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Latest News from China - 08/04/2000

Aug. 6, 2000

[Jinan] A 19-Year-Old Girl Tortured in Women Labor Camp The Women Labor Camp of Jinan City currently does not allow the family members of the detained Falun Gong practitioners to visit their loved ones. Although the communist media portraits the labor camps as civilized places, they are actually living hells. Chen Lili is a 19-year-old girl, a former college student of Qingdao University. Because she went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong, she was expelled from school. Later, she was sentenced to forced labor. Up to now, she has been detained for five months. Several other practitioners are also detained in that labor camp, and they often suffer cruel tortures. Whenever the police found out that practitioners were practicing Falun Gong exercises, they would come over with electric batons and shock practitioners until the electric batons ran out of power. Chen Lili's two arms were full of blisters caused by the electric shocks. But the brutal policemen still tortured her with electric shocks. What crime has Ms. Chen Lili committed? The only thing this 19-year-old girl wants is to practice Falun Gong and to be a good person. Why should she be tortured like that?! [Sichuan] Chengdu Police Continued to Persecute Practitioners Xie Weiqun, female, 30, used to be a worker. She was detained in the detention center of the Jiuru Village of Chengdu City from July 3 to July 18, 2000 after going to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong. During these 14 days, she had been on hunger strike to defend her rights. When she was released, she could hardly walk. On the morning of July 19, she was detained again for no reason. On July 20, 2000, she started to bleed. When her mother got to the detention center, she already lost her consciousness. She was sent to the Huaxi Medical School Hospital for emergency treatment, and regained her consciousness three days later. What was waiting for her was the medical bill of 8,000 Yuan. All her family members had been fired for going to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong. They had no income. In addition, they had already been fined 15,000 Yuan. To pay the medical bill, her family had to borrow money from many sources. However, when Ms. Xie went back home, she was put under home arrest immediately, and her family is now under the surveillance of the armed police. Her current situation is unknown. [Tianjin] The Police Brutality against Practitioners In July, some practitioners who went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong were arrested. In the beginning, they were detained in the Qinghe Prison in Haidian District of Beijing. Because they refused to reveal their names and addresses, they were transferred to Dagang District of Tianjin City. There were more than 70 practitioners. After they were sent to Dagang, they started a hunger strike to protest the illegal detention. The police beat them and force-fed them through noses. While force-feeding one practitioner, the police inserted the tube into the wrong place. The practitioner's nose bled a lot. She felt painful all over her body and she couldn't stand up. When the police wanted to interrogate her, they would order four convicted criminals to carry her to the interrogation room. Once the four criminals dropped her to the ground, and her arms were injured. Her life is in danger now. The police also shocked practitioners with electric batons. An old lady in her 60s had black scars all over her face due to the electric shocks. When they were sent to Dagang, practitioners were not allowed to sleep for two nights. They were forced to stand outside to feed mosquitoes. The police officers took turns to watch them. [Beijing] Inhumane Tortures in Chengdu Liaison Office in Beijing

The Chengdu Liaison Office in Beijing hired several thugs to torture Falun Gong practitioners detained there. The Liaison Office became a living hell. The following are some snapshots. 1. July 2, 2000, several detained practitioners practiced Falun Gong exercises. The thugs called them out, and forced them to stand under the baking Sun. The other 30 practitioners who were detained in some other cells told the thugs that it was wrong to punish people like that. However, these thugs forced all of them to stand outside. It was very hot that day, with a temperature as high as 40C, or about 100F. Many practitioners were senior citizens. Practitioners endured the mistreatment peacefully. Later, the practitioners started to recite the poems of Teacher Li. After some time, they started to practice the exercises together. These thugs then started to beat practitioners madly. They were particularly cruel to elder practitioners. 2. July 2, 2000, evening. Two female practitioners refused to answer the thugs' interrogations. A thug then dragged them outside, and cuffed them to an iron stand, and said: "you will be cuffed here for a whole night!" 3. July 3, 2000, morning. While practitioners in a cell were reciting the poems of Teacher Li, a thug rushed in, and dragged two young practitioners outside to the yard. Practitioners in other cells all came out to urge the thug not to treat Falun Gong practitioners like that. However, the thugs hang the two practitioners onto an iron stand by handcuffs, and beat them madly. The glasses of one practitioner were broken. The broken glasses scratched his face, and the blood was all over his face. Another practitioner's arm was cut by the glass of the window, and bled a lot. The ligaments of their hands could be seen and their arms looked purple because of the handcuffing. Although the 40 practitioners detained there felt indignant about the barbaric acts of the thugs, they did not have any violent deeds or words against them. Instead, they just peacefully urged the thugs to stop the brutal tortures. However, the benign practitioners were also beaten by the thugs. 4. July 4, 2000, afternoon. While several female practitioners were practicing Falun Gong exercises in a cell, a thug came in, and kicked a practitioner to the ground. But the practitioner continued to do the sitting meditation after getting up. The thug then dragged another practitioner outside by pulling her hair. But the practitioner did not move and continued her meditation. The thug got very angry. He held the arm of the practitioner and dragged her forcefully outside. The knees of the practitioner were hurt. 5. More than 30 practitioners were detained in a small cell of 10 squared meters. It was very hot and humid these days. Practitioners could only sit on the ground over the night because there was no enough room to sleep. They were given two meals everyday. Sometimes they were only given one meal. Practitioners endured all of these. The thugs often robbed practitioners of their belongings at will. They collected money from practitioners with all kinds of excuses. They often refused to give practitioner drinking water, and did not allow them to go to restrooms. [Mainland] Practitioners' suffering on July 20, 2000

