Eyewitness to Organ Harvesting in China: ‘It was extremely horrible’

Epoch Times Staff,  Dec 14, 2009 -

An eyewitness has recounted in vivid detail the story of a woman in China—a high school teacher in her 30s—who was detained, tortured, raped, and finally operated on to extract her organs while she was still alive.

“I have witnessed all these with my own eyes, but I regret that I didn’t take any photos,” he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

It is the first time investigators have spoken to an eyewitness in a case of harvesting organs from a living Falun Gong practitioner.

A 30-minute interview, in two separate conversations, was carried out by an investigator from the World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong (WOIPFG), and a recording is available on its Web site.

The events took place in 2002, and investigators located the policeman only this month.

According to the English transcript, the witness worked for the public security system of Liaoning Province in 2002 and said he himself had participated in torturing and interrogating Falun Gong practitioners “many times.”

No Anesthetics

On April 9, 2002, two military surgeons came to the makeshift “black jail,” a small hotel rented as a “training center,” according to the witness. One of the military surgeons was from the General Hospital of Shenyang Military Region of People’s Liberation Army (PLA), and the other one was a graduate of the Second Military Medical University, he said. They took the woman to a hospital.

“At that time, we had been interrogating and severely torturing her for about a week,” he said. “She already had countless wounds on her body. Also, [we] used electrical batons to beat her. She had already become delirious.”

“Prior to this, she suffered even greater humiliation,” he said. “Many of our policemen were perverted. They were using pincers and other equipments that I don’t know from where they got them, to molest her. I have witnessed all these with my own eyes. … She had some good looks, relatively beautiful, (so the policemen) were raping her. … This was far too common.”

The policeman said he was on armed guard duty in the room while he watched the surgeons cut the woman’s chest open while she was still alive. No anesthetics were used, he said.

“They cut her chest with a knife,” he said. “She shouted ‘Ah’ loudly, saying ‘Falun Dafa is great.’”

“She said, ‘You killed me, one individual.’ [I think] it roughly meant, ‘You killed one individual like me. Can you kill several hundred million of us, people who are being persecuted by you for our true beliefs?’

“At that moment, that doctor, that military surgeon, hesitated. Then he looked at me, then at our [policemen’s] superior. Then our superior nodded, and he continued to do the veins. … [Her] heart was carved out first, next were the kidneys. When her cardiac veins were cut by the scissors, she started twitching. It was extremely horrible. I can imitate her voice for you, although I couldn’t imitate it well. It sounded like something was being ripped apart, and then she continued ‘Ah.’ After that, she always had her mouth wide open, with both her eyes open wide. Ah … I don’t want to continue.”

The organ harvesting took place in an operating room on the 15th floor of the General Hospital of Shenyang Military Region, the witness said. It began at 5 p.m. and lasted 3 hours…….(more details from The Epochtimes)

China Sentences Lawyer to 7 Years in Prison for Defending Falun Gong

NTD TV, Dec. 1, 2009-

He’s been detained for more than four months. And then, last Friday human rights lawyer Wang Yonghang was sentenced to seven years in prison by the Shahekou People’s Court in Dalian city in China.

He was charged with “posting articles on a foreign website” and so-called “using a cult to damage the social and legal systems.”

In 2008, Wang posted an open letter to Chinese communist leaders Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao. He argued the persecution of Falun Gong adherents is illegal and unconstitutional.

In 1999, the communist regime started a campaign to eradicate Falun Gong, a traditional Chinese spiritual practice also known as Falun Dafa. According to the Falun Dafa Information Centre, at least six thousand Falun Gong adherents have been sentenced to prison, and about 100-thousand more are in re-education-through-labor camps.

Wang Yonghang is one of a few lawyers of conscience who have taken on Falun Gong cases. Despite the Chinese regime’s illegal mandate that there be (quote) “no legal defense of innocence for Falun Gong.”

Wang then lost his license to practice law. But he continued to defend Falun Gong adherents.

According to rights advocate, Chinese Human Rights Defenders, Wang was detained and tortured by Dalian city police on July 4th.  Amnesty International called for urgent action for his release, but then on October 16 he was put though a secret trial.

Wang is part of an increasing number of lawyers being targeted for taking on human rights cases. They report being harassed and beaten by police, and often lose their license to practice law.

