“Rescue our Families” Global Campaign in Australia
SYDNEY, October 18, 2002 (Falun Dafa Information Centre): Australian Falun Dafa practitioners are joining a world-wide campaign designed to rescue the family members who are currently in detention in China for refusing to give up practising Falun Dafa. A similar campaign has yielded good results in Canada and the US where government representatives have secured the freedom of their citizens and their relatives. As the APEC summit is near, Australian Falun Gong practitioners have provided this list (please see below) to various Australian government representatives in the hope that they will urge our Prime Minister to do likewise when meeting with the PRC president Jiang Zemin.
Case 1: Chen Ruichang (Elder Brother of Richard Chen, Sydney, Australia)
In 2001, because he practised Falun Gong, he was sentenced to one year forced labour education in Huadu City, Guangdong Province (notorious for torturing Falun Gong practitioners and imposing long hours of heavy labour to force them to give up practice).
Liang Zihui (Sister-in-Law of Richard Chen, Sydney, Australia)
44-year-old Liang Zihui, worked in a culture department in Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province. She is the sister-in-law of Australian citizen Richard Chen, wife of Chen Ruichang. In the detention centre, she was beaten constantly by the other criminals and forced to carry a 30KG foot chain all the time for 7 days and nights, even during the Chinese New Year holiday period. Because of her refusal to give up practising Falun Gong, she was sent to a women’s forced labour camp. She was locked up into a cell with the criminals and drug addicts. In the detention centre, she was threatened that she would be sentenced to 15 years in jail. Now she is temporarily released on bail but is still under house arrest.
Case 2: Zhuoya (Elder Sister of Lucy Liu, Melbourne, Australia)
Zhuoya, female, 40-year-old, a lecturer in a university in Urumqi City, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. She is the elder sister of Lucy Liu from Melbourne, Australia. In June 2001, she was sentenced to forced labour education for 3 years for refusing to give up practising Falun Dafa. She is currently detained in a labour camp.
Case 3: Li Jielin (Mother of Esther Wang, Wollongong, Australia)
Li Jielin, female, 57-year-old, retired worker in Chongqing City, Sichuan Province, mother of Australian citizen Esther Wang. She was arrested in July 2000 outside her home for allegedly distributing Falun Gong leaflets. She was then sentenced to 3 years in a labour camp.
Wang Wei (Sister of Esther Wang, Wollongong, Australia)
Wang Wei, female, 31-year-old, bank clerk, sister of Australian citizen Esther Wang. On 3rd January 2002, she was arrested for meeting with a group of other Falun Gong practitioners in a park in Chongqing, China. She was held in police custody without charges for almost 2 months and then was illegally sentenced, without trial, to forced labour camp for 2 years. On 26th June 2002 she was transferred to a brainwashing class within the labour camp, in an effort to try and make her renounce her practice. The transformation methods used are often most brutal, with both mental and physical tortures being employed to break the spirit of the person.
Wu Hongbo (Brother-in-Law of Esther Wang, Wollongong, Australia)
Wu Hongbo, male, 31-year-old, bank clerk, brother-in-law of Australian citizen Esther Wang. On 3rd January, 2002, Wu was arrested for meeting with a group of other Falun Gong practitioners in a park. Since then he has been held in police custody without charges for almost 10 months. He is being held in a detention centre in Chongqing City, Sichuan Province.
Case 4: Li Ying (fiancýe of Li Qizhong, Sydney, Australia)
Li Ying, female, 33-year-old, a consultant in Shanghai, is the fiance of Australian citizen Li Qizhong. Around January 2001, Li Ying was taken to a brainwashing class in Shanghai and was forced to guarantee to give up practicing Falun Gong. During the class, she went on hunger strike as the only way of protesting against her illegal detention. However she was force-fed and tortured in other ways. Currently she is detained in Shanghai Qingsong Women’s Labour camp.
Case 5: Zhang LiZhu (Mother of Queenie Wang, Sydney, Australia)
Zhang Lizhu, female, 61 year-old, a retired worker in Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province, is the mother of Australian citizen Queenie Wang. She was arrested twice, the second time being on 5th July, 2002. Currently she is illegally detained in a women’s forced labour camp in Guangzhou City. Her family members are not allowed to visit her and detailed information about her is hard to obtain.
