Falun Dafa Information Center

August 19, 2013

NEW YORK — Several reports recently issued by the website, Minghui.org, show that the persecution of Falun Gong is on-going and that abductions and torture continue on a daily basis.

The reports scrutinize statistics compiled in the first six months of 2013, including:
43 deaths from torture
2101 abductions
14 labor camp sentences
445 “show trials” and/or prison sentences

Twenty additional deaths of practitioners that occurred prior to 2013 were reported for the first time in the first half of 2013, underscoring the fact that timely or even complete collection of such data is impossible. Due to fear of reprisal or a lack of open Internet channels, a significant portion of abuses suffered by Falun Gong practitioners are widely believed to go
unreported.

Of the 43 deaths in the first half of 2013, 34 occurred during, or shortly after, extended periods in prisons, labor camps, detention centers or brainwashing centers. The remaining nine deaths occurred after individuals had been released and living at home, but had been continually harassed in some form.

The reports also classify all known prison and labor camp sentences over the past fourteen years, approximately 11,500 and 25,400, respectively, by date and province. The highest number and most severe of abuses come from northeastern China, in provinces including Shandong, Liaoning, Heilongjiang, Hebei and Jilin. It is in this region where large-scale house raids,
abductions and torture are part of daily policing activities.

“While the data shows the persecution is still the most severe in northeastern China, it is important to remember that until the government lifts the ban and redresses Falun Gong, no practitioner in any part of the country is safe,” said Levi Browde, Director of the Falun Dafa Information Center.

The Falun Dafa Information Center calls on Western leaders to continue to demand that the Chinese Communist Party immediately lift the ban on Falun Gong and bring to justice those responsible for the tens of thousands of crimes represented in the Minghui reports.

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