On August 8th, 2008, Ms. Lu Yuying was in her home when ten officers from the Chengguan Police Department forced their way in and arrested her. They also confiscated her son's school computer. Ms. Lu ran a clinic to treat burn victims and saw patients with different degrees of scalds and burns every day. She would comfort the patient as she worked and sometimes played music similar to the sounds of nature to soothe the patient. The patients called her "Falun Gong Doctor" because she had an affable manner and always thought of their plight. This good person was detained numerous times for practising Falun Gong. Her family still does not know her whereabouts and they are very worried.

Mr. Li Ruifeng, 44, used to suffer from second degree hearing loss. After practising Falun Gong, he made marked improvements. After the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) started the persecution in 1999, he appealed many times. He tried to use his own experience to tell others that Falun Gong is good and a righteous way. He was arrested many times, was sentenced to three years of forced labour, and suffered from torture such as the "back cuff," severe beatings, and being kept outside in winter. Mr. Li Ruifeng has been held in the Jining City Detention Centre for 11 months and has been sentenced to a 3-year jail term.

Between August 4th and 7th, 2008, four practitioners were in court to request medical treatment for the injuries that they sustained while in police custody. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) court in the Jinzhou City, Liaoning Province, denied medical treatment to Ms. Liu Fengmei and Mr. Huang Cheng. A vertebra in Ms. Liu Fengmai's lower spine was shattered six years ago after she fell from the third floor at Majiashan Forced Labour Camp as a result of torture. A metal implant was installed to reinforce her spine. When the guards in the Jinzhou Detention Centre beat her, the metal was bent out of shape. Ms. Liu now suffers from intense pain and has difficulty walking.

Ms. Zhang Lianying is a Falun Gong practitioner who resides in Chaoyang District, Beijing. In July 2008, she was secretly taken to Masanjia Forced Labour Camp in Shenyang City, Liaoning Province. Other practitioners were taken there with her. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) agents were afraid that international reporters would try to investigate who was being incarcerated during the Olympics, so they transferred these Falun Gong practitioners to an unknown location. Due to the Olympics, on April 20th, 2008, Ms. Zhang Lianying and her husband, Mr. Niu Jinping, were arrested at the door of their home.

In recent days, a group of police officers from the Chaocheng Police Station in Shen County, Shandong Province have arrested many Falun Gong practitioners from Wang Village of Chaocheng Town. Practitioner Qing Yun from that village has been sent to the Shen County Detention Centre. The police claimed that she would not be released until the Olympic Games are over. Previously Ms. Song Qiuping had been sentenced to three years of forced labour.

Mr. Yue Zhongsheng, an associate professor at the Civil Aviation University of China, has suffered severe brutal torture many times for practising Falun Gong. Because co-workers suspected him of having distributed materials exposing the persecution of Falun Gong on the campus, they reported him to the police and he was arrested and sentenced to forced labour. He was tortured at the Shuangkou Forced Labour Camp in Tianjin City. Eight of his ribs were broken because of brutal beatings. Moreover, his superiors at the University fired him.

Falun Gong practitioner, Mr. Han Huiliang, from Tangshan City, Hebei Province, has a mentally retarded, 21-year-old son. His son has a difficult time pronouncing his words clearly and needs to be looked after at all times. Since his father's recent arrest on July 29th, 2008, the boy has been repeating out loud the same sentence over and over again: "I want my daddy, I want my daddy!"

The Olympic Charter states that the Olympic spirit requires "mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play." However, the Olympic Games in Beijing has been a time of hardship for the vast number of Falun Gong practitioners in China. The Chinese Communist Party has not only excluded practitioners from participating in the Olympics, it has escalated the suppression of practitioners in the months leading up to the Games, all in the name of using the Olympics to glorify itself. Zhou Yongkang, a member of the standing committee of the Politburo, Secretary of the Central Political and Judiciary Committee, and director of the Central Office for the Comprehensive Administration of Public Security, issued orders for a "strike-hard campaign" against Falun Gong practitioners earlier this year.

