Ms. Zhao had been tortured and abused while being detained for one and one-half years in a Chinese labor camp for her belief in Falun Gong, and decided to join the lawsuit as a plaintiff. She drafted a statement to send overseas to her sister, who lives in Washington, D.C.

Some time in the last three weeks, her home was ransacked by police showing a warrant from the Chinese Custom Headquarters, a unit high up in the hierarchy of the Public Security Bureau. Her letter, her copy of the complaint against Jiang, and other relevant information were confiscated, and she was taken away by Chinese officials.

Ms. Zhao has not been heard from since.

"Chinese officials had come from Hui Zhou - over 100 miles away - and they had a search warrant issued from the Chinese Customs Headquarters," says Ms. Langxiang Zhao from her home in Washington DC. "They were looking specifically for the letter she wished to submit to the legal case. It is widely known that phone lines are tapped...they must have heard my sister's plans, and then moved in to take her away."

One and a Half Years of Torture, Abuse, Forced Labor

In 2000 Ms. Zhao was sentenced a year and half of forced labor at the San Sui Women's Forced Labor Camp in Guangdong Province because she practices Falun Gong.

According to Ms. Zhao's sister, Ms. Zhao was made to perform forced labor for 12 hours a day. She was also often locked in narrow solitary confinement. "Like in the movie Green Mile," explains Ms. Zhao's sister, "only the sanitary conditions were horrific."

Ms. Zhao was released after her family was forced to pay $1,200.

Jiang Zemin Orders Arrests of All Probable Plaintiffs

The arrest of Miyei Zhao has brought to light a new abuse in the persecution of Falun Gong, directed from the highest levels of the government. Her case has received attention because she was lucky enough to have a sister here in the U.S. There are apparently dozens of other cases like hers throughout China.

According to sources in China, shortly after the class-action lawsuit was filed and served on Jiang Zemin during his visit to the U.S. last October, Jiang ordered the Chinese Security Bureau to establish a nationwide "Special Task Force Working on the Jiang Zemin Lawsuit Filed by the Falun Gong Practitioners Living Abroad."

The Task Force investigates and "eliminates" all activities involved with aiding and assisting the U.S. lawsuit against the former Chinese leader. It treats all probable plaintiffs and those who seek justice via the lawsuit as felony criminals, spying on, monitoring, and arresting them.

In mid-April, the Task Force illegally arrested over 70 candidate plaintiffs in Heilongjiang Province who had sent their affidavits telling how they had been persecuted over the Internet to the US.

According to a member of a provincial "6-10" office, the Task Force has also been gathering information about possible plaintiffs from Falun Gong websites where information regarding the lawsuit is reported. "Over 50" areas in China have so far been investigated.

The police involved in this work are highly motivated. One of the policemen who ransacked and plundered Miyei Zhao's home said "we have made an arrest that will win us great rewards." Chinese policemen who excel in persecuting Falun Gong practitioners often receive large bonuses.

"After more than a year of torture and abuse because she practices Falun Gong, my sister has now been abducted by Chinese officials because she wanted to exercise her legal right to speak out," says Ms.Zhao's sister. "If that's not state terror, what is? I ask the American people and the American government to help rescue my sister from the tyranny of Jiang Zemin."

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NEWS - May 31, 2003
Falun Dafa Information Center, www.faluninfo.net

Background

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa (about), is a practice of meditation and exercises with teachings based on the universal principle of "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance." It is a practice that was taught in private for thousands of years before being made public in 1992 by Mr. Li Hongzhi. Falun Gong has roots in traditional Chinese culture, but it is distinct and separate from other practices such as the religions of Buddhism and Taoism. Since its introduction in 1992, it quickly spread by word of mouth throughout China, and is now practiced in over 50 countries.

With government estimates of as many as 100 million practicing Falun Gong, China's President Jiang Zemin outlawed the peaceful practice in July 1999 (report), fearful of anything touching the hearts and minds of more citizens than the Communist Party. Unable to crush the spirit of millions who had experienced improved health and positive life changes from Falun Gong, Jiang's regime has intensified its propaganda campaign to turn public opinion against the practice while quietly imprisoning, torturing and even murdering those who practice it.

The Falun Dafa Information Center has verified details of 714 deaths (reports / sources) since the persecution of Falun Gong in China began in 1999. Government officials inside China, however, report that the actual death toll is well over 1,600, while expert sources estimate that figure to be much higher. Hundreds of thousands have been detained, with more than 100,000 being sentenced to forced labor camps, typically without trial.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT THE FALUN DAFA INFORMATION CENTER
Contacts: Gail Rachlin (+1 917-501-4441), Levi Browde (+1 914-720-0963), Erping Zhang (+1 646-533-6147), or Feng Yuan (+1 917-941-1097).
Fax: 646-792-3916 Email: faluninfoctr@nycmail.com, Website: http://www.faluninfo.net/
Mailbox of FalunInfo editor@faluninfo.net