EFGIC: 100 Go on Extended Hunger Strike in Chinese Prison Camp as Man Upholds Peaceful Appeal, Tortured to Brink of Death

Mr. Cheng Jun Liu has been peacefully appealing for Falun Gong in China for four years. Now prison guards have tortured him to the brink of death. 100 Falun Gong practitioners in the Jilin Prison have undertaken a hunger strike to protest the severe torture used there.

LONDON (EFGIC) – Reliable sources in China indicate that 100 Falun Gong practitioners are being held at Jilin Prison, and that most of them undertook a hunger strike to protest the ongoing severe torture by prison guards there. The lives of those engaged in the peaceful appeal are likely in danger.

Specific details were discovered regarding one of the 100: the case of Mr. Cheng Jun Liu and the appalling abuse he suffered at the hands of prison officials.

Many family members and concerned activists have initiated a phone campaign to contact officials in the Changchun region to urge them to release Mr. Liu and the other Falun Gong practitioners wrongfully held in Jilin Prison.

Man Tortured to Brink of Death

Reliable sources in China say Mr. Cheng Jun Liu is on the verge of death.

What led to Mr. Liu’s present condition is a tale of both courage and horror. Over the course of his four-year appeal for the right to practice the traditional Chinese spiritual practice, Falun Gong, Mr. Liu has been beaten, tortured, and finally nearly killed by agents of Jiang Zemin’s regime who wish to silence Falun Gong and those who would expose the atrocities against its practitioners.

Timeline of Mr. Liu’s Peaceful Appeal
Sept. 1999	Mr. Liu travelled to Beijing’s central appeal office to lodge his protest against the banning of Falun Gong. Mr. Liu was sent to a Changchun Fengjin forced labour camp.
Oct. 2001	Mr. Liu travelled to Tiananmen Square, and unfurled a banner reading “Falun [Gong] is Good”. He was arrested by Tiananmen Square police, and was released after staging a 22-day hunger strike.
Mar. 2002	Mr. Liu reportedly assisted in broadcasting footage over cable TV signals in Changchun City and Songyuan City. The footage exposed the Chinese Communist Party’s persecution of Falun Gong. Mr. Liu was kidnapped from the home of his relatives by police, who shot him in the thigh and burned his hand with fire.
Sept. 2002	Mr. Liu was “sentenced” to 13 years in Jilin Prison, where he was beaten and tortured by prison guards.
Oct. 2003	Mr. Liu’s life is now reportedly in imminent danger. His captors have continued to torture him, even to the point that his body and face is so mangled he is barely able to speak, and even while he is being held at the Changchun City Central Hospital.

Mr. Liu’s tale began in 1999, when he travelled to Beijing to lodge a formal appeal against the banning of Falun Gong with the central appeals office. Upon making his appeal, Mr. Liu was subsequently sent to Changchun Fengjin labour camp.

Over the course of the following four years, Mr. Liu was detained twice more for activities of peaceful appeal on behalf of Falun Gong. He was eventually “sentenced” to 13 years in Jilin Prison, where prison guards beat and tortured him to the brink of death.

Mr. Liu, his body and face mangled and barely able to speak, was transferred to Changchun City Central Hospital as authorities at the labour camp attempted to escape responsibility for his impending death. Mr. Liu’s family was summoned and guards attempted to extort payment from them for his treatment.

When his family asked the prison to let Mr. Liu go, guards reportedly told them that if Mr. Liu dies, it would have “nothing to do” with them.

Mr. Liu’s family reportedly responded that Mr. Liu was healthy before he was detained, and they would not remain silent if Mr. Liu dies.

According to a last-minute report from the World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong, Mr. Liu has lost consciousness in the hospital, and hospital officials do not want to take further responsibility for his care.

Relevant Contacts (all numbers use China’s dialing prefix, 86)

Jilin Prison
100 Junmin Road
Jilin City, Jilin Province 132000

Operator: 0432-4881551
Dept. of Education: 0432-4881511 x3040
Dept. of Prison Politics: 0432-2409418

Prosecutor residing in prison: 0432-4881515, Fax 0432-4881559

Jilin City Central Hospital
45 Northern Boulevard
Jilin City, Jilin Province 132011

Operator: 0432-2027049
Office: 043-2024200

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Background

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a practice of meditation and exercises with teachings based on the universal principle of Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance. It is a practice that was taught in private for thousands of years before being made public in 1992 by Mr. Li Hongzhi. Falun Gong has roots in traditional Chinese culture, but it is distinct and separate from other practices such as the religions of Buddhism and Taoism. Since its introduction in 1992, it quickly spread by word of mouth throughout China, and is now practiced in over 50 countries.

With government estimates of as many as 100 million practicing Falun Gong, Chinas then-Communist leader, Jiang Zemin, outlawed the peaceful practice in July 1999, fearful of anything touching the hearts and minds of more citizens than the Communist Party. Unable to crush the spirit of millions who had experienced improved health and positive life changes from Falun Gong, Jiangs regime has intensified its propaganda campaign to turn public opinion against the practice while quietly imprisoning, torturing and even murdering those who practice it. To that end, Jiang established the 6-10 Office, a Gestapo-like agency spanning from the Central Government to the local governments. The United States Congress has described the 6-10 Office as an agency charged with overseeing the persecution of Falun Gong members through organized brainwashing, torture, and murder.

The European Falun Gong Information Centre has verified details of 803 deaths since the persecution of Falun Gong in China began in 1999. In October 2001, however, Government officials inside China reported that the actual death toll was well over 1,600. Expert sources now estimate that figure to be much higher. Hundreds of thousands have been detained, with more than 100,000 being sentenced to forced labour camps, typically without trial.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT THE EUROPEAN FALUN GONG INFORMATION CENTRE
Peter Jauhal 44 (0) 7717 508 268 Nicolas Schols 32 (0) 479875734
More contacts: http://www.falungonginfo.net/europe.htm
Email: [email protected]