Instigating Thai Police to Violate Human Rights

Los Angeles: Practitioners Rally Against the CCP for Instigating Thai Police to Violate Human Rights



(Clearwisdom.net) On December 16, practitioners from Los Angeles delivered a letter to the Thailand Consulate in Los Angeles. The letter strongly protested the incidents on December 10 and 15. Instigated by the Chinese Communist regime, on December 10, Thai police roughly treated the Falun Gong practitioners who were peacefully appealing in front of the Chinese Embassy to Thailand. On December 15, Thai police arrested eight practitioners. Los Angeles practitioners called on the Thai Government not to give in to the pressure from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and not to comply with the totalitarian regime to persecute Falun Gong. In addition, they demanded the immediate release of the detained practitioners and restoration of practitioners' rights to conduct peaceful appeals in front of the Chinese Embassy.


In front of the Thailand Consulate, Los Angeles practitioners protest Thai police violence

In front of the Thai Consulate, practitioners displayed a huge banner which read: "Thailand, Do Not Help the Chinese Communist Regime Persecute Falun Gong." On behalf of Falun Gong practitioners, Dr. Wu Yingnian, associate professor from the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA), delivered the protest letter and truth-clarifying materials to the Consulate. During his meeting with Consul Som Pop Sermswatsri, Dr. Wu described details of the incident and facts of the CCP's persecution of Falun Gong. He hoped that the Thai government and people would uphold justice and not help the Chinese Communist regime to persecute Falun Gong. The consul stated that he would pass the practitioners' requests on to his government.


A passing-by reporter from a Thai TV station recorded the entire event

According to professor Wu, on December 10, in order to protest the rape of Falun Gong practitioners by Chinese policeman He Xuejian, Falun Gong practitioners held a quiet sit-in on the roadside opposite the Chinese Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand. They "clarified the truth" to passersby and called for an end to the persecution of Falun Gong. Around noon, several dozen uniformed police and plainclothes police crossed the road and forcibly searched practitioners' bags, dragged practitioners away and grabbed their banners, causing injury to practitioners and damaging their personal belongings. At the site, some policemen said that they didn't want to interfere with the protest, but the Chinese Embassy ordered them to do so. Professor Wu stressed that such a gross violation of human rights happened on International Human Rights Day.

Professor Wu said, "The interference with the peaceful protests of practitioners is still happening. Yesterday (December 15), they arrested eight practitioners who were sitting in front of the Chinese Embassy. Among the detained practitioners, there were three children who are four, six, and fourteen years old. When policemen took the practitioners away, they dragged and beat them, causing several injuries. So far, one practitioner has been released, and the other seven are on a hunger strike."

Professor Wu called on the Thailand government to recognize the totalitarian and brutal nature of the CCP, not to be an accomplice of the regime in the persecution, and to uphold justice, human morality and conscience.



Posting date: 12/21/2005
Original article date: 12/21/2005
Category: Falun Dafa Worldwide
Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2005/12/18/116811.html

Torture, especially the sexual torture, of Falun Gong practitioners

China Strapped to the Tiger Bench: the
Degradation of a Nation Reflections on
the investigation with attorney Gao
Zhisheng of the torture, especially the
sexual torture, of Falun Gong
practitioners

By Jiao Guobiao Special to The Epoch
Times Dec 19, 2005

A group of Falun Gong practitioners
display some of the torture methods used
by the Chinese government on Falun Gong
practitioners in China. The woman in the
right is sitting on a tiger bench with
her hands and feet tied up. (The Epoch
Times) High-res image (600 x 398 px, 72
dpi)

Dr. Jiao Guobiao is a journalism
professor at Peking University, and was
recently fired for his outspoken views
on censorship. In an article posted on
the Web site of Voice of America, Dr.
Jiao describes China's censorship
methods as an "information pigsty"
surrounded by "stinking" stones that
separate China from the outside world,
and the Chinese news media from the
Chinese people. In this article, he
reflects on the investigation of torture
of Falun Gong practitioners that he and
lawyer Gao Zhisheng carried out. This
article contains graphic descriptions of
torture.

