Facts of the Persecution

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(Clearwisdom.net)

In the New Year we will continue to cultivate ourselves, strengthen our righteous thoughts, move forward diligently, do well the three things that Dafa practitioners do during the Fa-rectification and be worthy of Master's compassionate salvation.

All practitioners in Malaysia

December 31, 2004

Great Master,

At the coming of 2005, all practitioners in Dallas wish great Master a happy New Year!

In the New Year we will move forward diligently, do well the three things, act righteously with righteous thoughts, walk well on the path of cultivation during Fa-rectification clear-headed and rationally, fulfill our prehistoric vows to assist Master and be worthy of Master's compassionate salvation!

All practitioners in Dallas

December 31, 2004

Great Master,

You have worked so hard! Happy New Year!

In the past year, practitioners in the greater Chicago area followed Master to rectify the Fa, eliminated evil factors, clarified the truth, saved sentient beings and improved diligently. For each step, there was Master's compassionate care and guidance. Thank you.

Fa-rectification moves forward very fast. In the new year, we will follow Master's teachings, act righteously and do well the three things that Dafa practitioners should do during Fa-rectification to save more sentient beings and be worthy of Master's salvation.

Heshi!

All practitioners in the greater Chicago area

All Practitioners in Leipzig, Germany Wish Master a Happy New Year!

At the coming of the New Year, practitioners in Leipzig wish great Master a happy New Year! Master, you have worked so hard! We miss you!

Master, please rest assured, we will follow master's teachings and do well the three things that Dafa practitioners should do during the Fa-rectification period. We will move forward diligently, save more sentient beings with righteous thoughts, fulfill our prehistoric vows and be worthy of Master's compassionate salvation.

Heshi from Dafa practitioners in Leipzig

December 31, 2004

All Practitioners in Washington DC Wish Master a Happy New Year!

Words in image: All Practitioners in Calgary, Canada Thank Master for His Compassionate Salvation and Wish Master a Happy New Year!

(a poem "Plum" by Master Li, omitted)

In the New Year, we will learn from previous lessons, find our shortcomings, and do steadfastly the work in cultivation and saving sentient beings. Master, please rest assured.

Heshi,

Dafa practitioners in Ireland

Master, Happy New Year!

Master, please rest assured. In this special historical time, Canadian Dafa practitioners who are clarifying the truth in Manhattan will continue doing the three things well and saving more of the world's people and sentient beings. Though facing hardship everyday, we feel it is our special honor to eliminate dark minions in a place where the evil is concentrated.

We will treasure everyday in Manhattan and do well what we should do.

All Canadian Dafa practitioners in Manhattan

Revered Master,

Thank you for your compassionate guidance and care. You have worked so hard!

We practitioners will continue to do well the three things on the path of Fa-rectification, clarify the truth and save sentient beings.

All Dafa practitioners in Singapore wish Master a Happy New Year!

December 31, 2004

As the New Year arrives we are following Master to rectify the Fa. All practitioners in Montreal wish Master a Happy New Year.

Compassionate great Master, you have worked so hard. In the years past you guided disciples' cultivation and went through countless hardships for the salvation of sentient beings. We cannot express our gratitude to Master for your compassionate salvation.

As the Fa-rectification enters human world, we will walk well on path of Dafa practitioners during Fa-rectification. We will not be affected by any change in ordinary society and do the three things well and steadfastly.

All Dafa practitioners in Montreal, Canada

December 31, 2004

We are so grateful to Master for your hard work and salvation of sentient beings. We wish great Master a Happy New Year. We will deny completely the old forces' arrangement, put down human notions and walk well on the path during Fa-rectification that Master arranged for us.

Heshi

Dafa practitioners in New York

December 31, 2004

Revered Master,

All practitioners in Spain present Heshi to our compassionate and great Master and sincerely wish Master a Happy New year!

Master, please rest assured. Practitioners in Spain will move forward more diligently, follow Master closely in cultivation during the Fa-rectification period, walk steadfastly every step, and fulfill our prehistoric vows.

All practitioners in Spain

(Clearwisdom.net) Editor's note: There are many New Year's greetings from Dafa practitioners in China. Due to limited manpower and time, we have to combine the rest of the greetings from other places in this article. The practitioners from these places send New Year's greetings to Master and wish Master a happy New Year. They expressed their gratitude to revered Master for his compassionate salvation and care. They also expressed their determination to follow Master's teachings, cultivate diligently, do the three things that Master asks Dafa practitioners do during the Fa-rectification period, save sentient beings, and fulfill their grand prehistoric vows.

(Clearwisdom.net) In August 2004, Dafa practitioner Mr. Han Liguo, who was illegally detained in section 20 of Shenyang City's Dabei No. 2 Prison, died as a result of persecution.

Mr. Han Liguo, over 40 years old, was a worker in a steel company in Lingyuan City, Liaoning Province. He was illegally detained and sent to Shenyang City's Dabei No.2 Prison for practicing Falun Gong. In August 2004, Han Liguo was observed lying in his cell for one day, and was then sent to the prison hospital. The next day, he suddenly died. The hospital staff claimed that he had died from a heart attack, but as Han Liguo never had any heart problems, his death is very suspicious.

Since July 1999, many practitioners have been injured, disabled or have died as a result of torture during detention. They were not given treatment, or they were treated inappropriately, and consequently, their health deteriorated. The well-being of the persecuted practitioners is totally ignored.

January 1, 2005

(Clearwisdom.net) Ms. Li Yulan, a retired employee of the Forestry Department of Jiangxi Province, was illegally detained in 2000 for distributing Falun Gong truth-clarifying materials. She was tortured to the brink of death and died in early 2001.

