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Issue 08: Stories of Conscience
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Dear Reader,
The stories presented in this issue of the newsletter are
chosen from our latest publication, "Stories of Conscience." Download from here.
They remind us of the ongoing persecution
against Falun Gong practitioners in China. The stories tell about the innocent
children left orphaned because their parents were victims of the persecution,
and about elderly women who were tortured to death. The victims' mouths were
often stuffed with rags to stifle their screams of pain. They were tortured with
devices so bizarre that it is impossible to understand how the human mind could
even conceive of them. These practitioners might be someone's beloved mother,
grandmother, son, daughter, spouse, or next-door neighbor...
The people in these stories believe in
Truthfulness, Compassion, and Tolerance. They practice Falun Gong. They could
have lived if they had just agreed to renounce their beliefs. They could have
been set free if they had succumbed to brainwashing and torture and had
surrendered their consciences. Yet they bravely chose to remain steadfast in
their beliefs, not just for themselves, but also for the good of the Chinese
people.
Thank you for your consideration.
The Falun Gong Human
Rights Working Group
The Silent Girl
Xinyu's father, Mr. Huang Ke, worked for the Tenth
Research Office of the Fushun Petroleum Chemical Industry Research Institute.
Her mother, Ms. Zhong Yunxiu, was an English teacher at the Beisanjia
Town Middle School.
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On the night of April 24, 1999, upon
learning that the Tianjin City police had arbitrarily detained Falun Gong
practitioners, Mr. Huang and Ms. Zhong thought that they should help the
government understand Falun Gong, so they both went to Beijing. Between April
25, 1999 and July 20, 1999, the couple went to Beijing several times. They
visited the central government's appeals office and the China Central Television
Station to tell people the truth about Falun Gong. Mr. Huang also presented
Falun Gong materials to the President and the Secretary of the Communist Party
Committee at his workplace.
On July 21, 1999, Ms. Zhong and Mr. Huang went to Beijing to
appeal to the government to stop the persecution. The following day, the
state-run media began a massive anti-Falun Gong propaganda campaign, and the
Beijing police searched hotels for Falun Gong practitioners, arresting them at
will. The couple was arrested and sent back to their hometown, but they were
able escape. To prevent arrest again, they lived on the streets, constantly
moving from place to place. At the end of September 1999, they were both
arrested in the Jietaisi area of Beijing. Police escorted them back to Fushun
City by train. In an attempt to escape illegal detention, Ms. Zhong jumped out
of the train. She died from her injuries at the age of 26, when Xinyu was less
than two years old. Xinyu misses her mother very much.
After Ms. Zhong died, the Fushun City Politics and Law
Commission and the local police station frequently detained and tortured Xinyu's
father and sent him to brainwashing class because he refused to give up Falun
Gong. Mr. Huang was also dismissed from his job. Xinyu lived in fear of losing
her father too.
At the end of 2000, Mr. Huang saw the persecution escalating
every day and decided to go to Beijing once again to appeal to the central
government. He unfurled a banner with the words "Falun Dafa is good" in
Tiananmen Square. The police arrested him and detained him in Fushun City. When
they had tortured him to the brink of death, the police ordered his family to
take him home.
A wedding photo of Xinyu's parents,
Mr. Huang Ke and his wife Ms. Zhong Yunxiu |
On March 18, 2003, someone reported Mr.
Huang to the police for painting "Falun Dafa is Good" on a wall. He was
sentenced to seven years in prison. Mr. Huang went on a hunger strike to protest
the mistreatment. The prison guards then ordered criminals to force-feed him.
After more than ten days of torture, Mr. Huang was again on the verge of death.
The police released him to avoid responsibility in case he died.
In late June 2003, police from the Guangming Police Station in
Wanghua District of Fushun City arrested Mr. Huang again and detained him in the
Fushun First Detention Center. He went on a hunger strike and suffered
force-feeding several times. After ten days of torture, he died in police
custody at 6:00 a.m. on July 3, 2003.
