Falun Gong Practitioners Assaulted in Argentina

FDI: Falun Gong Practitioners Assaulted in Argentina after Lawsuit against Visiting Chinese Official Assailants Linked to Chinese Government

NEWS - Dec. 15, 2005 Falun Dafa Information Center [ http://www.faluninfo.net/ ]
Chinese assailants beat a Falun Gong practitioner to the ground in Buenos Aires outside Argentina's National Congress. Witnesses say local police were unresponsive to cries for help and believe they were under orders from visiting Chinese officials not to interfere with the assailants.NEW YORK (FDI) - The Falun Dafa Information Center (FDI) has received first-hand accounts of assault, battery, and theft perpetrated against Falun Gong practitioners in Argentina. The assailants were described as ethnic Chinese, all wearing suits, and driven by car and van to the scene of the crime; photo evidence has confirmed these descriptions.
The incident took place Wednesday, December 14, in broad daylight beginning at 10:30A.M. local time, outside Argentina's National Congress in Buenos Aires. Several members of the Falun Gong group were injured in the assault, including women. Banners and poster displays documenting rights violations in China were wrestled from the Falun Gong and stolen by the assailants.

The nature of the stolen items - human rights materials - strongly suggest political motivations and backing.

The assault is believed to have taken place in connection with the visit to Buenos Aires Wednesday of top-ranking official, Luo Gan, who formerly headed China's secret Falun Gong Control Office, the "6-10 Office." Luo was served with a lawsuit in Argentina on Tuesday, one day prior to the assault, for his involvement in genocide against the Falun Gong in China. Victims and witnesses at the scene described the assault as "highly-organized" and "terribly violent." One man was seen being beaten to the ground and then kicked repeatedly while down. Witnesses had their cameras and film wrestled from their hands by several unidentified Chinese men. One member of the Falun Gong group had a cell phone stolen.

FDI is additionally concerned by multiple first-hand accounts that Argentinean police did little to stop the assault. Police, though at the scene, were said to respond "very timidly," and didn't react even when they themselves received blows from the Chinese attackers. One witness even told of police shielding an assailant after upset bystanders tried to intervene. Police did not arrest or question any members of the attacking group.

Witnesses have surmised that Argentinean police knew about the attack in advance and were instructed, at promptings from Chinese officials, not to intervene. The Chinese assailants were seen later in the day outside the nearby Sheraton Hotel, where Luo Gan was reportedly present. The assailants are believed to be part of the Chinese delegation or members of the Chinese Embassy in Argentina.

Disturbing, Global Pattern of Instigation
Wednesday's assault fits into a disturbing pattern of violence, intimidation, and rights violations in connection with visits by Chinese officials around the world. It appears that in each case Chinese authorities have used economic and political clout to pressure host-country governments.

Past incidents of a similar nature span a range of countries. In South Africa, June of 2004, gunmen opened fire on a car of visiting Chinese Falun Gong adherents; the group had just arrived in Johannesburg and planned to serve a Chinese official with a lawsuit for human rights crimes. In Chicago the CCP has sent individuals to physically assault Falun Gong demonstrators who sit outside the PRC consulate. On another occasion there a car was firebombed in broad daylight.

In January of 2004 French authorities arrested over 70 Falun Gong for "wearing the color yellow" or clothing with the words "Falun Gong" while China's president visited. Icelandic officials adopted a "blacklist," provided by Chinese agents, to bar entry of Falun Gong demonstrators during a June 2002 visit by China's president--a decision the Icelandic Ombudsman recently ruled to be illegal. Myanmar authorities, meanwhile, arrested a 71-year-old man and sentenced him to seven years in prison for raising a banner reading "truth, compassion, tolerance" when China's president visited the nation in December of 2002.
"The free world needs to promptly, and decisively, say that this is wrong and must stop," said FDI spokesperson Mr. Erping Zhang. "China's regime should have no forum anywhere for its draconian policies of control. Assaults like these should never happen in China, much less free, democratic nations. If this is the cost of China's economic friendship, it is a Faustian deal of the worst sort that world leaders are cutting. It's a terrible sell out."

