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The prison authorities threatened his family, "We won't release him even if he dies. It doesn't matter, even if you appeal at the State Department!" Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Xin Minduo, age 33, was tortured to death at Nanshan Prison in Jinzhou City on the evening of September 1, 2006.
 Xin Minduo |
Xin Minduo's family waited at Nanshan Prison until 4:30 p.m. on September 1. They went home after the prison authorities refused to let them meet with him. It turned out to be the day of his death!
 A picture of Xin Minduo, three days after release from a previous labor camp stay. He could not stand up and could barely support himself and had to lean his head against a wall |
Practitioner Xin Minduo was the technical backbone at the Measurement Branch of the Liaohe Oilfield Physical Exploration Company, and was well known for his kindness and generosity. He persisted in practicing Falun Gong and following the principles Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, and kept clarifying the truth about Falun Gong. He was brutally persecuted during the past seven years of the persecution. He died with his eyes wide open. His family could not close them, no matter how hard they tried.
Xin Minduo had written an open letter to the families of Liaohe Oilfield employees in 2004. Part of the letter is quoted below:
"At the Panjin City Detention Center I was handcuffed to the floor in a spread-eagle position and was force-fed with tubes inserted into my nose. The inmates pushed rice porridge into the tube on a daily basis. Several days later my arms were injured and I could not move them. The guards ordered the inmates to yank my arms during the time when the prisoners were let out of cells to exercise. They claimed they were exercising my arms to prevent disability from rope-tying, but they were in fact torturing me. The pain that shot through my body [when they pumped my arms] cannot be described in words. I screamed at first, but later my strength diminished. Twenty-six days passed like this. Another time I was put inside a cage and hung off the ground for seven days. Tan Xiaobiao, the team leader, spit on my face and shocked me daily with an electric baton.
"I was also hung up for three days and nights on another occasion. My feet became swollen and I could not put on my slippers. Also, the front of my body had been severely shocked with electric batons. My head was slammed against the ground once. Another time a group of police with batons had beaten me. A policeman named Chen Changli beat me on the playground until he was out of breath. Every day I was restricted from using the washroom. I was beaten for the issue of going to the washroom. My arms were tied onto a broom, which was tied to a bed so that I could be intravenously forced-fed for three months. I was forced to sit on a plastic stool for eighteen hours every day for almost two months. I was savagely force-fed very often."
2001: Arrested at Work, Xin Minduo Held a Hunger Strike to Protest the Torture He Endured
Officials who broke into Xin Minduo's office arrested him on June 29, 2001. He clarified the truth to the police, but Wang Youshan from the Liaohe Oilfield 610 Office and officers from the Liaohe Police Department still arrested him and took him to the Liaohe Oilfield Detention Center. They took his notebook computer worth more than 17,000 yuan, which he bought less than six months prior to the arrest.
Xin Minduo went on a hunger strike to protest the persecution at the Liaohe Oilfield Detention Center, after he had run out of other options to appeal. The hunger strike lasted nearly forty days during which the guards ordered the inmates to savagely force-feed him. They made the inmates stomp on him, punish his body by using their knees to hurt him, twist his arms, legs and neck, pull his jaw downward, pry his mouth open with a metal tool that knocked several of his teeth loose, and his face was covered in blood. They stabbed him repeatedly with a feeding tube before they were able to insert the tube into his nose. Sometimes they poured food directly into his mouth, which is very likely to choke people. They nearly split his mouth with the metal tool by forcing it to stay open the entire time.
Doctors usually perform force-feeding, but the lawless officials make the inmates carry out the force-feeding while the doctors stood aside and watched. They savagely tortured Xin Minduo during the process, and he screamed continuously. The inmates nearly suffocated him during a force-feeding, and his eyeballs flipped upward.
The doctor finally realized that Xin Minduo was dying. He told the inmates to let go of him. Xin Minduo slowly recovered. Some inmates cried and said it's too cruel, and some inmates said, "I'll have to find some kind of excuse in the future to make sure I never do this again."