On July 14th, 2008, approximately ten police officers suddenly burst into the apartment of practitioners Mr. Yao Tiebin and Ms. Zhang Fenrong. The police started to confiscate Mr. Yao's private property. When Mrs. Zhang asked the police why they were confiscating her family's belongings without cause, and which law they violated to cause the police to search their home, the police started to beat Mr. Yao and Mrs. Zhang. Without answering her questions, one of the officers said to them, "The state [Chinese Communist Party] doesn't allow you to practise Falun Gong. If you practise Falun Gong, then you violate the law." On the evening of July 14th, they both were beaten by the police until their faces were swollen and black and blue.

On July 27th, Tianjin City practitioner Mr. Geng Dong was arrested at home by the police. After his release on July 28th, he was arrested again on July 29th and his personal computer was confiscated. Currently, Mr. Geng may be detained at the Nankai District Detention Centre. Mr. Geng was arrested after authorities at the Tianjin City Police Department received secret orders to "severely suppress Falun Gong" before the Olympics when the Olympics torch relay was passing through Tianjin City on August 1st and 2nd. Three days before he was arrested, Mr. Geng's wife gave birth. She was weak and needed care. His mother, shocked by the repeated arrests of her son, had a stroke.

Mr. Li Zhenzhong lost his job after he was released from Tailai Prison. On August 5th, 2008, while Mr. Li was riding his three-wheeler to a school for an evening fair, he was arrested by a group of police officers. An older female practitioner and two young male practitioners were also arrested at the same time. One practitioner was severely beaten and injured during the arrest. As a result of the beating, he walked with a limp. Mr. Li Zhenzhong was badly beaten after he was taken to the Wenhua Road Police Station, and his head was bleeding. Police officers beat and cursed at him while they dragged him down the stairs and pushed him into a van to take him to the hospital.

I must to tell you about some of the things that have happened to my relatives in China. My father Zhang Xingwu and my mother Liu Pinjie are both kind, ordinary citizens. However, they have met with persecution due to their practice of Falun Gong. On July 16th, 2008, the Jinan City Zhongqu Public Security Bureau and the Weijiazhuang Police Station dispatched a group of unidentified individuals to my parents' home, breaking through the door and taking them away. Thereafter, my parents' home was ransacked and many personal belongings stolen and their life savings of 100,000 yuan. To date, there has been no list of things that were taken away. Such actions are in direct violation of Chinese laws and I urgently request that you investigate and release my parents.

Based on incomplete statistics due to China's information blockade, 586 Beijing practitioners have been arrested from January to July 2008. There were 83 arrests in January, 87 in February, 57 in March, 112 in April, 144 in May, 48 in June, and 55 in July. Ms. Kang, 72, lived in Yuzhongxili community, Beijing. On May 20th, 2008, she was arrested by police officers while she was distributing leaflets exposing the persecution of Falun Gong. She died on May 29th, 2008, after having a stroke while in police custody. Ms. Kang had practised Falun Gong for 15 years and was in good health.

After 10 o'clock at night of July 29th, ten government officials and police broke into Mr. Li Yufu's home in Guanqian Village, and forced him down on the ground, choked him, twisted his arms and handcuffed him. Ms. Li's wife tried to reason with the police and was restrained. She shouted more than ten times, "Don't take my husband." The policemen replied ferociously, "If it were not for your little kid, we would take you as well." Mr. Li Yufu did not have any outerwear or shoes when he was taken away.

Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Wei Danquan was arrested, put on trial twice and finally sentenced to four years of imprisonment. Even though Wei Danquan has appealed this sentence, he was sent to Jidong Prison in Tangshan City. Wei Danquan is an ex-army officer stationed at the Shanhaiguan Airport. He was suspended from his duties for practising Falun Gong. He has been persecuted many times. He was arrested, detained, tortured with torture devices and sentenced to imprisonment. He has been monitored, and his house was ransacked and property confiscated. The constant persecution throughout the years caused his health to deteriorate.