Tiger bench! Tiger bench! Still the
tiger bench!

In a civilized country, even if there
were just one incident of the government
using the tiger bench on its citizens,
this government would no longer be able
to hold power. But these days, we have
been talking on a daily basis with
people who have been tortured on tiger
benches. We have eaten from the same
table, and sometimes even slept in the
same bed. Many of them have experienced
tiger benches not just once, but many
times. Once Wang Yuhuan "lived" on the
tiger bench for three days and two
nights, going in and out of
consciousness. Those so-called "people's
policemen" twisted her arms every so
often. Her two shoulders felt as if they
are on wheels that turned all
directions, and her arms, being tied up,
were flung from the back to the front
over her head, while her head was
violently pushed forward in between her
legs; the iron rod tied to her front
almost cut her chest into two pieces.
Then, her tied-up arms would be flung
from the front to the back, while her
head was pushed all the way back, with
the back of her head crushing again the
outside of the backboard; her neck was
on the verge of being broken by the top
edge of the backboard. Those "people's
policemen" would also untie her, but
force her arms around her back so far
that her two hands would press upward
together miraculously as if they were
pressing together in the front.

While listening to the peaceful
narratives of their horrific experiences
by these people whose lives have been
extricated from cruel torture, I
sometimes fell into a momentary
illusion. Looking at these men and women
in front of me, speaking intently with
no hatred and resentment, I wondered
whether they were ghosts who had passed
away, or were they gods with eternal
life? Here we were together-was I in the
human world or in hell?

Tiger bench is another name for torture.
All kinds of cruel torture instruments
that we have heard from legends are
actually still alive in the world, and
these Falun Gong practitioners have
experienced all the torture methods that
Sister Jiang [1] suffered in the
concentration camp of Zhazi Cave. Even
those methods Sister Jiang did not
experience, such as electrocution of
internal organs wherein an electric
baton is inserted into the victim's anus
until he or she dies, have been
experienced by these truth-seeking Falun
Gong practitioners.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has
often said the Japanese should apologize
to the Chinese people. The torture Wang
Yuhuan experienced is no more civilized
or kind than those once inflicted by the
Japanese people on the Chinese. The
Chinese government should first
apologize to the Chinese people, before
it can request righteously that Japan
apologize to the Chinese people.
Recently an old wreck named Tang Jiaxuan
said human rights in China are better
than those in the U.S. The U.S.
policemen, however, cannot even imagine
what the tiger bench looks like, but it
is still used on the Chinese people. If
variety of "experience" can also count
as a kind of human rights, then the
American people clearly fall far behind
the Chinese people.

The "political issue" is the source of
all evil. The disasters suffered by the
Chinese people in the past few decades
have all come from the "political
issue." I would hope the People's
Congress would establish an item in the
legislation, forbidding the treatment of
national matters in the name of the
"political issue." The "political issue"
is a term that violates and obscures the
law. As soon as the "political issue" is
attached, nobody is allowed to
intercede, and all laws can be slipped
beneath the feet. The 6-10 Office , a
specialized organization, will be
recorded in the history of the suffering
by the Chinese nation in an image even
uglier than the Central Cultural
Revolution Group. Local 6-10 Offices not
only persecute Falun Gong, they also
exert pressure to break the families of
Falun Gong practitioners, and ask the
school principles to bar the children of
Falun Gong practitioners from attending
school. The CCP's Propaganda Department
disallows any reflection on the Cultural
Revolution, and thus the 6-10 Office
repeats the Cultural Revolution. The
Cultural Revolution, the CCP's
Propaganda Department, and the 6-10
Office will, in similarly notorious
images, all enter into the long history
of brutality in the Chinese nation.

