(Clearwisdom.net) Following Jiang Zemin's orders, the authorities in Haikou Free Trade Zone (HKFTZ)*, Hainan Province persecuted local Falun Dafa practitioners.

Five years ago, on April 26, 1999, practitioners went to the Hainan government to appeal to higher authorities for justice for Falun Gong. Afterwards, various government departments started sending people to watch practitioners who participated in the appeal. An associate director from the HKFTZ was appointed to the position in charge of arresting Falun Gong practitioners.

On July 20, 1999 when many practitioners were arrested across the whole country, the HKFTZ cooperated with the local police to arrest Dafa practitioners. In the days following, they held public meetings criticizing Falun Gong practitioners, just like those held during the Cultural Revolution when people were criticized and denounced. They asked everybody to show their support for the persecution. Thus they conned a large group of innocent people. To hold their own positions, the officials of the HKFTZ used every means to bring false charges against practitioners, who were upright and kind cadres and workers who loved their jobs and respected their careers.

In 1999, the HKFTZ persecuted many Dafa practitioners in various ways. Two practitioners were officers in the party committee of the HKFTZ. One of them was given an oral reprimand and the other was given a written reprimand as punishment for not giving up their belief in Falun Gong. Personnel from the HKFTZ were sent to detention centers to force Falun Gong practitioners to sign claims saying that they wanted to resign from the Party. In 1999 a practitioner was removed from his office position as an associate director of the Bureau of Finance because the HKFTZ authorities filed a report [against the practitioner] to the Bureau of the Procurator. Violating the Constitution, the HKFTZ authorities illegally detained between September and October practitioners working in the HKFTZ in a guesthouse of the General Bureau of Agriculture and Land Developing for more than a month. They confiscated practitioners' communication tools to cut off their communication with their family members and sent persons to watch them day and night. They also removed a practitioner from his office position. The HKFTZ authorities led policemen to search practitioners' houses and confiscate their belongings when the practitioners were not at home.

The HKFTZ authorities even went again and again to the police to inform against Dafa practitioners, hoping the police would detain the practitioners, fearing that their own careers might be threatened if the practitioners were not charged. Even after practitioners had been released from labor camp sentences, these officials still frequently went to the "610 Office" to report on those practitioners. As a result, police abducted practitioners from work in broad daylight, and sent them to the brainwashing centers for further mistreatment.

With no regard for the law, the HKFTZ authorities deducted funds from Dafa practitioners' salaries, deprived them of their rights to work, and discriminated against them. Within five years, they deducted tens of thousands of Yuan from Dafa practitioners' salaries [500 Yuan is the average monthly income for an urban worker in China.] Because firm Dafa practitioners would always speak out about the truth, the HKFTZ authorities didn't give Dafa practitioners end-of-year work performance evaluation so the practitioners couldn't get a pay raise, nor could they receive any bonuses. They are actively carrying out Jiang's policy of "ruining them financially, souring their reputations, and destroying them physically."

We non-practitioners can not tolerate seeing such excellent people being treated in such a bad way. They are all excellent people, very kind and righteous. They have made great contributions to the development and construction of the HKFTZ. There was a Dafa practitioner who published a monograph on financial affairs, and who wrote some scholarly articles that were published in provincial and national journals. She was rated as a specialist of the country and her name can be found in the world's Who's Who? Some practitioners had been offered the titles of "excellent clerks," and "excellent Party members" many times running. All of them are outstanding in their jobs and none of them have done anything to violate the law. Simply because they practice Falun Dafa they have suffered so much persecution! People really should think it over and really should wake up! Jiang Zemin has run wild. People don't even dare to say a word of justice for friends and relatives. Dafa practitioners never told us about their suffering of brutal persecution in order to avoid giving us burdens and troubles. Only when we could not find them after looking for them many times did we know that they had been illegally detained because they spoke the truth.

Now there are many, many people working in the police units, justice guarding units, politics and law system, the "610 Office" system [an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other political and judiciary systems] and in the Party and government units, who have realized the truth about Falun Gong. They no longer participate in the persecution of Dafa practitioners, leaving themselves a way out in the fear that they may suffer retribution! Those who are still persecuting Dafa practitioners and treating them in an inhuman way, they are really the stupid ones.

I respect very much those people practicing Falun Dafa. Although they are suffering amidst tribulations, every one of them is full of energy and strong-willed. Five years of persecution has not conquered them spiritually, nor destroyed their bodies. They are striving forward with optimism. They dare to speak the truth and treat everybody with mercy and kindness. I esteem even more their Teacher. Their Teacher is truly extraordinary for having fostered such a group of people who cultivate themselves under the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion and Tolerance. Furthermore, around the whole world there are many graduate students with doctorates and post-doctorates, and there are scientists and people with high-level college degrees who are practicing Falun Dafa. People all over the world have been expressing support to China's Dafa practitioners who are persecuted. China is the only country persecuting Dafa practitioners, using cruel means and every possible dirty trick.

Falun Dafa practitioners are our compatriots, our brothers and sisters. We can no longer remain silent. We should be happy that there is such a great group of kind people. We should become clear-headed. Our relatives are suffering persecution because they simply spoke the truth. Why can we not stand up courageously?

We appeal to those who have relatives and friends still detained illegally in detention centers, labor camps, youth centers and jails, to stand up courageously. Please let us stretch out our hands to help! We should actively make efforts to save our relatives and others. Let's put forward our best and most righteous actions and terminate this cruel and inhuman persecution as early as possible!

If our relatives suffer persecution we will not remain silent, we must not remain silent. We will expose to the world how rampant the evil persons are, and how brutally they have dared to mistreat our relatives.