FDI is calling for Argentinian authorities to conduct a prompt and thorough investigation into the incident, and further requesting the assistance of any and all international agencies that might help to investigate the larger pattern of violence and human rights abuses carried out by agents of the Chinese Communist Party against Falun Gong practitioners throughout the world, including Burma, France, Mexico, Germany, and Russia (news).

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NEWS - Dec. 15, 2005
Falun Dafa Information Center, www.faluninfo.net

Background
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa (about), is a practice of the Buddha School, consisting of meditation and exercises, with teachings that emphasize living by three principles: truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance. Originating in China, Falun Gong is now practiced in over 70 countries. With Chinese government estimates of 100 million practicing Falun Gong in China, in July 1999 the Chinese Communist Party-state launched a nationwide, violent campaign to "eradicate" the practice. The Falun Dafa Information Center has verified details of 2,780 deaths and over 44,000 cases of torture (reports / sources). Millions have been detained or sent to forced labor camps.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT THE FALUN DAFA INFORMATION CENTER- Contacts: Gail Rachlin 917-757-9780, Levi Browde 646-415-0998, Erping Zhang 646-533-6147, or Christina Chai 917-386-5068. Email: contact@faluninfo.net, Website: http://www.faluninfo.net/

Posting date: 12/16/2005Original article date: 12/16/2005Category: News & Media Reports

NEWS BULLETIN

Dec. 14, 2005
FALUN GONG NEWS BULLETIN
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Weekly news about Falun Gong in China and around the world – www.faluninfo.net

FDI: SENIOR CHINESE OFFICIAL LUO GAN SUED IN ARGENTINA FOR GENOCIDE
NEW YORK TIMES: CHINESE LAWYER TAKES ON FALUN GONG CASES, FACES THREATS
FDI: WORLDWIDE PROTESTS CONDEMN RAPE OF FALUN GONG WOMEN BY POLICE
EPOCH TIMES: CHINESE POLICE BEAT MIDDLE SCHOOL TEACHER TO DEATH
SENIOR CHINESE OFFICIAL LUO GAN SUED IN ARGENTINA FOR GENOCIDE
NEW YORK (FDI)—During an official visit to Argentina, on December 13 Chinese cabinet member Luo Gan was sued by Falun Gong practitioners for his role in the torture and genocide against Falun Gong in China. Gan is largely responsible for the implementation of former president Jiang Zemin’s “eradicate Falun Gong” policy. Luo personally monitors the different branches of the government, as well as the forced labor camps around the country, to ensure that the policy is followed with whatever means necessary. Two prominent local attorneys filed the suit at the Buenos Aires Federal Court.

CHINESE LAWYER TAKES ON FALUN GONG CASES, FACES THREATS
BEIJING (New York Times)—Mr. Gao [Zhisheng] has been blocked from filing lawsuits on behalf of Falun Gong members. But in open letters to the leadership, he said the secret police had tortured sect members to make them renounce Falun Gong. He described a police-run, extra-judicial "brainwashing base" where, he said, one client was first starved and then force-fed until he threw up. Another of his Falun Gong clients, he says, was raped while in police custody…The Beijing Judicial Bureau handed him a list of cases and clients that were off limits, including Falun Gong…This fall, he said, security agents have followed him constantly…By late November, the bureau issued a new notice demanding that Mr. Gao hand over his personal law license as well as his firm's operating permit. Both had to be in the hands of the bureau by Dec. 14. The authority would otherwise “use force according to law to carry it out.”
Full Story: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/13/international/asia/13lawyer.html

WORLDWIDE PROTESTS CONDEMN RAPE OF FALUN GONG WOMEN BY POLICE
(FDI)—Since news of the November 25 rape of two Falun Gong women in police custody, Falun Gong practitioners have been staging protests spanning the globe. The protests have been held outside of Chinese consulates and embassies in Finland, Ireland, Thailand, Japan, Canada, and Washington DC, New York, and Los Angeles. Protesters call on the Chinese government to hold accountable the police officer responsible for the brutal rapes, named He Xuejian. Officer He used electric stun batons on one of the victim’s breasts, slapped, and choked her.
Full Story: http://www.faluninfo.net/displayAnArticle.asp?ID=9299