In the history of this nation since the
CCP seized power, China has suffered
from large-scale persecution of
intellectuals; the CCP remembers this
and so it no longer persecutes
intellectuals on a large scale. China
has suffered from large-scale
persecution of veteran cadres; the CCP
remembers it and so it no longer
conducts revolution by kicking away
government. Until now, China has not
suffered from large-scale persecution of
people with spiritual beliefs, so CCP
held that it would be able to wipe out
Falun Gong practitioners like the autumn
wind wipes away the leaves.

The Roman Empire was not able to
eliminate Christianity in 400 years,
thus we now have the tradition of
religious tolerance and freedom of
belief in Europe and the USA. China has
no such a tradition, and from this
angle, Falun Gong practitioners are
suffering for our entire nation. They
are paying the cost for the Chinese
nation to become mature-they are paying
for all of us. Therefore, I, in my own
name, salute these men and women who
have come off tiger benches alive and
who are living between the worlds of
deities and ghosts!

I have to mention that during the entire
process of our investigation, we have
heard very frequently of sexual abuse
and sexual torture toward female Falun
Gong practitioners. Even the religious
persecution in the European history and
the Nazi's persecution of Jewish people
seemed to show more constrain than our
"people's police" and more respect for
women's rights. Wang Yuhuan, over 50
years old, said that those policemen of
a younger generation not only ripped off
all her clothing, but also ordered her
to urinate in front of seven or eight
policemen. This was not enough; these
young men took out their penises and
urinated on Wang Yuhuang, who was their
mother's age, saying, "You are not
married, right? Today we want you to
experience men." Those bastards-aren't
they afraid "dragons will snatch it
off?"

There are those policemen who showed
particular interest in women's vaginas,
shocking them with electric batons and
stabbing with brushes to scrub them. I
do not understand what is it that they
enjoy? Who does not have a private part-
your mothers, your wives, your sisters,
your daughters, all your female
ancestors and your female offspring? I
make a solemn suggestion to our
President Hu Jintao: Why don't you
organize a conference call and order
your subordinates not to show that much
interest in women's private parts?
Haven't we all come out of women's
vaginas? Can you ask the men in our
Chinese nation to show more respect for
women's private parts? What's the
difference between vaginas of other
women and those of our wives, mothers,
sisters, daughters and daughters-in-law?
Did they not treat you well? Were you
not born from there?


[1] Sister Jiang, or Jiang Zhuyun, was a
Communist Party member who was arrested
by the Kuomintang army in 1948 and
imprisoned in Zhazi Cave concentration
camp. There were questions about what
tortures she endured, but the Communist
literature, especially through a
historical novel called "Hong Yan," made
her into a legendary hero for the
tortures she suffered, including, tiger
bench. Sister Jiang has been a symbol of
torture sufferer in contemporary China.

Click here to read the original article
in Chinese

Choose your edition | About Us | Contact
Us | Site Map | Privacy Policy | RSS XML
Feeds Copyright 2000 - 2005 Epoch Times
International


http://www.theepochtimes.com/news/5-12-
19/35951.html

United Nations Special Rapporteur Exposes Widespread Use of Torture

(Clearwisdom.net)


United Nations Special Rapporteur Exposes Widespread Use of Torture in China and the CCP's Attempt to Obstruct His Investigation (Photo)

By Li Zi


On December 2, 2005, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture, Mr. Manfred Nowak, condemned the Chinese Communist Party's use of torture at a press conference at UN headquarters in Beijing.

Background

The Office of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture is one of the human rights institutes under the UN Commission on Human Rights.

Based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the United Nations has passed many pacts or declarations dealing with the topic of torture. According to these pacts, the UN has established and appointed special investigators and committees to monitor governments in countries around the world to apply related agreements and human rights standards dictated by these pacts. These special investigators and work committees are under the umbrella of United Nations human rights organization.

These special investigators and committee members are for the most part well-respected experts in the fields of human rights and law. They work for the UN on a voluntary basis and have outside jobs. They perform their UN work in addition to their normal work. Their work is independent and not restricted by any government. Because these people are professionals and also volunteers, governments and human rights organizations hold their work in high regard. Because local authorities have no influence on their investigations, their findings are considered to be most authoritative.