Ms. Li was 68 years old and lived in Nanchang City. She became very healthy after practicing Falun Gong. In 2000, when she was distributing Falun Gong truth-clarifying materials, she was illegally detained by Yuzhang Police Station, and then abducted to Taohua No. 2 Detention Center and was locked up there. She was once detained in cell No. 19.

In the detention center, she suffered inhuman tortures and soon developed illnesses due to the torture. Her health worsened and deteriorated. She requested her release from the police station many times, but her request was refused every time. She was not even allowed to drink a drop of hot water. Her health deteriorated until she lost control of her bowels and urine. The detention center did not send her to the forced labor camp hospital until the detainees in her cell thought that she was at the brink of death. The rescue effort of the hospital was in vain, so the detention center sent her back home. At the Chinese New Year in 2001, a practitioner went to see her but found out that she had died many days earlier. The exact date of her death is unknown.

January 1, 2005

(Clearwisdom.net)

Jilin Prison is the shortened name for "Jilin Province Second Prison." It is located at 100 Junmin Road, Jilin City. There are 11 prison districts in the prison and each is divided into three sub-districts. Jilin Prison has been openly violating the law and extending working hours by forcing inmates to work overtime. Each district specializes in the following labor tasks: the 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd Districts in making clothing; the 5^th District in riveting and welding; the 6^th District in making car parts and accessories; the 7^th and 8^th Districts in labor outside of the prison; the 10^th District in prison food preparation; while the 11^th District is for the old and disabled.

Being poorly equipped and under-resourced, Jilin Prison resorted to desperate measures to deceive its superiors, deliberately creating the false image of an enlightened management while deceiving upper management teams and inmates' family members. In 2004, it also made eight open promises to society, which were not kept.

On the surface Jilin Prison is in good condition, yet its management is in a big mess. Since the number of inmates has to reach 5000 for it to become a ministry-level prison, Jilin Prison has engaged in deceitful actions.

Jilin Prison forbids inmates' family members from bringing in necessities and food. Inmates can only deposit money and make purchases in the prison supermarket, where prices are terribly high. For example, a kilogram of apples is 3 yuan (compared to 1 yuan outside), a cotton sweatshirt and pants set is 80-90 yuan (compared to 10 yuan outside), and a roll of bathroom tissue is 8-9 yuan (compared to 1-2 yuan outside).

The 11^th District, the district for the old and disabled, is a special area where conditions are very poor. More than five hundred inmates and fourteen practitioners are being detained. They go all year round without daylight. From the outside the building looks like a large storage warehouse and has only one big iron gate. Whenever inspectors or outside visitors are in the prison, normal mealtimes are postponed until after they have gone, and the iron gate is locked to make it look like no one is there.

This district is so poorly equipped that it lacks water for washing dishes. This means that after eating, inmates usually scrape their bowls with leftover steamed buns. Also, those who are incapable of taking care of themselves cannot wash, so they become very dirty. Besides the extremely poor hygienic conditions, there is no sunlight or fresh air at all. It is cold in the winter and humid in the summer, and there is a stench in the air. In each sub-district, 130 inmates are jammed onto a big flat bed with only about 60 square centimeters of living space for each person.

There is an even worse area, the so-called "Nude Area," where inmates who cannot take care of themselves and a practitioner from Changchun, Yang Guang, who was tortured and disabled because of his belief in Falun Dafa, are kept. They are of no value to the prison and receive terrible food because they can no longer work. Their sleeping space is even smaller. Since they cannot take care of themselves, they are kept naked all year round and live in their excrement. They have fleas and scabies and some infectious diseases are spreading among them. The jailors only enter to check on them about once a week. As there is only one exit from this area, a fire or other accident could lead to unimaginable consequences.

On the surface, Jilin Prison promotes enlightened management and publicly claims to be well equipped and "civilized." Actually this is an evil den where innocent people have been brutally killed.

Since July 20, 1999, more than 100 Falun Gong practitioners have been detained here. Four of them (Liu Chengjun, Wei Xiushan, Zhang Jianhua and Cui Weidong) are known to have been tortured to death. Many others have been injured or disabled as a result of torture.

When practitioners are illegally detained in the prison, each prison district first conducts brainwashing classes and forces them to write the so-called "Four Statements."(1)

Led by Warden Li Qiang, the main culprits who have persecuted practitioners include Political Committee Secretary Liu Wei, the new Chief of the Education Bureau Li Zhuang, and police officers from the Education Bureau Li Yongsheng and Wang Yuanchun. They claim, "In Jilin Prison, although we might let you live for six days, it will surprise us if you are still alive on the fifth day."

The prison assigns team leader and two inmates to carefully monitor every steadfast practitioner's actions. If they accomplish a "transformation" in the designated time, they receive reward points. For example, an inmate would get three merit points, which is equivalent to a sentence reduction of four or five days, while a team leader would get six merit points. If they fail to transform the practitioner, all of the team will be implicated, as well as the sub-district and district. These conditions, as well as connivance and coercion by the jailors, result in inmates punishing, violently beating, and cruelly torturing practitioners.

Practitioners are detained in prison cells designed for solitary confinement. The "Correction Center" and "Strict Discipline Team" are places where jailors brutally torture practitioners.

In Jilin Prison, criminals who do not seek a reduced term can avoid forced labor with merit points. However, this does not apply to practitioners.

When it's time for a brainwashing session, practitioners who have refused to do hard labor must do so or be sent to the "Strict Discipline Team," where the torture is increased.