- NTD TV

Arbitrary Detention– China Human Rights Briefing October 5-9, 2009

Chinese Human Rights defender, Oct. 6, 2009-

Arbitrary Detention

Liaoning Petitioner Stopped at Checkpoint, Alleges Beating by Police

On September 12, petitioner Liu Chunbao (刘纯宝), from Yingkou City, Liaoning Province, was stopped by policemen at a checkpoint in Xianghe County, Hebei Province while en route to Beijing.  Liu, who did not have an ID card, alleges that he was beaten by an officer before being forcibly returned to his hometown by officials from the Beijing Liasion Office of the Liaoning Provincial Government.  Liu is currently being held at a retirement home in Yingkou, under the watch of 8 guards. (CHRD)[i]

Shanxi Petitioner Detained after Traveling to Letters and Visits Office in Beijing

Xiaoyi City, Shanxi Province petitioner Bi Caizhen (毕彩珍) has been detained since she was seized outside of the National Letters and Visits Office in Beijing on September 23.  Bi had travelled to the capital to petition about corruption at Shanxi’s Liuwan (湾煤) Coal Mine and the murder of her husband, which she believes was carried out by criminals hired by management at the mine.  Bi was forcibly returned to Shanxi, and friends and fellow have been unable to contact her to determine her present condition. (CHRD)[ii]

Hangzhou Activist Seized in Beijing, Returned to Detention in Hometown

On the evening of October 3, Hangzhou petitioner-turned-activist Zhu Yingdi (朱瑛娣) was seized by Beijing policemen at a guesthouse near Yongdingmen in the capital.  By October 5, when she was able to contact her husband, she had already been forcibly returned to Hangzhou, where she is currently being detained in nearby Anji County.  According to Zhu’s husband, Mr. Dai (戴), the couple’s home in Hangzhou had been guarded around the clock by five men since September 15, and beginning September 30, they were not allowed to leave their home.  They managed to escape on the night of October 1, which is when Zhu travelled to Beijing.  Zhu has been petitioning and assisting other petitioners since the forced demolition of her home many years ago, and has been repeatedly summoned and harassed by local officials. (CHRD)[iii] ……. (more details)

Allegedly 10 Died in Hand, Foot And Mouth Disease Outbreak in Northeast China

By Fang Xiao, Epoch Times Staff, Aug 28, 2009-

Nearly ten children have allegedly died in a hand, foot, and mouth Ddsease (HFMD) outbreak in China’s northeast city of Gongzhuling, Jilin Province, according to a resident there. However, the local regime has not sounded an alarm despite the severity of the situation.

The disease started to spread in Gongzhuling in August, after mainland media reported an HFMD outbreak in central and eastern China in May, and in neighboring Heilongjiang Province in June.

A local resident, who does not want to be named, told the Epoch Times that many large kindergartens announced indefinite closures, only reopening several days ago after the holidays. Many of the infected children have been sent to hospitals in nearby Changchun as local hospitals are full.

Another local resident reported that staff from the local infectious disease office warned of the seriousness of the outbreak saying, “About 10 children have died from the disease.”

An Epoch Times reporter made phone calls to Gongzhuling Municipal Health Bureau. One female staff member confirmed three deaths and 730 current admissions due to the disease according to the Bureau’s information at the time.

“The weather in August is very hot, and the population is very mobile, so the disease has spread quite fast,” the official said, adding that the Bureau had ordered all kindergartens to close.

However, no official report regarding the outbreak could be found on the regime’s official Web site—nor do the local media report on this issue, according to local residents.

Some residents also revealed the hospitals reported some of the diagnoses as herpangina instead of HFMD. The residents suspected that this was the result of pressure from the regime to disguise the number of victims.

A resident said almost all the children have the same symptoms—first, a high fever, then redness and festering in the roof of the mouth, followed by the development of a red rash on the fingers and feet.

Some parents also complained that primary schools have not instituted any preventive measures. For example, all students still eat their lunches together.

“I personally think that the elementary schools should also be closed, as the situation is severe and several kids have died,” one parent said.

- The Epochtimes

Debarred Lawyer Tortured and Arrested in Northeastern China

(Chinese Huma Rights Defenders, August 27, 2009)- CHRD learned today that Wang Yonghang (王永航), a former lawyer from Dalian City, Liaoning Province, has been formally arrested for “using a cult to damage social and legal system”. When Wang was taken into police custody on July 4, he was severely beaten, causing fractures in his right ankle. Wang’s family and lawyer have not been allowed to meet Wang because, according to the police, his case involves “state secrets”. It is believed that Wang has been detained for his work defending Falun Gong practitioners.

According to Wang’s wife, Yu Xiaoyan (于晓艳), Wang was beaten when he was taken into custody by two dozen Dalian policemen on July 4. Wang’s right ankle was fractured, but he was not given appropriate treatment until his ankle became seriously infected. Wang was operated on August 11, a month after his injury was first inflicted, in a Dalian hospital. Police had not notified Wang’s family about the operation, nor sought their authorization prior to it.

Wang is held in Dalian City Detention Center, where he reportedly been subjected to more beatings.

On August 11, Yu received her husband’s arrest notice, issued by the Dalian Procuratorate dated August 10. Yu has repeatedly complained to the relevant government departments about Wang’s beating and mistreatment, but so far she has received no response.

“They refused to notify me when they operated on my husband, and they still refuse to let us know how the operation went. And on that very same day of the operation, they issued an arrest notice for my husband! I really don’t know what to say about this way of doing things”, says Yu.

