Name: Yu Donghui (郁东辉)
Gender: Male
Age: 67
Address: Liaoyuan City, Jilin Province
Occupation: Teacher
Date of Death: December 17, 2011
Date of Most Recent Arrest: October, 2008
Most Recent Place of Detention: Siping Prison (四平监狱)
City: Liaoyuan
Province: Jilin
Persecution Suffered: Forced labor, brainwashing, illegal sentencing, imprisonment, extortion, home ransacked, interrogation, detention

(Minghui.org) Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Yu Donghui was a teacher at the Liaoyuan City Communist Party School. He used to suffer from many illnesses, and he tried many sham qigong practices in an attempt to find a cure. But his health did not improve. After he started practicing Falun Gong in March 1995, his illness symptoms disappeared as he followed the principles of Falun Gong. He soon became known as a very kind and healthy person in the community.

Mr. Yu Donghui

After the persecution of Falun Gong began in 1999, Mr. Yu endured constant harassment from the Nankang Police Station, the Domestic Security Division, and the Nankang Police Department. He was illegally arrested and detained in the Liaoyuan Detention Center, Chaoyanggou Forced Labor Camp in Changchun City, and Shilingzi Prison in Siping City. He was detained at the Liaoyuan Detention Center for 30 days in May 2000, and sentenced to three years of forced labor in March 2002. He was sentenced to nine years in prison on May 12, 2008. Mr. Yu passed away on December 17, 2011 as a result of forced labor and brutal persecution in Shilingzi Prison.

The following is an account of the persecution that Mr. Yu suffered over a period of more than 10 years.

1. Sentenced to Forced Labor after Writing a Letter of Appeal

Mr. Yu Donghui was a member of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The Party expressly states that a member has the right to directly report a situation to its central committee. Mr. Yu wrote a letter about his positive experiences of practicing Falun Gong. In the letter he talked about the goodness of Falun Gong and made three simple requests: “First, Falun Gong only benefits the society. It not only improves practitioners' health but also brings benevolence to their hearts and raises morality; Second, give people the freedom to practice Falun Gong; Third, restore Master Li's good name.” Yu Donghui handed in the letter to the Appeals Center of the CCP Organization Department in May 2000.

Three days later, officers from the Nankang Police Station searched his office in the Liaoyuang Party School. They then took him home. Section Chief Gao of the police station ordered his wife, “Hand over all Falun Gong related items in your house.” They took away a copy of Zhuan Falun.

The police detained Mr. Yu in the Liaoyuan Detention Center for a month without notifying his family, which is a violation of standard procedure. They first said it was criminal detention, then changed it to security detention. His family first took this as a good sign, but later learned that the police department was playing a game. The police used this devious means so they could send Mr. Yu to forced labor, because one can be sentenced to forced labor only after being twice detained.

In the detention center, Mr. Yu temporarily succumbed to the brainwashing and wrote a “dissociation statement,” renouncing Falun Gong. He was released 30 days later after the police extorted 3,000 yuan from his family. The money was claimed to be a security deposit but no receipt was issued. The family asked for the money several years later. Officer Wan of the Nankang Police Station, who took the money, said he'd resolve the issue in a couple of days. When the family went to the police station some days later, they were told that Wan was out. The money was never returned.

2. Arrested on Way Home from Grocery Shopping

In March 2002, practitioners successfully tapped into the closed-circuit television network in Changchun and broadcast information on the truth of Falun Gong. Mass arrests subsequently occurred in the whole province. Mr. Yu was arrested on his way home after grocery shopping on March 15, 2002. Officer Lan (female) interrogated him in the Domestic Security Division. “You are a teacher in the party school, and do research on Marxism-Leninism. You believe in superstition? You believe Falun Gong? I'll immediately release you if you say that you do not practice Falun Gong. I'll give you the maximum term (of three years) of forced labor if you insist on practicing.” Mr. Yu replied that Falun Gong was a Fa of high virtue and he would practice to the end.

Although the police arrested him in his community, the local Liaoyuan City News reported that they “arrested Yu Donghui as he fled out of town,” touting it as the police's so-called “huge success.”

Mr. Yu was sentenced to three years of forced labor.

