Name: Yang Zhanjiu (杨占久)
Gender: Male
Age: Unknown
Address: Yushu City, Jilin Province
Occupation: Unknown
City: Yushu
Province: Jilin
Persecution Suffered: Detention, home ransacked, extortion, forced labor, beatings, torture, physical constraint, force-feedings, electric shock, sleep deprivation, solitary confinement, illegal sentencing.
(Clearwisdom.net) Mr. Yang Zhanjiu, a Falun Gong practitioner from Yushu City, Jilin Province, was arrested in August 2002. He was brutally tortured in Yushu City Detention Center. In March, 2004, he was illegally sentenced to a seven-year prison term. He was tortured until he became handicapped in Shiling Prison in Siping City. He was released in August 2009.
Seven years ago, Mr. Yang's wife, Li Shuhua, met an untimely death 4 days after she was sent to Yushu Detention Center. She was only 32 years old. Those responsible for her death are still at large. Among them are: Li Fenglin, the director of the 610 Office; Fan Hongguang, the director of the Public Security Bureau; Zhang Deqing, the team lead of the National Security Team; Gong Tie, the detention center director on duty; police officer Wang Jun; and guards Li and Sun.
Yang Zhanjiu
Li Shuhua, Yang Zhanjiu's wife. She was persecuted to death by the CCP seven years ago
In the morning on March 5, 2010, Fan Hongkai, team lead of the National Security Team of Yushu City; Li Xiao and Yang Shucai, the assistant team leads; Yan Chongjie, the instructor; and police officers Shi Hailin, Qi Li, Li Chunhe, and Li Zaichen--about seven to eight people--waited in front of Yang Zhanjiu's home. When Li Fumin, Yang Zhanjiu's father-in-law, opened the door to go to work, several police officers broke into the home. Without any explanation, they took charge of Li Fumin and his wife, Cui Zhanyun. They would not allow him to go to work. In the meantime, they handcuffed Yang Zhanjiu. They ransacked the home and took personal property and over 2000 yuan in cash. (They later returned 900 yuan). They took Mr. Yang; his father-in-law, Li Fumin; and his mother-in-law, Cui Zhanyun, to the National Security Team in the police station. After being held in the detention center for seven days, Mr. Yang was released on family bail because he had several fractures in both legs, his ankle was broken, and he had no bone left in his heel, all a result of torture. His feet recovered but they are deformed, and there are still two holes in his feet that ooze pus. He cannot take care of himself in his daily life.
Below is Mr. Yang Zhanjiu's account of the persecution he and his family suffered:
I. Detained and persecuted for appealing for Falun Gong
Before and after July 20, 1999, my wife, my children, and I went to see the Jilin provincial government offices. We only wanted to tell the government officials to not persecute good people who believe in Truth-Compassion-Forbearance. The CCP would not give us a chance to speak and arrested us as a part of large scale arrests. The next day, several of us practitioners decided to go to Beijing. We were arrested on our way. Because none of us would tell where we came from, we were sent to a dispatch station in Tianjin City. We were given two small pieces of cornbread and two pieces of pickle. We had to sleep on the floor on our sides facing other people's feet. At night, it would be very hard to squeeze into our original spot if we went to the bathroom. Three days later we were transferred to a suburb. We were forced to watch TV programs slandering Falun Dafa. We stayed there for a few days. We were taken away by police from Changchun City Police Station. They extorted over three thousand yuan from each of us, claiming it was for transportation expenses. The National Security Team of Yushu City (at that time it was called the Political and Security Section) sent us to Yushu City Detention Center. At the detention center, we were forced to do slave labor paving a brick floor. We were released 15 days later.
Two months after that, the police station of Fuan Township of Yushu City was afraid that we might go to Beijing again, so they ordered us to hand in our personal IDs. Because I did not hand in my personal ID, they sent me to the detention center again and forced me to do physical labor. They would not let us go home even after our detention term expired. They changed our status to "residential surveillance," but we were still held at the detention center. At that time, there were over 100 Falun Gong practitioners in that detention center. It was during the fall, and we had to harvest vegetables, dig a fish pond, do some construction jobs, plow fields, etc. When we were working on plastering a small house in front of the detention center, guard Su beat us with a wooden board because he claimed that we did not work fast enough. I was released after two and half months.