On July 10, 2004, Jilin Province's 610 Office made its way into Jilin Prison and forced practitioners to undergo brainwashing for ten days. Practitioners who refused this were sent to the "Strict Discipline Team" or put in solitary confinement, where they were suppressed and subdued. Others were denied family visitations. On September 24, practitioner Mr. Sun Qian from Dehui City, Jilin Province, held a hunger strike to fight for his visitation rights. As a result, he was sent to the "Strict Discipline Team" to be cruelly tortured.

Mr. Sun again held a hunger strike on October 20, 2004. The jailors inserted a tube into his mouth and injured his nose, causing it to bleed. They force-fed him with a thick saline solution. After this they stopped supplying him with water. The prison guard said, "I don't care what kind of demands you have, you'll be force-fed if you don't eat."

On November 15, 2004, Jilin Prison imposed brainwashing sessions on all practitioners. First, they had so-called "political conversations" by playing video programs that attacked Falun Dafa. Then they sent practitioners to the "Strict Discipline Team," where they were tortured. Mr. Liang Zhenxiang, a practitioner, had already been sent there. Other practitioners have not been able to see their family members because they refused to compromise.

Another practitioner, Mr. Wu Keli from Yitong County, is currently undergoing a brainwashing session. After a month he has totally changed: he has a dull look in his eyes, his body is extremely weak, and his arms and legs have become so numb that he has lost control of them. The prison doctor said that he has inflammation of the nerves in his arms and legs, which may lead to partial or complete paralysis. The jailors said that cases like this are common in this prison. Because Wu Keli wrote an appeal letter protesting his illegal sentence, a police officer from the Education Bureau, Li Yongsheng, went to him with the letter and forced him to change his mind. By November 15, 2004, Mr. Wu had suffered this kind of mental torture for thirteen days. Previously, no one was able to endure brainwashing for more than eleven days. They were transferred and detained in solitary confinement, the Correction Center or the "Strict Discipline Team" for cruel torture within eleven days.

Practitioner Mr. Liu Jingxin from Yitong County, Jilin Province, is a graduate of the Changchun University of Science and Technology and used to work in the Biotechnology Institute. Police from the Changchun Luyuan Park beat him brutally for practicing Falun Dafa and subsequently sentenced him to three years and six months in prison and had him fired from his job. He is being detained in the "Strict Discipline Team" in the 2^nd District in Jilin Prison. The first time his family members visited him, they discovered that he had been viciously beaten up.

Mr. Wu Yifeng, a forty-year-old practitioner, is a chairman and professor at Changchun Architectural University. He is the most famous bridge engineering expert in Jilin Province. The authorities searched his home and found a computer. Consequently, the Changchun Public Security Bureau interrogated him using torture. The policemen assaulted him, tortured him with a plastic bag over his head, and poured cold water over him to revive him after he passed out. Then they forced him to sit on a Tiger Bench. The police cuffed his hands behind his back so that he could not move them, and then violently forced his arms through a 360-degree turn to the front, dislocating both of his arms. Mr. Wu was in such great pain that his whole body was shaking. When he arrived at the detention center, his hands were severely swollen and unusable. He was later sentenced to a thirteen-year prison term. In October 2003, Mr. Wu was sent to Jilin Prison. The supervisors of both Changchun Architectural University and Changchun City stepped forward to bail him out on the condition that he write a so-called "Guarantee Statement," but he solemnly refused to cooperate. Since he remained steadfast, he was brutally tortured on a "Stretching Bed" (see http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2004/11/4/54186.html for more information). During the Spring Festival of 2004, he was transferred to Jilin Province's Siping Prison to undergo further persecution.

At the beginning of 2003, Jilin Province beat an inmate to death on the grounds that he had refused to do hard labor by pretending to be sick. After an autopsy it was discovered that he had actually been sick but the authorities did nothing about it.

A Jilin Prison jailor accidentally revealed the following information. In February 2004, a practitioner in the 8^th District who was spotted reading Falun Gong articles was beaten to death and his body was left unattended in the boiler room. Another practitioner in the 9^th District was also beaten up and lost two teeth for reading articles. A third practitioner in the 9^th District was knocked to the ground and lost four front teeth for shouting, "Falun Dafa is good." When the practitioner requested disciplinary action be taken against the inmates, one of the guards said, "They only knocked out four teeth. If it were me, I would have knocked them all out."

A "Sitting Bed" is a small stool with sharp-edged metal bars around the seat (see http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2004/11/4/54186.html for more information). Someone sitting on the device has to keep his or her back and neck straight. If they move slightly the torturer will beat them. Many practitioners were forced to sit on the stool until their buttocks were torn and tattered, with the bones exposed. A person has to stretch his legs and sit still on the hard flat bed each day from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., except when eating meals or relieving themselves. No padding is allowed on the bed, and practitioners also have to recite prison regulations within a designated time. If they refuse to cooperate, jailors transfer them to a wooden stick or board, which causes their buttocks to wear out even faster.

To force practitioners to compromise, jailors force them to sit on the floor under a bed, stick their heads through the boards and use the bed boards to hold their necks firmly so they cannot move. If practitioners insist on continuing to practice Falun Gong, the inmates freely hit them on the head with their hands, fists or bed boards. Since they can't move, they can only sit there and get beaten. Some practitioners' teeth were knocked out and others' noses and faces were swollen from the beatings. If a practitioner refuses to write the statements renouncing Falun Dafa, they are detained in solitary confinement or sent to the "Strict Discipline Team." They also burned practitioners' chests with cigarettes and hung them off the ground suspended by handcuffs, which held their arms behind their backs.

The "Stretching Bed" is the most brutal instrument of torture in Jilin Prison. The jailors tie the practitioner's arms and legs to a special bed with four rings. They fix the practitioner's hands and feet inside the rings and put pressure on them. Then the practitioner's body is raised above the bed by stretching all four limbs and extra pressure is then applied. The person loses consciousness within a few minutes. After 10 minutes the joints, muscles, flesh, and skin are all separated, and the person becomes permanently disabled. Afterwards, they do not allow anyone to help these practitioners with their daily living requirements.

