FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - 10/27/2001 [ http://www.faluninfo.net/ ]

NEW YORK, October 27, 2001 (Falun Dafa Information Center) -- Mr. Wang Jinguo was an accomplished and well-loved teacher who tragically died from internal injuries sustained over more than 200 days and nights of torture in a Chinese jail, according to sources inside China. Wang was 34 years old and left behind a wife and young child. All three in the family had started practicing Falun Gong in 1996.

According to those who knew him, he was a generous and vibrant individual. He was known as a good father and husband, and was highly respected as a teacher, winning several municipal teaching awards during his lifetime. He was particularly known for his talents in singing and music as well as Chinese calligraphy and painting. Wang passed away on May 23rd of this year, but due to extreme efforts to block information coming out of China regarding the persecution of Falun Gong, the full story of his death is only now emerging.

According to sources who knew Wang, ever since the Chinese regime banned Falun Gong on July 20, 1999, Wang had been troubled as to why something that had given his whole family greater health and happiness and such a sense of meaning in their lives could now be banned. The family of three, who were from the city of Shuangcheng in the northern province of Heilongjiang, tried a number of times to go to Beijing to appeal to their central government, but were detained each time by local police.

In June last year, according to sources in China, local village authorities arrested Wang and falsified documents in order to keep him in detention, and by December 3rd, he was thrown into a jail cell with hardened criminals. The guard ordered the criminal inmates to "take care" of him. As such, Wang and the other Falun Gong practitioners in the cell were forced to sleep for more than 40 days on the cold cement floor, and they were also beaten every night after the evening meal.

During one such beating, Wang unwittingly let out a groan of pain, which infuriated the criminals, according to inside sources. Three of them picked him up and dropped him down so hard on a wooden board that blood flowed out of the corner of his mouth, a sign of internal hemorrhaging. Later on, because Wang was a little near-sighted, the inmates invented an excruciating torture method whereby they would force him to keep his eyes open while they flicked at his eyeballs, causing his eyes to smart and tear. They would also kick Wang's chest with their boots, directing the kicks at the area of the heart, causing him to have difficulty breathing and great pain.

The list of tortures inflicted in that cell is long, and Wang Jingguo's clothes were often stained through with his own blood.

Sources inside China say that perhaps the greatest damage was done when one of the criminals, encouraged by the guards and officials, decided to keep striking at Wang's face, countless times, with both fists, to the point where Wang could no longer sit up. Wang began to vomit violently. He could neither eat nor drink for three or four days afterwards because of the vomiting. At this point, sources say Wang Jinguo's heart, lung, and kidney functions rapidly decreased and there was swelling in his brain. His breathing was labored, there was blood in his urine, and he was so weak he could hardly move.

Finally, fearing that he would die, the detention center reported Wang's condition to the "610 Office" (an office created in June of 1999 for the sole purpose of persecuting Falun Gong) and extorted 2,000 Yuan (about four months' salary) from Wang's family before they finally sent him home.

By January 2001, Wang's condition had not improved, and seeking better medical treatment in Beijing was the family's final hope. But even then, the local authorities tracked them down in Harbin and forced them to turn back. On May 23rd, 2001, he passed away.

To date, thirty-eight practitioners of Falun Gong from Heilongjiang province have died due to torture while in police custody.

Wang's final will and testament shows his innate compassion and decency. He wrote: "If I pass away, it will definitely be a result of their torture and abuse... But no matter what, even if there is just the slightest glimmer of hope that they can return to goodness and kindness, you must do all you can to help them return to kindness, including those who directly participated in persecuting me."

The total number of documented deaths from the two-year-plus persecution of Falun Gong in China has now reached 303, although government sources inside China disclose that the actual number exceeds 1,000.

More than 100,000 Falun Gong practitioners have been illegally arrested and detained since communist chief Jiang Zemin banned the peaceful spiritual practice in July of 1999. At least 20,000 have been sent to labor camps without trial, and thousands more have been illegally confined in mental hospitals where they are tortured and abused.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT THE FALUN DAFA INFORMATION CENTER-

Contacts: Gail Rachlin 917-501-4441, Adam Montanaro 917-405-4507, Erping Zhang 646-533-6147, or Feng Yuan 646-523-5676. Email: [email protected], Website: http://www.faluninfo.net/