CHINESE POLICE BEAT MIDDLE SCHOOL TEACHER TO DEATH
JIANGXI, CHINA (The Epoch Times)—Falun Gong practitioner Weidong Fei, who was a teacher in the Jiujiang County No. 1 Middle School in Jiangxi Province, was reported to the police by a store owner while he was telling others…about the persecution of Falun Gong. The police arrived at the scene and closed the store's roll-up doors, then brutally beat Weidong Fei to death on the spot…His family was forbidden to see his body and his body was sent to be cremated without the consent of his family. The police passed his ashes to his family and threatened his family not to protest his unlawful death. According to insiders, due to the beating, his body was covered with bruises, there were two bloody holes on both of his temples, and all of his front teeth were broken off.
Full Story: http://english.epochtimes.com/news/5-12-4/35353.html


This bulletin is online at: http://www.faluninfo.net/displayAnArticle.asp?ID=9307



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FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT THE FALUN DAFA INFORMATION CENTER- Contacts: Gail Rachlin 917-757-9780, Levi Browde 646-415-0998, Erping Zhang 646-533-6147, or Christina Chai 917-386-5068. Email: contact@faluninfo.net, Website: http://www.faluninfo.net/

Mr. Yan Li - Tortured to Death

Falun Dafa Practitioner Mr. Yan Li from Jinzhou City, Liaoning Province Tortured to Death in Police Custody


(Clearwisdom.net) Falun Dafa practitioner Mr. Yan Li from Jinzhou City, Liaoning Province was tortured to death while in police custody at the Chifeng City Police Department, Inner-Mongolia Autonomous Region.

On November 22, 2005, Falun Dafa practitioners Mr. Yan Li and Mr. Wang Xiaodong were arrested in an apartment building located at Yinhang Lane, Hada Street, Hongshan District, Chifeng City by State Security Agents from the Chifeng City Police Department. Mr. Yan Li went on hunger strike to protest the persecution after being arrested.

On December 5, 2005, Mr. Yan Li's family received a phone call indicating that Mr. Yan Li was arrested, and that the family would receive the notice in the mail within several days.

On December 7, 2005, Mr. Yan Li's family arrived Chifeng City, but found out that Mr. Yan Li had already died.

Chifeng City zip code, 024000
Chifeng City Police Department phone 86-476-8335632
State Security Division Head Guo Yuming (male) of Chifeng City Police Department phone: 86-476-8689906. Another head's last name is Bao (male).
State Security Brach Division Head Jia Yi (male) of Chifeng City Police Department phone: 86-476-8689987
Chifeng City 610 Office (Chifeng City Legal Education Base) zip code, 024000, phone: 86-476-8424610(Office), 86-476-8421672(Office), 86-476-8236710 (Office) Chair Wang Jinshan (male, also Chifeng City Police Department Head): 86-476-8337060 (Office), 86-476-8215693 (Home), 86-13327150680 (Cell), Deputy Chair Yang Chunyue (male): 86-476-8339595 (Office), 86-13904766288 (Cell), 86-476-8350999 (Home)
Chifeng City CCP Political and Judiciary Committee: 86-476-8347412, Deputy Secretary Zhang Guoli (male): 86-476-8368810
Chifeng City CCP 610 Office: 86-476-8368810, Head Deng (male), 86-476-8368810
Hongshan District zip code, 024000
Hongshan District Police Department operator: 86-476-8361518
State Security Division: 86-476-8365260, Division Head Zhang Daihe (male): 86-476-8350444
Hongshan District Police Department Dai Yingtang (male): 86-13304769656 (Cell)
Hongshan Distrcit CCP 610 Office: 86-476-8244714
610 Office chair Wu Xuesong (male): 86-476-8244714 (Office), 86-476-8680027 (Cell), 86-13015188777 (Cell)
610 Office personnel, Zhang Jinhai (male): 86-13604769398 (Cell), Cui Liping (female), Ma Hongsheng (male)
Detention Center, 86-476-8663772 or 86-476-8670899
Detention Center head Bai Gula (male), fax: 86-476-8670866
Detention Center guard Deng Liyan (female): 86-476-55886096 (Home), 86-13848668887 (Cell), 86-476-8223094
Hongshan District Commisionor and CCP Secretary Dong Qifu (in charge of financial support of the persecution): 86-13304761958 (Cell)
Hongshan District Department of Justice, Zhang Wei (male): 86-476-8690996 (Cell)
Hongshan District CCP Political and Judiaciary Committee, 86-476-8237757 Secretary Song Lifu (male): 86-476-8237622 (Office), 86-476-8368810 (Home), 86-476-8368110, 86-13904766996 (Cell), 86-13304766996 (Cell)
Deputy Secretary Wang Jingguo (male): 86-13304766992 (Cell), Secretary Qu (male), 86-476-8250510, 86-476-8683260 (Cell)