Practitioners Sun Qian, 36, a resident of Dehui City, and Liu Zhaojian from Baishan, Jilin Province, have both been put on the "Stretching Bed," after which their hands and feet became disabled, and they were then transferred to the "Old and Disabled" District. The feet of another practitioner from the 9^th District became permanently disabled after this torture. Many practitioners have been tortured with the "Stretching Bed."

Mr. Yang Guang, 50, is a resident of Changchun City. He was given a heavy jail sentence for his belief in Falun Dafa. The policemen in the Changchun City 7^th Precinct interrogated him by using various types of torture and beatings. After his right leg was broken from these beatings, he couldn't move, so he had to be carried by the police into the prison, and he developed femoral necrosis. Later, he was detained in the "Old and Disabled" District. Now he also has ulcerated and deformed toes and can no longer take care of himself.

Mr. Yang does not wear anything from the waist down all year round. Due to paralysis in his lower limbs, some inmates made a small four-wheeled cart for him from iron ducts and wooden boards with a hole in the sitting area so he can relieve himself. When he needs to do so, the inmates roll the cart into the toilet and leave him there unattended. Since he cannot reach to clean himself, he constantly lives in filth. Along with mental patients and inmates disabled from torture or who have lost their ability to take care of themselves, he lives in this area through the heat and cold of the seasons and without any daylight all year around. For them, a day goes by like a year.

For those unable to take care of themselves, occasionally the "Old and Disabled" District staff put them in a bathroom, spray them with a hose, and wipe them with towels that have tacks in them. Their bed sheets are "cleaned" by throwing them on the wet bathroom floor and stepping on them.

Jilin Prison has tried hard to prevent information from reaching the public, and they have lied to higher management teams and inmates' family members. They have attempted to create the outer appearance of being a "civilized prison," while actually being a "living hell" where practitioners have been brutally killed and persecuted.

These revelations about Jilin Prison are only the tip of the iceberg. Over one hundred innocent practitioners are still enduring extreme torture and being insanely murdered.

Address of the Jilin Prison Administration Bureau: #46-1, Xinfa Road, Changchun City, 130061
Appeal Office: 86-431-2750074
Chief: 86-431-2750001
Secretary Xu: 86-431-2750003
Section Chief, Yu De: 86-431-2750018
Supervising Politics Section, Jilin Province Jail Administration Bureau: 86-431-2750062
Physical location of Jilin Prison: #100 Junmin Road, Jilin City 132012
Mailing address of Jilin Prison: P.O. Box 315, Jilin City 132012
Tel: 86-4324881551;
Prison Political section: 86-4322409418
Procuratorate in Prison: 86-4324881515 Fax: 86-4324881559
Secretary Section: 432-4881559

(Note: For fear that more might learn the truth, Jilin Prison authorities have recently stopped automatic transfers from the main phone line: 86-432-4881551. However, their phone number is still 86-432-4881551. If you dial this number, please just ask to be transferred to a specific department.)

Prison police in charge in Jilin Prison (newly assigned):
Jilin Prison Warden: Li Qiang
New Secretary of Political Committee: Liu Wei
New Bureau Chief of Education Bureau: Li Zhuang
Policemen in Education Bureau: Li Yongsheng and Wang Yuanchun

Notes:

(1) "Four statements:" Practitioners are coerced under brainwashing and torture to write these as proof that they have given up their belief. Created by the 610 Office, they include a letter of repentance, a guarantee to never again practice Falun Gong, and a list of names and addresses of all family members, friends and acquaintances who are practitioners

(2) "Implication policy:" In ancient Chinese feudal society, there was an "implication law," which meant that if one person violated the law, all of his family members and friends would be punished. The punishment ranged from exile to the execution of entire families

December 4, 2004

(Clearwisdom.net) Practitioner Duan Xinshu was from Duanzhuang Town, Caozhuang Village, Jize County, in the Handan area of Hebei Province. On September 25, 2003, the Handan 610 Office staff abducted him and sent to a brainwashing class. Due to the long-term torture, Duan Xinshu died on July 12, 2004. His father was devastated and became ill when he heard the news. He passed away not long afterwards.

Mr. Duan Xinshu was forty-two years old. Since he obtained the Fa in 1997, he followed the principles of Truth, Compassion, and Forbearance, and all of his diseases were cured. After the persecution of Falun Dafa began in July 1999, Duan Xinshu was monitored by village officials and not allowed to step out of his door. In August 1999, in order to say a fair word for Falun Gong, Duan Xinshu went to appeal in Beijing. Consequently, he was taken home and detained at the detention center for over a month, until his family paid 700 yuan to set him free.

Before the 2001 Spring Festival, Hou, the head of the political and security office in Jize County; Chen Shuping; Huang Chenshan; and police from the Caozhuang Town Police Station took him to the county public security bureau and tried to force him to give up his belief. Because Duan Xinshu insisted on continuing his practice, he was once again detained for over four months until his family paid 1,200 yuan. After that, the political and security office, police station and local government officials have repeatedly harassed and threatened him and his family.

On September 25, 2003, staff from the Handan 610 Office once again prompted police in the county public security bureau and police station to arrest Duan Xinshu and send him to the Handan brainwashing class. While there, he suffered inhuman torture.

Due to the long-term torture and to the fact that he was not allowed to practice the exercises, Duan Xinshu suffered both physically and mentally. Even when he was extremely weak, his tormentors still repeatedly harassed him. He finally passed away on July 12, 2004, leaving behind his wife and two young children.

