(Clearwisdom.net) Recently, the number of Falun Gong practitioners in China who have died as a result of persecution has reached 896, including a twelve-year-old girl. Bay Area Falun Gong practitioners gathered in front of the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco on the evening of February 24, 2004 to hold a a sit-in appeal, calling for the Chinese government to stop the persecution and killing, and bring head perpetrators Jiang Zemin, Luo Gan, Liu Jing and Zhou Yongkang to justice.

According to a recent report from Clearwisdom.net, several more Falun Gong practitioners died as a result of persecution in China. They were from the provinces of Henan, Hebei, Shandong, Sichuan, Guizhou, Jilin and Guangdong, and the city of Shanghai, including a twelve-year-old girl named Liu Qian from Hebei Province.

San Francisco Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Peng said, "I come to the consulate every day, because there are about 200 people coming here daily to apply for visas. We display photo boards and hand out materials to tell them the truth about Falun Gong. Tonight, we come here because we learned that more than a dozen Falun Gong practitioners were tortured to death in the past 15 days. We are very concerned about the practitioners in Mainland China, so we come here to express our wishes to stop the persecution and killing. At the same time, we want to tell those evildoers, there are laws and heavenly principles in this world. Jiang's hands are stained with the blood of innocent people, and he will receive due punishment sooner or later. Luo Gan, Liu Jing and Zhou Yongkang assist Jiang to do evil deeds, planning, directing and supervising the persecution of Falun Gong in different places, so we also want to bring them to justice."

It is reported that Liu Qian was a third-year student at Gegezhuang Village Primary School in Xiong County, Hebei Province. On November 15, 2003, she was diagnosed as having acute leukemia, and her life was in danger. Her parents remembered that they had once read a miraculous story from a Falun Gong flyer, so they took Liu Qian home and read the Falun Gong book together. Liu Qian recovered completely seven days later, and she could move freely, just like a joyous bird, flying among people. All her relatives were amazed at the effect of Falun Gong. However, two months later, school began. The principal learned about this and forced Liu Qian to write a guarantee statement to give up Falun Gong, and demanded that Liu Qian must renounce Falun Gong; otherwise, she could not go to school. Liu Qian said, "I would have died by now if I didn't practice Falun Gong." She refused to write the guarantee statement, so the principal forcibly sent her home. The sudden deprivation of the right to go to school was like a hard strike to Liu Qian's head, destroying all her dreams for the future. Under such heavy pressure, little Liu Qian's physical health and mental state became worse and worse. One the fifth day, twelve-year-old Liu Qian died in a state of depression.

Another Falun Gong practitioner, Mr. Zhao Xudong, 34 years old, died as a result of persecution on February 7, 2004. Several days before his death, Zhao Xudong had been severely tortured. He was sent to Lanzhou City's Prison Hospital, and died there a few days later. According to a witness, there was a lot of blood in his nose. Zhao Xudong's mother, Bai Jinyu, was arrested with him on December 7, 2003, and her whereabouts are unknown. His wife, Li Hongping, was sentenced to three years of forced labor for practicing Falun Gong, and she has been detained for more than two years. Their elderly father and eight-year-old daughter were left at home. The father has become mentally disoriented due to the loss of his son.

Twenty-eight year old Dafa practitioner Mr. Wang Shubin from Shantou City, Guangdong Province, was abducted and sent to Sanshui Forced Labor Camp for more than one year. During this time, he was subjected to brutal beatings and interrogation all night. More than a dozen policemen beat him; even worse, one policeman stabbed his neck with toothpicks. The policemen also stomped upon his chest and throat so harshly that they were swollen and blood stained the ground. The injuries would not heal after more than two years. Physical torture and mental threats put Mr. Wang on the verge of collapse. His body tortured to deformity, an emaciated Wang Shubin died on October 5, 2003.

Shanghai Dafa practitioner Mr. Ma Xinxing, around 40 years old, was once tortured in a mental hospital for three months. In November 2003, he was tortured to the verge of death, and was released from Shanghai's Qingpu Forced Labor Camp. In mid December, a practitioner came over to see him. He was emaciated and lay in bed. He could not eat and drink, and threw up whatever he ate. His family members told the practitioner that he could no longer recognize people. When the practitioner talked with him about their experiences together, he showed no expression, but when he mentioned "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance," his eyes became bright and a bit of a smile could be seen at the corner of his mouth. Then tears welled up his eyes. He died on December 14, 2003.

Practitioners said that recent articles related to persecution published on Clearwisdom.net showed that many facts of persecution have been published after breaking through the blockade. Overseas practitioners should strengthen the power of sending righteous thoughts and eliminate the evil in places where persecution is still severe. We should also go to the Chinese consulates to expose the persecution, and let more people learn about the persecution. The persecution of Falun Gong in China is being sustained by Jiang's group through covering up, deception and fabrication.

When the people around the world learn about the severity of the persecution, they will stand up to resist it. Then the persecution will have no way to maintain itself.

Mr. Peng also said, "We advise those evildoers and bad people who participate in persecuting Falun Gong to stop their evil deeds; otherwise, they will be punished. 'Good and evil will receive due retribution.' This has been recorded in history. We hope they will rectify their wrongdoings and become good, leaving a beautiful future for themselves and their families."