The UN Special Rapporteur on Torture is usually in charge of investigating torture in various countries and commands great influence in the UN Human Rights Committee. Usually, renowned human rights activists around the world recommend an individual for this specific task. The special rapporteur serves a four-year term and is permitted to work for more than one term.

Although the Chinese Communist Party has bribed many governments to evade condemnation of its human rights record by the UN Human Rights Committee, the Party cannot do anything about the special rapporteur on human rights. Many rapporteurs devote a large part of their annual report to criticizing the CCP's human rights violations. In recent years, reports on the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners have taken up a substantial portion of the report. In their reports, three different rapporteurs on torture have sternly condemned the CCP's widespread use of torture.

Ten-year delay

Since the use of torture by the CCP has been on the rise, in 1995, then torture investigator Mr. Nigel Rodney asked to conduct an investigation in China. Because of the respectability of the UN special investigators, many world governments permit them to conduct investigations at any time. But the CCP, in hopes of covering up their activities, did not want to allow the investigator to freely investigate; on the other hand, they could not completely deny the request. Therefore, it did what it does best--it constantly created some "special situations" in China to refuse or delay the visit.

At first, the Party tried to force the investigator to accept unreasonable constraints as a prerequisite for the visit. For example, the investigator would only be allowed to visit a few designated prisons. According to UN policies, the investigator should not be subjected to any limitations when investigating human rights in any country. He should be able to go to any prison without notifying the government; he can interview anyone subjected to torture without the presence of government officials, and the interviewee and his family should not be subject to retaliation from the government. The investigators firmly refused to accept the unreasonable conditions the CCP proposed. The commission firmly upheld international standards and chose not to make the trip rather than to accept the CCP's conditions. I witnessed firsthand the last investigator, Theo van Boven, arguing with CCP officials, insisting he must follow international standards.

Year after year, UN investigators upheld their principles. While the CCP dragged its feet for a long time, they attracted tremendous international pressure, because everyone knew why the CCP was delaying the visit. Without a choice, the CCP finally agreed to let the investigator conduct an investigation according to international standards, but it also arranged obstructions to further delay the visit. For instance: in 2003, the CCP tried its best to cover up the SARS epidemic at first, and then turned around and used the SARS issue to prevent the investigator from going to China. Last year, the CCP purposefully arranged Mr. Theo van Boven's visit for July 1. Right before Mr. Boven set off, the CCP told him, "Sorry, the whole country is celebrating a 'holiday' right now; we cannot let you come."

The CCP thought it had gained the upper hand, while it actually had become a laughing stock around the world. During the March human rights conference in Geneva, Mr. Boven said that his visa and plane ticket were still in his briefcase, but he was not allowed to make the trip. The Chinese representative answered, "In 2003 we had SARS; last year, we were celebrating the holidays." Laughter broke out in the room.

Under tremendous international pressure, the CCP accepted the investigator's request to conduct an on-site investigation in China this year, in exchange for the U.S. agreeing to not propose a motion condemning China's human rights record. This was the first on-site investigation on human rights and torture conducted by the UN and members from the international community in China.

Preparation

Manfred Nowak, a law professor from Austria, is the new special rapporteur of torture this year. He is the first independent investigator in the history of the UN to go to China to investigate human rights issues. Major media and political experts call it an investigation of historic significance.

The CCP of course had its schemes: it pretended to be "willing to cooperate with the international community" by allowing the UN investigator to carry out an investigation in China. It enticed and pressured officials at UN headquarters in Geneva, and carefully planned the trip. It thought that since professor Nowak was a newly appointed investigator and not familiar with the interpersonal relationships within the UN office, professor Nowak would not be able to proceed on his own after he arrived in China. Professor Nowak was cordial and diplomatic during his discussions with CCP officials. He showed an understanding and cooperative attitude toward the Chinese government, which sharply contrasted with his predecessor, professor Van Boven. The CCP thought it was in control of everything.