Government officials in Wanquan County, Hebei Province have implicated Falun Gong practitioners in the name of "Olympic security." Each town, township and village is monitoring practitioners within their area. Officials have also broken into the homes of practitioners and individuals who had read Falun Gong books before the persecution began in 1999. The government officials forced them to sign their names, took their fingerprints and confiscated their identification cards. These agents threatened to hold a brainwashing session for those practitioners who didn't cooperate with them.

On July 29th, 2008, Ms. Cao Junping and her husband were arrested and sent to a detention centre. Previously, in January 2000, Ms. Cao and eight other practitioners were doing the Falun Gong exercises at the city square. For that, they were arrested by the police and detained in a 9-square-foot cell. There they were beaten by a group of thugs led by the Weifang City mayor. The thugs asked "Do you still want to practise Falun Gong?" Ms. Cao firmly answered, "Yes!" As a result, she was beaten with spiked wooden clubs, shocked with electric batons, and dragged on the floor by her hair. Ms. Cao's entire body was in pain. One of her front teeth also fell out. The authorities made her husband pay 2000 yuan before they released her.

Mr. Chen Yunchuan, 70, is a practitioner from Hebei Province. All six members of his family are practitioners, and four of them have died as a result of the persecution. Recently, Mr. Chen was arrested again at his home. The oldest son, Mr. Chen Aizhong, was sentenced to three years of forced labour and died at the Hehuakeng Forced Labour Camp in Tangshan City on September 20th, 2001. The youngest daughter, Ms. Chen Hongping, was sentenced to forced labour after both of her legs were broken during a beating. She died at the Gaoyang Forced Labour Camp on March 5th, 2003. The youngest son, Mr. Chen Aili, was tortured to the verge of death at the Jidong Prison in Tangshan City. He passed away on November 5th, 2004.

Ms. Liu Yurong is a practitioner from Linghai City, Jinzhou, Liaoning Province. On May 29th, 2008 she and her sister were arrested by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) police for practising Falun Gong. They were held captive for a month until they were put on trial on July 28th. The court in Linghai City is controlled entirely by Communist Party members. Ms. Liu Yurong denied all of the court's accusations against her. One lawyer asked her whether she wanted to hire a lawyer. To that question Ms. Liu Yurong answered, "If you can enter a plea of 'innocent' for me, I will hire you. If you cannot, there is no need to even talk about it." In the end the trial concluded without any result.

On July 6th the home of practitioner Zhao Jinjun was ransacked and he was arrested. This was the fourth time Mr. Zhao was arrested by police. During this latest arrest, the police not only kicked Mr. Zhao's 3-year-old son but they also called the young child a "b*****d." The police sprayed mace into the eyes of Mr. Zhao's 10-year-old son, Yang Yang, and Mr. Zhao's mother who is in her 60's. Yang Yang could not open his eyes after being sprayed and rushed to the sink to wash his eyes with water. Even after doing so, his eyes remained red and painful for the entire afternoon.

On July 25th, 2008, Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Li Qiang, 36 , who is a resident in Tangshan City, Hebei Province, was arrested by Zunhua City Domestic Security Division. He was taken to the Zunhua Detention Centre to be incarcerated and subsequently transferred to the Procuratorate. After being held for 8 days, without any evidence of having committed a crime, the Zunhua Procuratorate held a secret trial on four Falun Gong practitioners, including Li Qiang and Zhao Jingjun.