The public security bureau has also repeatedly arrested his younger brother Duan Xinyue. Duan Xinyue was forced to leave his home to avoid further persecution. The police, however, still harassed his family constantly. They sometimes broke into his home late at night and searched him. Duan Xinyue was unable to go home even when his brother passed away. Their elderly father was devastated, fell ill, and passed away not long afterwards. His family is now shattered and broken.

December 19, 2004

(Clearwisdom.net) Ms. Yang Xinglan was 42 years old, and lived in Xiaowang Village, Beiyang Township, Boye County in the Baoding Area of Hebei Province. She had a tumor on the side of her face before practicing Falun Dafa. The tumor caused her much pain and no treatment or cure could be found, even after visiting major hospitals in Beijing. In 1996, she was fortunate enough to start practicing Falun Dafa. The tumor stopped growing and the pain ceased. After Jiang's regime launched the persecution in 1999, Ms. Yang continued to practice Falun Dafa. She was abducted and taken to a brainwashing center by township officials in 2002. She was viciously beaten and eventually lost her eyesight in both eyes. She died on November 14, 2004 as a result of the persecution.

As Ms. Yang Xinglan was near death, she told her family to publicize the facts of her persecution. The following is what she recounted, interrupted occasionally by severe pain, before she passed away:

I started practicing Falun Dafa in the first month in 1996 of the Chinese lunar calendar. I was in good health until the persecution began. One day in July 2002, a dozen or so township officials broke into my home. They ransacked the place, abducted me, and took me to the county's brainwashing center. I was handcuffed and hung from a steel bar, day and night.

Wang Jihua, director of the county's brainwashing center once asked me, "Is Falun Dafa good?" I answered, "It is good!" No matter what they asked, my answer remained the same. The abuse lasted for over two months. One night, Wang Jihua entered the room. I happened to be near the door and it struck me and knocked me against the wall. He then struck the tumor on the side of my face continually. As a result, I threw up thick blood and pus from my mouth and was not able to eat.

The next day, I was taken to the brainwashing center in Zhuozhou for intensified persecution. The brainwashing officials in Zhuozhou refused to admit me, because I did not meet their minimum admittance requirements as a result of Wang's beatings. They said they would charge 4,000 yuan as a "transformation fee" per month for me to be admitted. Boye County officials took me back to the county brainwashing center instead of paying the fee. Each day I threw up blood, and I was getting closer to dying. I also suffered excruciating pain. The county officials still refused to release me.

After 5,000 yuan was extorted from my family, I was released. After seeing me in such a terrible condition, my family stopped me from practicing Falun Dafa for fear that the authorities would arrest me again. My health continued to deteriorate. I went through surgery in the hospital, which cost over 10,000 yuan. However, it did not help at all. I went into convulsions each time the pain of the tumor increased. I was not able to eat. I was not able to study the Fa or do the exercises. Later, I lost the eyesight in both my eyes. My eyes have since remained swollen.

December 3, 2004

(Clearwisdom.net) Many pieces of equipment on a section of the Dehui City Railway in Dehui City, Jilin Province, were recently stolen. While Dehui City police were investigating the local residents for the theft, they spread unfounded rumors that it was Falun Gong practitioners who had stolen these parts. One of the households to whom the local police spread the rumor to was a relative of a local practitioner. The entire family knows the truth about Falun Gong. When the lady of the household heard the police's unfounded rumor, she advised them, "You should not frame Falun Gong practitioners for the theft. They speak and act based on Falun Gong's cultivation principles of Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance. They only do good deeds. It is impossible that they would steal from others." Nevertheless, they discovered that the local police continued to spread the rumor to other local households while they were "investigating" the theft. They also left a business card with each visited household and offered a big reward for anyone who could supply information that would solve the crime.

This is not the first or only unfounded rumor that the Chinese police have spread since Jiang Zemin started to persecute Falun Gong.

In their citywide hunt for practitioners involved in the heroic act of interrupting the TV signal to broadcast truth-clarification video programs over the Changchun City Cable TV network on March 5, 2002, the Changchun City police arrested over 5,000 practitioners in Changchun City alone. Because the Changchun City police had dispatched 6,000 police officers to arrest Falun Gong practitioners, no one was left to maintain the safety of the city. Combined with the rapidly climbing crime rate, the frequency of arson in Changchun City skyrocketed in March 2002. The police even created a vicious rumor that it was practitioners who committed these crimes.

On November 20, 2004, practitioners interrupted the TV signal to broadcast Falun Gong's truth-clarification video program "Braving the Storm and Traveling Around the World" over Beijing Cable TV. As the result, many people in China watched the program and learned the truth about Falun Gong. Jiang Zemin and his henchmen were terrified that the truth about Falun Gong was revealed. It is alleged that the Chinese Communist government has sent out spies all over China, trying to reinforce its terrorism against practitioners. Meanwhile, Dehui police are creating slanderous rumor about Falun Gong to smear its reputation.

Prior to the theft, many public security bureau directors in all major counties and areas of Changchun City were relocated. The Director of the Dehui City Public Security Bureau was transferred to Yushu City, Jilin Province. The Director of the NongAn County Public Security Bureau, Mr. Zhang Guochen, was transferred to Dehui. The Deputy Head of the Chaoyang Branch of the Changchun City Public Security Bureau is now the Director of the NongAn County Public Security Bureau.

(Clearwisdom.net) On November 14, 2004, a relative and I went to visit my sister Zhu Lixing, who is unlawfully jailed with the fourth team at the Second Women's Forced Labor Camp in Zibo City, Shandong Province.

According to current regulations, visitors are entitled to meet with inmates as long as they have a valid ID. To my consternation, staff at the visitor's center turned me away, stating that I did not have a visitor's certificate from the local police station.