The CCP made the mistake of taking this as a weakness.

Investigation and interference

Professor Nowak started his official visit on November 21. The CCP filled his hotel with National Security agents; they tapped professor Nowak's and his delegation's phone-lines and watched their every move. The CCP knew ahead of time about the places the investigators were going. They threatened and intimidated the torture victims and the families with whom the investigators were going to speak. They tried to disrupt some of their plans and arranged many official meetings for professor Nowak, with the intention of reducing his time to investigate.

The interference from the CCP, both in China and inside the UN, did obstruct professor Nowak's investigations. He was forced to cancel his trips to Jinan City and Yining City. However, professor Nowak took note of the CCP's schemes while persevering in carrying out his investigations under adverse conditions. He exposed the CCP's abuse and torture to the world two weeks later.

Exposure

Professor Nowak ended his two-week investigation in China on December 2. He held a press conference on the same day at the UN headquarters in Beijing. Several hundred media from around the world reported this event.

At the press conference, professor Nowak exposed the CCP's attempts to obstruct his investigation. In particular, the China National Security Bureau and Ministry of Public Security officials obstructed or restricted his activities during his visit. Professor Nowak pointed out that any form of interference is against the rules. The CCP not only sent people to follow, watch and harass the commission members; they also threatened and intimidated people and their families who were going to provide evidence for the investigating team.

The special investigator pointed out that, unlike other governments, the CCP authorities refused to issue him a permit and stonewalled his attempt to go to any prison he wanted. They sent an official from the Department of Foreign Affairs to "accompany" him. The visits are to be carried out without prior notice, yet the investigation team was told to notify the foreign affairs official one hour before any visit, and the official in turn notified the prisons and labor camps where these visits would occur.

The special investigators exposed the CCP's false promises to follow international standards that they made prior to the trip. They also exposed the tactics the CCP employed to obstruct the visit.

The investigator also pointed out that the prison authorities restricted interview times with the excuse of limited work time, which reduced the number of places that could be visited and the number of detainees with whom the investigator could speak. Professor Nowak was even repeatedly asked to present his passport and hand over all electronic devices. He was forbidden to bring a camera into the prison, although taking photographs is one of the basic duties of an investigation. Nowak tried to enter prison cells on a random basis to prevent his conversations with inmates being overheard. Sometimes, the detainees refused to meet with him because they feared retaliation and persecution. Several other detainees asked him to keep their conversations confidential.

Regarding his conversation with the detainees, Nowak pointed out that he saw obvious fear and self-censorship, which he had never encountered in other countries. Nowak called it "a culture of fear" and said he has never seen this in other countries.

The Truth

Despite the CCP exhausting its means of interference and limiting the investigators and the committee's movement, the special investigators still saw serious evidence of the CCP's widespread use of torture. At the press conference in Beijing on December 2, Nowak said torture is used throughout China, including Beijing, where people consider the "administration of law" is better than other places. He had enough evidence to prove that, to a large extent, the Chinese judicial system still relies on coercion to extract confessions. China has the largest prison system in the world. Torture has been used to extract confessions, to punish people or to brainwash people. Nowak said that China has no appeal system for the victims. Officials of the so-called monitoring system are not the best candidates watch over the guards and police, because they also follow orders from the government and have the same goals as the police and guards. Torture is widespread in Chinese labor camps, and the guards, who are rarely checked, are administering such torture.

Nowak said his predecessors received many complaints regarding torture and other forms of mistreatment in China and have turned them over to the Chinese government for its investigation and opinion. The tortures are systemic and long lasting. They target Falun Gong practitioners, Tibetans, members of the Uighur ethnic minority in Xinjiang, political dissidents, human rights activists, and members of house churches.