On July 21st, 2008 Chai Shuzhen, in her 60s, was arrested again for distributing leaflets exposing the persecution and sent to the Tangshan Forced Labour Camp on the 26th for a two-year term. In a previous detention a guard found her practising Falun Gong. The head of the detention centre had her handcuffed to a chair and ordered two guards to insert a tube into her through her nose to force feed her with an unknown drug. Liu said, "The reason you do the Falun Gong exercises is because you want to heal yourself. So we are going to give you medicine." After this torture, her stomach hurt and she could not eat more than half of a bowl of rice at each meal.

Mr. Yin Zemin is a Falun Gong practitioner from Hebei Province. When he learned of the recent 7.9-magnitude earthquake, he consulted with his family, then donated 500 yuan (which was a portion of the money the family saved for his father's medical care) to the devastated area relief efforts. However, Yin Zemin's kindness was rewarded instead with a search and seizure. On June 6th, 2008, Mr. Yin was arrested by officers from the Yongyang Town police station. Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officers declared that practitioners do not have money, therefore, someone with the resources to donate 500 yuan must be a "Falun Gong coordinator." On July 1st, he was taken to the Baoding Forced Labour Camp.

On July 19th, eleven Falun Gong practitioners went to Taohuachi village in Liaoning province, to distribute leaflets exposing the persecution of Falun Gong. Armed police officers arrested them and took them to the Pingfangzi police station. After they arrived at the police station, one of Falun Gong practitioners, Yun Guolin, was shot twice by police as he tried to escape. He was then handcuffed and beaten with electric batons, rubber clubs, fists, and foot kicks. The police also tortured the other ten practitioners with the electric batons and rubber clubs. All the while, police verbally belittled the Falun Gong practitioners. They were not allowed to eat, drink, or use the toilet.

A group of a dozen police officers and officials went to the home of Ms. Zhang, an elderly Falun Gong practitioner in Chaoyang District, Beijing, on July 29th. They verbally abused her and ransacked her home. Three other practitioners, Ms. Zhai Shutian, 61; Ms. Han Ming, 62; and Ms. Zhou Liyan, 55, were visiting Ms. Zhang at the time. The police arrested them on grounds of "unlawful assembly." The three women are Ms. Zhang's friends and neighbours who are also residents of Chaoyang District. How could a few elderly women visiting a friend be construed as "unlawful assembly"? Were they really committing a crime?

Police arrested 26-year-old Ma Duo and sentenced her to three years in prison on May 23 , 2008. Her family got the notice on June 6th. Ma Duo and her family sent an appeal to a higher court and retained a Beijing lawyer to defend her. When her relative went to the Jiamusi Intermediate Court to go through normal trial procedure, more than ten officers from the Domestic Security division arrested four of her family members and his relatives in the presence of the lawyer. It is said the purpose of the arrest was to trace the person who hired the lawyer from Beijing.

On July 10th, 2008, police broke into the home of Falun Gong practitioner Zhang Zongyuan. Without showing any ID, they ransacked his home, confiscating a motorcycle. Zhang Zongquan is unable to return home, as further persecution would be the almost certain result. In 1999, Zhang Zongquan went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong, but was arrested. Police handcuffed his hands onto the edge of the bed, forced him to kneel down, and kicked him fiercely. In the 610 Office policemen beat practitioners' legs with lengths of wood, even attacking their faces. In the Fengrun Detention Centre policemen tortured practitioners with 'Deadly Strings.' 'Deadly Strings,' is to tie the hands behind the back, tie the whole body, and then hang it up. Generally, people become permanently handicapped within fifteen minutes from this torture.

The Yongji County Political and Judiciary Committee, the 610 Office, the local police department, the State Security Division, and police officers from the Chengnan, Chengbei, and Chengxi police departments, all took part in persecuting Falun Gong practitioners. The police arrested Mr. Zhu Yeguang, Ms. Sun Xiaomei, and Ms. Zhang Fengrong. Mr. Zhu and Ms. Sun were detained for fifteen days. After police extorted 10,000 and 20,000 yuan from them, respectively, they were released. Ms. Zhang's family is very poor; they barely have enough to eat. Yet, State Security Division chief, Wang Shuxiang, told them: "If you have money, we'll release Ms. Li, otherwise we'll send her to a forced labour camp."

