November 8, 2002

(Clearwisdom.net) Dafa practitioners Li Yushu and Liu Zhiyong are employees of the New District Power Plant in Tangshan City, Hebei Province. During a business trip on January 25, 2002, they were kidnapped by police and sent to the Tangshan Kaiping Police Station, where they suffered brutal torture. They went on a hunger strike to protest, and were later illegally imprisoned in the Tangshan No. 1 Detention Center, where they experienced further persecution.

In April 2002, to get additional information on Dafa practitioners, the Kaiping police removed Li Yushu from Tangshan No.1 detention center and took him to the Kaiping Police Station. The police threatened, "If you don't tell, we will arrest your family members. If you still refuse to tell, we will arrest more, until everybody in your family is arrested, no matter whether they are old or young." A few days later, the police kidnapped his wife Wang Rui (a Dafa practitioner) and took her to the Kaiping Police Station. Li firmly resisted the evil, and later walked away from the police station using his wisdom. When Li's wife was kidnapped, another practitioner, Peng Lin, was also kidnapped for no reason. Peng Lin, 42, was formerly the head of the business section of the People's Bank of China in Tangshan's New District. She was illegally removed from her post by the bank because she steadfastly practices Dafa. She was illegally imprisoned by police in the No. 1 Detention Center from September 2000 to June 2001, after which her former employer released her on bail. After Li Yushu and his wife were kidnapped, their eight-year-old daughter was left at home with her grandparents who were ill and physically weak.

Not long after escaping from the police station, Li Yushu was again kidnapped by the Kaiping police. He is currently imprisoned in the Tangshan No.1 Detention Center. Once again he went on a hunger strike to protest the persecution and torture. So far his hunger strike has lasted for three months, and he is in extremely critical condition.

The Tangshan Kaiping police often force those who practiced Falun Gong in the past to take part in brainwashing classes or to attend "meetings" where they are coerced to give up their belief. The duration varies from days to weeks. They frequently approach Falun Gong practitioners unannounced and force them to "take a stand," or sign "written guarantees" (to give up practicing Falun Gong). If they feel someone is not "safe," they will arrest this practitioner and send him/her to brainwashing class or detention centers to be further persecuted. They also illegally arrested practitioners in other districts in which they don't have jurisdiction. Because police do not allow Dafa practitioners' family members to visit, their situation inside the detention center is unknown.