Nowak listed some methods of torture such as beating, shocking with electric batons, burning with cigarettes, handcuffing or shackling for extended periods of time in solitary confinement, submerging detainees in water or sewage, or exposing them to extreme heat or cold, forcing the prisoners to stay in an uncomfortable position for a long time, such as sitting, squatting, lying down, standing or with his arms supporting his body; putting things underneath the detainee's body and not allowing him to eat, drink or sleep; long-term solitary confinement; no treatment or medicine during illness; heavy labor, and being hung up by handcuffs. Sometimes there is a name for a specific torture, such as the Tiger Bench; sitting on a small, ridged stool several inches tall without moving; "flying an airplane," where the detainee is forced to bend forward with his legs tightly together and arms raised high above his body; "Stewing the eagle," where the detainee is forced to stand on a tall stool and is beaten until the guards are exhausted. According to information collected during the investigation, Nowak said all these methods are used in China.

At the same time, Nowak condemned the CCP for using psychiatric facilities to torture persistent dissidents in order to damage their minds and dignity. He met many people who suffer from mental trauma or physical injuries that left no visible scars. He pointed out that Falun Gong practitioners in particular were singled out by the authorities for the most brutal treatment. The government often incarcerates them in labor camps without trial and tries to brainwash them. The Falun Gong practitioners are forced to stay in a painful position for a long time. A democracy activist who also suffered from this torture and was interviewed by Nowak called it "killing with a soft knife."

Condemnation

Nowak called on China to repeal the "labor reeducation" system, abolish all labor camps and stop using psychiatry as a torture method. The Chinese government must give suspects the right to remain silent and completely abolish extraction of confessions through torture. The Chinese government must follow basic international human rights principles and the UN constitution. Unless the Chinese government carries out major legal reforms and allows the establishment of an independent judicial system, Mr. Nowak said that torture in China would not be effectively controlled.

He said the "culture of fear" is prevalent. Some prisoners, even those who wrote letters to his office alleging torture, said during the investigation that they were not tortured, or they said they could not remember details of the torture. Nowak said that one could feel the fear and self-censorship.

Nowak also said that China should abolish the concept of political dissidents along with the charges of "jeopardizing national security" and "disrupting social security" because these charges give the Chinese government too much room for interpretation. He also emphasized that brainwashing through forced labor or other forms in prisons, custody centers, mental hospitals and other places should be abolished.

According to international human rights laws, the government can intervene in the expression of political opinions, religious beliefs, moral values, or minority opinions only when such actions incite hatred and violence, or if they directly threaten the state or public security. State-oriented monitoring and severe punishment through "labor reeducation" of citizens holding differing opinions do not accord with the core values of a society built on a humanitarian culture. Such monitoring will result in fear, obedience, self-censorship and a "culture of fear," which will violate "the right to avoid being subjected to inhumane or insulting treatment or punishment."

Every society has the right to uphold or administer article 10 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which states, "All persons deprived of their liberty shall be treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person...Accused persons shall, save in exceptional circumstances, be segregated from convicted persons and shall be subject to separate treatment appropriate to their status as non-convicted persons...The penitentiary system's essential aim shall be the treatment of prisoners with the goal of their reformation and social rehabilitation."

The "labor reeducation" system in China and the policies at prisons and detention centers contradict measures to help detainees repent for their crimes, because the systems' goal is to destroy the detainees' will and alter their humanity. These measures violate Article 7 and Article 10 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, as well as Article 1 and Article 16 of the UN Convention Against Torture, which protect people's self-esteem, dignity and humanity, as well as other core aspects of human rights. Forced labor itself not only constitutes a severe violation of personal freedom, a basic human right, but is also seen as systemic inhumane treatment and even torture. Therefore, similar measures should be abolished from labor camps, prisons, detention centers and mental hospitals.

Nowak will turn in an official investigation report to the UN Human Rights Committee next year.

