talking, but didn't stop inmates from beating them.

Two inmates became particularly violent as they physically attacked the practitioners. Cheng suffered severe beatings with his mouth, arms and legs taped. Under police surveillance, the beatings continued for several days until Cheng could barely walk. No longer able to walk, he survived for less than ten minutes after the beatings stopped. The official report, which was based on a suspicious autopsy performed at the hospital, stated that Chen died of heart disease. He was then quickly cremated.

Ms. Liu Wenping, a female in her 40's, was sentenced to 3 years of labor "re-education" in Panjin City Forced Labor Camp after climbing the Great Wall to practice Falun Gong exercises in December 1999. Until her release in December 2000, police used all kinds of means to torture her in an attempt to force her to give up her belief. In early 2001, police from the labor camp went to Liu's work unit and threatened to continue to "transform" her (a euphemism used to describe forcefully coercing a practitioner to renounce his or her beliefs), and even arrest her.

On November 6th, 2001, Liu was arrested again while posting Falun Gong flyers, and was sent back to the Panjin City Forced Labor Camp without any legal procedures. Here, she was brutally tortured, including being locked up to the window bars with the window wide open without a coat on for almost 20 hours in sub-zero temperatures. She was then bound to a bed and beaten repeatedly. After methods of beating and torture did not persuade her to change, Liu was put in solitary confinement for half a month until she became mentally disordered and was sent to a local mental hospital. In January 2002, completely devastated both physically and emotionally from the torture she had received, Liu reportedly jumped out of a window to her death.

Background

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, 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, 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 487 deaths 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. Over 100,000 have been detained, with more than 20,000 being sentenced to forced labor camps without trial.