Family Members of Falun Gong Practitioners Promote Justice by Requesting Practitioners' Release

Because they would not renounce their belief in "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance," Falun Gong Practitioners are illegally detained and made to do heavy slave labor in detention centers, forced labor camps, and prisons. The Shuanghe Forced Labor Camp in Qiqihaer City forces practitioners to pack chemicals for the chemical plant. The toxic fumes emitted by the chemicals is known to make women sterile. The practitioners endure cold and hunger, facing evil guards' sarcastic and defamatory comments, and the possibility of receiving a beating at any time. The guards pull out some practitioners' hair handful after handful. Practitioners are shocked with electric batons, made to sit on a "Tiger Bench"(1) , put through the "Big Hang Up"(2), and even tortured to death.

In dark corners, outside of the world's view, many police and guards are quite barbarous and inhumane, and they feel at liberty to persecute Dafa practitioners. This is really destructive to humanity, human nature, and human conscience.

One time a Dafa practitioner was detained past her sentence term expiration. Her husband went to the forced labor camp to request her release, saying, "The government should let me lead my life." Her son also righteously requested his mother's release. Finally, the forced labor camp released the practitioner. She previously had a serious illness, and recovered after practicing Falun Gong. Her family specifically set aside a room for her to practice. Since they benifited a lot from Falun Dafa, their sense of justice is also very strong. With righteous thoughts and righteous actions, Dafa practitioners should not be detained for even one day.

These days, many family members of Falun Gong practitioners go to detention centers, forced labor camps, or prisons, to request practitioners' release in an open and aboveboard manner. In this way, they promote justice. They also refuse to give the corrupt officials even one cent that would encourage their evil and arrogance. Some family members even appealed to the highest procuratorate in Beijing.

What family does not worry about their loved one's destiny? For the purpose of venting his private jealousy and anger, Jiang launched the persecution against nearly a hundred million Falun Gong practitioners and their relatives and friends, breaking up many happy families. The elderly are longing to be reunited with their children, and the young with their mothers. From July, 20,1999 until mid-January 2004, the number of Falun Gong practitioners who were persecuted to death rose to 896, with the average age being 44. Most of them had both parents and children.

(1) "Tiger Bench": Practitioners are forced to sit on a small iron bench that is approximately 20 cm (6 inches) tall with their knees tied together. With their hands tied behind their backs or sometimes placed on their knees, they are forced to sit straight up and look straight ahead. They are not allowed to turn their heads, close their eyes, talk to anyone or move at all. Several inmates are assigned to watch over the practitioners and force them?to remain motionless while sitting on the bench. Usually some hard objects are inserted underneath the practitioners' lower legs or ankles to make it harder for them to tolerate this abuse.

(2) "Big Hang Up": There are two forms of this torture: (a) With both hands cuffed behind the back and only toes touching the ground, one is hung by a rope that is tied to metal window frames. (b) One hand of a practitioner is cuffed to one bunk bed and the other hand to another bed, and the two beds are pulled in the opposite directions. One is in extreme pain as the body is pulled.