(Clearwisdom.net) Since the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was awarded the privilege of hosting the Olympics in 2001, they have made use of the Olympics as an excuse to intensify repression and human rights abuses even more severely, especially in the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. On February 19, 2008, under the banner of "The Central Political and Judiciary Committee," the CCP distributed a secret document entitled, "Comments on means by which to practically maintain the stability of society and guarantee the security of the Beijing Olympics." They recommended that between March and August 2008, the Party should "focus time and manpower to organize activities that will solve specific conflicts." They also specifically emphasized the need to "guard against and severely punish" Falun Gong practitioners. In late February 2008, the CCP Provincial Committee of Jilin Province held an urgent meeting focused on increasing the persecution of Falun Gong.

I. Branches of the CCP Work Together on the Persecution

In early March, the various CCP branches in Changchun and surrounding counties held a series of meetings to coordinate the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. The Heizuizi Forced Labor Camp in Changchun worked with all of the police stations in the province to provide detailed information about all of the practitioners who were persecuted by re-education through labor, especially those practitioners they thought to be "important." Then the police stations, based on this information, investigated, harassed and arrested practitioners one-by-one. All of the officers in the police stations were called to work and assigned to check practitioners in their district according to the blacklist that had been compiled. For those practitioners who had moved to new homes, police checked their workplaces. For those who had no workplace, they sought out their relatives. If they could not find any clue as to practitioners' whereabouts, they deceived the practitioners or their relatives into returning to the community using the ruse that they needed to come for something related to "social security." They tried every means to contact practitioners, and then threatened, tricked or forced practitioners into leaving their fingerprints, having their pictures taken, or signing/writing statements. When they were not sure about the practitioners' attitudes toward the practice, they illegally arrested and persecuted these practitioners. The police stations also recruited many unemployed people in their 40's or 50's to work as public security "agents." These people wear out-of-date green police uniforms. They walk along the streets every day in groups of two or three, with electric batons in their hands. In the city, there is a group of these people every hundred meters, and they intensively monitor pedestrians.

The police department in Changchun has also formed the so-called "Background Checking Office" for the Beijing Olympics. They do strict background checks of all of the coaches, athletes, volunteers, government officials and audience members who will attend the Beijing Olympics. Their main focus is on trying to find Falun Gong practitioners and their relatives. Officers who formed the "Background Checking Office" come from the Public Security Division and the Domestic Security Division of the city police department. The Public Security Division is in charge of investigating and providing information, while the Domestic Security Division is in charge of maintaining the list of Falun Gong practitioners and cataloging all of their connections in society. They monitor "important targets," and deny practitioners and their relatives the ability to participate in or attend the Beijing Olympics. Practitioners and their relatives are listed as targets to be monitored and they can be arrested any time. Those who had already bought tickets to the games or ceremonies had those tickets confiscated.

II. Illegal Arrests in Ouya Scientific City

On the morning of April 22, practitioner Zhao Xiuying was arrested in Ouya Scientific City by plainclothes police from the Changchun Police Department. On the night of April 22, practitioners Yan Lijie and Yue Xinying, who work in Ouya Scientific Park repairing printers, accountant Bai Yuping, retiree Gao Shuyu, supermarket employee Lu Daxin, as well as a Ms. Lu Aiping and her sister, were all arrested in their homes, and the homes were ransacked. Those who participated in the arrests and ransackings include staff from the Shuguanglu Police Station and the Weixinlu Police Station in the Nanguang District, as well as a police station in Luyuan District. After one month, all of the practitioners besides Gao Shuyu were sent to the Heizuizi Forced Labor Camp for persecution. Gao Shuyu is still detained in the No. 3 Detention Station in Changchun.

On April 23, the Police Department and National Security Bureau of Changchun ordered the Shuguanglu Police Station and Mr. Li Jun, and others from the Domestic Security Division of the Nanguang Police Department, to arrest twelve practitioners including individuals named Li Jingsong, Chen Jinyu, and Wang Zhaohui, who worked at the Ouya Scientific City in Changchun and the Changjianglu Scientific City. In the following several days, they placed large numbers of plainclothes police officers in the two Scientific Cities and other locations that sell computer accessories and printing materials.

On April 26, plainclothes police seized and arrested practitioner Wang Dongbiao as he was on his way to Ouya Scientific City to repair appliances. They also ransacked his home. The next day, two more female practitioners, Ms. Yang, who is in her 50's, and Ms. Pu in her 40's, were arrested and taken to the Shuguanglu Police Station while on their way to Ouya Scientific City to fix their printers.

It is known that these arrests were planned and organized. The officers who arrested these practitioners openly stated, "We have been following you for days." According to the Clearwisdom website, more than 20 practitioners were arrested during this period. Most of those arrested were sent to forced labor camps and/or sentenced on false charges.

III. The Changchun Evening Newspaper Frames Falun Gong Practitioners with False Accusations

On the same day of the illegal arrests in Ouya Scientific City, April 23, the New Culture Newspaper published an article claiming that Falun Gong practitioners were responsible for the death of Ms. Xiao Rong. The purpose of this article was to incite hatred by ordinary people of Falun Gong and to create a justification for the latest round of persecution. The Changchun Evening Newspaper then published an article by "Chang Wan," framing Falun Gong with false accusations concerning the same incident, to create more justification for persecution and to further mislead those who do not know the truth of the matter. The articles by the Changchun Evening Newspaper were carried in many other newspapers nationwide and had a very negative effect.

