(Minghui.org) “Our family is now broken. You, mom and dad are locked in the No. 2 Detention Center, and our sister in the No. 1 Detention Center. Our brother has to quit school because we have no money.”
Ms. Feng Wandi burst into tears upon discovering the above note hidden in the clothes her eldest sister sent her while she was being detained in 2001 for refusing to give up her belief in Falun Gong.
Her family of seven, including her parents, herself, her two older sisters and her two younger brothers, lived in terror and faced constant harassment from the local authorities after the persecution of Falun Gong began in July 1999.
All seven of them used to practice Falun Gong and credited the practice for giving them a happy and healthy life. The first few years since the onset of the persecution, however, saw Ms. Feng, her parents, and her second sister repeatedly arrested and detained for holding firm to their belief. Her mother died at the age of 49 in 2004 after years of detention and intimidation.
Ms. Feng from Maoming City, Guangdong Province is now filing criminal charges against former Chinese leader Jiang Zemin for launching the persecution of Falun Gong that ruined her once happy family.
“I really wish that what happened to my family were just a nightmare. I cannot understand why we had to suffer so much for simply trying to be good people,” Ms. Feng wrote in her criminal complaint.
Family of Seven Targeted and Threatened
The Feng family became a target after all seven members signed an appeal letter addressed to an international human rights organization on January 16, 2000 to expose the persecution of Falun Gong. The police interrogated the family and arrested both parents on February 2.
The mother was kept captive for 38 days, forced to pay 350 yuan for her meals during detention, and fired from work. The father was detained for four days.
While both parents were in detention, the local 610 Office staff kept harassing and monitoring the five siblings at home. The eldest sister and the two brothers (the youngest being only 12 at the time) were so terrified that they reluctantly agreed to give up their belief in Falun Gong.
Life didn't get any easier though, as the parents and their two younger daughters were put in and out of detention in the several years that followed.
Mother Dies at 49
The family's matriarch Ms. Yang recovered from her illnesses and became an even-tempered person after she began to practice Falun Gong in 1997. She, however, was arrested three times alone in 2000 (in February, July and December, respectively) for refusing to part ways with the practice that transformed her life.
She was given two years of forced labor in February 2001, following her third arrest. The guards at Sanshui Labor Camp subjected Ms. Yang to torture and constant brainwashing. Under pressure, she wrote the “Three Statements” to renounce her belief.
She was released on April 20, 2002. The years of detention and torture had taken a toll on her health. She passed away in June 2004. She was 49.
Traumatized, Father Later Gives Up Falun Gong
The family's patriarch was also arrested three times in 2000 (twice in February and once in July). He was later taken to Dianbai No. 2 Detention Center, where at one point his wife and third daughter were also incarcerated.
The village ordered Mr. Yang's bank to freeze his account after his two younger daughters went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong. His older son quit school to join his oldest daughter in a factory to earn money for the family. Mr. Yang had always had high hopes for his older son, who excelled academically. Now that the boy quit school, and Mr. Yang's dream of seeing him go to college withered.
Mr. Yang couldn't fathom the fact that his once happy family was ruined and in financial distress because of the persecution. Traumatized and confused, he also wrote statements to sever ties with Falun Gong. He was released on April 20, 2001.
Second Sister Haunted by Suffering
Ms. Feng and her second sister Ms. Feng Wanxiang went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong in December 2000. They were arrested and sent to Chaoyang Detention Center, where they were stripped naked and body searched. They were also tortured and forced to undergo various medical examinations.
Ms. Feng Wanxiang was released in May 2001. She was haunted by her suffering and soon gave up the practice of Falun Gong.
Ms. Feng Still Experiencing Persecution
Ms. Feng was released on January 5, 2001, only to be arrested soon afterwards and taken to Dianbai No. 2 Detention Center. She was forced to do hard labor and was force-fed with concentrated salt water. She wasn't released until eight months later and after being forced to pay 2,000 yuan.
Despite what she went through, Ms. Feng holds firm to her belief in Falun Gong. Now a young mother herself, she still cannot enjoy a peaceful life. Both she and her husband, also a practitioner, have to face unending harassment from the police, not knowing when the next arrest will happen. Her mother-in-law lives in constant fear.
Background
In 1999, Jiang Zemin, as head of the Chinese Communist Party, overrode other Politburo standing committee members and launched the violent suppression of Falun Gong.
The persecution has led to the deaths of thousands of Falun Gong practitioners over the past 16 years. More have been tortured for their belief and even killed for their organs. Jiang Zemin is directly responsible for the inception and continuation of the brutal persecution.
Under his personal direction, the Chinese Communist Party established an extralegal security organ, the “610 Office,” on June 10, 1999. The organization overrides police forces and the judicial system in carrying out Jiang's directive regarding Falun Gong: to ruin their reputations, cut off their financial resources, and destroy them physically.
Chinese law allows for citizens to be plaintiffs in criminal cases, and many practitioners are now exercising that right to file criminal complaints against the former dictator.
