"Chinese government, you can't do this to them! They are not mental patients!"

Zhaohong Liu, an employee of the Irrigation Bureau, Jiaozhou city, Shangdong Province, has been detained for the last 6 months because he is a practitioner of Falun Gong, and because he went to Beijing several times in 1999 to tell the truth to the government and to prove that Falun Dafa is good.

During the Spring Festival, Zhaohong Liu went on a hunger strike. He was finally released when his condition became critical. What awaited him was discrimination and maltreatment at his work place. He lost his job, and had no income for about six months. Having no choice, he went to Beijing again to let the government know the real story of Falun Gong. He was sent home on May 16 by police, and thrown into a psychiatric hospital without consent.

Zhaohong Liu is a bright and cheerful person. He got along very well with his coworkers and neighbors. He loved his job and his family. He is another Lei Feng (a Chinese role model in the 1960's). He took the lead in removing snow from the Municipal Administration and Municipal Party Committee building after a heavy snowstorm that occurred during the Spring Festival in 1998. When he worked at the Irrigation Bureau, he would always turn over the commissions and bonuses he earned from the insurance company to the Bureau on his own initiative. This is well known at the Irrigation Bureau.

On the morning of May 15th, the vice Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee in charge of Falun Gong issues, Julin Lu, upon learning that Zhaohong Liu had been to Beijing to appeal, immediately issued an order to put him into a psychiatric hospital. Thus Zhaohong Liu, such a hard-working and normal person, was forced into a psychiatric hospital. What a violation to the heavenly principles! Zhaohong Liu has an 80 year-old mother and 10 year-old daughter to take care of. His wife is unemployed. He has never had any mental or psychological problems. We hope the people in charge won't be blinded by lust for gain and continue doing such evil and heartless things.

It is said that Shandong Province has been selected to test the effectiveness of putting Falun Gong practitioners into psychiatric hospitals as part of the crackdown on the practice. Jiaozhou city is the focus of the experiment. That is why some people in the municipal government are using such extreme measures as: keeping the practitioners totally cut off from the outside world; not allowing relatives to visit; forcing practitioners to take medication they do not need; forcing them to change their mentality; not allowing them to practice Falun Dafa; forcing them to endure long-term "treatment;" and not allowing them to leave the psychiatric hospitals without approval from the Politics-Law Committee and the mayor in charge.

The following is a list of practitioners who have been put into psychiatric hospitals:

Guihua Tan

worker in Jiaozhou #3 Shoe Factory

Bencui Kuang

worker in Jiaozhou #3 Shoe Factory

Huayu Wei

employee of Jiaozhou accounting business

Yuane Qiu

employee of China Ministry of Petroleum, the #7 Company

Yi Lu

engineer of China Huadong Design CollegeXiuting Han, Jiaozhou Credit Cooperative for Countryside

Yanzhong Xu

Jiaozhou Fuan Office, village Zhao-jia-yuan

Guifeng Li

Jiaozhou Yunxin Office, village Li-jia-he

Zhaohong Liu

Jiaozhou Irrigation Bureau

We appeal to the higher-level government and the news media in China, and to all international human rights organizations to investigate these cases of severe human rights violations and to help us resolve the crisis in other cities in China.

We appeal to the Chinese government to release all Falun Gong practitioners who are currently being held in psychiatric hospitals.

Jiaozhou Psychological Recovery Center (the former Jiaozhou Psychiatric Hospital) is located at Yang Zhou Road, Jiaozhou city, Shandong province.

Phone: [phone]

May 17, 2000

(Translated on June 1, 2000)