Ms. Xiao Rong died on April 7, and on April 9, her body was subjected to a medical examination, and on April 10, the body was cremated. The entire case is mysterious. Before it was investigated by the court or any related departments, the media had already exaggerated the case in an extremely irresponsible manner. This conduct contradicts the basic rule of law. All fundamental principles of journalism, from objectivity to concern for the welfare of those affected by news reporting, were violated.

IV. Police in Changchun Arrest Falun Gong Practitioners

Beginning in March, before and after the arrests in Ouya Scientific City, there were also more arrests of practitioners by other police stations in Changchun:

On March 5, officers from the Yanjiaweizi Police Station arrested practitioner Song Yanjie and ransacked her home.

On March 8, officers from the Dongdaqiao Police Station arrested practitioner Yang Shuhui (in her 70's) while she clarified the truth nearby, and detained her in the Weizigou Detention Station in Changchun.

On March 12, the Dongfeng Police Station arrested Wang Yan while she clarified the truth about Falun Gong on a bus.

On March 16, multiple officers from the Heshun Police Station arrested Shao Zhenkun, who worked in a sauna center, and had shown Dafa DVDs to the customers.

On March 17, the security director of Fengchan Village, Yutan Township in the Business and Technology Development District of Changchun, together with officers from the Yingjun Police Station in the Erdao District, arrested practitioner Li Guochen. They interrogated and beat Li for the entire night. Li Guochen's face was bruised due to the beating, and he lost a tooth. They then detained him in the Weizigou Detention Station.

On April 2,Wang Zhentang from Lijiasi Village, Qijia Township, Shuangyang District in Changchun was arrested and taken to the Shuangyang District Detention Station. Later, he was sentenced to forced labor for one year.

On April 6, officers from the Nanguangchang Police Station arrested Zheng Lijuan while she was posting truth-clarification materials. Later, she was sent to the Heizuizi Forced Labor Camp.

On April 22, officers from the Yihelu Police Station in the Chaoyang District arrested two female practitioners with the surnames Lu and Jiang. They are both around 60 years old. At about the same time, the police also arrested another practitioner by the name of Fan Minxuan.

On April 24, without any clear reason, officers from the Xisantiao Police Station in Kuancheng District ransacked the home of An Fengxiang and arrested her.

On April 26, officers from the Erdao Police Department and Yangjiadian Police Station arrested practitioner Chen Liandong, his wife, and his daughter, while ransacking their home.

On May 6, practitioner Wei Juan was arrested at Changchun's Fupin Market.

On May 6, four officers broke into the Changchun home of practitioner Zhang Xin. They arrested her and took away a laptop and a printer. They then sentenced Zhang Xin to a one year term of forced labor.

On May 9, officers from the Anqing Police Station arrested practitioner Meng Qingling and detained him in the Weizigou Forced Labor Camp in Changchun.

On May 25, officers from the Xinglongshan Police Station arrested a practitioner in his/her 70's at the Yongwei Tape Company. The next day, the practitioner's daughter, practitioner Yu Fengqing, was arrested at her home.

In the period of time around May 30, practitioner Gu Xirong from Luyuan District was arrested at home. Police seized a computer and a printer.

On June 10, the Police Department of Luyuan District arrested practitioner Lu Huichun from the Qiaoju Community. They took a computer and printer, as well as other items, from his home.

According to incomplete summaries such as this, from March until the writing of this report (June 18), more than 40 practitioners in Changchun have been arrested by the CCP. Most of these practitioners and their family members were previously harassed by phone calls or visits by personnel from local police stations or the community. Some practitioners' supervisors or colleagues at work were also harassed by phone calls and visits by these people, which severely interfered with the normal life and work of practitioners, their families and colleagues, and caused resentment and opposition from people in society.

V. CCP Courts Secretly Sentence Ten Practitioners to Long Jail Terms

CCP courts in Changchun have held two trials and sentenced ten practitioners to long jail terms. The arrests took place on May 9, 2007.

On April 29, the Nanguan District Court in Changchun held a secret trial. Practitioners Wang Fuxia and Shi Guoliang were sentenced to nine years of imprisonment. Gao Weixi and Yang Defang were sentenced to seven years of imprisonment. These four practitioners refused to sign the written document accepting their verdicts. Gao Weixi has already appealed to the Middle Court of Changchun and asked to cancel this illegal judgment by the Nanguan District Court. The practitioners are currently being detained at the No. 3 Detention Station in Changchun. The CCP had requested every staff member from the Nanguan District Court to join in this so-called "public trial," however, they did not notify the family members of the Falun Gong practitioners regarding the time of the trial.

In the early morning of April 30, the Luyuan District Court sentenced six practitioners. They are Mss. Ma Xiurong, Zhao Haibo, Yang Youlan, Li Jing and Cao Qing (nearly 70 years old) and Mr. Zhao Donghui. They did not notify the family members of these practitioners. Ma Xiurong, Zhao Haibo, Yang Youlan and Li Jing had been detained in Gongan Hospital leading up to the sentencing on April 30. Cao Qing has been detained in the No. 3 Detention Station in Changchun. Zheng Donghui is also being detained in Gongan Hospital.

These practitioners were healthy before being arrested. After one year of detention, they all display severe physical problems due to the persecution. Some have been detained in Gongan Hospital, and their family and friends are very concerned about the persecution to which they have been subjected during their detention. However the detention stations and police stations continue to avoid the topic and cover up the facts of these cases. Among the several dozen practitioners arrested on May 9, 2007, retired worker Wang Yuhuan was persecuted to death, Feng Lipin was beaten to the point of sustaining bone fractures, and Chen Tong was hospitalized due to force-feeding.