Retired senior engineer Qin Zhongke, 65, and his wife were arrested on July 15th, 2008 by police officers. Mr. Qin Zhongke is being detained in the No. 1 Detention Centre in Handan City. His wife has been released. previously, Mr. Qin Zhongke was detained in Handan Labour Camp. From July 2nd to 23rd, 2002, Mr. Qin was deprived of sleep, was forced to stand for long periods of time under the baking sun, and was forced to stand day and night. His legs and feet became extremely swollen, he could not walk and he became very weak. In order to stop the brutal persecution, he began a hunger strike. He was force-fed several times, and his family had to pay the bill. The guards shouted: "Even if you pretend to be 'transformed,' you still have to write the 'repentance statement' before you can go to sleep."

As the Beijing Olympics approached and when the Olympic torch was about to reach Shijiazhuang, the capital city of Hebei Province, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) escalated its persecution of practitioners in that area. Over the past week, Anping County Police Bureau, the 610 Office, and officials from a number of townships and village harassed, monitored and arrested practitioners, or put them under house arrest. As an excuse for arresting practitioners, they made up false accusations. They claimed that "Falun Gong plans to have a big event, or Falun Gong wants to create social disturbances." Five practitioners from Anping County were arrested, thirteen practitioners' homes were ransacked, two practitioners were forced to become homeless and at least thirty practitioners were harassed.

Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Gao Shuyu, 54, has been "sued" by the Chinese communist authorities in the Nanguan District Court on the main charge of "surrounding and attacking the Heizuizi Women's Forced Labour Camp" and browsing the Minghui website (The Chinese version of Clearwisdom). Ms. Gao Shuyu had been to the Heizuizi Women's Forced Labour Camp to visit practitioner Zhu Shuyun who had been detained since May 9th, 2007. In mid-March 2008, the camp authorities invited Ms. Gao and Ms. Zhu's younger sister for a visit. During the visitation, the camp authorities secretly videotaped the practitioners. Afterwards, Ms. Gao's home and her activities were under police surveillance until she was arrested on April 22nd.

Between 1:00 a.m. to 3:00 a.m. on July 29th, 2008, Li Hongde, director of Jiaojie Township Police Station, A'cheng District, Harbin City and several police officers tried to arrest Falun Gong practitioners who were distributing leaflets exposing the persecution of Falun Gong. Gunshots were fired by the police during the arrest. Practitioners Zhu Yumei and Wang Kun were taken into custody. Both practitioners are currently detained at the A'cheng No. 2 Detention Centre. It was rumoured that the officials from the local "610 office" and the Domestic Security Division are trying to make a big deal out of this case.

On July 10th, 2008, police broke into Falun Gong practitioner Song Xinhua's home and took her to the Friendship Police Station. They locked her onto heating pipes and several policemen took turns beating her. On July 12th, police broke into Falun Gong practitioner Zhang Qing's house, took her to the Friendship Police Station, stole her computer, printer, CD burner, binding equipment and also took the 500 yuan in her pocket. Later, police beat her and detained her in the detention centre.

Police in Jilin Province arrested many practitioners and sent some to labour camps in April 2008, under the pretext of "maintaining security before the Olympics." The arrests took place without any warrant or incriminating evidence. They arrested Ms. Ju Mingxia on April 13th, 2008.

Practitioners Mr. Huang Wei left his home at 7:00 a.m. on July 4th, 2008 to go to work. A plain-clothes policeman stationed outside the residential building arrested him. Seven officers arrested his wife Hao Qiuyan and ransacked the home. The couple was detained for 15 days at the Shijiazhuang City Detention Centre. There were forbidden to contact their family members, meet with a lawyer and get a change of clothes. They were secretly sentenced to forced labour. Mr. Huang Wei and Ms. Hao Qiuyan went on a hunger strike on July 11th, 2008. With the efforts of fellow practitioners, they hired Beijing lawyers. The lawyers went to Shijiazhuang City three times to meet with the couple, but got nowhere. Detention centre officials and police agents prevented the lawyers from meeting with the practitioners.