2001: On the Brink of Death from Torture in Panjin Labor Camp
Xin Minduo firmly refused to give up his belief. He and several other Falun Gong practitioners were illegally sentenced to three years of forced labor. Liaohe Oilfield 610 Office agents and Liaohe Police Department officials pronounced the sentence on August 16, 2001. He was taken to the Panjin Labor Camp. During the time he was held in the labor camp, he and other practitioners firmly refused to cooperate with the persecutors.
The camp officials headed by Zhang Shoujiang rampantly tortured detained Falun Gong practitioners. They forced the practitioners to do slave labor, do camp exercises, practice Tai Chi (other meditation, in order to interfere with the principle that one must stay within one cultivation way), listen, watch and read materials that slander Master Li and Falun Gong. Xin Minduo refused to practice Tai Chi. Chen Changli, head of the Guard Group, savagely beat him.
On August 17, 2001, Mr. Xin had started eating only four days after being on a long-term hunger strike at Liaohe Oilfield Detention Center. He was still very weak and could not walk steadily. Chen Changli openly beat him in the presence of more than 100 people, including other practitioners and guards. He kicked Xin Minduo to the ground and hit him until he rolled in the dust. He then grabbed Xin Minduo's head and violently banged it against the side of a van.
Chen Changli also dragged Xin Minduo into a solitary confinement room about 70 meters [230 ft.] away and then he and several others jumped on Xin Minduo and beat him. People heard Xin Minduo's screams outside the building. Later it was learned that Xin Minduo was beaten until he became incontinent. After the beating, they handcuffed him in a metal cage for more than one week and gave him only one or two pieces of cornbread each day. Xin Minduo's feet swelled so extensively from malnutrition that his ankles were no longer visible.
Falun Gong practitioners had frequently removed Falun Gong-slandering words and propaganda on the walls and blackboards of the Guard Group. The officials retaliated against the practitioners. The guards re-posted the propaganda and kept it there for a while. Xin Minduo always tried to remove the propaganda. One morning, he finally got a chance to tear down a banner with pictures and erase the libelous slogans on the blackboard. The guards barbarically beat him and hung him up in the solitary confinement cell. Group Leader Tang Xiaobiao tortured him several times by shocking his sensitive body parts for more than thirty minutes. He pinched, kicked and hit Xin Minduo, spit on his face and verbally insulted him. He also taped pieces of paper with Falun Gong-slandering words on his head.
From then on, Xin Minduo and other practitioners tore down and wiped away the evil slogans, which greatly suppressed the evil. At one point, after nearly all detained Falun Gong practitioners took part in eliminating the wicked propaganda, the guards stopped posting and writing them. Practitioners were really inspired.
The guards dreaded and hated Xin Minduo because he firmly believed in Falun Gong and courageously upheld Falun Gong. He firmly refused to cooperate with all of the persecutors' orders and also refused to recite the twenty detention center policies. They spared no methods in their torture of Xin Minduo in an attempt to make him compromise, but they always met with defeat. Group Leader Tang Xiaobiao beat Xin Minduo and hung him up by his handcuffed hands in a solitary confinement cell. Sometimes he shocked Xin Minduo for thirty minutes. This abuser also ordered the inmates to pinch him and violently kick his genitals and abdomen. They struck him to the ground and stomped on him. Once, Tang Xiaobiao kicked Xin Minduo's face with his boots so hard that a piece of flesh and skin came off Xin Minduo's face with each kick.
During the time when Liaohe Oilfield 610 Office agents and Panjin City 610 Office agents interrogated Xin Minduo they threatened him, "You just wait for prison!" They proceeded to shock him with electric batons and hit him with police batons that are fitted with spiral steel bars inside and rubber spikes on the outside. Xin Minduo held up his arms to block the batons. His arms and hands turned black from the heavy blows. He confronted the officials, "Doesn't the law say that torture is forbidden?" One agent ran up to him and hit him while saying, "Who coerced you? Who hit you?" They tried to make him "reform."
Xin Minduo showed no fear and seized all opportunities to clarify the truth. He said kindly, "We benefited greatly through Falun Gong cultivation and are considerate of others at all times. We think of others first, and we are known as good people. What do you want to transform good people into?" He received another round of beatings for saying these words.