II. I was arrested and sent to the forced labor camp.
In October 2000, I went to a fellow practitioner's small family store. Xiao Hongjun, an officer from Peiying Police Station of Yushu City, saw me going there. Using the excuse of "unlawful assembly," he took me and two other practitioners to Yushu Detention Center. We were detained there for about one month. Then they sentenced me to two years in a forced labor camp. When they sent me to the forced labor camp, they did not return over 700 yuan that I left in the detention center. They did not give me my shoes I wore when I was sent to the detention center. They gave me a pair of smaller shoes, size 38, which was smaller than what I wore. The official who was handling my case did not notify my family of the move.
I was sent to Weizigou Forced Labor Camp in Changchun City. They assigned me to the dirtiest and most tedious team, the No. 2 team. In the No. 2 team, we worked on putting padding around bed springs. The captain of the team was Zhao Weidong. One day after we finished our work and had gone back to rest, a person named Xiao Er (from Dehui City, Jilin Province), who was the head of the criminals ordered me to see him. He ordered two criminals to hold down both of my arms, and then punched me in the head with their fists. They kept saying curse words while they were beating me. At night, they arranged a spot for me to sleep that was less than 20 inches wide, facing the door In the winter it was extremely cold. In the No. 2 team, over 100 people stayed in one room, with one huge bed with two levels. In the morning, after 5 a.m., we had to go out to work. We worked in the workshop for a while, then we had breakfast. Each person was given a piece of steamed bread and a bowl of vegetable soup. I did not bring anything with me when I arrived. I did not even have a bowl for soup. I could only eat the steamed bread. I wanted to borrow a bowl, but they scolded me and did not give me anything.
I did not have any water to drink. Sometimes I was so thirsty that I had to go outside and eat snow. They did not provide any toilet paper. Illness symptom appeared during those days, and I even had blood in my stool. I was wearing shoes too small for me, and my feet hurt. Even in that condition, I had to work for nearly 16 -17 hours in a standing position. The guards and the "education" section staff talked to me and asked me to give up my cultivation. In the evening, when we came back from work, if we had not finished our job, the squadron team lead would beat us one by one. He would ask whether we would finish the job the next time while beating us. Sometimes the wooden board he used was broken. Because of a lack of water, most of us could not wash our clothes. Lice crawled all over the bed.
After a month, I was transferred to Chaoyanggou Forced Labor Camp in Changchun City. I was sent to the No. 1 squadron of the No. 1 team. After checking our belongings, they ordered us new arrivals to go to the shower room. Then they poured cold water on us and said that was giving us a bath. It was right after New Year's Day. Several criminal inmates finished drinking alcohol in the shower room and then they went to our cell and asked us whether we still wanted to keep practicing Falun Gong. If we said yes, they would tell two criminals to hold our arms down and stick our heads between the railings. Then they would use the hard wooden board to beat our bottoms and thighs. When it was my turn, I said I would not give up my practice. They hi me over 20 times. They asked me again and I continued saying no to them. They continued beating me. Later on they used their elbows to hit my ribs. I do not know how many times they hit me. They stopped when they saw I could not endure it anymore. Then two criminals carried me and put me on the bed with my stomach touching the bed. I could not move at all.
A few days later, I could get up by holding onto the bed. Xu Hui, the head of the criminals from the No. 4 team, saw me standing holding the bed frame. He grabbed my arm and violently shook me. It hurt so much that my vision started to blur, I began to sweat, and I had to squat down.
One day, Xu Hui and Chen Hexin asked me to see them. Xu Hui hit me in the face. Chaoyanggou Forced Labor Camp ordered us to plant vegetables and dig the field. Later on they decided to build a new building. They cut down some trees and told us to carry away the wood and dig the building foundation. We had to carry dirt in plastic bags away from the foundation excavation. We worked like that from morning till the end of the day.
In August 2001, my family spent over 8000 yuan to look for me and then asked Chaoyanggou Forced Labor Camp to release me.
