Rescue Our Family Members -- Efforts in North America (Photos)
Falun Gong Family Rescue Effort Calls for the Immediate Release of Family Members Illegally Detained in China
Falun Gong practitioners across North America and around the world are embarking on a worldwide effort to rescue their family members who are being illegally held in Chinese prisons, detention centers and forced labor camps.
The following are the stories of practitioners outside of China whose family members currently suffer persecution in Chinese prisons and labour camps for their belief in a practice that takes Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance as its guiding principles. Although the persecution by the Jiang regime against peaceful Falun Gong practitioners has been horrific and unconscionable, the strong voice of condemnation from the public and governments against these atrocities has helped to reduce the severity of the persecution faced by Falun Gong practitioners in China. It has also resulted in the successful release and return to Canada of Professor Kunlun Zhang, Ms. Ying Zhu and Mr. Shenli Lin.
The stories demonstrate that this brutal persecution of Falun Gong is not contained within the borders of China. These people live each day not knowing the status of their loved ones. They are concerned for their family members' well-being as they are well aware of the past record of brutal atrocities committed against Falun Gong practitioners in China's prisons and labour camps. The Jiang regime has also made efforts to spread this ruthless campaign against Falun Gong abroad through hateful propaganda and political and financial pressures.
In our attempts to rescue these family members, we are also sending a message to the Jiang regime that the international community does not tolerate the ruthless arrest, torture, rape, imprisonment and murder of Falun Gong practitioners. We are thus helping to uphold justice and to protect human rights more broadly and to prevent this evil persecution from growing.
These practitioners represent only a small cross-section of those who have been affected by this persecution. As many as 100 million innocent Falun Gong practitioners and their families have suffered. However, your voice can help. Rescuing these people's family members would prove to be a significant step in securing the freedom of all Falun Gong practitioners in China and putting an end to the brutal persecution inflicted upon these innocent people.
For more information, please visit: http://www.rescueourfamilies.org & http://www.faluninfo.net
You Can Help! Please visit: http://www.fofg.org/ or call 1-866-FG-FRIEND (Toll Free)
Rescue Xuefei Zhou
Help me rescue my
husband, My name is Celia Wang. My husband, Zhang Yu Hui, and I have two wonderful children, a little girl and boy. In China, we both had good jobs, and had a simple, happy life. Both my husband and I started practicing Falun Dafa and we lived according to the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance and that improved and enriched our lives beyond measure. Our dream was shattered when Jiang Zemin decided he had to destroy Falun Gong. Read Celia's story [News: Nov.4.02] Zhang Yu Hui has just been sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Please help rescue my father, Zhiwen Wang a message from Danielle Wang, 22, a student at the University of Texas ...They heard that he has been forced to sit on a small bench for seven straight days without food, water, or rest. He has been tortured to try to make him renounce his belief in Falun Gong, but he has consistently refused to succumb. One day a phone call from China reached Danielle's mother and it was Zhiwun. The entire conversation was about their daughter. That was almost two years ago and the last word received from Zhiwun...
Yanyun Huang, female, 58, retired kindergarten teacher; Haiyan He, female, 35, primary school teacher; Haiou He, male, 31, physician. Mother, sister, and brother of Haiying He, 37, MD, Ph.D., biomedical researcher at Harvard Medical School: Read The Full Story
In October 1999, while she was on her way to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong, Ms. Liang was seized by police in Guangzhou and sent to a local labor camp. She was sentenced to two years of forced labor in a Guangdong Province labor camp. However, today she is still being detained in that labor camp.
Lingwen Zeng, female, 67, professor of Physics at Jilin University -- mother of Xueyuan Wu (Ph.D in Physics, a post-doctoral research associate at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and a resident of New York) After being detained twice before, Ms. Zeng was arrested again on February 9, 2002, following PRC leader Jiang Zemin's new order to "Kill without mercy." Local police held her in a brainwashing center without notifying her family members. Two month later, her family received notice that she had been sentenced to two years in Changchun Heizuizi Female Forced Labor Re-education Camp for not giving up her practice of Falun Gong.
Xueme Tiemu, female, 50, nurse, Mongolian minority--mother of Tie Wu, computer engineer and resident of Connecticut Ms. Tiemu was sentenced without trial to three years in a forced-labor camp, and the police denied her family visitation rights. It was heard from another source that in the labor camp, she has been subjected to brainwashing (so-called "Education and Saving") as well as heavy physical labor.
Jingjiang Chen, female, 52, retired worker--mother of Chen Wan (Ph.D. candidate in the electrical engineering department, University of Minnesota) In January 2001, Ms. Chen was arrested because the police found Falun Gong flyers in her home. They used the flyers as evidence to charge Ms. Chen with organizing other Falun Gong practitioners. In the middle of February, Ms. Chen was sentenced to three years in a forced-labor camp.
Xingwu Zhang, male, 60, professor of Jinan Normal College; and Pinjie Liu, female, 60, retired worker--father and mother of New York resident, Shuangying Zhang In January 2001, both Mr. and Mrs. Zhang were sentenced to a forced-labor camp for 3 years, where they are made to do heavy labor for over ten hours a day.
Ruifeng Zhang and Yanxiang Xu--brother and sister-in-law of North Carolina resident, Ruili Zhang Both Mr. and Mrs. Zhang were fired from their jobs because they practice Falun Gong. In June
2000, Mr. Zhang was sentenced to three and a half years in prison. A few months later, Mrs. Zhang
was sentenced without trial to one and a half years in a forced-labor camp in Shijiazhuang, Hebei
Province. Because she refused to sign papers renouncing her belief in Falun Gong, she was detained
for one year and seven months. She was arrested again in late April or early
Zhenhua Dang, male, 33, chemical factory worker--brother of Tongyun Dang (Ph.D., biomedical researcher at Duke University, resident of North Carolina) Mr. Dang went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong at the end of September 2000. His family did not hear anything from him until a few weeks later. He had been illegally arrested and sent to a local detention center. Several months later, his family learned that he had been sentenced to a forced-labor camp.
