44 Deaths of Falun Gong Practitioners Verified in September and October

— Two Sisters Tortured to Death in the Same Prison Camp, Husband and Wife Tortured to Death in Beijing

Torture
techniques usually include severe beatings, electrocution, force-feeding
torture, and forced drug injections. Among the deceased was an elderly lady
over 70 years old and a young mother.

23
of the deaths occurred in various labor camps, detention centers and police
stations, where Falun Gong practitioners are routinely tortured, as officials
attempt to force them to disassociate themselves from Falun Gong and make them
sign documents denouncing the meditation practice.

In
13 of the cases, the victims died of their injuries shortly after being released
from custody. Falun Gong practitioners are often released after particularly
severe beatings by Chinese authorities hoping to avoid responsibility for
subsequent deaths. In many cases, the victims die within hours of their release.

The
majority of the sources reported police stating that they have standing orders
to report all deaths of Falun Gong practitioners as “suicides” and cremate the
bodies immediately — often without notifying the family.

Killed
for Their Beliefs

The
following are a few of the cases verified in September and October.

Ms.
Tang Jinmei, female, 71 years old, was a Falun Gong practitioner from Zhangshu
City, Jiangxi Province. She was sent to a brainwashing center by the local “6-10
Office” and police bureau, and suffered from mental torture. She was also forced
to endure “military training”. According to one source, at one point during the
torture she vomited a large amount of blood. Ms. Tang died in February 2002.

Ms.
Li Shuhua, female, 32 years old, was a Falun Gong practitioner from Yushu City,
Jilin Province. She was kidnapped by local police and beaten to death 13 days
later. According to an eyewitness, one side of her face was blackened and the
other side had been crushed in. Her mother and husband were also thrown into
jails for practicing Falun Gong. Now only her father and her two little children
remained at home.

Ms.
Duan Shiqing, female, 32 years old, was a Falun Gong practitioner and a
conductor with the Chongqing Railroad Bureau. On September 16, 2003, she died
while being subjected to force-feeding torture in Chengdu City Detention Center.

Ms.
Yang Guijun, female, a Falun Gong practitioner from Baiquan Town, Dongliao
County, Jilin Province, died in June, 2003, in Jilin Female Prison. Her sister
died 7 months before her in the same prison. They were subjected to “Tiger Bench”
torture, high beaten with high-voltage electric batons, were hung by hand-cuffs,
burned with cigarettes and subjected to a suffocation torture.

Ms.
Yuan Hezhen, female, 42 years old, was a practitioner from Hua-nan County,
Heilongjiang Province. According to one eyewitness, Ms. Yuan was tortured in a
detention center in Beijing until she vomited blood, and had bloody stools.
After she got out the detention center, her health was extremely weak. She never
recovered and died in July 2003. Her Husband Sun Jihong, was kidnapped by police
from the Fengtai Police Bureau a year before when he was on Yuquanying Bridge,
Fengtai, Beijing. Four days later, he was tortured to death. Both the husband
and wife were tortured to death within one year, leaving behind a daughter of 4
or 5 years old.

Ms.
Li Xiufen, female, more than 60 years old, was a retired teacher from Nahe
County, Heilongjiang Province. Her family had been persecuted by local police
for a long time. Her daughter-in-law was a teacher in a police school, but was
tortured to death on December 30, 1999, for practicing Falun Gong. Her son Xu
Xiangdong was illegally sentenced to 12 years in jail and tortured severely in
Harbin prison. She died on September 9, 2003.

Mr.
Tang Xiaocheng, male, 40 years old, was a Falun Gong practitioner from Longfeng
Town, Pengzhou City, Sichuan Province. He was sent to Pengzhong Mental Hospital
by local police where he suffered severe persecution. He died one month after
his release.

The
full list of victims’ names are: Zhao Yong, Meng Jinchen, Sun Shouqi,
Li Rong, Wu Rao, Yang Guijun, Zhu Zhongping, Jiang Genjin, Tang Jinmei,
Yu Jixing, Long Zhaohui, Li Qingzhou, He Xuehua, Wang Yi, Zhang Xiaohong,
Hou Guimin, Li Weihong, Sui Guangxi, Tang Xiaocheng, Han Qingcai, Xu Jiling,
Jiao Fenglan, Lu Xingguo, Lu Xiuying, Dong Huayan, Zheng Libo, Yang Jingyun,
Liu Yan, Deng Guojun, Guo Songmei, Yu Wenyou, Tian Baobin, Zhou Jingsen,
Duan Shiqiong, Li Dianzhong, Li Shuhua, Li Chuanping, Xu Yufeng, Yuan Hezhen,
Wang Hongbin?Liu Tongling, Lu Qiongfang, Li Xiufen, Hua Haiyu.

NEWS
– Nov. 10, 2003

Falun Dafa Information Center, www.faluninfo.net

Posting date: 12/Nov/2003
Original article date: 10/Nov/2003
Category: News from China