A month later after I returned home, before October 1st, over 20 other practitioners and I went to Beijing. On Tiananmen Square, we shouted from the bottom of our hearts, "Falun Dafa is good! Restore our Master's reputation!" When we were ready to return home, at Beijing South Train Station, another practitioner and I were arrested when Beijing South Train Station police checked IDs. They asked us where we came from. We refused to say. They detained us in a very dirty, small, dark room in the police station at Beijing South Train Station. There was no bed. We had to sleep on the cement floor. We both began hunger strikes to protest the persecution. On the sixth day, they interrogated me. The room was full of police. They kept asking me where I came from. I did not reply. They kicked my back and stepped on my toes. After beating me for a while, I still did not say anything. They told two people to carry me back to that dark room and threw me on the floor. I was lying on the cement floor. Sometimes they would open the door and kick me a few times to check whether I was still breathing. After about 15 days, Chen Qingguo and several others from the National Security Team of Yushu City came and took us back to Yushu.
Once a fellow practitioner had severe illness karma, and we went to her home to send forth righteous thoughts for her. The National Security Team broke into the house and arrested me and my fellow practitioners. We stayed at the National Security Team of the Police Station for less than one day and then were released because my fellow practitioner's family members went to the police station and asked them to release us.
III. Arrested again and brutally tortured
In August 2002, I was arrested in front of one of another practitioner's home. The police stuffed me into the car and took me to the National Security Team of Yushu City Police Station. In the hallway, they put handcuffs and shackles on me. I did not cooperate. Several people from the National Security Team began to kick me. They kicked a hole in the upper right corner of my right eye, and blood poured out (I still have the scar). In the hallway, I shouted, "Falun Dafa is good!" On our way to the detention center, the other practitioners and I all shouted, "Falun Dafa is good!" in the police car. When we arrived at the detention center, I continued shouting, "Falun Dafa is good!" Guo Zhentong, the director of the detention center, kicked me to the ground.
They took me to the interrogation room and bound me to an iron chair. At first, police officer Dong from the Criminal Police Unit interrogated me. I did not corporate. He kicked my head I do not know how many times. My face and head were swollen. I still did not say anything.
At night, the National Security Team finished interrogating the other practitioners. They gathered together after 10 p.m. In the room were Zhang Deqing, the newly appointed captain of the National Security Team; Shi Hailin; Qi Li; etc. They handcuffed me behind my back and tied a metal ring between the handcuffs. Then they carried me to a chair and tied the rope from the handcuffs to the door frame. Then they took the chair away and I was hanging in the air with my hands cuffed behing my back. This is called "The Big Hang Up." They also kicked my legs and let me swing back and forth. The handcuffs dug into my flesh. I lost my consciousness after a short while.
That night, Zhang Lin from the detention center was on duty. They let me down and cleaned the blood off my face, then took me back to the cell. The next day, I felt like I had collapsed. Doctor Xu from the detention center treated me with needles on some of my acupuncture points, such as Renzhong, the tip of my finger, and the Hegu point, etc. Both of my hands were swollen. The second time they interrogated me, they handcuffed me to the window frame and sometimes they would shock me with electronic batons. I still did not sign my name.
One day, Shi Hailin and a man in his 50s from the National Security Team interrogated me. That older man used a broom to hit my neck until the entire broom broke into pieces.
In the detention center, they searched each cell and found Master's new articles in my area. Gong Tie, the director of the detention center, ordered me to him. He used rubber pipe to beat me. He also ordered others to put handcuffs and shackles on me. I then started a hunger strike. On the eighth day, they took off the handcuffs and shackles. In October 2003, my wife was persecuted to death in Yushu City Detention Center. Two fellow practitioners and I began a hunger strike. During our hunger strike, the detention center force fed us with salt water and infusions. They beat me to try to force me to eat. I was on a hunger strike for 19 days. On the way to the courthouse for the hearing, a court official asked whose wife had died. I told him that it was my wife. When he asked how, I told him that she was persecuted to death. He said he had heard that she died of hunger. I repeated again that she was persecuted to death. He became very angry. He called for someone to bring an electric baton and began to shock my neck in the car. It hurt so much that I broke the handcuffs apart.
IV. I was sentenced to seven years and persecuted in prison
I was sentenced to seven years. I appealed and also hired an attorney, but the attorney dared not to defend me. When they arrested me, I had over 900 yuan in my bag, two cell phones, and a phone card. When my family went to ask the police to return those personal properties, they said they did not see them. Before I was taken away, I asked those who were handling my case to check my possessions. I had about three hundred yuan. They did not give me that money back.