Chunyan Teng, 37, an acupuncturist and an instructor of acupuncture at the Pacific Institute of Oriental Medicine in New York City The wife of an American citizen, Dr. Teng returned to China and allegedly helped foreign news reporters gain interviews with Falun Gong practitioners who had been tortured in jail or sent to psychiatric hospitals. After a closed-door trial, she was sentenced to three years in prison under the charge of "prying into state intelligence for overseas organizations." Dr. Teng has been held in a Chinese prison for over two years. We urgently need your support in securing her safe return. U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher characterizes her situation as "deeply disturbing" and requested her release to the United States.
Cui Zhang, female, 59, retired worker--mother of Chicago resident, Zhiwei Xu Mrs. Zhang started practicing Falun Gong in 1995 and benefited both mentally and physically. She once said, "Falun Gong made me understand the real meaning of life, that is to return to one's original, true self." After the persecution officially began in July 1999, Mrs. Zhang went to appeal to her local government many times but without any result. She decided to go to Beijing to appeal. In March 2000, she was arrested in Beijing and sent back to a local labor camp for four months. She suffered a great deal and went on a hunger strike. Ten days later, she was released. In May 2001, she was arrested again. Police ransacked her home and took everything they could including her passport. Because of that, she missed her only opportunity of attending her son's Ph.D. graduation. Right now her family members are trying their best to rescue her from this dangerous situation and reunite her with her son in the U.S. Fenglan Yu, female, 62, medical doctor; Dengyue Yang, male, 69, former director of Yili Nursing School--parents of Colorado resident and U.S. Citizen, Chenguang Yang They were detained and harassed after the persecution began because they didn't give up their belief in Falun Gong. Their son had started to work on their application for U.S. permanent residency two years ago in anticipation of his wedding. However, because Fenglan and Dengyue didn't renounce their belief in Falun Gong, the Chinese authorities denied them passports. American Senator Wayne Allard and Congresswoman Diana Degatte contacted the American Embassy in Beijing to ask for assistance. The Embassy granted Mr. Yang's parents special visas that do not expire. However, two years have passed, and the Chinese authorities continue to block their entry into the U.S.. This summer, Mr. Wang had his wedding, and only his parents were missing. Zhiping Li, female, 30, engineer for the Xia County Wine Company--sister of George Zhiwei Li, a U.S. citizen in San Jose, CA Zhiping was detained in early August 2002 at a detention center in Xia County, Shanxi Province for distributing truth-clarification material of Falun Gong. Meirong Zhang, female, retired internal medicine doctor from Sichuan Province--wife of Fucheng Fu, resident in San Jose, CA On February 2nd, 2002, while she was cooking dinner for the family, six people from the Pi county Security Bureau and the notorious "610 Office" showed up to take her away without any arrest warrant. She has been detained in the Pi County Detention Center since. Ah-lian Zhang, female, 53, resident in Guangzhou city--sister of Joan Chang (Xiaoyan Zhang), a U.S. citizen from Fremont, CA Ah-lian Zhang faced detention in May of this year and was forced to leave her home in exile. With the tight security, she traveled further and further, eventually she ending up in Lhasa, Tibet, thousands of miles away from home. On August 29, 2002, Ah-lian Zhang, along with another 10 Falun Gong practitioners were arrested by the local police and detained at the Tibetan Public Security Bureau. On September 21, she was taken back to Guangzhou by the police and was put into Nanzhou Detention Center. According to the Guangzhou police, Ah-lian Zhang may be sent to a labor camp for at least a couple of years. Jizhen Han, female, 60, retired worker--mother of Yongsheng Wang (a resident of Texas and Ph.D. researcher in physics at the University of Houston) Ms. Han was sent to a mental hospital in Nanjing City for so-called "treatment" after she went to Beijing to appeal on behalf of Falun Gong. Lei Xhuan-Yan, female, 56, professional tailor--mother of Tang Hong-Yang of Washington, DC Lei Xhuan-Yan has been released from jail in March 2000, but has been under house arrest since. She now must get an approval in advance whenever she needs to leave her home, including a brief visit to her neighbors or relatives. She is a prisoner of conscience confined to her home, and has lost her freedom of traveling, speech, and personal belief. Zhiming Hu, male, 28 & Zhiqiang Hu, male, 31--brothers of Hu, Zhihua, male 33, electrical engineer for circuit designs in San Jose, CA Zhiming, director of the computer lab in the Beijing Air Force Research Laboratory of Training Equipment was arrested in November 2000 in Shanghai with other Falun Gong practitioners. A few months later he was sentenced, without trial, to a 4-year jail term. Zhiqiang worked at the Dandong Air Force. He was detained on January 14, 2002 and was sentenced to a 3-year term in a labor camp in Dandong, Liao-Ning province.
Jianhua Lu, female, 47, nurse in Tielin, Liaoning Province--sister of Stephanie Li (Zhonghua Lu), 38, San Jose, CA Jianhua had been imprisoned in the notorious Masanjia labor camp for 10 months. With the rescue campaign in the Bay Area, her sister was released on September 25, 2001 (20 days after the appeal). On August 29, 2002, her sister, along with 10 other Falun Gong practitioners who were forced to leave home and live in exile, were again arrested; this time in Lhasa, Tibet by the Chinese police. After initial interrogation in Lhasa, Tibet, Jianhua Lu was sent back to her hometown Tielin, Liaoning Province and is being held in its detention center. |