Xinyu could not accept that her father had died, and always
looked for him. Now that her parents have passed away, she lives with her
grandparents. It pains her heart to see that her classmates have parents to take
care of them. She has become a very quiet girl who seldom talks to
people. TOP
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A Letter to Mother
Mr. Bai Xiaojun, a university instructor, wrote to his mother
while he was detained in the Chaoyanggou Labor Camp. It is the last letter that
he wrote to her. Six months later, he was tortured to death.
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Mr. Bai Xiaojun was a 35 year-old instructor at the
Northeast Normal University in Jilin Province. He held a master's degree in
philosophy. His mother and his brother, Mr. Bai Xiaohua, were also
practitioners. Because he went to Beijing to appeal to the government to stop
the persecution of Falun Gong, he was sentenced in July 2000 to one year of
forced labor. His term was then extended because he wouldn't renounce his belief
in Falun Gong.
At the Chaoyanggou Labor Camp, in early June 2003, his
condition became so serious that he vomited whatever he ate. He was so weak that
he could not stand up. The prolonged torture and poor living conditions caused
his health to deteriorate until he became too weak to take care of himself and
was unable to eat. He could not even drink water. On July 6, 2003, the guards
realized that he was dying, and finally sent him to the Epidemic Hospital of
Changchun City, where he was diagnosed with tuberculosis. By that time it was
too late to save him.
Just before his death, the labor camp ordered his family to
pick him up. One of Mr. Bai's relatives saw him right before his death and was
astonished. He was so malnourished that one could see his bones. His body was
weak and swollen, and was covered with scars from the torture. An X-ray showed
that one of his lungs had collapsed - it could not even be seen in the X-ray.
Mr. Bai died before his mother arrived. His family tried very hard to obtain his
medical records. When they finally received the diagnosis papers, they read the
following: hepatitis caused by medicinal substances, edema all over the body,
extremely weak physical condition, and scars over the whole body. Later, a
doctor told the family, "This sick person would not have died under normal
circumstances."
At the end of 2001, Mr. Bai Xiaojun's brother, Mr. Bai Shaohua,
was also arrested for appealing to the government to stop the persecution. He is
detained at the Tuanhe Labor Camp in Beijing. The last time his mother was
allowed to visit, he had a broken bone from beatings and a laceration on his
head, which was bandaged.
An Excerpt from Mr. Bai Xiaojun's Last letter to His Mother
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Dear Mom, how are you?
Your letter on November 24 helped me understand your and
Xiaohua's conditions. This is the second time that I have heard something from
home since my forced labor term began in 2000.
I was arrested in July 2000. I was jailed in the Fenjin Labor
Camp in Changchun City for the first year. As you heard later, I was indeed
"incapacitated" for a period of time. In the Fenjin Labor Camp, my arms and legs
were injured twice from a beating. Fortunately, my bones were not broken. Later,
I stayed in the Police Hospital of Jilin Province for over a month because of
scabies. I could not take a bath or wash my clothes. I had to rely on fellow
practitioners to wash all my clothes for me. The last time we spoke, you and I
did not have sufficient time to finish our conversation, but the information
that you had heard about me is true.
I was sent to the Fenjin Labor Camp in August 2000, and was
kept there until April of the following year. On April 11, 2001, I was
transferred to the Weizigou Labor Camp, where I stayed until February 12, 2002
[the Chinese New Year's Eve], so I was kept in the labor camp for one and a half
years. They did not release me when my term was over. Instead, on the day that I
was supposed to be released, they sent me to a forced re-education
[brainwashing] center, where I stayed for a month. Afterwards, I was sent to the
Third Prison of Changchun City and stayed there for nearly a month. Then, I was
sentenced to another three-year term of forced labor at the Chaoyanggou Labor
Camp. I have been here ever since. This is a summary of what has happened since
my arrest.
Ever since my arrest, I have been far away from you, but I have
received plenty of care from fellow practitioners. They are always thinking of
me when the seasons change. They send clothes and other necessities through
various channels. As a result, I have not suffered from the cold, even in the
deepest of winter. On the contrary, I have sometimes had extra clothing. I
greatly appreciate everyone's help and care. You don't need to worry about me.
So far, I am doing fine in every way ...
In the past two years, I have gained a better and better
understanding of the true meaning of life. If I regain my freedom someday, I
believe I can do better in all areas.
