Chinese nationals living in the U.S. have shared what they claim to be undercover video from a labor camp in China where their family member died 15 years ago after allegedly being persecuted for practicing Falun Gong.
Yifei Wang told Fox News she was with her now deceased sister, Kefei, in Tianenmen Square in Dongcheng, China in 2001 showing their support for the spiritual meditation and breathwork practice which is also referred to as Falun Dafa.
Both of them were captured and taken to a labor camp, she said, but only Yifei made it out alive with the help of a guard and she and her family were later told Kefei died of a heart attack.
But after seeing her body in the hospital around the time of her death, the family said they became certain she was tortured, and secret video recorded by others shows abusive treatment of people in the camps, with some emaciated, shackled to beds and suffering from lesions on their faces and bodies.
Now, a media company called Swoop Films is working to bring the persecution of Falun Gong worshippers in China to light in a documentary titled, 'Finding Courage.'
WARNING: CONTAINS GRAPHIC VIDEOS AND IMAGES
Persecution of Falun Gong followers at the hands of the Communist Party of China, which is the founding and ruling political party of the People's Republic of China, has been well documented.
'Amnesty International has documented severe and widespread human rights violations against Falun Gong practitioners,' Francisco Bencosme, Asia Advocacy Manager for Amnesty International, told Fox.
'We have documented cases of torture, inhumane practices, lack of freedom of expression, and unfortunately they’re sort of out of sight, out of mind.'
Yifei Wang (right) and her husband Gordon (left) have shared what they claim to be video from the Jilin women’s labor camp in China where Yifei's sister Kefei died after alleged persecution for practicing Falun Gong
Yifei Wang told Fox News she was with her now deceased sister, Kefei (left and right), in Tianenmen Square in Dongcheng, China in 2001 showing their support for the spiritual meditation and breathwork practice which is also referred to as Falun Dafa. Both of them were captured and taken to a labor camp, she said, but only Yifei made it out alive with the help of a guard and she and her family were later told Kefei died of a heart attack
In 2008, Falun Gong was listed by Chinese state media first among 11 groups identified as cults, claiming its subscribers 'have committed many crimes' and 'Leader Li Hongzhi exercises "extreme spiritual control" over followers.'
As of at least 2014, according to Public Radio International, Falun Gong as a group had no history of violence or terrorist activities, and yet was still juxtaposed by the Chinese state with groups including 'Almighty God' and 'Three Grades of Servants,' which consist of members who have been blamed by authorities for at least 20 murders.
Meanwhile, Christianity Today has characterized the practice of Falun Gong as a 'peaceful exercise movement.'
Fox reported that at one point the number of Falun Gong supporters outnumbered the people in the Communist Party of China, which has been speculated as one reason for the imprisonment and oppression of those who follow the faith.
After seeing her body in the hospital around the time of her death, the family said they became certain Kefei was tortured, and secret video recorded by others shows abusive treatment of people who died in the camps, with some emaciated, shackled to beds and suffering from legions on their faces and bodies. Yifei (pictured) struggles to this day to mention her sister without sobbing
The people in charge of the Jilin women’s labor camp (shown), however, have refused to show her body to her family for the past nearly two decades
Yifei, who struggles to mention her sister without sobbing, told Fox that people at the camp said Kefei died from a heart attack around the age of 30.
'I can’t even think about her, because when I do, it always breaks my heart,' Yifei said. 'I think about when we were young and would play together, she was a brilliant girl.'
The people in charge of the Jilin women’s labor camp, however, have refused to show her body to her family for the past nearly two decades.
In 2015, Yifei's husband, Gordon, went to the labor camp where Kefei was held to try to get access to the body.
During that visit he secretly filmed the current labor camp director telling him that he could see Kefei's remains if he agreed that she had died of 'natural' causes.
In 2015, Yifei's husband, Gordon, went to the labor camp where Kefei was held to try to get access to the body. During that visit he secretly filmed the current labor camp director (pictured) telling him that he could see Kefei's remains if he agreed that she had died of 'natural' causes. 'You want to see the body, I can do that, if you agree she died naturally,' the director can be heard saying in the video, as translated