Wang lost his license to practice law when it was not renewed by the judicial authorities following the conclusion of his annual review on May 31, 2008. Wang has continued to defend Falun Gong practitioners, however.

“Wang’s arrest and torture sends a chilling signal to the community of human rights lawyers, especially those who have been debarred like Wang―that they could suffer a similar fate if they dare to continue their legal work defending human rights,” says Jiang Yingying, CHRD’s Researcher. This year, at least eighteen human rights lawyers lost their licenses following their annual review on May 31.

CHRD is concerned about this recent development of the targeting of human rights lawyers and the use of violence against them by the Chinese government.

CHRD calls for Wang Yonghang’s immediate and unconditional release.

The torture suffered by Wang violates his right to be protected against cruel treatment as guaranteed by the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which China ratified in 1988. The UN Committee against Torture, which reviewed China’s implementation of the Convention ten months ago, has recommended that China “take immediate steps to prevent acts of torture and ill-treatment throughout the country”.

CHRD demands the Chinese authorities to conduct an independent investigation into the alleged torture of Wang and, if the allegation is confirmed, those responsible for torture be punished according to the law. While Wang remains in custody, he should be granted adequate medical treatment without delay.

Background

Wang Yonghang has published several open letters online in which he advocated religious freedom and explained his views on the persecution of Falun Gong members. Wang has defended Falun Gong practitioners and his advocacy and legal work has led to persistent harassment from local police.

Media contacts:

Renee Xia, International Director (English and Mandarin): +852 8191 6937
Jiang Yingying, Researcher (English and Mandarin): +852 8170 0237

For more information ( from Chinese Huma Rights Defenders)

56 China Families of the Persecuted Speak Out On Internet

By Wen Hua, Epoch Times Staff Aug 17, 2009 -

Family members of 56 Falun Gong practitioners in a jail in Heilongjiang Province, China, have published their complaint to the Chinese authorities online, demanding legal compensation and for perpetrators to be held responsible for alleged crimes.

On August 11 Minghui.net, a Falun Gong Web site, published the families’ complaint to the Chinese court system. The complainants are all direct family members of 56 Falun Gong practitioners detained in the Daqing Labor Camp in the northern province of Heilongjiang.

The letter takes a similar form to a previous one, lodged in 2006, after 1,061 family members of Falun Gong practitioners detained in Zhumalong Labor Camp, Hunan Province, wrote to international human rights organizations.

This time, in addition to having their complaints published on the Internet, the family members sent their complaint to the United Nations, several human rights groups concerned with the persecution of Falun Gong, and a number of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) organs, including the National People’s Congress and the Ministry of Justice.

The indictment states, in part: “Falun Gong practitioners have been persecuted by the CCP physically and spiritually. They have even lost their lives. At the same time, we family members and friends are all affected by this persecution. This is a destruction of human conscience and morality. We do not understand this persecution and we cannot endure it anymore.”

They go on to lay out the alleged torture experienced by 16 of their relatives who practice Falun Gong, and detail the alleged crimes committed in Daqing Prison, which are opposed to the basic rights offered in the Chinese constitution and Chinese criminal law, as well as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, they argue.

One of the examples the families give is that of Zhu Hongbing, an employee of the 7th Gas Lift Factory of the Daqing Petroleum Administration Bureau. He was imprisoned for seven years, they say, where he was brutally tortured by police and prison guards. In September 2002, Zhu was beaten to the point where he had to be hospitalized, with one of his lungs ulcerated; a tube was then connected to drain the pus from his lung, and he fell into a coma for 24 days.

Later, In May 2005, police did not allow him to eat, sleep or use the restroom; and then, by way of force-feeding, poured diluted milk into his lungs, which caused serious ulcerations and eventually heart-failure.

Force-feeding is the leading cause of death of Falun Gong practitioners in custody, according to the Falun Dafa Information Center. Because guards are untrained and apparently do not care for the health of those in their custody, feeding tubes are often wrongly inserted into the lung rather than stomach.

When Zhu was released in 2008, after serving his term in prison, his lung capacity was severely reduced, and he passed away soon after, according to family members……. (more details from The Epochtimes)

Mob Attacks Busy Private Market in Northeast China

By Luo Ya, Epoch Times Staff, Aug 9, 2009 -

A busy business area was attacked by a mob in Chenzhuang Town, August 8, 2009

A busy business area was attacked by a mob in Chenzhuang Town in northeastern China in the early morning of August 8. Store owners believe the communist regime is behind the incident in an attempt to boost a state-related development project.

Sources told The Epoch Times, that at around 12 midnight on August 8, about 200 men in camouflage uniforms showed up on Maoyuan Street, in Chenzhuang Town, using iron shovels to attack people and smash whatever they came in contact with. They also looted valuable items from stores and cars.

