As the Olympics is approaching fast, there is no sign of improvement in the human rights in China other than continuous efforts by the Communist Party to cover-up the human rights violations.  In fact the Communist Party is escalating the suppression of the Chinese peoples’ speech, beliefs, even the most basic right to live, using the excuse of hosting the Olympics, particularly in the persecution of Falun Gong.  Recent cases of Falun Gong practitioners being arrested, detained, tortured, killed, or homes ransacked have been on the rise. The persecution has intensified.  The following contains translated excerpts from Falun Dafa website, Minghui.org.[1]

In 2005, Deputy Minister of Public Security Liu Jing received an order from the Communist Party to eliminate Falun Gong before the Olympics.  To implement the order Liu issued a mandate to the national police system. In March 2007, the former Minister of Public Security Zhou Yongkang issued another order, demanding a second round of severe persecution against Falun Gong. Soon after, massive arrests of Falun Gong practitioners took place in several regions. Practitioners were detained or sentenced to prison.  Some have gone missing while others have been tortured to death.  During the abductions and arrests, police clamored, “[There is an ] order from the above: kill a batch before the Olympics."

Beijing Seized with Terror as Olympics Approaches

Sources from Mainland China indicate that, as the 2008 Olympics approaches, Beijing has been seized with terror.  Police are searching people’s bags at Tiananmen Square, main traffic intersections, and vehicles that exit the highway going towards Beijing. Those who enter Beijing by train must now show their ID paperwork, along with their tickets. This practice is usually used one or two weeks before the Communist Party Congress, but this time it has begun a full eight months before the Olympics would start. On January 24, 2008, police in Chaoyang, Chongwen, and Shunyi Districts barged into Falun Gong practitioners’ homes or workplaces to ransack and perform illegal arrests. On January 25, 2008, police were all over Beijing stopping vehicles and checking passenger IDs. Sources say that the funding for persecuting Falun Gong has also increased.

Falun Dafa website Minghui.org reports that several dozen Falun Gong practitioners in Beijing were arrested in December 2007, followed by more arrests in January 2008. Over twenty were detained on January 23-25, 2008, including some practitioners’ family members and colleagues.  Some insiders indicated that some practitioners’ friends have also been taken away.  The actual number of those detained appears to far exceed what is reported here.

Inside sources said that the detained Falun Gong practitioners were brutally beaten without normal processing or questioning.  Many were arrested without pretext, at home or at their workplaces, and then sentenced to eight months or more of forced labor, which will end when the Olympics is over. The forced labor camps in Beijing are full, so camp administrators are transferring practitioners out of town.  This is the so-called preemptive “Hard Strike” launched by the Party in the run-up of the Olympics.
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Peaceful on the Surface Yet Persecution Intensifies

In 2007, seven Falun Gong practitioners died in Daqing City as a result of the persecution. They include Mr. Zhang Hongquan, Mr. Zhou Shuhai, Ms. Jiang Pai, Ms. Liu Sheng, Ms. Ma Bing, Ms. Zhang Baoying, and Mr. Ni Wenkui.  In 2007, several dozen abductions occurred targeting Falun Gong practitioners and their families. For instance, on the morning of April 25, 2007, police from the Dong’an District arrested practitioner Ms. Lu Guilan and her son Yan Jiaohui who is not a practitioner.

Masanjia Forced Labor Camp is notorious for locking female Falun Gong practitioners in male cells. On February 21, 2008, Director Wang had many "dead person’s beds"[2] shipped to Masanjia, ordering prisoners to torture those Falun Gong practitioners who were holding hunger strikes. According to eyewitnesses, four practitioners, Mr. Chen Kaiqu, Mr. Liu Qing, Mr. Gao Yuling, and Mr. Han Ximin were beaten to the point of becoming deformed. Mr. Zheng Haitao and Ms. Chen Yan were tied to the dead person’s beds, their four limbs pulled apart, with a horse’s bit inserted into their mouths so that they could not talk. Brutal force-feeding torture was then carried out on these practitioners.

Severe Torture and Death Cases on the Rise

Information from Falun Dafa website Minghui.org shows that the Chinese Communist Party has engaged in renewed campaign in the name of the Olympics to further persecute Falun Gong.  Falun Gong practitioners who have been arrested at their workplaces or homes have gone missing, and arresting officers are refusing to tell their families the whereabouts of the arrested practitioners, are not allowing visits, or have denied the fact that they arrested these practitioners. Eyewitnesses in Xinjin County, Sichuan Province, and Rong County in Guangxi Zhuan Autonomous Region revealed that the police put masks on the practitioners’ heads when they arrested them. In 2007, the number of confirmed deaths reached one hundred twenty three practitioners. In January 2008, there were another eight confirmed deaths.

Endnotes:
[1] Minghui.org, February 27, 2007
http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2008/2/27/173204p.html
[2] Dead person’s bed – the victim is tied to the four corners of a cold metal bed frame and not allowed to get up to eat, drink, or use the bathroom. The torture typically lasts from several hours to over ten days.