I am not worried about Xiaohua. He knows what to do. ...
Mother, I hope that one day when we see each other, your
health, as well as all other conditions, will give me a pleasant surprise.
Mother, I believe the day that our family will reunite is not too far away.
I'll stop here. You do not have to reply to me if there is no
special news. Xiaojun
December 28, 2002 TOP |
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A Love Story
Ms. Dong Cuifang was a
gynecologist and pediatrician at the Shunyi District Hospital for Women and
Children's Health in Beijing. Her hometown was Zhang Village, Xing'an Town,
Gaocheng City, Hebei Province. Her fianc¨¦, Mr. Shen Wenjie, age 29, was an
outstanding pilot at the Beijing Capital Airport. They had been in love for
almost ten years and had exchanged hundreds of letters. They had been engaged
for a long time, but due to the persecution that started on July 20, 1999, they
were unable to marry.
Because they had appealed to the
government many times to stop the persecution of Falun Gong, they were detained
and tortured many times. In 2000, they were dismissed from their jobs in Beijing
because they refused to stop practicing Falun Gong. After leaving Beijing, they
went to many places to tell the Chinese people the truth about Falun Gong and
the facts about the persecution.
Graduation photo of Dong Cuifang
receiving
her Master's Degree |
On December 26,
2001, they were arrested and detained at the Beijing Shunyi Detention Center
because they had distributed flyers about the persecution of Falun Gong. The
authorities allowed them to meet only once a week. Every time they met, they
encouraged each other to overcome the difficulties and to remain steadfast in
their beliefs. Later, they were not allowed to meet each other at all. In an
attempt to force Ms. Dong to renounce Falun Gong, the guards subjected her to
various torture methods. When she went on a hunger strike to protest the
detention, they force-fed her. (Force-feeding is used as a form of
torture.)
On March 11, 2003, she was
transferred to the Daxing Women's Prison in Beijing for further persecution. The
director of the third branch, Tian Fengqing, demanded that Ms. Dong write a
"letter admitting guilt." Ms. Dong insisted that it was not wrong to practice
Falun Gong and refused to write the letter. Director Tian became very angry and
instructed guard Xi Xuehui that they must achieve a "successful transformation
rate" quickly in order to get their bonus. Three female prison guards
continuously used various brutal torture methods on her to force her to give up
Falun Gong. She died from the torture at 5:24 p.m. on March 19, 2004, only eight
days after her transfer. She was 28 years old.
Ms. Dong's parents appealed to the
Medical Identification Center in Beijing to do an autopsy. It could be seen that
her legs were severely swollen; the skin below her knees was covered with
festering, bloody sores; there was a hole in her head; and the muscle was torn
away from her right shoulder bone. The lab results revealed that she had been
tortured. When her parents sued the three female prison guards who had tortured
her, the local police threatened them and forced them to withdraw the case. Her
parents were not allowed to have contact with other practitioners.
The authorities kept the news of Ms.
Dong's death from her fianc¨¦, and secretly transferred him to a labor camp in
Daxing District. There has been no news from him since then. He is still hoping
to reunite with his fianc¨¦e after his release. TOP
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A Last Visit
Ms. Li Yinping |
On June 4, 2001, Ms. Li Yinping was
merely visiting a fellow practitioner's home in Majia Village of Shouguang City,
Weifang region. Police from the Shouguang Police Station came to arrest Ms. Li
and all the practitioners who were there. They were all detained at the Sunji
Police station, although no legitimate criminal charges were brought against
them. They were forced to stand outside to be burned under the hot sun. Ms. Li
was also interrogated and beaten. Afterwards, the police interrogated the
practitioners without any legal procedure in the Shouguang Detention Center.
On the afternoon of June 6, 2001, Ms. Li, along with the other
detained Falun Gong practitioners, requested unconditional release. The
policemen dragged Ms. Li into the hallway and beat her with a rubber baton.
After drinking alcohol, five to six policemen began another round of torture.
They slapped her face, twisted one of her arms behind her back, grabbed her hair
and pulled her head back, hit her all over her body with rubber batons, and
shocked her with electric batons. The policemen stripped Ms. Li of all of her
clothing to inflict more pain by beating her unprotected skin. After beating Ms.