Zhong Jianjun (Younger Brother of Queenie Wang, Sydney, Australia)
Zhong Jianjun, male, 31 year-old, a student in Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province, is the younger brother of Australian citizen Queenie Wang. He was arrested in 2001 and was sentenced to 3 years forced labour re-education. His family is not allowed to visit him. He is currently detained in Hua County, Guangdong Province. Further information is hard to obtain.
Case 6: Li Cuiling (Sister-in-Law of Chen Jianrong, Sydney, Australia)
Li Cuiling, female, 36-year-old, primary school teacher in Sanya City Hainan Province. She is the sister-in-law of Chen Jianrong in Sydney, Australia. Currently she is detained in a forced labour camp in Sanya City for photocopying and handing out Falun Gong literature.
Case 7: Zhang Alian (Sister of Zhang Xiaogang, Sydney, Australia)
Zhang Alian, female, 53-year-old, retied worker in Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province. She is the sister of Zhang Xiaogang in Sydney, Australia. It is believed that she has been taken to Guangzhou, and will probably be sent to a labour camp. This was reported by the Falun Dafa Information Centre on September 18, 2002.
Case 8: Tao Yuefen (Aunt of Li Qiuju, Sydney, Australia)
Tao Yuefen, female, 48-year-old, a retired worker in Beijing, is the aunt of Liu Qiuju from Sydney, Australia.
She has been arrested and detained many times for clarifying the facts about Falun Gong, and appealing to the government to end the persecution. On 17th June, 2002, Beijing Municipal Government Forced Labour Education Management Committee illegally sentenced her to 1.5 years forced labour “re-education”.
Case 9: Wang Jianping (Ex-Brother-in-Law of Christine Hond, Sydney, Australia)
Wang Jianping, male, 45-year-old, taxi driver in Shanghai, is the ex-brother-in-law of Australian citizen Christine Hond in Sydney, Australia. In November 2000 Wang was illegally arrested in a friend’s home in Shanghai City, and was then detained in a forced labour camp in Chuansha County. Later he was transferred to a detention centre and was sentenced to eight years.
Case 10: Ma Guiling (Mother of Rona Rui, NSW)
Ma Guiling was arrested on 28 September 2000 in Shanghai and was sentenced to 18 months of forced labour. Bailed by Rona’s father and other relatives, the police released her but kept watching her 24 hours a day. She can not leave Shanghai or talk to anyone outside the family.
Case 11: Zhao Lin (Sister-in-law of Judy Zhang, Sydney, Australia)
Zhao Lin, female, 42 years old. Around 26th September 2002, she was kidnapped from home by the police from Chao Yang District of Beijing. Her whereabouts are unknown.
Case 12: Yan Haiyu (Sister of Yan Zhihui, Sydney, Australia)
Yan Haiyu, female, aged 47, sister of the Australian citizen Mr Yan Zhihui NSW. In June 2000, because she practised the exercise of Falun Gong with other practitioners in a sports centre, she was arrested. Two months later, the police informed her family verbally that she had been sentenced to two years of forced labour camp. A friend from China told the family that Ms Yan was often subjected to inhuman treatment in the labour camp. Prison guards hung her up for 24 hours, leaving only her toes touching the ground, in an attempt to force her to write a statement denouncing Falun Gong. She was often locked up in a small cell.
The Falun Dafa Information Centre has verified the specific details of 499 deaths 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. Over 100,000 have been detained, with more than 20,000 being sentenced to forced labour camps without trial. The PRC government estimated before the crackdown that over 70 million people were practicing Falun Gong. Practitioners’ friends, work colleagues and family members have all been affected. The persecution of Falun Gong has become a national issue concerning well over 100 million people and an “obsession” for president Jiang who, fearful of anything touching the hearts and minds of more citizens than the Communist Party, has intensified the propaganda campaign in China and overseas to turn public opinion against the practice while quietly imprisoning, torturing and even murdering those who practice it.
_____________________________________________________________________
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Dr. Michael Pearson-Smith, 0409 500 271
Website: http://www.faluninfo.net/ & http://www.falunau.org
Posting date: 18/Oct/2002
Original article date: 18/Oct/2002
Category: Media Release