Local residents called the emergency number 110 for the police, but no one answered the phone and no help was available. The mob also stopped people from seeking help for the wounded, some of whom lay in pools of blood. Many of the wounded needed hospitaliazation.

Sources said that last year the local authorities requested business owners to move to a new market, which was met with resistance and conflict. The current Maoyuan Market is the busiest area in town, and the construction of the market was almost completely funded by business owners. The town has a 40-year lease with the business owners, which is still current.

Many business owners and residents on this street were frightened by the involvement of the hoodlums and dared not talk to The Epoch Times.

One clerk at a store did tell The Epoch Times, “ traffic is blocked. After those men in camouflage uniforms smashed the cars, they put them in the middle of the street. They are still there. No one moved the cars.”

Another business owner said, “All the cars on this street were smashed and people were hit. I heard that some people are in critical condition. About a dozen cars were smashed. It must be the authorities behind this.” However, he was not sure how many people were wounded.

Another source said that a real estate developer built another market in a remote area which very few people frequented. Because the limited population in Chenzhuang Town cannot possibly sustain two markets, the real estate developer and the town authorities therefore hoped that businesses on Maoyuan Street could relocate to another market.

One blogger posted this message on the web, “The town hired gangsters. I would have never believed it if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes!”

- The Epochtimes

China: Falun Gong Practitioner Killed by Police Within 16 Days of Arrest

The Falun Dafa Information Center, 07 Aug 2009 -

Within two weeks of being detained, Mr. Yang Guiquan was tortured to death while in police custody. (from faluninfo.net)

A middle-aged man in northeast China has died just sixteen days after being detained by security agents while speaking to passers-by at a shopping mall about the persecution against Falun Gong, the Falun Dafa Information Center recently learned. Mr. Yang Guiquan (杨贵全) was reportedly brought to a local hospital on July 5, 2009 in critical condition with bruises and scars from electric batons visible on his body. Doctors pronounced him dead on arrival. He was 45-years-old.

“The speed with which this innocent man was picked up off the street, tortured, and killed highlights the mortal danger that hundreds of thousands of Falun Gong prisoners of conscience in China face at this very moment,” says Falun Dafa Information Center spokesperson Gail Rachlin. “A year after Beijing hosted the Olympics, clearly the surrounding ‘strike hard campaign’ hasn’t let up if you’re a Falun Gong practitioner. Yang’s tragic death is a startling reminder of that reality.”

Mr. Yang was an employee of Rongxing Plastics Limited City  (荣兴塑料有限公司) in Fuxin, a major coal-mining city of 782,000 people in Liaoning province. According to sources inside China, at approximately 6:00 p.m. on June 20, 2009, he was speaking to passers-by about the persecution against Falun Gong at a local shopping mall when he was detained by Wu Zhongqi (伍忠启) and other officers from the public security bureau branch of the Haizhou District Police Department. They interrogated Mr. Yang overnight at the police department compound, then transferred him to Xindi Detention Center (新地看守所).

Upon hearing of his arrest, Mr. Yang’s family members and employer went to the public security bureau on multiple occasions to request his release, but were repeatedly turned away and refused access to him.

During his detention, Mr. Yang reportedly embarked on a hunger strike to protest the illegality and injustice of his arrest. Rather than release him or grant him his legally enshrined rights, the guards tortured and brutally force-fed him. Such forced-feedings are routinely conducted by guards with no medical training and as a form of torture rather than nourishment. They are a leading cause of verified deaths among Falun Gong practitioners who have been killed in custody.

As a result of the abuse he was subjected to in custody, on July 5, 2009, Mr. Yang was in critical condition. He was first taken to the Public Security Hospital for treatment, then returned to the detention center. Several hours later, he was taken to the Fuxin City Mining Corporation General Hospital (阜矿集团总医院). Doctors at the general hospital said that Mr. Yang was not breathing and had no heartbeat when he arrived. They determined that he had died before arriving at the hospital.

Mr. Yang died at approximately 3:00 p.m. on July 5, 2009. The police notified his family members at approximately 8:00 p.m. that day. According to sources inside China who were able to view his body, Mr. Yang’s back and head showed bruises, and there were marks of beatings on his legs. Mr. Yang’s inner thighs also showed marks from shocks from an electric baton.

There are 3,292 known cases of Falun Gong practitioners who have died as a result of persecution in China. Liaoning province is one of the deadliest provinces for Falun Gong practitioners – at least 396 adherents are documented to have died there from abuse since 1999.

The Falun Dafa Information Center urges international media to visit Liaoning province and investigate first hand the circumstances surrounding Yang’s death.

Additional details:
Mr. Yang Guiquan’s home address: Room 604, No. 1 Building, Meihai Neighborhood, Beixin Village, Xihe District, Fuxin City, Liaoning Province (细河区新市北新村煤海小区一号楼604室)

- The Falun Dafa Information Center

China: Thousands of steel workers clashed with police, firm boss beaten to death

Tania Branigan in Beijing , The Guardian,  26 July 2009 -

Thousands of angry Chinese steel workers clashed with police and beat to death an executive of the firm trying to take over their company, a Hong Kong-based human rights organisation has said.