On July 2nd, 2008, officials from the 610 Office of Jinzhou City, Liaoning Province and the local police department ordered the police of all districts to conduct another round of arrests of Falun Gong practitioners. Fourteen practitioners were arrested. Wang Suqing and Shao Haibo were arrested at home around six o'clock in the morning. Sun Jihong, Man Guirong and Tang Xiurong were arrested near a supermarket around nine o'clock in the morning. Witnesses saw the police beat these three weak ladies heavily, kick them severely and slap them violently on the ears. It was also said that Huang Cheng, a Falun Gong practitioner was tortured during interrogation after he was arrested on Feb. 25th. The police from the Taihe District tied him to an "iron chair" and beat and shocked him with electric batons for 17 hours.

As the Beijing Olympic Games drew closer, the Chinese police in Tanghai County, Hebei Province, with Zhang Shun, the deputy chief of the county's Public Security Bureau (PSB), in charge, and Li Fuguo, captain of the county's State Security Team, intensified the persecution of local Falun Gong practitioners. Between June 10th and July 31st, 2008, eleven practitioners from Tanghai County were arrested.

Peng Min's family lives in Wuhan City, Hubei Province. The whole family practises Falun Gong. During the past nine years of the brutal persecution of Falun Gong, all five of them were arrested. Two of the family members died untimely deaths, victims of persecution, within a month. Father Mr. Peng Weisheng was sentenced to one and a half years in a forced labour camp because he went to Beijing in 1999 to appeal for Falun Gong. Mother Ms. Li Yingxiu was arrested because she also went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong. She was detained at a custodial station. Elder brother Peng Liang went to Beijing to appeal in 1999. He was arrested and detained at the Hongxia Brainwashing Centre. Peng Min went to Beijing to appeal in March 2000, and he was also arrested Peng Min went to Beijing to appeal in March 2000, and he was also arrested.

Following orders from higher-level officials, officers from the Laishui County Police Department and Laishui County State Security Division recently arrested Falun Gong practitioners and ransacked their homes. Since June 6th, 2008, more than 20 practitioners have been detained and over 70 practitioners have been harassed, and some of their homes were ransacked. Mr. Liu Chengshun, 19, was reported to the authorities after telling his co-workers the facts about Falun Gong at his workplace. Mr. Liu is being detained in the Zhuozhou City Detention Centre.

On July 12th, 2008 several policemen from the Xichang City Police Department and National Security Bureau surrounded Falun Gong practitioner Zhang Shaohui's home. Zhang Shaohui lives on Sanya Street, in Xichang City, Sichuan Province. Several plain-clothes officers who were staked out around Zhang Shaohui's home, even stopped and checked people who were just passing by. At that time there were over ten practitioners at Ms. Zhang's home and most of them were elderly.

Using the excuse of "protecting the Olympics," the CCP has rampantly arrested innocent citizens. Please look at what is happening in Qingdao City. On July 25th, 2008, when a 65-year-old female Falun Gong practitioner, Zhang Xiuying was telling people about the persecution in an open air market, she was reported to the police. Zhang was arrested by police. Later, seven or eight officers from Lingshan Town Police Station drove in two cars to ransack Zhang's home.

After nine years of brutal persecution, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) continues to harass Falun Gong practitioners. Since February 2008, more than 100 practitioners in Jilin Province have been harassed and followed, and more than 40 have been arrested, tortured, robbed, and had funds extorted from them. In addition, peasants in Jiaohe City's Yangmulinzi Village saw their farmland forcibly occupied by the government. But after they were awarded about 18 million yuan in compensation, the city Party secretary and former mayor, Zhang Enbo, seized the money. Recently, the police arrested more than 20 peasants, accusing them of being Falun Gong practitioners.