Feedback

After the press conference, many media in Beijing quickly published the result of the investigation in different languages. Titles of some of these articles include "UN: Torture in China Still Widespread;" "UN Assails China's Widespread Use of Torture" and "China Needs Major Reform to Curb 'Widespread' Torture--U.N." Radio and TV stations in many countries broadcast Nowak's speech and broadcast pictures of torture and of Chinese labor camps. The UN investigation of torture in China has become top news on many websites. The CCP is now linked with torture.

Future performance

Confronted with severe criticism, the CCP didn't know how to react at first, which sharply contrasted with its speedy response after the staged self-immolation incident in Tiananmen Square.

Of course, the CCP has denied the truth and claimed that Nowak has limited knowledge on torture issues in China. The CCP vehemently denies the special investigator's conclusions, which will only bring more pressure upon itself. If the CCP thinks Mr. Nowak does not know much about the issue, why did it obstruct and interfere with his investigation?


Posting date: 12/18/2005
Original article date: 12/18/2005
Category: Eyewitness Accounts
Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2005/12/8/116107.html

Five More Practitioners Die as a Result of Persecution

Five More Practitioners Die as a Result of Persecution

(Clearwisdom.net) Ms. Wang Zhirong was a retired worker from the Chengdu Metallurgy Factory of Sichuan Province. In 2000, she went to Beijing to appeal for justice for Falun Gong. After returning home, she was harassed by deputies from the local police stations, the residential committee, and her factory security department. She was detained numerous times. During her detention she held hunger strikes to protest. Upon seeing that she was on the verge of death, the authorities released her. To avoid further persecution Ms. Wang, her daughter, and her four-year-old grandson were forced to leave home and go from place to place. Ms. Wang passed away on December 14, 2001, at the age of 59. Her daughter continued to live a homeless life, and in January 2003, her grandchild also died.

Mr. Wang Shengtang lived in Gushan Town, Donggang City, Liaoning Province. Shortly after he began to practice Falun Gong, all his illnesses went away without treatment. After the persecution began in 1999, he was twice arrested, once in September 1999 and again in July 2001. The arrest in 2001 happened in the middle of the night. At that time the Donggang City Police Department Security Section Chief Wang Runlong led over ten policemen to search his home. They scaled the wall and broke into his house. They turned his home upside down and then took him away without a warrant. For the past several years Mr. Wang had been subjected to constant harassment, threats, intimidation, and brainwashing. He suffered tremendously under this persecution and was under constant fear and stress. He suffered a stroke as a result and passed away on October 12, 2005, at the age of 70.

Ms. Ren Huiying lived in Urumqi, Xinjiang Province. Before she took up the practice of Falun Gong, she had to rely on others to take care of her. From 1990 to 1998, she took medication constantly. After she began to practice Falun Gong in 1998, she never had to use any medication and she became completely healthy. Her son and daughter-in-law also practice Falun Gong. In June 2000, her son and daughter-in-law went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong. Her family was under constant harassment as a result, and received threats from the local authorities. Ms. Ren fell ill under the pressure and passed away on November 7, 2000, at the age of 57.
Mr. Xia Xiying lived in Liujiawa Village, Tiemengang, Macheng City, Hubei Province. He previously had late-stage tuberculosis. After practicing Falun Gong, his tuberculosis and other illnesses went away. He went to Wuhan City on April 25, 1999 to appeal for justice for Falun Gong. After the persecution formally started in July 1999, he was subjected to harassment and intimidation. He turned in his Falun Dafa books under pressure and wrote the so-called guarantee statement against his will. He was forced to slander Dafa on TV. He was very regretful for what he did after he returned home. The local authorities continued to harass him, causing dramatic damage to his body and mind. He passed away in 2003, at the age of 70.
Ms. Bao Shengmei was from Wangjiashuizhai Village, Baiguo Town, Macheng City, Hubei Province. She was subjected to constant persecution since 1999 and was unable to study the Fa and do the exercises. She was forced to leave home and go from place to place. In late 2004, she passed away.

Posting date: 12/18/2005Original article date: 12/18/2005Category: Eyewitness AccountsChinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2005/12/4/115778.html