Rioters killed Chen Guojun, the general manager of Jianlong Steel Holding Company, after learning that the privatised firm was to buy a majority stake in state-owned Tonghua Iron and Steel Group. The deal now appears to be scrapped.

The violence in Tonghua city, Jilin province, north-eastern China, on Friday is believed to be the country’s biggest civil disturbance since last summer. It comes weeks after inter-ethnic conflict between Han Chinese and the Muslim Uighur minority in China’s north-west region of Xinjiang left 197 people dead and 1,700 injured.

The Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy said 30,000 people were involved in the latest incident, although some internet postings put the figure at closer to 10,000.

China is the world’s largest consumer and producer of steel, but its industry is regarded as inefficient.

The workers are thought to have been fearful of further large-scale redundancies at a company that reportedly axed many jobs only a few years ago. Reports suggest Tonghua has between 20,000 and 50,000 employees.

Millions of people were laid off by state enterprises in the 1990s and workers often complain that they receive little compensation.

The human rights centre said workers were angry that Chen earned about 3m yuan (£267,000) last year while Tonghua’s retirees were given as little as 200 yuan a month.

They blocked roads and smashed police vehicles, the centre said, adding that 100 people were injured in the violence. Authorities in the area have made no formal comment on events and phone calls to the companies went unanswered.

But the South China Morning Post quoted a police officer from the public security bureau as telling them: “Yes, it did take place … Workers from Tonghua would not allow ambulance and medical practitioners to enter the building to rescue Mr Chen and he died.”

Local television said on Friday night that the takeover would be scrapped, the newspaper added……. (more detals from The Guardian)

Three Lawyers Detained for Defending Falun Gong Practitioners in China

(Chinese Human Rights Defenders- July 15, 2009)  CHRD learned today that three lawyers in different locations in Northeastern China have been detained in recent weeks by local authorities. The three, Liu Ruiping (刘如平), Wang Yonghang (王永航), and Wang Ping (王平), who have previously been harassed because of their work defending Falun Gong practitioners, were seized between July 2 and July 8 in Shandong and Liaoning Provinces.

“As these detentions come on the heels of efforts to punish human rights lawyers around the country by denying them renewal of their lawyers’ licenses, we are concerned that these actions may mark the further deterioration of the situation of human rights lawyers in China,” said Renee Xia, CHRD’s International Director.

On July 2, Liu Ruping (刘如平), a lawyer from Changqing District, Jinan City, Shandong Province’s Shuntian Law Firm (舜天律师事务所) who has represented many Falun Gong practitioners, was kidnapped outside of his apartment block by officers from the Public Security Bureaus (PSB) of Jinan City and Changqing District as well as officials from the Jinan City Party Committee. Liu’s home was also searched. On July 6, Liu’s relatives went to the office of the Changqing District Party Committee demanding to know Liu’s whereabouts. However, officials declined to divulge any details. Liu’s family has not received any official documents regarding his detention or the search of his home. It is believed that he is currently held at a black jail specialized in detaining Falun Gong practitioners and petitioners in Liuchangshan, Jinan City.

On July 4, about twenty plainclothes policemen from the National Security Unit, Shahekou Sub-division and Jinxiu Police Station of the Dalian City PSB barged into the home of Wang Yonghang (王永航), a lawyer from Dalian City, Liaoning Province. Without presenting any legal documents, the policemen searched Wang’s home, held Wang’s wife down to the floor and restrained Wang’s 80-year-old mother. The policemen briefly waved some form of legal document in front of Wang’s wife, asking her to sign it, but she refused.

Wang and his wife were both taken away; his wife was released the next day.  When she went to the police station on July 6, police presented a criminal detention warrant stating that her husband had been detained in accordance with Article 300 of the Criminal Code. Article 300 stipulates the crime of “forming or using superstitious sects or secret societies or weird religious organizations or using superstition to undermine the implementation of the laws and administrative rules and regulations of the State”, and is regularly used against Falun Gong practitioners. Wang is believed to be held in Dalian City PSB Detention Center.

On July 8, Wang Ping (王平), a lawyer from Tianzhengping Law Firm (天正平律师事务所), Pingdu City, Shandong Province was also reportedly kidnapped by the local police. Details about Wang’s apprehension are currently unclear. Reportedly, Wang was also held for representing Falun Gong practitioners in Shandong Province.

Background

Liu Ruping has been practicing law since 1993, and has been a member of the Shuntian Law Firm since 2003…… (more details from Chinese Human Rights Defenders)

Chinese lawyers protest China’s prohibition of Defending Falun Gong

By Fang Xiao, Epoch Times Staff,  updated on  July 14, 2009-

During a court hearing for three Falun Gong practitioners in northeast China’s Panshi City, Jilin Province,  lawyers for the practitioners had no choice but to leave the hearing in protest due to the regime’s requirement prohibiting them from entering a plea of innocence for the Falun Gong practitioners.