Posting date: 12/13/2005
Original article date: 12/13/2005
Category: Eyewitness Accounts
Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2005/12/9/116179.html

China tries to stop people's human rights champion

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/13/international/asia/13lawyer.html?ei=5088&en=7f98b28235fc18ce&ex=1292130000&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&pagewanted=print

Mr. Li Yequan Has Been on a Hunger Strike for Fifty-six Days and Is Near Death

[Clearwisdom.net]


Mr. Li Yequan Has Been on a Hunger Strike for Fifty-six Days and Is Near Death

Mr. Li Yequan, a 38-year-old practitioner from Daqing City, Heilongjiang Province, has had his wages suspended for the last six years because of his belief in Falun Gong. He had been illegally arrested numerous times and forced to move from one place to another to avoid persecution. Mr. Li is now being brutally abused at the Daqing Detention Center. He has been on a hunger strike for 56 days to protest the illegal treatment. Every day, for 24 hours, he is handcuffed, shackled, and force-fed. A guard named Wang Yingzhou, along with inmates, forced a liter of hard liquor down his throat and spit on him. They also poured cold water on Li Yequan. Due to being force-fed three times a day, Mr. Li's esophagus has been badly injured. He shows symptoms of pneumonia and mental disorientation and his body temperature has dropped. He is extremely weak, with his white cell count as high as 20,000. Mr. Li has slipped into a coma many times and is now dying.

Mr. Li Yequan enjoying happy days with his family prior to being persecuted
On November 16, 2005, Li Yequan's family went to visit him and also to talk to the authorities at the detention center. The associate director of the center, Wang Yongxiang, made excuses and refused to see them. One of Mr. Li's family members presented Wang an open letter addressed to the labor camp. On November 17, Mr. Li's father, who had suffered a stroke, his brother, and sisters traveled a long distance to see Li Yequan. In Wang Yongxiang's office, all of his family members were asked if they practiced Falun Gong. Mr. Li's wife asked, for verification, if Mr. Li had been force-fed hard liquor and spit on. The actions were denied. When his wife said she would ask Mr. Yi himself, the prison authorities got very angry and yelled, "From now on, you are not allowed to see him any more!"

Mr. Li's father asked, "Li Yequan is a good man. What law did he break? Why did you arrest him so many times?" They replied, "The government does not allow him to practice Falun Gong." "So which law did he break?" They said, "That's the business of the Public Security Bureau. Why don't you go ask them?"

Mr. Li's family went to the No. 1 Brigade, where his wife was refused entry. His brother confirmed from talking to Mr. Li that liquor was indeed forced down his throat and that he was spat upon. The head of the brigade, Lai Zhonghui, Wang Yingzhou, and other inmates stormed over and dragged Mr. Li's brother out of the room. His brother was forced to stay outside in freezing temperature for over two hours, which exacerbated his stomach problem.
When Mr. Li's father demanded his son's release, they passed the buck to the Public Security Bureau. Disappointed, Mr. Li's family had to leave.

