Bicycle Mechanic Suffers Years of Torture for His Faith in Falun Gong

(Minghui.org)

Summary of Key Persecution Facts: Name: Wang Zhiwu (王志武)Gender: MaleAge: Sixties Address: Congtai District, Handan City, Hebei ProvinceOccupation: On-street bicycle repair
Date of Most Recent Arrest: May 8, 2014
Most Recent Place of Detention: Liandong Police Station (联东派出所)City: Handan
Province: Hebei
Persecution Suffered: Detention, home ransacked, extortion, brutal beatings, forced labor, held in a small cell, food and drink deprivation, denial of restroom use, electric shocks, face slapping, hanging by handcuffs, long-term standing, handcuffed to tree, sleep deprivation, brainwashing, denied visitation, eyebrows removed, mental torture, humiliation, insults.

Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Wang Zhiwu was arrested by officers from the Liandong Police Station in Handan, Hebei Province at 10:30 a.m on May 8, 2014, at his bicycle workshop. It was his second arrest within four days.

Two Arrests Within Four Days

Mr. Wang was arrested by officers from the Liandong Police Station in the Congtai District of Handan at around 1:00 p.m on May 5, 2014, while he was repairing bicycles for customers in front of his home. His home was ransacked, and over 15,000 yuan in bills with truth-clarifying messages written on them, over 20 copies of the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party, Shen Yun DVDs, Falun Gong books, and an alarm clock were confiscated. Mr. Wang was taken to the Handan Detention Center, but he failed the physical exam and was not accepted. He clarified the truth to the police and was released at around 5:00 p.m.

While Mr. Wang was repairing bicycles at around 9:00 a.m on May 8, officers from the Liandong Police Station, accompanied by armed police, surrounded his workshop to arrest him again, claiming that their supervisor had not agreed to release him. After arguing for a while, Mr. Wang was carried into the police vehicle at 11:10 a.m. Mr. Wang is now being held in Liandong Police Station.

Prior Arrests

Mr. Wang has been arrested many times over the past ten years, and tortured in a variety of ways.

He went to Beijing to petition for Falun Gong in October 2000 and was arrested and detained at the No. 1 Detention Center in Handan. Officers from the Fuyuan Police Station extorted 8,000 yuan from him. The officer in charge was Xu Qingyou.

He went to Cheng'an County on August 31, 2002, to participate in a Fa conference. Someone reported him, the meeting location was revealed, and 67 Falun Gong practitioners were arrested, including Mr. Wang. He was beaten and tortured overnight by the police, and taken to the Fuyuan Police Station in Handan the next morning. He successfully escaped with strong righteous thoughts, but became highly "wanted" by director Li Guihong of the Handan Police Department, 610 Office director Cao Zhixia, and Hanshan branch director Liu Wenming. Mr. Wang became homeless to avoid persecution.

Zhou Guojiang, secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Committee in Handan, along with Li Guihong and Cao Zhixia, in late February 2005, secretly planned and directed the entire police force to arrest Falun Gong practitioners in Handan. Wang Leiming, director of the Fuyuan Police Station, along with Zheng Guoqing and Xue Baozhong, were also involved. Mr. Wang was arrested again and sentenced to three years of forced labor. He was sent to the Handan Forced Labor Camp in March.

Mr. Wang's term ended in March 2008, but Cao Zhixia, Li Guihong, and Liu Wenming didn't let him to go home. They detained him in the Handan Brainwashing Center.

Mr. Wang was forced into a police vehicle and taken to a forced labor camp in August 2008. The camp had a curfew at that time, and personnel from the special team carried Mr. Wang up to the building. He was sentenced to forced labor for another year by the Handan 610 Office, the Handan Police Department, and the Hanshan Branch Police Department.