One of the lawyers told The Epoch Times that the case included 20 Falun Gong practitioners, and the three cases they were defending would normally be dealt with in the same hearing.

However, the court insisted on separating them into several different groups. The court had even planned to separate the three practitioners into different hearings, but gave up after the lawyers rejected this unreasonable demand.

The hearing was scheduled to start at 8:30.a.m., but was delayed because the “610 Office” staff , the National Security police, and the Legal Bureau office staff came to pressure the lawyers to not enter a plea of innocence for the Falun Gong practitioners.

“The court showed us an internal document stating that lawyers will be severely punished for defending Falun Gong practitioners,” one of the lawyers told The Epoch Times.

Lawyer Han Qinfang told us that the hearing lasted for three hours, and that the Falun Gong practitioners’ statements were interrupted many times.

Attorney Jin Guanghong read his statement in their defense: “Falun Gong practitioners commit no crimes and benefit society.  Falun Gong can improve people’s health and contribute to a harmonious society because people who practice Falun Gong always think of others first and tolerate others.”

The judge rudely stopped him and ordered him out of the hearing. “Then we had no choice but to leave the hearing in protest,” Han said.

The lawyers also disclosed that after the incident, the Chinese regime’s Legal Bureau sent people to negotiate with them, requiring them to cooperate with the judge to finish the procedure in the manner arranged by the regime. The lawyers, however, rejected this since their right to speak had not been respected in the court.

Recently, the Beijing Legal Bureau has made use of the lawyer license assessment to deprive several lawyers of their right to practice their profession because they defended Falun Gong practitioners.

The Epoch Times tried to contact the judge, but he declined to answer any questions.

- The Epochtimes

Villagers Injured in Northeastern China Land Clash

Radio Free Asia, 2009-06-17 -

HONG KONG— Authorities in the northeastern Chinese province of Heilongjiang said Tuesday they were investigating violent clashes between police and villagers protesting against land acquisition by the government, which left around 18 people injured.

“They tried forcefully to proceed with the construction, but we tried to stop them, as no compensation was ever paid,” a villager from Yushu township near Heilongjiang’s Fujin city said.

The villager, identified by his surname Meng, said 50 to 60 road construction workers came by truck last Thursday after villagers had occupied the disputed plot of land since the end of May.

“They beat us with shovels and other tools,” Meng said. “Eighteen villagers got injuries on their heads, legs, and arms.”

“Three or four injured villagers are still in hospital,” he added.

The grandfather of 24-year-old Yu Bin said the young man had sustained brain damage and was in critical condition.

“My grandson had internal bleeding in his brain,” Yu’s grandfather said. “His kidney was also damaged. He is in critical condition in a local hospital.”

He said authorities wanted to acquire farmland from Yushu residents to build a road. “They said they would compensate us villagers with farmland that is more than 50 kms away, so no one would take it,” Yu said.

“As for monetary compensation, they could only give 5,200 yuan (about U.S. $760) per hectare. Many villagers came out to protect their land regardless of age and gender,” Yu’s grandfather said.

Police probe

Local police confirmed some villagers were injured. An officer who answered the phone at the Yushu township police station said: “We are still investigating the case, and so we are not obliged to say if any suspects have been arrested.”…… (more details from Radio Free Asia)

China detains suspect in melamine eggs case

Reuters, Nov 5, 2008-

BEIJING (Reuters) – The owner of a Chinese feed factory suspected of adding melamine to its product which turned up in tainted eggs has been detained, state media said Wednesday.

Chinese products ranging from milk powder to chocolate and yoghurt have been recalled throughout the world due to contamination fears. Melamine, used in making plastic chairs among other things, is added to cheat in nutrition tests.

Four infants have died and tens of thousands fallen ill in the scandal, the latest to sully the made-in-China brand.

Chinese eggs came under the spotlight after Hong Kong food safety authorities found tainted eggs produced by Hanwei Group in the northeastern port city of Dalian in Liaoning province……. (more details from Reuters)

China’s Persecution of Christians Intensifies After Olympics

China Aid, October 29, 2008-

CHINA – Since the end of the Olympic Games, ChinaAid has received reports of intensified religious persecution from across China.

- In Beijing, Pastor “Bike” Zhang Mingxuan and his family members have been evicted from their home, beaten and arrested.

- In Heilongjiang province, one city called Yichuan recently banned all of the house churches.

- In Yunnan province, some house church members were attacked right after the Olympics.

- In Shandong province, Pastor Zhang Zhongxin was sentenced to two years of re-education through labor, and after the Olympics his appeal was denied. Pastor Zhang’s lawyer, Li Fangping, was refused permission to meet with him because authorities claim Pastor Zhang could endanger state security.