The Olympic Torch arrived in Shandong Province on July 20th, 2008. Police stations in villages and towns in Shandong Province received orders from Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials to facilitate the arrests of Falun Gong practitioners. On July 9th, Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Sui Mingying from Qiao Village was arrested by Juchenghe police officers. The officers confiscated her Falun Gong books, and about 60 CDs exposing the persecution of Falun Gong. Ms. Sui was then arrested and taken to a police station.

On July 10th, 2008, the Politics and Law Committee of Wangqing County, Jilin Province, the National Security Team of the County Police Department and the 610 Office implemented wide ranging arrests of Falun Gong practitioners in Wangqing County, using the "safety of the Olympics torch" in Yanji City as a reason. Police from various local police stations knocked on Falun Gong practitioners' doors and deceived their family members by saying that they just wanted to take the practitioners to the local police station and would send them back home soon. Some directly went to the practitioners' work places and deceived those kind practitioners with a similar trick to direct them to various local police stations. After the practitioners went to the police stations, they were interrogated and forced to copy the related provisions of law that contained slanderous content about Falun Gong.

Before the Olympics Torch Relay reached Jilin Province on July 15th, 2008, the authorities intensified the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. They arrested many practitioners and did not spare anyone, not even practitioners in their 70s. At 11 p.m. on July 13th, 2008, Jilin City Police Department in Jilin Province sent out at least four police cars and a van to forcefully take away Falun Gong practitioners. The practitioners arrested included Mr. Li Zhanxin in his 70s, his wife Feng Fengyun (age 71) as well as their son Mr. Li Wenjun (age 42). It was reported that Mr. Li Wenjun is currently being incarcerated at the No. 3 Detention Centre of Jilin City. The older couple Li Zhanxin and Feng Fengyun are being detained in a brainwashing class.

On June 17th, 2008, in the name of Olympics security, police officials broke into the home of Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Feng Chao. Ms. Feng was not home at the time so she escaped the raid. Nonetheless five of Ms. Feng's family members were arrested, including her mother who is in her seventies, her brother who had came to visit their mother, her husband, and their twin daughters. There were also visitors to the house that day and they were arrested as well. All five family members are now in detention and being persecuted. Xingtai Police Bureau has submitted the case to the Provincial Office for sentencing. The family is charged with producing Falun Gong materials for distribution. The twin girls are just 17 years old. They are suffering from both mental and physical trauma and drastic weight loss.

Since May 21st, 2008, the police departments of Jilin Province and Songyuan City have been secretly arresting Falun Gong practitioners in Songyuan City and its subordinate district under the pretext of Olympics "security." Many practitioners in Fuyu County have been arrested. On July 11th, Songyuan City and Fuyu County police executed another round of arrests and harassment involving practitioners in Fuyu County.

Recently, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) of Laishui County, Hebei Province held a meeting about persecuting Falun Gong. The officials involved in the meeting included those from the local 610 Office, police department, Procuratorate, court, and all responsible persons from towns, villages, bureaus and sections. The meeting's focus was the persecution of all practitioners in the Laishui County area in the name of the "protecting the Olympic Games." They continued arresting many Falun Gong practitioners all over the County. They also set a quota for the practitioners to be arrested, which would be no less than 300 practitioners. Moreover, a quota was set for each of the towns, villages and communities. Every village was required to hire 30 people without fixed duties, who engaged in patrols, with red arm bands.

On July 9th, 2008, officials in Weifang City, with Zhang Xinqi in charge, began a new round of persecuting Falun Gong practitioners under the pretext of "security" for the Olympics. Beginning at 6 a.m., officers from the 610 Office, public safety bureaus, and security bureaus arrested dozens of practitioners and confiscated their personal belongings. During the past nine years, over 93 practitioners in Weifang City died because of the persecution. Nearly 1,000 practitioners were taken to forced labour camps, and almost 100 received different kinds of sentences. This time, officials arrested over 40 practitioners within just a few hours.