Tortured in Handan Forced Labor Camp

1. Beaten, Electric Shocked with Electric Batons, and Slapped in the Face

Mr. Wang was transferred to the special team at Handan Forced Labor Camp in March 2005. He refused to renounce his belief and was seriously tortured. Guards first tried to deceive him, but once they saw that he was not moved, they started trying to brainwash him. Mr. Wang was detained in a small solitary room and not allowed to see anyone else, eat, drink, or use the restroom.

Mr. Wang wrote "Falun Dafa is Good! Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is Good!" on the wall of the room. An inmate reported him. Special team leader Li Poyong called in seven criminal inmates and several guards to torture him with electric batons, rubber clubs, handcuffs, etc. The head of the camp threatened that no one could go home until Mr. Wang was "transformed." So guards Gao Fei, Gao Jinli, Wang Zhimin, Yao Jianming, Xing Yansheng, and Zuo Tao took turns torturing him.

Torture reenactment: Beating

Mr. Wang did not yield. Guards then handcuffed him in the yard and made him stand day and night without food or sleep. This was done many times. The longest time was seven days, and the shortest was two or three days. Guards hung him up in a room full of banners denouncing Falun Dafa. They wrote on his clothes and face, and pasted messages denouncing Falun Gong all over his body. They once tried to handcuff Mr. Wang to a tree, but because the tree was so large, his arms were not long enough to reach around the trunk. Several guards pulled his arms, pushing their feet against the tree so they could handcuff Mr. Wang to it. After a few minutes, he appeared to be in critical condition, so they released him.

Torture reenactment: Handcuffed to a tree

To work on brainwashing Falun Gong practitioners, Handan Forced Labor Camp employed over ten collaborators, divided into three or four groups. In the evening when the guards were tired of giving beatings, they tried to brainwash Falun Gong practitioners. They forced Mr. Wang to watch videos defaming Falun Dafa, and denounced Dafa in front of him, trying to deceive him into renouncing the practice. Collaborators and criminals watched over him, not allowing him to sleep. Once he closed his eyes, he was beaten. Mr. Wang refused to cooperate.

2. Hung Up for Many Days

Mr. Wang was tortured by over ten guards and criminals in April 2005, until about 10:00 a.m.. Guard Gao Fei then said, “Wang Zhiwu, if you just admit you are wrong, you will be safe and sound.” Mr. Wang replied, “I am innocent.” Gao shouted and handcuffed his arms to the top of a bunk bed, with his toes barely touching the ground. Gao Fei and Zhao Wei kept kicking Mr. Wang's body and legs, so that his toes did not touch the floor, placing more pressure on the handcuffs. They shocked him with electric batons at the same time and shouted, “Do you admit that your are guilty?” He said, “No, I am innocent.” Gao and Zhao continued kicking and shocking him.

Seeing that Mr. Wang was refusing to give up, Gao tightened the handcuffs, which dug into his bones (Mr. Wang had become very skinny by then). Gao tortured Mr. Wang with hanging, beatings, and electric shocks. This continued for days. Finally, Mr. Wang's legs and feet were so swollen that he could not even put on his shoes. He vomited blood, but they still kept him hung up. He vomited blood for several days. After he vomited very seriously, leaving a one meter circle of blood on the floor, the guards released him. However, they continued shocking him with electric batons, and stuck messages denouncing Falun Gong all over his body and face.

Torture: Hanging up

3. Forced to Smoke, Eyebrows Removed, Beaten, and Humiliated

Since the guards failed to brainwash Mr. Wang, they started to humiliate him. They forced him to smoke, and drew with ink on his face. They forced him to walk around the yard wearing tattered clothes, with a plastic basin on his head and a stick under his arm. Guard Wang Zhimin pulled off both of his eyebrows.

Mr. Wang wrote “Falun Dafa is Good! Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is Good!” on the wall of the small solitary room in April 2005, so the team leader brutally hit him in the face. Two of his teeth were knocked out, and his mouth was filled with blood. Guards then knocked him down, dragged him out, and then shocked him with electric batons for a long time. Guard Xing Yansheng then dragged him into the restroom, where the floor was covered with mud and urine. Xing dragged him back and forth on the floor and stepped on his head so that he could not move. The guards stopped only after they tired.