In another shocking new discovery, ChinaAid learned 29 house church leaders have been serving time in a labor camp and prisons in Henan province since July 9, 2007. They are accused of being “evil cult” members.

Among the 29 house church leaders, 21 are being held in No. 3 Prison of Henan province. One leader was released in September 2008. The other seven house church members belong to a house church group in Lingbao city that is part of the “Born Again Movement”. They were sentenced by the court as “evil cult” members on July 9, 2007. One leader was sentenced to seven years imprisonment, which is the harshest sentence against a house church leader in recent years besides Pastor Zhang Rongliang who was sentenced to seven and a half years in 2004 for allegedly “attempting to illegally cross the border and forgery of an official document”.

- ChinaAid.org

China Torture Survivors at Risk of Abuse, Death after Escaping from Labor Camp

The Falun Dafa Information Center, 26 Sep 2008-

New York (FDIC)—A group of Falun Gong adherents from Liaoning province are at grave risk of torture after being arrested following a daring escape from Masanjia labor camp in August, the Falun Dafa Information Center warned on Friday.

On August 11, adherents assisted Cui Dejun (崔德军), a practitioner detained at Masanjia labor camp, in escaping from the camp’s hospital where he was being held after suffering abuse. According to sources inside China, Cui was then taken to the nearby provincial capital Shenyang and placed at the home of Yu Ming (于溟), a 37-year-old adherent also held at the camp.

Two days later, agents of the Public Security Bureau broke into the house and arrested Cui and others present, taking Cui to an unknown location. In the meantime, guards suspecting that Yu may have aided the escape have also moved him elsewhere, ignoring his scheduled release date of September 2.

“Masanjia is known as one of the most brutal forced labor camps in the country where detainees are regularly tortured with electric batons, beaten and raped. These peaceful religious believers should never have been there in the first place,” says Falun Dafa Information Center spokesperson Gail Rachlin.

“That Cui escaped and may have told the world of the horrors taking place in Masanjia has sent the Chinese communist authorities into a panic. Based on the past experience of Ms. Gao Rongrong’s case and the use of incommunicado detention, Cui and Yu’s lives are in grave danger.”

In a widely publicized incident in 2004, Ms. Gao Rongrong escaped from Masanjia and photos of her face disfigured from electric baton shocks spread around the world (news). She was arrested shortly after and according to Amnesty International, died in custody in 2005 (news).

Like Gao, Yu and Cui have both been victims of extreme torture in the past, including being shocked with electric batons on their genitals, being subject to other forms of sexual abuse, and being forced to squat in an iron cage for three months. As recently as June, Cui had fallen unconscious and become incontinent.

Cui and his wife Gao Zhuo were both arrested in July 2007, along with seven of their employees who practiced Falun Gong. All were sentenced without trial to labor camp terms of 1.5 to 2 years. Yu has spent eight of the past nine years in labor camps because he continues to practice Falun Gong.

Family members and bystanders also targeted

In their efforts to catch Cui and retaliate for his escape, the Chinese authorities have also targeted the families of Cui and Yu. According to sources inside China, when agents of the Public Security Bureau broke into Yu’s home on August 13, they badly beat Yu’s nephew, and arrested him along with Yu’s wife Ma Li and his young son, leavingYu’s ten-year-old daughter Yu Zhenzhen at home by herself. They were all reportedly released several days later.

On August 14 and 15, police in the cities of Dalian and Wafandian then arrested Cui’s brother and two sisters-in-law. Cui’s brother and his wife, as well as one of their employees, were detained at the store the couple owns. The women were released shortly after, but the men’s whereabouts remain unknown.

The Falun Dafa Information Center is providing leads and phone numbers related to the case (see below) and urging human rights groups, foreign journalists and other members of the international community to:

* Conduct their own investigation into the case.
* Call Masanjia and Wafangdian officials and demand proof that these individuals are not being tortured.
* Apply pressure on the Chinese authorities to ensure the safety of those arrested and their immediate release.

- The Falun Dafa Information Center

Three China mine accidents in 4 days kill 42, trap 18

Reuters, Sun Sep 7, 2008-

BEIJING (Reuters) – Three Chinese coal mine accidents in just four days killed at least 42 people, trapped 18, and left three missing, media reported on Monday.

China’s mining industry remains the world’s deadliest amid huge demand from a booming economy, despite a government drive to close thousands of small and unsafe mines. Accidents are reported on an almost daily basis.

Flood waters trapped 24 in a coal pit in central Henan province on Sunday, the official Xinhua news agency said. By Monday, only six had been rescued.

The death toll from a gas blast at a coal mine in southwest Sichuan on Friday had risen to 15, with three missing, according to a local report carried by the China News Service ( www.chinanews.com.cn ).

The accident happened just a day after an explosion at a colliery in northeastern Liaoning killed 27.

