September 29, 2008: Falun Gong News Bulletin

Press Releases:

FDIC: Urgent Appeal: Torture Survivors at Risk of Abuse, Death after Daring Escape
FDIC: Beijing Resident Killed During Olympics for Practicing Falun Gong

News from Inside China:

Eyewitness account: NY photographer held at detention center with Falun Gong adherent
New Tang Dynasty TV: Cell Phone Video Footage from Masanjia Labor Camp

News from the United States:

New York Post: “China Consul ‘Admits’ Inciting NY Attacks,” State Department confirms
San Francisco Chronicle: “Falun Gong pair found eligible for U.S. asylum”
Epoch Times: “Award-Winning Cartoon Artist Forced Out of China”

FDIC: Urgent Appeal: Torture Survivors at Risk of Abuse, Death after Daring Escape
September 26—On August 11, adherents assisted Cui Dejun (???), a practitioner detained at Masanjia labor camp, in escaping from the camp’s hospital where he was being held after suffering abuse. According to sources inside China, Cui was then taken to the nearby provincial capital Shenyang and placed at the home of Yu Ming (??), a 37-year-old adherent also held at the camp. Two days later, agents of the Public Security Bureau broke into the house and arrested Cui and others present. Both Cui and Yu remain in incommunicado detention and at risk of torture.

To read more: /article/823/?cid=84

FDIC: Beijing Resident Killed During Olympics for Practicing Falun Gong
September 24—Mr. Wang Chongjun (???), age 65, died at home on August 23, 2008 after being injected with an unknown drug in a Beijing labor camp, according to sources in China… In a telephone call made to the Longzhuashu village community police working site near their home on September 9, a member of the neighborhood watch group confirmed Wang’s death.

“He died. Isn’t Wang Chongjun dead?” said a Mr. Li who picked up the phone. When the investigator asked if Wang’s family had received compensation, Li said: “I don’t know. He died at home…I listen to my boss. I’m from out of town.”

To read more and listen to recording: /article/822/?cid=84

Eyewitness account: NY photographer held at detention center with Falun Gong adherent
Jeffrey Rae, a 28-year-old photographer, traveled to China during the Olympics to document pro-Tibet protests by Students for a Free Tibet. Arrested on August 18, Rae was taken to a detention center, where he says he shared a cell with Yi, a 22-year-old Falun Gong adherent.

“This is the most innocent thing ever. The majority of the time, he just sat there and meditated. The most peaceful person there,” described Rae to the Epoch Times. “This guy did absolutely nothing wrong except they found some literature in his office. Yi spoke English very well. He was being given a two-year sentence at a labor camp. He teared up when he told me about it, and he was very scared. He knew that many people are tortured and die in that labor camp. The next day the guards came and took Yi away.”

To read more:
http://en.epochtimes.com/n2/united-states/photographer-detained-beijing-3742.html
http://www.nppa.org/news_and_events/news/2008/08/rae03.html

To view an interview with Rae:
http://english.ntdtv.com/?c=145&a=4789

New Tang Dynasty TV: Cell Phone Video Footage from Masanjia Labor Camp
“In this footage, eight Chinese prisoners can be seen straightening electrical components called diodes. Not shown here is some of the other work they’re forced to do, including manufacturing Halloween decorations—like skulls and plastic tombstones—for export to the United States. Some prisoners have to handle toxic substances without protective gear, causing itching, throat pain, and lung problems over time.”

To view footage: http://english.ntdtv.com/?c=145&a=5068

New York Post: “China Consul ‘Admits’ Inciting NY Attacks,” State Department Confirms
September 14—“The State Department is considering expelling New York’s Chinese consul general after the official was allegedly caught on tape saying he helped incite violent attacks in Queens against the Falun Gong spiritual group… A State Department official confirmed that the voice on the tape is [Consul] Peng’s. A transcript of the interview was published in The Epoch Times, a Falun Gong newspaper, and its translation was verified by The Post.”

San Francisco Chronicle: “Falun Gong pair found eligible for U.S. asylum”
“A husband and wife from China who fled to California after being arrested and beaten for their adherence to the dissident spiritual movement Falun Gong are eligible for political asylum, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday…. Shoufu Zhao and Zhenying Duan have a well-founded fear that they will be persecuted for their beliefs if they are returned to China, said the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.”

Epoch Times: “Award-Winning Cartoon Artist Forced Out of China”
September 19—Haibo Wang, a renowned Chinese cartoon artist, was compelled to leave China to New Jersey, U.S. prior to the Beijing Olympics in fear that he would be arrested by the Communist police for his artistic expressions.

To read more:
http://en.epochtimes.com/n2/china/award-winning-cartoon-artist-forced-out-of-china-4467.html