Li, the policemen chained her to an iron chair, a torture device. After taking a
break, the director of the detention center, Team Leader Wang, and other guards
took turns shocking her genitals with electric batons. Her whole body was
shaking, and had turned dark purple and black. She suffered severe pain, and
lost consciousness several times. Each time, the guards revived her with cold
water, so that they could shock her again. One of the officers threatened to
rape and kill her. They continued to shock her with the batons even after she
began spitting up blood. This torture lasted for several hours. Ms. Li was left
chained to the iron chair, and she kept vomiting all night. By early the next
morning, June 7, 2001, Ms. Li had lost consciousness and no pulse could be
detected. However, the policemen still would not take her to the hospital. At
last, they accepted that she was near death, so the plainclothes policemen took
her to the People's Hospital at Shouguang City, where she died that same
day. TOP
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A Leukemia
Patient's Wish
When Falun Gong was banned in July 1999, Mr.
Hu Qingyun wrote letters to government leaders describing how Falun Gong
had restored his health. As a result, he was arrested twice. The police searched
his home and confiscated his cash savings, two private house title certificates,
and his valuable personal property. The police informed him that there would be
no receipt for his property.
| "Falun Gong practitioners benefit from their practice and
cultivation. They understand how to be people of high moral standards and what
it means to be truly good." | Because Mr. Hu was
not allowed to practice Falun Gong while in detention, he began to bleed from
his mouth and nose and developed blood spots all over his body. He lost
consciousness twice. Fearing that he would die in the detention center, the
local authorities released him on August 9, 1999. Once at home, and after
resuming his Falun Gong practice, he recovered his health again.
In August 1999, local authorities spread the lie that Mr. Hu's
illness had been cured by hospital treatment, not by practicing Falun Gong, and
they slandered Falun Gong. Mr. Hu wrote a letter telling his true story and
posted his letter on an overseas website on February 19, 2000. As a result, he
was arrested on April 21, 2000. After nine months in detention, on January 10,
2001, the No. 1 Regional Court in Nanchang sentenced him to a seven-year prison
term. He was not allowed to practice Falun Gong. During his detention, his
leukemia recurred, and on March 22, 2001, he died in the Jiangxi Prison
Hospital.
Hu Qingyun's Letter to China's Leaders
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Dear President Jiang Zemin, Premier Zhu Rongji and other concerned leaders,
I was an officer of the Supreme Court of Jiangxi Province and a
former Communist Party member. I worked in the area of law and regulation for 16
years. I have never been against the Party or the government... I hereby report
to you my current situation and the truth of my experience.
On August 21, 1999, the Nanchang Evening paper published in its
headline that I had been instructed to write an article about Falun Gong giving
me a "second life." ... The article stated that I was "hospitalized six times
while practicing Falun Gong, from June 28, 1997, to the present..." The
newspaper used this to accuse Falun Gong of cheating people.
The truth is that before I practiced Falun Gong, I suffered
from many sicknesses, including stomachaches, sore throats, nose infections,
pain in my neck, insufficient supply of blood to my brain, and regenerated
anemia. ... In 1997, I developed an incurable disease, acute leukemia, which is
one of the most difficult types to cure among all forms of leukemia. During
emergency treatment, I was also infected with hepatitis B and C (the hardest to
cure among the different types of hepatitis) and pulmonary tuberculosis. ... At
the last moment of my life, I started to practice Falun Gong. ... Then, a
miracle really happened. My life was prolonged. ... Not long after I began
practicing, I gradually stopped chemical treatments, blood transfusions,
medications, and all other treatments. My experience showed that there was a
remarkable effect in my body due to the cultivation and practice of Falun Gong.
...
However, the newspaper intentionally claimed that my being
hospitalized five times prior to the practice of Falun Gong had actually
happened after or during my practice, disregarding the fact that I never again
went back to the hospital for treatment [after practicing Falun Gong]. ... They
made up this lie to deceive people.