I said that I wanted to see the fourth team leader. The policewoman on duty told me that we could meet with the fourth team leader in the afternoon, during her duty hours. But we were advised to enter through the front office. We waited for more than one hour outside the prison doors. At 1:30 p.m. we entered the front office. A female security guard told us that to see the fourth team leader we had to register at the visitor's center.

We went again to the visitor's center. The door was closed and they refused to open it after we rang the bell. Two policewomen spoke to us through a small window on the security door. I told them that I wanted to see my sister and the fourth team leader. The policewoman was very rude and swore at us.

Before we could reply, they closed the small window on the security door.

This is the first time I have visited the labor camp since the Shandong Province Laixi City 610 Office sentenced my sister to forced labor. I had come a long way and was hoping to see her. I could not believe this crude and uncivilized treatment. My brother-in-law had visited twice and received the same treatment.

I am determined to file a lawsuit to help end this totally irrational persecution. I will name in the lawsuit the officers who persecute my sister and other Falun Dafa practitioners, as well as the Laixi 610 Office. I ask the United Nations and human rights organizations to do everything in their power to remedy this injustice and take notice of my sister and her child's predicaments. I'm requesting that they help me gain my sister's freedom from this labor camp. I also ask that they help bring the persecutors to justice.

December 9, 2004

(Clearwisdom.net) During the five-year persecution of Falun Gong, other than the persecutors using authority to forcefully cover up the truth, there has also been spiritual persecution against the larger populace--that of using "super-materialist" methods to stifle and destroy people's spirit.

Five years ago, Jiang Zemin vowed to defeat Falun Gong. But Falun Gong is not something with a physical form. Dafa, Truth-Compassion-Forbearance, exist in one's philosophy. If one form of ideology is to replace another and have the people accept it, then the new form must have a higher moral attraction and therefore be more appealing to people. But the regime that wants to defeat Falun Gong is the most deteriorated and corrupt group in history. Since the regime cannot win popularity from the people using moral means, they use more covert and destructive methods to destroy their spirits. They allow people to live in highly materialistic environments, to gradually lose their directions and become insensitive to defending their spiritual rights. The people grow to ignore the improvement of their human nature and the restoration of morality, things that in fact all human beings are supposed to help restore and improve.

"Stability," as described by an insecure and overly suspicious political leader, naturally refers to the stability of his authority. In attempts to capture the heart of the people in China, the stability of the dictator's grip on power is equated to "social stability" and "national stability." In addition, there is the saying that "stability" must be maintained in order to have economic growth and a good life. With these mixed concepts and confusing and deceitful excuses, they make unbridled attacks on the innocent to maintain power and serve their own interests. Funnily enough though, even according to Marxism-Leninism, when "stability overrides all other considerations," there will be no movement, not to mention any growth. It seems like the eager so-called "Marxist" supporters of "stability" have not even themselves studied Marxism-Leninism well enough.

In fact, these false talks of "stability" conform to the mentality of those who seek profit and power and have short-term goals. Unfortunately, the price that will be paid for this "stability" is the sacrifice of long-term peace and good governance. Everyone knows that the terrorist atrocities that people observe but do nothing about may someday end up in their own backyards. The enticement of material pursuits and rewards has made too many people numb to even the most serious spiritual persecution.

A caring and benevolent media can play the role of public watchdog and promote social development. China's official media does just the opposite. All that has been deemed disadvantageous to the so-called "stability" is suppressed and not allowed to be reported. It can even create a façade to cover a real problem, for example, the reporting of the SARS epidemic. At the same time, the media serves the person in power. This point can be proven by looking at the interview of Jiang Zemin by CBS anchorman Mike Wallace. Jiang said with a straight face, "The media should be the mouthpiece of the Party." This comment must have made Mike Wallace recoil in dismay. Everyone knows that subjectivity and partiality are exactly what news media should avoid. Maybe even China's media felt that Jiang's comment was too blatant and odd. This might explain why the comment was stricken from all Chinese media reports of the interview. No wonder Jiang is on Amnesty International's list of "human rights scoundrels."

Under the leadership of a "human rights scoundrel," the media can have no moral foundation. The media in China are used as political weapons to strike down those with different opinions. They contrive "news" like the staged "Tiananmen Square self-immolation," [1] and vividly display how the media play the role of "Party' mouthpiece," Jiang Zemin' style. To cover up human rights crimes, Xinhua News Agency and China Central Television (CCTV) use high profile propaganda to hide behind their lack of social responsibility'. For example, at a recent international conference, the director of Xinhua News Agency did not mention a word about the media's social responsibility and impact, nor did he talk about media professionals' moral standards. Instead, he boasted about the number of news articles published, techniques, economic growth, etc.

In the past few years, the strategy has been to spread the propaganda overseas as well, in attempts to influence people overseas. At a recent interview, the director of CCTV, Zhao Huayong said, "We have now increased overseas channels from one to two and the broadcast time has increased from 24 hrs to 48 hrs. CCTV-4 has been established in over 100 countries in North America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Oceania and mid-America. CCTV-9 has been established in America, Europe, Africa, China and Hong Kong and has gradually entered mainstream society in the US, Britain, France and other western countries. It has enhanced China's international impact."

A ruling given by the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC) in August 2002 may help us understand such "international impact." After the "Fu Yibin murder case" [2] "produced" by CCTV was broadcast by a Chinese TV station in Canada, it caused a big response from the audience, who appealed to the CBSC to request that such deceitful broadcasts be stopped. The CBSC ruled against the TV station, saying that the report that linked CCTV's murder case broadcast against Falun Gong violated four regulations, including the Code of Ethics on news reports as listed in the Canadian Broadcast and TV Regulations, the code regarding violent content, and the code of morality and ethics. The report was therefore deemed to be improper and unjust. The CBSC determined that no reliable evidence linked the murder case to Falun Gong and the report, therefore, constituted an unjust attack on Falun Gong. The CBSC requested that the TV station broadcast its decision on the air during prime time.