Ms. Jiang Youchun, is a 58 year old practitioner. She is being persecuted because she would not renounce her belief in Falun Gong and would not stop distributing leaflets exposing the persecution and telling people the facts about Falun Gong and that Falun Gong teaches people to follow the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance. She was once detained in a detention centre in Dongguan city for 14 months and was forced to do slave labour.

Recently, in several counties in the Guang'an region including Guang'an, Huaying, Linshui, and Yuechi, more than ten Falun Gong practitioners were arrested. Guang'an City authorities planned to set up a brainwashing centre to persecute them. On the morning of June 10th, 2008, practitioner Deng Qixing was arrested. A few days later he was sentenced to forced labour. On May 5th, 2008, Guang'an authorities arrested Luo Keyu, who is over 80 years old, and several other practitioners.

Ms. Wang Shuxian, 65 years old, and Mr. Geng Guoge were arrested on June 26th, 2008. They were recently taken to Masanjia Forced Labour Camp. Since February 2008, just in Chaoyang City alone, 48 practitioners have been arrested. Ten were sentenced to long-term imprisonment, one was persecuted to death, four are critically ill, nine were sentenced to forced labour, some were forced to leave home, others were harassed and their homes were searched, and still others were forced to sign a certain statement against their will.

Over the past nine years of persecution, practitioner Ms. Shi Yuping has been imprisoned several times because of her practice of Falun Gong. On January 25th, 2003, while she was visiting her parents, she was arrested. On December 18th, 2007, as M. Shi was distributing leaflets exposing the persecution of Falun Gong, she was arrested by officers. She was detained for two weeks. On January 3rd, 2008, Ms. Shi was released. Recently Ms. Shi, age 62, was secretly sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison after she was detained in the Wuqing Detention Centre for more than a year. She has been imprisoned since February 2nd, 2007. All family visit requests have been denied by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) authorities.

On the afternoon of July 7th, 2008, Mr. He Changlong was arrested at his home by police. They also ransacked his home. His son, who had just graduated from high school, was also arrested. Mr. He and his son were both detained at the police bureau for nearly 10 hours. Police officers ransacked his home and confiscated a satellite dish, antenna, and two bottles of ink. Because he was purposefully looking for more "evidence" so that they could press heavier charges against him, Wang Shixiang claimed that the ink, which is used for writing Chinese calligraphy, was used for a printer. His 20-year-old son, also a high school graduate, and a senior over 80-years-old are alone now and having a difficult time.

As the Olympics approaches, the Guang'an government has been harassing, arresting and persecuting Falun Gong practitioners under orders laid out in secret documents by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). During the last three months, dozens of practitioners in various counties and townships of Guang'an City have been arrested, the oldest being over 80 years old. Some of these practitioners were sent to forced labour camps to be tortured without trial.

To prepare for the Olympic Torch arriving in Jilin City on July 15th, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) authorities started massive arrests of people two months prior. People targeted for arrest included dissenters who criticized the CCP's corruption, those who protested their homes being demolished by the authorities without permission, laid-off workers, and people of spiritual conviction, including Falun Gong practitioners. In a span of two months, Jilin City 610 Office agents arrested more than 100 Falun Gong practitioners.

On July 4th, the Shijiazhuang City Police started to arrest Falun Gong practitioners throughout the whole city. All the practitioners who were on the police department's list were arrested, sentenced, and imprisoned immediately, whether or not the police found any "evidence" when searching their homes. Dr. Li Huiyun, who lived in Shijiazhuang City, was arrested on the morning of July 4th by Nanchang Street Police Station officers. The police broke into his home and confiscated one laptop, one desktop computer, and other personal belongings.