3. Persecuted in the Labor Camp

As soon as he was brought to the labor camp, Mr. Yu was physically abused for not “transforming.” He was forced to sit on a small stool from 6:00 a.m. to past 9:00 p.m. daily for more then 40 days. The guards forced him to sit in a certain position and did not allow him to talk. After that, he was taken to the Sixth Group for heavy labor, mainly farming. One day in autumn, the detainees were ordered to shoulder heavy bags of potatoes. Mr. Yu was not strong enough for it, but the inmate monitors put a bag on him. He immediately collapsed.

Cells in the labor camp were dark and damp, and the sanitary conditions were poor. Mr. Yu seemed in reasonable health when his wife visited him in September, but just a month later, when his wife saw him again in October, he had scabies. The labor camp did not provide any medical care. His health deteriorated. His whole body swelled. He could not even urinate. His urethra collapsed and he had to cut a water bottle in half and use it to direct his urine to the urinal.

On February 9, 2003, Mr. Yu was found unconscious on his bed at breakfast time. He was sent to the Changchun Hospital, where he was diagnosed with severe skin ailments, severe malnutrition and anemia. The labor camp refused to release him. A section chief in the Changchun Bureau of Justice said, “He indeed looks in very bad shape. But, according to his diagnosis, he is not qualified for release, yet.” After a brain CT showed he had brain cavity infarcts, the section chief agreed to release Mr. Yu, but only after he extorted 5,000 yuan from the family as a “deposit.” His family took him home after they tendered the 5,000 yuan.

Mr. Yu fell into unconscious again after he got home. The hospital reluctantly admitted him, saying that they'd sent him to the hospital too late. The nurse had a very hard time finding a vein when giving him an intravenous drip. As he got better after a week, Mr. Yu insisted on going home. He recovered completely after he studied the Fa and did the Falun Gong exercises at home for some time.

4. Mr. Yu and his wife Arrested and Sentenced During the Beijing Olympics

Between 7:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m. on May 12, 2008, half a dozen plainclothes officers arrested Mr. Yu and his wife at home and took them to the Nankang Police Department. They then searched their home, taking away their Falun Dafa books, videos and audio recordings. They also stole a laptop and 2 new cell phones which belonged to their son, valued at over 10,000 yuan.

The police interrogated Mr. Yu and his wife separately for one and a half days, then incarcerated them in a detention center. Six months later, Mr. Yu was sentenced to nine years in prison. His wife, Ms. Zhen Chunling was sentenced to three years in prison. Although his blood pressure was as high as 200mmHg, he was taken to Shilingzi Prison.

Even though Mr. Yu was 65 years old, the guards treated him as a slave laborer. Before the Christmas season of 2009, prisoners were forced to make strings of beads using toxic glue. Dozens of inmates worked in a small prison cell with poor ventilation. There was not any protective equipment provided to the inmates. The pungent smell of toxic glue filled the room. Many inmates showed symptoms of acute toxicity. Most of the imprisoned practitioners were involved in the gluing process. They suffered more than others. Many developed symptoms of pleurisy and tuberculosis. Practitioner Mr. Pang Shikun developed severe tuberculosis and died three days after he was hospitalized. Mr. Yu also became ill in this environment.

The prison established the No. 11 Prison District on December 29, 2010, to enforce intensive brainwashing on practitioners. Fifteen practitioners, including Mr. Yu, were transferred to the No. 11 District. Each practitioner in this area was monitored by three inmates.

Mr. Yu suffered a stroke after being subjected to the constant physical and mental torment in the prison. The guards phoned his daughter, “If you don't have money, he will be treated in the prison. If you have the money, he can be treated outside.” He was treated eight days later in the Siping Hospital, and his daughter spent more than 10,000 yuan on medical expenses. They did not allow his daughter to visit him and took him back to the prison once his health improved somewhat.

Mr. Yu's blood pressure was always above 180mmHg during his three and a half years in the prison. The guards constantly tried to force him to give up Falun Gong and write a repentance statement. His health rapidly deteriorated. After four physical exams from several hospitals substantiated his precarious condition, Mr. Yu was released on medical parole on November 8, 2011.

This time, he was unable to recover, and 40 days after his release, at 8:30 p.m. on December 17, 2011, Mr. Yu Donghui passed away.