A family photo

Mr. Yang Zhu, his wife Ms. Fang Jing, their two daughters, and Mr. Yang’s father were all Falun Gong practitioners in Chengdu City, Sichuan Province. Soon after July 20, 1999, together with their daughters, Mr. Yang and his wife twice went to Beijing to appeal to the government to stop the persecution of Falun Gong. They were all brutally beaten by Beijing policemen, and detained several times in Chengdu City. In 2000, Ms. Fang was sentenced to 1 ½ years of forced labor at Nanmusi Forced Labor Camp, Zizhong City, Sichuan Province. After being released in February 2002, Ms. Fang along with husband were arrested on April 18, 2002. Mr. Yang was sentenced to two years of forced labor at the Xinhua Forced Labor Camp, Mianyang City, Sichuan Province, and Ms. Fang for three years at the Longquanyi Forced Labor Farm, Chengdu City.

Mr. Yang’s father was in his eighties. Under the stress of losing his only son and daughter-in-law (twice), he passed away on March 4, 2003. Mr. Yang’s 10-year-old daughter Yang Xinyu and 8-year-old daughter Fang Nanjie have been left without adequate care while he is in prison. In late June 2003, when the children went to Longquanyi Labor Farm to visit their mother, the guards refused to let them see her.

type=Case, Children; type=Case, Family; type=Labor Camp, Longquanyi Forced Labor Camp; type=Labor Camp, Nanmusi Forced Labor Camp; type=Labor Camp, Xinhua Forced Labor Camp; location=Sichuan, Chengdu;