July 20, 2000, the five of us decided to go to Tiananmen Square to unfurl banners. On that day, Tiananmen Square looked quite different than usual. The police vehicles from different places encircled the whole square. Many plainclothes agents and police officers were all over the square, waiting to arrest practitioners. When I got to the square, a policeman asked me: "Let me check your ID card." I said: "I didn't bring it with me." He then asked: "Are you a practitioner of Falun Gong?" I said: "Yes." "Then get on the bus." The policeman said. Thus we were sent to the Tiananmen Police Station. At that time, it was only 9am, and there were already 100 arrested practitioners who refused to reveal their names and addresses. Later, we were transferred to the Miyun Detention Center, where the police assigned us numbers and took photos of us. We were treated exactly as criminals. Some practitioners said: "we are not criminals, so we don't want to take pictures." Then the police kicked them and shocked them with electric batons while cursing them. A practitioner from Henan Province was sitting on the ground. Upon seeing that, a policeman came over and kicked him and shocked him. After that, the policeman dragged the practitioner into the torture chamber. He cuffed the practitioner into the shape of a cross, and then shocked the practitioner's arms, legs, and mouth with the electric baton of 380 Volts. Later, the practitioner lost his consciousness. The police then poured cold water on the practitioner, who was nearly suffocated to death. But the practitioner still refused to reveal his name and address. Then the police inserted the electric baton into his mouth. The practitioner could not endure anymore, and had to tell them his address. The police prohibited practitioners from talking to each other. Whoever talked would be beaten and shocked. In the afternoon, they started to interrogate practitioners. Almost every practitioner suffered electric shocks. In addition, the police broke several police batons while beating practitioners. I lost my consciousness during the beating. Later, they dragged me to the outside by pulling my hair, and continued to torture me (I am a lady in my 50s). They also yelled: "You will be beaten to death!" The left side of my body was all purple and black because of the beating. Even now, I cannot move my arms. They said: "Once you tell us your address, we will send you home." I told them: "As I dared to come here, I will defend Falun Dafa with my life. I don't want to go home." No matter how the police tortured me, I just refused to tell them my address. They tortured me for four hours. On the next morning, the 24 of us who refused to reveal our addresses were transferred to the detention center in Langfang City of Hebei Province. Because there was not enough room to hold any more practitioners, we were later transferred to the detention center of Sanhe City of Hebei Province. On the way there, the police stuffed the 24 of us into a van that should normally hold 9 people. The police closed the window tightly because they were afraid that we might jump out of the van to escape. A policeman could not bear it any more, and said: "Let's open the window a little bit. Otherwise, they might be suffocated to death." Among us, there was an old lady in her 60s. On May 7, 2000, she went to Tiananmen Square to defend the righteousness of Falun Dafa. Later, she was detained in the basement of the Tiananmen Police Station. Four policemen took turns to beat him with wooden sticks for four hours. At first, she vomited, and later she lost her consciousness. When she regained her consciousness, she could not stand up. The police forced her to leave by crawling outside because they were afraid that she might die in police station. Even now, there was still a big wound on her butt that had not been healed. On July 20, 2000, this old lady again went to Tiananmen Square to defend Falun Dafa, and now she was detained together with us. We were all moved by her courage and her pure heart. In the detention center of Sanhe City, we staged a hunger strike to defend our rights to practice Falun Gong exercises. After three days, the police gave in, and allowed us to practice the exercises. They we started to eat. Later, we staged another hunger strike to demand unconditional release. Three days later, we were freed.