In May 2004, a fellow practitioner and I were taken to Shiling Prison in Siping City. We were detained in a group pre-assigned for terms of over three weeks. In June, I was put in the No. 5 Team. The No. 5 Team maintained the boiler and worked on casting iron. Before I was sent to the prison, over 20 practitioners had been transferred from Jilin No. 2 Jail to that location. Those in charge ordered criminal inmates to monitor each practitioner and would not allow us to speak to each other. Nor were we allowed to help each other in our daily life. We were kept isolated. One day, guards found some of Master's articles in my area and put me in solitary confinement (a small room where those who violated the rules were held.) Because I had not done anything wrong, I began a hunger strike to protest. They released me three days later.
Around October, one night when I was sleeping, the criminal inmate on duty woke me up and told me that Li Nanning, who was an officer, would not allow me to go to sleep. The next day, Ma Chunshan, the team leader of my team, told me that orders came from above, saying that they were planning to force us to "transform." He told me that the night before, the No. 7 Team electric-shocked several practitioners all night long. One night when we came back from work and had just finished eating dinner, gone to bed, and begun to study, Yu Changli, the team lead, and Li Nanning, the officer, came up and inspected us. They told the criminal on duty to not allow me to go to sleep. Another time, I gave a fellow practitioner from the No. 2 team in the No. 1 jail section a copy of Master's articles, and the criminal who was monitoring us saw that. Then several criminals held my arms down, and Tian Dali from Liaoyuan, Jilin Province, who was the head of the criminals, beat me up and kicked my head and my body. I felt down on the bed and they still kept beating me. My face swelled up. Two criminals monitored me and we went to the work site. I found the instructor and told him that they had beaten me. Instructor Liang responded that I must have deserved it. He said, "Why did you give something to that other person?"
This April, the prison instituted a new policy to allow some people to be released on parole. Many of my conditions matched the policy, so I wrote a letter to request parole. Guards in the section for the elderly and handicapped told me, "You have not written the three statements. You have not admitted your crime. You are not allowed to apply for medical treatment outside of the jail, nor for parole."
Later on, I was transferred to the "Educational Jail District," which was a place to detain Falun Gong practitioners. Because I had purulent sores on my feet, I wrote a letter asking to be allowed to see a doctor outside the jail. I signed my name as a Falun Gong practitioner. Because of that, they told me to go to the instructor's office (a criminal inmate had to carry me). Hao Yulin, the instructor from the sub-team, and Yi Shoudong, the director of the jail district, asked me why I did not write that I was a criminal or a prisoner. I told them that it was because I did not commit any crime. Hao Yulin told Hu Wei, the offender who monitored me, to use an electric baton to shock my neck twice. In the Educational Jail District, there were 70 to 80 practitioners. Those in charge told the criminal offenders to beat them. The guards also used electric batons to torture practitioners. They placed practitioners in solitary confinement and tied them to a death bed. They tried all kinds of things such as using collaborators, isolating the practitioners and not allowing them to speak to anybody, etc. The Educational Jail District was headed by Yi Shoudong, instructor Zhou Jijia, and officer Li Po. The branch teams' instructors were Hao Yulin, Wu Tie, Yang Tiejun, and Li Haifeng, etc.
I was released from the prison by the end of August, 2009. I was carried out on a trolley. The court sentenced me to seven years and I was in prison for seven years. They did not reduce my sentence by even one day, because I was not "transformed."
On March 5, 2010, my home was ransacked again. They took away my computer, printer, and the computer my children used to play games. They also took over 2000 yuan in cash. They only ever returned just over 900 yuan. They said they did not know where the rest of the money was. Currently I have several fractures in both legs and a misshapen ankle. I am missing bone in my heel, and I have two festering holes in my feet. I cannot take care of myself on my own. They detained me for seven days and then I was bailed out by my family.
It has been almost seven years since my wife was persecuted to death. My two children lost their mother when they were very young. I was persecuted until I became handicapped. Now I completely rely on my elder brother, younger brother, and elder sister to support me and my children's schooling.
I sincerely hope for justice and that kind people give us help and pay attention to all Falun Gong practitioners who are still suffering in China. Stop the persecution as soon as possible! Restore Falun Dafa's good reputation!
