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23-year-old Shania Li was sitting in front of her computer when she got the news.
[Shania Li, Daughter of Kidnapped Falun Gong Practitioner]:
"I got a message from my dad saying that my mom had been kidnapped."
Shania is a grad student in New York. Her mom, Lei Zuying, is back home in Wuhan, China. On June 6th, local authorities took Lei to a brainwashing center. That's because she practices Falun Gong, a traditional Chinese spiritual discipline.
[Shania Li, Daughter of Kidnapped Falun Gong Practitioner]:
"I've heard about the cruelties that go on in these brainwashing centers. Both the physical and mental torture."
And it's not the first time Shania's mom has been taken there. The Chinese Communist Party began a nationwide crackdown on Falun Gong 13 years ago. Since then, authorities have detained Lei four times—trying to make her give up the practice.
In 2004, she went on a hunger strike—and nearly died from torture.
[Shania Li, Daughter of Kidnapped Falun Gong Practitioner]:
"Those who took part in the force feeding had no medical background...It was very dangerous and she nearly choked from the liquid food."
Shania is determined to free her mom. She's been making calls to Wuhan, trying to appeal to the officials who detained her mom. She says it's hard to take legal action, because there's no due process.
[Shania Li, Daughter of Kidnapped Falun Gong Practitioner]:
"It's completely baseless, they'll create a nominal reason, and kidnap you while you're out [of the house]...this time she was taken from work. They don't issue any documentation, and only call the family later to say she has been kidnapped, and to bring her personal items."
Shania, who also practices Falun Gong, hopes her mother can join her in the U.S.
[Shania Li, Daughter of Kidnapped Falun Gong Practitioner]:
"It was hard for me to go abroad. It was what my mother wished for. I remember when I told her I arrived safely in New York....She was brought to tears...Because she's not free in China, but I am here now because of a lot of help she gave me, so now when she needs me the most, I have to help her, too."
Shania also emphasized that her mom's case is just one of thousands. But most Falun Gong practitioners who are wrongfully detained don't have someone like Shania to tell their story.