During the several months that I was in the hospital, my
medical expenses were as high as 320,000 Yuan, and I almost died in the hospital
several times. ... The medical scientists and doctors could not save or prolong
my life. However, through my practice of Falun Gong, I was able to live. This is
a fact that nobody can possibly deny. ... The heavy financial burden and the
mental pressure on my family were also relieved. Also, the government saved a
large amount in medical expenses. ...
In August 1999, Nanchang TV stations and newspapers broadcast
the news that I had once again been sent to the hospital. A reporter interviewed
one of the senior doctors ... who had never met me before and did not know
anything about my treatment history. This doctor said, "Hu Qingyun left after
his leukemia was cured by our hospital. That has nothing to do with Falun Gong."
I asked this doctor why he lied. He told me that anybody would say the same
thing in this tense climate and he asked me not to be too serious about it.
The truth is that on July 21, 1999, I was detained by the
police under the allegation of "disturbing the social order with other people."
...In jail, I was not allowed to practice Falun Gong. Within a few days, I began
to bleed from my mouth and nose and I developed blood spots all over my body. I
lost consciousness twice. ... After the examination, the doctors said I had very
low blood pressure, that the leukemia was really serious, and that it would be
better to get treatment as soon as possible. ...
In December 1999, I was dismissed from my job because I
participated in a Falun Gong petition to the provincial government and wrote an
article about my experience with Falun Gong. ...
The purpose of this letter is to invite you to find out the
truth about the persecution I suffered. Let's imagine, how could a person - a
leukemia patient - endure such persecution and detention in jail?... Because I
practiced Falun Gong I had the ability to endure so much tribulation and
persecution. As a person who was "sentenced to death" in hospitals several
times, there is nothing that I can't let go of. I am not interested in politics
and I will never do anything against the Party and the government. I don't want
to be used by politicians to defame Falun Gong either. ...
Finally, I would like to say a few words from the bottom of my
heart - the truth. Falun Gong practitioners benefit from their practice and
cultivation. They understand how to be people of high moral standards and what
it means to be truly good. They don't believe in preaching or "mind control."...
Is it possible to ask them or force them to give up their practice?
Hu Qingyun
A practitioner in Jiangxi Province TOP |
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A Family's Fate
He Wanji and Zhao
Xiangzhong |
Ms. Zhao Xiangzhong and her husband, Mr. He Wanji
a well-respected policeman from the Security Section of Xining Railway
Station in Qinghai Province. They lived in Xining City and both practiced Falun
Gong. As a result of the practice, Mr. He's brain tumor disappeared. Seeing his
remarkable improvement, his parents and brother also began to practice Falun
Gong. After the central government began the persecution of Falun Gong, Mr. He's
wife, Ms. Zhao, was detained in the Qinghai Women's Labor Camp on four separate
occasions because of her persistence in practicing Falun Gong.
In November 2002, at the time of Ms. Zhao's fourth detention,
six police cars surrounded the couple's home. Police arrested and detained all
of the family members for over 12 hours. Ms. Zhao was then sent to the Qinghai
Women's Labor Camp, where she was kept in solitary confinement, beaten, and
forced to sleep on a cold concrete floor. When she was released, she was
paralyzed from her waist down and suffered from severe chest pains. She was
emaciated and could neither eat nor drink. Ms. Zhao remained paralyzed until she
died on February 22, 2003, at the age 50.
Mr. He also suffered relentless persecution because he
continued to practice Falun Gong. He was sent to the Qinghai Labor Camp, where
the torture caused injury to his waist and numbness in his body. On December 30,
2002, the Intermediate Court of Xining City sentenced him to 17 years in prison
for having helped to broadcast television programs that exposed the human rights
violations suffered by Falun Gong practitioners in China. He was then sent to
the Haomen Prison in Haibeizhou, Menyuan County, where he was tortured to death
on May 28, 2003, at age 53.
When Mr. He's family saw his remains, there were needle holes
in his body; blood was coming out of his nose; and his right arm was covered
with black and blue bruises.
During the time of the couple's detention and even after their
deaths, the local authorities broke into their home and ransacked it several
times, confiscating money and household goods.