When talking about her impression of working in China, Ms. Joan Maltese, the on-duty Foreign Expert at CCTV's English-language news channel (CCTV-9) during 2002 to 2003, said, "We did not follow the real, true mission that news reporters are supposed to fulfill." "That is because there is the news censor, who is from the government and sits right in the newsroom. Sometimes original news scripts were altered. I knew all about it." As for her Chinese colleagues, "In fact, they think that what the government wants them to do, which is, to not report the truth but to try to make China look good, is a very natural thing."

"If you go to China's media and tell them that they lie and sing the praises of the government, you will immediately be in trouble. Moreover, there is one, and only one, voice in China, the official voice. .... So the Chinese people do not have the opportunity to know what other people say, nor do they get a chance to see what other interviews or stories look like."

The Chinese official human rights white paper repeatedly emphasizes China's economic development and asserts that the development of human rights in China is fast and healthy. But Falun Gong practitioner Chen Gang observes that Chinese officials always emphasize that "human rights" is [simply] the "right to survive." Don't human beings need to think and to have spiritual pursuits in addition to simply needing to survive? Would they still be human otherwise? According to the logic of the Chinese government, if I allow you to live, you have to live according to my will and requirements. Otherwise, you face the most brutal choice: choose between persisting with your belief and the practical interest of survival.

Chen Gang's experience is typical. Because he practiced Falun Gong, his home was ransacked twice, and he was illegally imprisoned and tortured in Tuanhe Labor Camp in Beijing for 18 months. Chen Gang said, "Belief is the most important component of a human being's spiritual life. It is generally respected by society in civilized countries, but it receives completely the opposite treatment in Mainland China."

In describing his mindset when suffering amidst the persecution, Chen Gang said, "I was tortured to the brink of death and faced with two choices: to die or to yield. Yielding meant betraying my dignity and belief, and the pain this would bring would surpass the pain of death. When a person faces death, he or she is often very afraid and in pain; but if you choose to live with humiliation, that kind of suffering will make you choose to rather die. That is because your dignity has been tarnished and your soul is no longer chaste. At that point, the person's feeling really is that one would rather die than being alive."

Chen Gang pointed out that the victims of the persecution are not only Falun Gong practitioners. Every one who participates in the persecution is committing crimes for temporal interests.

When moral standards are forgotten and the pursuit of material things becomes people's lifestyle and standard for judging things, people can no longer be called true human beings. And at the same time, how could these people be able to see the true nature of the persecution of their' spiritual beliefs?

There is an animated movie called "Finding Nemo." Its last part is quite moving. Nemo is a young clownfish. When he finally found his father after going through numerous hardships, he was captured in a big fishing net along with other fish. Nemo became aware that to get out and be free, they had to depend on the strength of each of the fish. Under his urging, tens of thousand of fish swam strongly downward and finally broke the fishing net and gained freedom.

Some people categorize Falun Gong as a "group with weak social status." They might say so because Falun Gong practitioners indeed do not have "power and influence." But, if we judge them from another angle, not judging by what they possess in terms of material wealth, but by what they want to become, then perhaps you would find that only those who have truly become enlightened have the wisdom to liberate people around them from difficult situations and awaken the deeply sleeping souls. When each life can truly realize how precious it is to maintain the spiritual domain of humanity, and establish righteous thoughts in its own position, then true peace and happiness will manifest right in front of their eyes.

[1] Tiananmen Square Self-Immolation: On January 23^rd, 2001, several people, including a young girl, set themselves on fire on Tiananmen Square. In media interviews later, they claimed to be Falun Gong practitioners who had set themselves on fire to "reach consummation". This incident was broadcast widely on Chinese state-run media and used to incite hatred against Falun Gong, and it proved to be very effective. However, Falun Gong strictly prohibits suicide or hurting oneself to reach Consummation. Also, dissections of the self-immolation video proved that the incident was completely staged under Jiang's auspices for the sole purpose of inciting hatred against Falun Gong.

[2] Fu Yibin murder case: Fu Yibin is a patient with mental disorder for many years, who claimed that he heard voices telling him to kill. In November 2000, he killed his father and wife in frenzied psychotic madness. It was a very sad family tragedy, yet the case was twisted and used by Jiang Zemin and his followers to frame Falun Gong by claiming that Fu Yibin was a Falun Gong practitioner and he killed his loved ones as a result of practicing Falun Gong. The purpose of such false deception was to stir up people's hatred of Falun Gong.

(Clearwisdom.net) Accompanied by harmonious music, Falun Gong practitioners practice the exercises gently and peacefully in a group. Such a scene is not rare. From Russia to Greenland, from Northern Europe to South Asia, from North America, South America, Australia, to Africa, whatever the language or nationality, you can find Falun Gong.

Falun Gong (Falun Dafa) spread from China in 1992. Because of its marvelous effect on purifying one's heart and its abilities in healing and fitness, Falun Gong spread throughout China, and about one hundred million people practiced it within seven years. However, on July 20, 1999, Jiang's regime launched the brutal persecution against Falun Gong. The whole world was startled by the news. The peaceful, low-key Falun Gong practitioners were thrust upon the world's stage.

Truth cannot be changed by power and violence. People with kind hearts were moved by the principles of Truth, Compassion, and Forbearance. Falun Gong was not crushed by torture and lies, but instead spread throughout the world along with practitioners' peaceful efforts to resist the persecution. During the last more than five years of persecution, Falun Gong practitioners have persevered, like plum blossoms in the snow.