They made Xin Minduo and other practitioners sit on plastic stools for eighteen hours a day without making any movements. They wouldn't let the practitioners use the restroom. The practitioners' buttocks ulcerated and seeped blood and pus. Xin Minduo was savagely beaten many times for trying to use the restroom. The guards encouraged the inmates to frequently beat Falun Gong practitioners. As a result, Xin Minduo's body was covered in wounds and burn scars from electric shocks.
Xin Minduo continued the long-term hunger strike to protest the inhuman torture at the Panjin Forced Labor Camp. According to other practitioners who were once held there with him, Xin Minduo's hunger strike lasted more than five months (someone said it was more than six months). During this period he was force-fed, beaten and locked in a solitary confinement cell, among other things. All of his tongue coating fell off and his mouth ulcerated so severely that he could not open it. He could no longer speak and he didn't have the strength to open his eyes. He had a weak pulse, and his body was also covered in scabies that caused intense itching.
Xin Minduo was held in the labor camp for eleven months. He endured all kinds of tortures, verbal abuse, beating and other corporal punishments. He was on the brink of death after nearly six months of being on a hunger strike. Then, on May 28, 2002, his father carried him home in his arms. Mr. Xin weighed 40 kg [88 lbs].
2003: 26 Days on the Death Bed
Xin Minduo was arrested again while clarifying the truth and validating Falun Gong on April 2, 2003. He was cruelly tortured. Zhang Runqiu, former head of the Xinglongtai District National Security Group in Panjin City took 1,200 yuan, two mobile phones and keys from him. Xin Minduo was again sent to the Panjin City Detention Center where he went on another hunger strike. He was tortured on the death bed for 26 days, which nearly killed him.
Liu Jingyu, deputy head of Xinglongtai District National Security Group phoned Xin Minduo's parents on April 29, 2003, and told them to bring 20,000 yuan next day. His parents went there next day and asked Liu Jingyu about Xin Minduo's condition. Liu Jingyu replied, "Your son is in bad health. You have to pay a 20,000 yuan guarantee fee for him to get out on medical parole."
His parents said, "We don't have that much money! Would 10,000 yuan be enough?" Liu Jingyu said in a cold voice, "No! Forget it if you don't want to save your son. We'll go on break tomorrow, and you'll be responsible for your son's life!" Xin Minduo's parents asked the purpose of the money. Group Leader Zhang Runqiu said, "Pay first and we'll let you know later." Zhang Runqiu personally persecuted many practitioners and had extorted between 300,000 yuan and 500,000 yuan from practitioners' families over the past few years.
They eventually released Xin Minduo after his parents paid 20,000 yuan. When he first went home, Xin Minduo could neither sit nor sleep. His whole body ached within two hours after he returned home. The pain never stopped. He could not get a wink of sleep for three days. His upper body was dysfunctional and he could not turn over in a chair. He could not hold things with his hands and could not even grab toilet paper.
According to Xin Minduo, police officer Zhao had once said to him, "If I don't put you in prison this time, I'll change my last name to yours." They fabricated charges against Xin Minduo and filed a lawsuit at the procuratorate that later rejected the suit. Below is an excerpt of Xin Minduo's statement:
"At the Panjin City Labor Camp, I was tortured in the 'fixed position' (fixing a person in the same posture) for one month. Both my hands and legs were handcuffed to the ground and stretched out like the Chinese character da. I was force-fed with tubes inserted into my nose. The prisoners were ordered to clean away my feces and urine. My arms were severely injured, and I was in critical condition. Finally I was released, but only after my family paid twenty thousand yuan. One week after I arrived home, the police came to harass me again. My arms were in such pain then that I hardly slept or took off my clothes. After the police left, I made the choice again to leave home, in fragile condition."
2005: Third Arrest and Incarceration at the Panjin City Detention Center
Xin Minduo began clarifying the truth again after he had slightly recovered. Officers from Xinglongtai National Security Group including Leader Xu Hao closely followed him and located him via surveillance technology.