Guards humiliated Mr. Wang again in July 2005. As if burying a dead person, they put a colorful sheet on Mr. Wang and made him hold an old broom of black and white paper strips. All kinds of patterns and strokes were drawn on Wang's face in ink, and a plastic chair was put on his head. Mr. Wang was then left in the yard to be humiliated. Xing slapped his head. The guards all made fun of him.

Mr. Wang clarified the truth about Falun Gong to everyone he met, and no one could brainwash him. Afraid he would do it again, they separated him from others and forced him to stand aside. He was forced to stand in the yard at first. After a building was built at Handan Forced Labor Camp with special funds to persecute Falun Gong, Mr. Wang was made to stand in a corner of the middle hall, where he would not come into contact with anyone.

Mr. Wang was forced to stand at the gate of the special team in the fall of 2005, to be humiliated by guards. Guard Xing brought a dirty mop and rubbed it over his face.

4. Sleep Deprivation for Eight Days and Nights

Mr. Wang was tortured continuously for over 60 days and nights from March to May 2005, in the Handan Forced Labor Camp, but still could not be brainwashed, so he was tortured by long-term sleep deprivation.

He was forced to stand in the yard for a long time without sleeping. Guards, criminals, inmates, and collaborators took turns torturing him on the morning of April 24, 2005. Guards chose criminals who obeyed them, and instigated them to persecute Falun Gong practitioners, in exchange for reducing their terms. Guards and criminals watched over Mr. Wang in turn day and night, not allowing him to sleep, sit down, lie down, or close his eyes. If he closed his eyes, they kicked him to wake him up or beat him for a while. Collaborators continued to force Mr. Wang to watch videos denouncing Falun Dafa and listen to their lies.

Since they did not succeed in the morning, another group came in the afternoon, but failed again. In the evening, another group came to torture him. This went on for eight days and nights, but they could not shake his belief. Mr. Wang was tortured every day. He was transferred to the fourth team in late 2005.

Family Members Not Allowed to Visit

Guard Liu Zhaobo beat Mr. Wang on September 6, 2005, because his blanket was not properly folded. When Mr. Wang fell down, Liu pulled him up and hit him again. Mr. Wang's mouth was filled with blood. Guards Yao Jianming, Xing Yansheng, and Zhang Wenshan beat him again on September 12 because he did not do as they ordered. They also shocked him with electric batons, hit him with rubber clubs, forced him to stand, and deprived him of food and mobility, giving him only a small circular area on the floor. Guard Xing Yansheng told Mr. Wang on September 16, “I dare to go to Hell. Do you?” Mr. Wang said, “You go ahead. I won't go.” Xing got furious and beat him.

Mr. Wang was forced to stand on October 9, 2005, and was kicked because he refused to denounce Falun Dafa. Guard Wang Zhiming beat him on the afternoon of October 10. When he fell down, he was pulled up and beaten again. His face quickly swelled up. Wang Zhiming kicked him in the chin many times, making his teeth loose and painful. Mr. Wang was tortured again because he refused to sing the required song before the meal on October 13.

Mr. Wang Zhiwu's family was never allowed to visit him because he refused to be brainwashed. They could not call him, and he never received the money they deposited for him. He did not have any money. Since the guards did not provide him with any toilet paper, Wang found an old piece of cloth outside, which he washed to reuse over and over. During his four years and ten months in the labor camp, his family was turned away every time they came to visit him.

Parties Involved in Persecuting Mr. Wang:
Yue Xiushan (岳秀山), director of the Congtain Police Department: [phone], [phone], [phone] (Cell)Li Wei (李伟), director of the Liandong Police Station: [phone], [phone] ext.8001, [phone] (Cell)

Related article:Practitioner Wang Zhiwu Being Persecuted in the Handan Forced Labor Camp