"Dafa is being spread far and wide. Those who hear about it are looking for it. Those who have obtained it are delighted with it. The number of cultivators is increasing daily and becoming countless." (Seeking Discipleship with Teacher, Essentials For Further Advancement)

We would like to share the following set of photos, which will hopefully provide the reader with a glimpse at the wide spread of Falun Dafa across the world

Group practice in Peru

Group practice in Panama City, Panama

Group practice in Mexico

Falun Dafa in Mexico

Photos taken on December 26, 2004 in front of a mermaid statue at the seashore of Copenhagen, Capital of Denmark.

Photos taken in May 2004 in front of Brandenburg Gate, Berlin, Germany

Russian practitioners' outdoor practice

Group practice in Monaco

On May 13, 2004, practitioners in Ethiopia celebrating World Falun Dafa Day

Demonstrating Falun Gong exercises in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

(Clearwisdom.net) On the evening of the last day of 2004, Falun Gong practitioners from the Czech Republic and Slovakia gathered at the Chinese Embassy in Slovakia's capital city, Bratislava. They held a peaceful appeal to raise awareness about the five years of persecution against Falun Gong, a persecution has already taken over 1,200 innocent lives.

The Chinese Embassy is a very fitting place for the practitioners to express their disagreement with the actions of the Chinese Communist regime, who have used all types of torture methods, defamation campaigns, propaganda and persecution in attempts to force Falun Gong practitioners to give up their beliefs. Although human rights workers have documented over 38,000 specific cases of torture or severe abuse and between 200,000 and 1 million Falun Gong practitioners have been illegally sent to forced labor camps without trials, there has never been a case of a Falun Gong practitioner retaliating against the persecutors. Throughout these most horrific violations of human rights and basic human freedoms, Falun Gong practitioners have truly upheld the practice's guiding principles: truthfulness, compassion and forbearance. Former Chinese leader Jiang Zemin, who issued the order that Falun Gong must be "eradicated" back in 1999, is now the subject of 15 of the 46 lawsuits filed against the chief persecutors of Falun Gong practitioners. The time when they will all be brought to justice continues to draw nearer.

Source: http://clearharmony.net/articles/200501/24150.html

(Clearwisdom.net) On December 10, 2004, World Human Rights Day, Austrian Falun Gong practitioners took the opportunity to organize an anti-torture exhibition on Vienna's Stephansplatz. The low winter temperatures did not prevent an incredible number of tourists and Viennese citizens from visiting downtown Vienna. At the same time, they were able to hear about the persecution of Falun Gong.

Large tourist groups, entire school classes and numerous passersby heard about the five and a half years of cruel persecution that Falun Gong practitioners are suffering in China. Shocked by the scenes of torture being re-enacted in front of their eyes, many of the onlookers wanted to find out more. They read the flyers being distributed by the practitioners and many stopped at the information table to chat with the practitioners.

One young man spoke for more than twenty minutes with one of the practitioners. He wanted to know everything about Falun Gong and why it is being persecuted in China. He couldn't believe that people are being tortured in China because they practice Falun Gong, especially after he found out that Falun Gong is a peaceful meditation practice with five sets exercises that is deeply rooted in the principles of "Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance." He thought it very confusing that people who try to live by those principles are suffering such terrible human rights abuses.

The practitioner continued to tell him about the history of Falun Gong. She spoke about 1992, when Mr. Li Hongzhi brought this practice to the public and how it rose in popularity until 1999, when one hundred million people were practicing. She spoke of the sudden turn of events in July 1999, the time when Jiang Zemin, the former leader of the Chinese Communist Party, launched the persecution. He also heard about the 610 Office, the Gestapo-like agency that Jiang Zemin created solely for the purpose of persecuting Falun Gong that overrides all laws in China.

The practitioner told this man how the Chinese regime exports the persecution to western countries. One example the practitioner gave is how Vienna's Chinese Consulate refused to extend her husband's Chinese passport for no other reason than he practices Falun Gong and publicly calls for an end to the persecution. The young man was deeply engrossed in all that the practitioner said and before leaving he signed a petition calling for the release of Charles Li, an American Falun Gong practitioner who has been imprisoned for two years after he visited China. The man took several articles that he wanted to share with his Chinese acquaintances.

People stopped at the information table to get free postcards, bookmarks and badges reading, "The Whole World Knows the Persecution is Wrong." During the entire day at Stephansplatz, many people recognized the stark contrast between the peaceful Falun Gong exercises and the cruel persecution against the practice in China. They were deeply touched.

Source: http://clearharmony.net/articles/200501/24110.html

(Clearwisdom.net) I am recording some stories about what happened to me and my child during our cultivation path during the past few years while we were immersed in the Fa and were under Teacher's immense care. If there is anything improper, please kindly point it out.

During the Chinese New Year in 2001, Jiang's regime directed the staged self-immolation incident and used the opportunity to search out Falun Gong practitioners. Practitioners were then arrested and forced to write "Guarantee Statements," and declare their abandonment of Falun Dafa cultivation. On New Year's Eve, the police came to our home and tried to force me to write a Guarantee Statement. They threatened me, saying that if I refused to write the statement, I would be sent to the Masanjia Forced Labor Camp and our son would not be able to attend the university and go abroad to study. I told them that my health had gone though tremendous changes because of my practice of Falun Gong, but the police wouldn't listen. Not being a practitioner, my husband was frightened and kept begging them to let us go.

My son, who is also a Dafa practitioner, said to the police without fear, "You can't send my mother to Masanjia. Masanjia is the most vicious place. They