On the afternoon of August 3, 2005, five men jumped from a van and attacked Xin Minduo, who was riding a bicycle. They knocked him to the ground and dragged him into the van. The passersby thought the police were thugs committing a robbery. When Xin Minduo shouted, "Falun Gong is good!" they realized the police were again arresting a good person who practices Falun Gong. They were plainclothes police and had not presented their ID or an arrest warrant. They told people that they were arresting a con artist.
People were angry when they saw the police punching Xin Minduo like a sandbag. One passerby confronted the police saying, "Why are you beating him like this?" A police officer said in a low voice, "We are cops, and he practices Falun Gong." He flashed his ID. The passersby asked, "What law did he violate? What's wrong with practicing Falun Gong? The law is the standard that you should use to judge him. Why are you as cops beating him?" The officer whispered, "What are you doing?" The passerby answered, "Never mind what I do! Why are you beating him to death? Who authorized you to do this?" Other passersby also condemned the police. The head police officer led the other officers. They left hastily to avoid the angry crowd.
Xin Minduo was held in the Panjin City Detention Center for the third time. He later learned that this group of police officers was headed by Xu Hao, head of the Xinglongtai District National Security Group.
Xu Hao took Xin Minduo's keys and later broke into his home and ransacked it in Xin Minduo and his family's absence. He took a new refrigerator, washer, more than 12,600 yuan in cash, a bank deposit book in the amount of 5,000 yuan that belonged to Xin Minduo's father, two full tanks of propane, computer(s), and other valuable personal belongings. Later, when Xin Minduo's mother and several relatives went to pick up some of Xin Minduo's clothes at his place under the supervision of National Security agents, she was shocked by what she saw. The whole place was turned upside down. All drawers were open, things were strewn about, and all valuables were missing. Not a single penny was left.
Xin Minduo's mother confronted Xu Hao, "My son is not a robber! Why did you take his refrigerator, washer, deposit slip and cash? What does that have to do with him practicing Falun Gong?" Xu Hao said, "Do you have receipts for all those things? If he didn't steal them, how come you don't have any receipts?" Xin Minduo's mother said, "You did not even leave behind a single scrap of paper. You took all the receipts! Why are you asking me to show receipts?"
The money and property taken by the National Security Group from Xin Minduo's family totaled upwards of 50,000 yuan. The police are still withholding a large portion of the things and never gave any reasonable explanation for the ransacking.
2006: We'll Torture You to Death!"
During the third detention, Xin Minduo held another hunger strike to protest the illegal detention and was again brutally force-fed. The guards at Panjin Detention Center force-fed him unknown substances and tied him spread-eagle in bed for a long time. One of his front teeth was knocked out. He had become emaciated, yet the authorities refused to release him.
Panjin City Court and persons from Xinglongtai District Court transferred Xin Minduo to Nanshan Prison in Panjin City on February 21, 2006, although he was in critical condition. Xin Minduo had by that time been held and tortured at the detention center for about seven months. When Xinglongtai District Court tried him on false charges the National Security Group had produced, Mr. Xin Minduo could neither stand up nor walk. Several people carried him into the court. The police forbade Xin Minduo's family and friends to meet with him before the trial. They even prevented Xin Minduo's lawyer, whom the National Security Group had appointed, to meet with Xin Minduo and his family. They ignored Xin Minduo's ill health.
Xinglongtai District Court, a preliminary court, didn't notify Xin Minduo's family and didn't post a trial announcement. Xin Minduo's family learned about it and spread the information among relatives. Surprisingly, the court required Xin Minduo's family to show their ID before they could audit the trial and videotaped the family's faces. Family and relatives who didn't know about the "rule" and didn't bring their ID were blocked from entering court.
Persecutor Xu Hao, who received promotions through his persecution of Falun Gong, and other officials fabricated evidence. They took possession of Xin Minduo's personal property by omitting them from the list of confiscated items. They also made up the story that they had found 1,100 VCDs at Xin Minduo's home. They lied further and claimed Xin Minduo and his wife had made them. They produced false picture evidence.