State media reported on Sunday that coal mine deaths dropped by almost a quarter in the first eight months of 2008, but did not mention the number of people killed.

A total of 3,786 coal miners died in gas blasts, flooding and other accidents last year, down 20 percent from 2006.

- Original: Reuters

Unusual cruelty, for another group of children in China

By Kay Seok, Human Rights Watch, Published in The Guardian-

The stories of lives destroyed by the Sichuan earthquake captivated sympathetic TV audiences all over the world. Naturally, much aid and goodwill is pouring into the region. It’s been heartbreaking to watch parents who lost their children, and children surviving their parents killed in the quake. But little is known about another group of children in China: kids who have lost their mothers not to a natural disaster, but to the blanket enforcement of a Chinese policy, with no attention from local or international media.

Take Sun Hwa (not her real name), a seven-year old girl, for example. She was born in China, to a Chinese father and a North Korean mother. Under Chinese law, she is entitled to Chinese nationality at birth.

But it wasn’t until a few months ago that she was registered under the Chinese household registration system or hukou. Sun Hwa’s father had faced two terrible options: registering her at the risk of exposing her North Korean mother, who could then be arrested and repatriated, or not registering her, and thus denying his daughter a legal identity and legal access to education.

The concerns faced by Sun Hwa’s parents are not unfounded. For years, China has been arresting and summarily repatriating many North Korean women living with Chinese men, including those with children.

To save children like Sun Hwa from a likely lifelong separation from their mothers, the Chinese government doesn’t need to send food aid or firefighters to their rescue. It does not even need to change its laws. In fact, all it has to do is to respect its own laws on nationality and education, and the international treaties it ratified.

Ironically, the choice for Sun Hwa’s family became somewhat easier when rumours started of massive crackdowns against North Korean refugees.

“People said the police would come and get all North Koreans before the (Beijing) Olympic Games,” Sun Hwa’s father, a 36-year-old farmer, said. “We decided it’s best for the child’s mother to leave.” The last time he heard from her, in October 2007, Sun Hwa’s mother told him she was in Bangkok, waiting to reach South Korea as an asylum seeker. He promptly registered his daughter on his hukou.

Most of these North Korean women like Sun Hwa’s mother escaped a famine at home that killed about one million people, or about 5 percent of the population, in the 1990s. Once in China, some of these women formed relationships with Chinese men voluntarily, while others did so as victims of trafficking. The Yanbian area of China’s eastern Jilin province, which borders North Korea, suffers from a serious gender imbalance, thanks to an exodus of local women seeking better-paying jobs elsewhere, creating a demand for the North Korean women as wives and farm workers.

The Chinese government insists they are economic migrants, but leaving North Korea without state permission is a crime, at times considered an act of treason, which carries heavy penalties. North Koreans who are repatriated are subjected to harsh interrogation, mistreatment, and sometimes torture, followed by lengthy terms in prison and forced labour. This serious risk of persecution means many North Koreans in China are refugees, and China, as a state party to the 1951 Refugee Convention, has an obligation to offer them shelter and protection.

The deportation of such women not only violates China’s international legal obligations towards them as refugees, but forcibly separates children from their mothers, often never to see each other again.

Chinese laws state that all children are entitled to nine years of free, mandatory education regardless of the child’s legal status. In reality, schools demand hukou verification for entry and continued schooling. In the case of children born in North Korea living in China, they have little hope of ever being registered since they have no claims to Chinese nationality.

“There are two things I pray for – for my son to have hukou, and for me not to be repatriated,” a 39-year old woman from North Korea said, echoing the words of many like her in China. Her wishes are humble. And it is in the interest of the Chinese government to grant them. Nobody wins by separating children from their mothers, or by denying them legal identity and education.

- From Human Rights Watch: Unusual cruelty

(photos) China Review: 16th Anniversary of Falun Gong’s Introduction to Public

The Epoch Times, May 13, 2008-

On May 13, 1992 Falun Gong founder Mr. Li Hongzhi introduced the practice of Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, to the general public in mainland China. According to official statistics, in a few short years it grew dramatically in popularity until there were at least 70 million Chinese practitioners.

(photo: people practice Falun Gong in Harbin City, Heilongjiang province, northeast China )

In the wake of the Chinese Communist Party’s persecution of Falun Gong (video: Why is Falun Gong persecuted in China), which started on July 20, 1999, the scenes of Falun Gong group practice in mainland China have become events worth recalling. Let us take a look at these historic photographs of Falun Gong group practice in China in celebration of this year’s World Falun Dafa Day.

Above: people practice Falun Gong in Beijing, Capital city of China

Above: people practice Falun Gong in Shenyang City, Liaoning Province, northeast China

Above: people practice Falun Gong in Weihai City, Shandong Province, east China

Above: people practice Falun Gong in Shanghai City, east China

Above: people practice Falun Gong in Shenzhen City, Guangdong province, south China

More photos from the Epochtimes