Mr. He's brother, Mr. He Wanzhu, was also arrested at his home
while he was meeting with other Falun Gong practitioners. During the arrest, the
police ransacked his home and confiscated over 6,000 Yuan in cash. He was then
sentenced to three years of forced labor at the Qinghai Labor Camp, where he was
tortured and given poisoned food, causing congestion in his chest and numbness
in his lips.
After the deaths of Mr. He and Ms. Zhao, Mr. He's aged father
suffered tremendous grief because of their deaths and his other son's torture
and detention in the forced labor camp. He died on January 30, 2004.
The entire family was persecuted. Mr. He's 71-year-old mother,
Ms. Zhao Yulan, was detained in the Huangzhong County Detention Center for over
40 days in 2001 because she had sent some Falun Gong materials to her son while
he was in the labor camp. In the middle of the night of May 12, 2004, nine
officers from the Xining City Police Station and Huangzhong County Police
Station broke into her home and arrested her. She is still in detention.
TOP
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Faith or Face
In the Longshan Labor Camp, Ms. Gao Rongrong was
beaten, punched, kicked and shocked with an electric baton because she refused
to slander Falun Gong. After she allegedly fell from a second floor office, her
captors alleged that the burnt skin resulted from abrasions from the fall.
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Ms. Gao Rongrong
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Ms. Gao Rongrong was a 36-year-old employee of the
finance office at Shenyang City's Luxun Fine Arts Institute in Liaoning
Province. At the beginning of the nationwide persecution of Falun Gong in 1999,
Ms. Gao was targeted for persecution, so her employer summarily fired her.
In July 2003, Ms. Gao was arrested and sent to the Longshan
Labor Camp. On March 22, 2004, when Ms. Gao refused to slander Falun Gong, Tang
Yubao, the deputy chief of the second brigade in the labor camp, dragged her
from the upper level of her bunk bed down to the floor. He then took her by the
throat and dragged her outside to beat her. Some guards then took Ms. Gao to the
management office and cuffed her to a heating pipe. They punched and kicked her
and continuously shocked her with electric batons on her head, face, neck,
hands, and feet for over half an hour. Labor camp director Li Fengshi said to
Ms. Gao, "This is a despotic place; otherwise why use handcuffs and electric
batons here? I don't believe we cannot handle you, Gao Rongrong."
Another time, when Ms. Gao proclaimed, "Falun Dafa is good,"
Tang Yubao slapped her on the head. As a result, she lost her hearing in one
ear. Guards forced her to work twelve hours a day at heavy labor. The abuses and
torture affected her health. She suffered from liver pain, stomach pain, and
intermittent fever. She felt nauseous, vomited all day long, could not eat, and
grew thinner and thinner. The chief of the first brigade, Yue Jun, ordered
prisoners to humiliate Ms. Gao by cutting the hair on the top of her head down
to the scalp.
| When Ms. Gao proclaimed, "Falun Dafa is good," Tang
Yubao slapped her on the head. As a result, she lost her hearing in one ear.
| On May 7, 2004, Tang Yubao and group chief
Jiang Zhaohua took Ms. Gao to an office and cuffed her to the heating pipe
again. Tang and Jiang continuously shocked Ms. Gao with electric batons for six
or seven hours. Ms. Gao's face was left swollen, blistered, charred, and
deformed beyond recognition. Her hair was stuck to the bloody pus on her
scorched skin. Massive swelling reduced her eyes to mere slits and distorted her
mouth. Even the inmates could not recognize her.
That same day, Ms. Gao allegedly fell from the window of the
office on the second floor. After she was sent to the hospital, she was
diagnosed with two fractures of her pelvis, a severely fractured left leg, and a
split bone in her right heel. Due to her weak physical condition, the hospital
could not even perform surgery on her.
To cover up the torture, the Longshan Labor Camp and the
Shenyang City Judicial Bureau lied, saying that the electric shock wounds on Ms.
Gao's face were just abrasions due to her fall from the office window.
TOP
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Falun Gong Human Rights Working Group
9974 Scripps Ranch Blvd.
#228, San Diego, California, 92131, United States
Phone: 619-280-5177, Fax:
619-280-4931, E-mail: info@falunhr.org
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