September 4, 2007: Falun Gong News Bulletin

Richard Gere slams China about human rights abuse of Tibetans, Falun Gong
“The horrendous human rights situation has to be talked about,” Gere said, citing “the destruction of the Tibetan culture, abuses of minorities (and) the Falun Gong.”
Full Story: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22359473-12377,00.html

FBI Investigates Chinese Student Leaders at U.S. Universities
In recent months there has been an increase of belligerence across the United States by Chinese student groups, expressed in particular as hostility and harassment, or even threats of violence, toward students who practice Falun Gong. Now sources confirm that the FBI is investigating the possibility that Chinese Student groups are actually spy fronts for the Chinese regime overseas.
Full Story: http://en.epochtimes.com/news/7-8-27/59108.html

Australian Citizen Sues Former Chinese Leader for Torture
After three years of legal wrangling in the NSW Supreme Court documents have finally been served on former leader of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Jiang Zemin, by an Australian citizen who was jailed and tortured for eight months in 2001 for appealing for her right to practice her faith in Falun Gong.
Full Story: http://en.epochtimes.com/news/7-8-21/58889.html

Inside China: Falun Gong Detained to “Prepare” for World Economic Forum
Dailian authorities have arrested over a hundred Falun Gong practitioners in preparation for the World Economic Forum, which will hold the Inaugural Annual Meeting of the New Champions 2007 in Dalian, China from September 6 – 8, 2007.
Full Story: http://chinascope.org/news/social-stability/1704

Inside China: Solitary Confinement Cells and Poisonous Salt Ponds
The Tangshan Jidong Prison, in Tangshan City of Hebei Province, is in a remote location surrounded by miles of salt ponds. According to witnesses, when Falun Gong practitioners first arrive at the prison, they are locked up for at least 15 days, and sometimes up to several months, until he/she renounces his/her practice of Falun Gong. Sources say prison authorities also force Falun Gong adherents to perform slave labor in the salt-abstraction ponds under the baking sun, which can reach up to 50C (122F) in the summer. The brine water frequently soaks into the boots and socks of laborers forming blisters or open wounds on the feet or legs which often fester. Falun Gong practitioners are routinely forced to continue working despite these festering wounds, and some have had their feet amputated as a result.
Full Story: http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2007/9/3/89207.html

Inside China: Torture of Falun Gong in Shanghai Prison Remains Brutal and Covert
According to an Aug. 20, 2007, report from sources in China, a Falun Gong adherent named Mr. Xiong Wenqi was recently beaten and tortured repeatedly in Shanghai’s Tilanqiao Prison. Photos taken of Mr. Xiong and smuggled out of China reveal large open wounds on the top of his head, exposing portions of his skull. Mr. Xiong reportedly suffered a series of severe beatings as well as being force fed a mixture of pepper and sewage water, which led to bronchitis and lung infections. Sources say prison authorities at Tilanqiao often forbid family visits to avoid exposing the abuse of prisoners. There are hundreds of forced labor camps throughout China where conservative estimates indicate anywhere from several hundred thousand to more than a million Falun Gong adherents are imprisoned and tortured, often in brutal fashion.
Full story: http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2007/9/2/89171.html