Mr. Li Yequan worked for the Daqing City Bullet Factory. He started practicing Falun Gong in July 1996 and followed the teachings of Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance in his daily life and was recognized as a good worker. His research project was so outstanding that he was going to be promoted from associate head of the workshop to the factory head responsible for technology. Since the persecution of Falun Gong first started in July 1999, the local police station and the staff in his company tried to coerce him to write a guarantee statement. He refused and remained true to his beliefs. The party secretary, Yao Dexi, worried that he might go to Beijing to appeal for justice for Falun Giong, so they arrested him and took him to the Chuangye Police Station, where he was detained for two months before being sent back to his company.
On July 14, 2000, Mr. Li went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong but he was escorted back to the Honggang Detention Center, where he was detained for one month and then another 15 days. After he was sent back to his company, Mr. Li was placed under house arrest. On September 25, Party Secretary Yao Dexi extorted 3,600 yuan from him before they released him. In addition, they took his two-month wages, one month's bonus for May, and other allowances totaling 100 yuan. They also took the 329 yuan in cash that he had on him. After they extorted the funds from Mr. Li, they told him that he could resume work after the National Day holidays. Unfortunately, as soon as Mr Li returned to work, he was sent to Bei'an, Daqing's 610 Office brainwashing center, for one month. From the brainwashing center, the local 610 Office sent Mr Li to one year in the Daqing Forced Labor Camp for removing slogans slandering Falun Gong from the wall. He was released on October 28, 2001.


Receipt for the fines extorted by Party Secretary Yao Dexi
After returning to work, Mr. Li was demoted to the janitorial staff. He had his pay cut by 300 yuan. From an administrative position he was relegated to a support position. Li Yechuan had barely worked for a year before he was again sent to the brainwashing center at the Hong Weixing Center between June and July, 2003 simply because they found a piece of paper in his pocket with information on a website operated outside of China. That same night, Mr. Li was sent to the Chuangye Police Station. The police station was going to send him to the forced labor camp. Handcuffed and brutally beaten, Mr. Li was sent to Honggang Detention Center three days later. As a result of the beatings and the long-term hunger strike, Mr. Li became quite weak. Only then did the detention center release him. However, he was still subject to harassment. Li Yequan was forced to leave home to avoid further persecution.


On December 13, 2004, in the Yinlang neighborhood, Mr. Li and other three practitioners were arrested by officers from the Ranghu Road Police Substation. Mr. Li shouted, "Falun Dafa is good," even as he was being gagged and blindfolded by the police and dragged into a vehicle. He continued to shout, "Falun Dafa is good" on the way to the station, and clarified the truth to the public.

Mr. Li also shouted, "Falun Dafa is good" day and night at the detention center. They punished him by making him sit on an iron chair and he was tortured in order to try to make him reveal information about Falun Gong activities and other practitioners. At some point, they sent him to the company's hospital for emergency treatment and later to a hospital at the No. 4 Refinery of Daqing Oilfield. Later on, Mr. Li was forced to become homeless.

At 5 a.m. on September 23, 2005, Li Yequan was again illegally arrested by police from Daqing City. On the night of September 27, the Daqing Public Security Bureau, 610 Office, Judiciary Bureau, and Daqing Forced Labor Camp had a meeting and sent Mr. Li to the Daqing Forced Labor Camp. When Mr. Li's white blood cell count was found to be as high as 20,000, the labor camp refused to admit him. However, Daqing Public Security Bureau Chief Cao called them to say that Ruan Dianlong, the associate party secretary for the municipal government and the legal and political commission, had approved the admission, so they had to admit Mr. Li. As a result, Li Yechuan was sentenced to forced labor for two years without any legal procedures. He is being held in the No. 1 Brigade at Daqing Forced Labor Camp.


Mr. Li has been on hunger strike to protest the persecution, and demands to be released. Ordered by Director of the No.1 Brigade Lai Zhonghui and policeman Wang Yingzhou, several inmates shackled Mr. Li's hands and ankles. He is force-fed three times a day, sometimes for more than four hours. Mr. Li's esophagus has sustained severe injuries and he has slipped into coma many times. The guards or inmates even put the portrait of Master Li on the chair and force him to sit on it and put the book, Zhuan Falun on the seat. Wang Yingzhou, who calls himself a policeman reincarnated from a devil in hell, along with several inmates, forced more than a liter of hard liquor down Mr. Li's throat. They even spat into his throat.

Mr. Li has has had his wages suspended since July 2003. His wife is struggling to support their seven-year-old son with her meager income from her cleaning job. Their life is very miserable. Their son often stares at his father's picture and weeps in private so his mother does not see him crying.

We urgently appeal to all kind-hearted people: Please help Mr. Li Yequan and stop the persecution of Falun Gong.

The front of Daqing Detention Center
Daqing Forced Labor Camp office
The No. 1 Brigade where Mr. Li is being jailed