Xin Minduo's mother said, "My son doesn't have a VCD recorder at home. How can he produce any VCDs?" Xu Hao took out some pictures that show a few VCDs laying on the floor, but the floor in the picture is not the tile floor in Xin Minduo's home. The police didn't expect their trick to be so quickly exposed.
Persecutor Xu Hao and others also forged Xin Minduo's signature on the list of confiscated items, to justify the legitimacy of the persecution. When Xin Minduo's mother pointed out that the signature on the document is not that of Xin Minduo, Xu Hao became angry and said, "I can sign on behalf of Xin Minduo if I have three witnesses!" After the trial, the officials went to Yuan Yinghua, head of the Xingshun Neighborhood Committee at the Xinghai Street Office and ordered her to sign a "witness's in-court testimony," although she did not appear in court.
Xu Hao and Ma Li, Xinglongtai District Court's head woman judge covertly decided before the trial they would sentence Xin Minduo to 13 years in prison. Xu Hao and other officials thought they had fabricated enough evidence. They had appointed a lawyer to defend Xin Minduo but had told him before the trial to plead guilty. The lawyer didn't follow their orders however. Instead, he defended Xin Minduo's innocence. The officials panicked, but they still thought they had control over the situation, so they allowed Xin Minduo to hire his own lawyer in subsequent trials. Behind the scenes, however, they asserted pressure on Xin Minduo's lawyer.
Xin Minduo's lawyer and Mr. Xin himself exposed the false evidence. People auditing the trial were shocked. They realized that persecutor Xu Hao and other officials had fabricated the so-called criminal evidence, and that Falun Gong practitioners including Xin Minduo should be released. People looked at the judge, but he announced adjournment.
After the trial Xu Hao went to Xin Minduo's lawyer and said, "I'm in charge of the case. Please help me out and spare me public embarrassment." The lawyer said, "I must follow the law and deal with matters according to the law and evidence." Xu Hao was furious and threatened, "You wait and see! If you ever fall under my jurisdiction, I'll make sure to fix you for good!" It was learned that the city and the district Politics and Law Committee had orchestrated this illegal trial.
Although no verdict was reached during the trial, Xu Hao and judge Ma Li secretly sentenced Xin Minduo to 13 years in prison. They didn't issue the verdict to Xin Minduo or his family to prevent them from appealing the sentence, but Xin Minduo's family learned of the sentence. They immediately appealed with the Panjin City Intermediate Court. The lawyer presented a strong defense. Panjin City Court rejected the verdict and ordered Xinglongtai District Court to review the case.
Persecutor Xu Hao and others continued to fabricate even more false evidence. They colluded with judge Ma Li to continue to persecute Xin Minduo. The public prosecutor and the procuratorate didn't do anything to stop them. They didn't conduct any investigation and they didn't verify the facts.
Xinglongtai District Court upheld the original sentence on January 15, 2006. Falun Gong practitioner Xin Minduo was taken to Nanshan Prison on February 21, 2006 despite his extremely weak condition.
Cremation to Destroy Evidence of the Circumstances Surrounding His Death
While he was held in Nanshan Prison, Xin Minduo firmly persisted in his belief in Falun Gong. He refused to wear the prison uniform and refused to do slave labor. He demanded unconditional release and was locked in a solitary confinement cell. He continued with a hunger strike and was savagely tortured.
Xin Minduo's family contacted the prison authorities many times during July and August 2006, until the officials agreed to let the family meet with Xin Minduo. When the family arrived at Nanshan Prison in the sweltering heat they were told they could not see Xin Minduo. Xin Minduo's elderly parents walked in circles outside the prison. Their eyesight had deteriorated over the years from anguish, anxiety and fear. They lost many of their teeth. The prison authorities said to them, "You wrote threatening letters [truth clarification letters] to us and exposed us [on the Internet]. You've angered our supervisor. You think you are that powerful? Go and do whatever you want. We won't release him even if he dies here!"
The prison authorities cremated Xin Minduo's body at 6:00 a.m. on September 3, 2006.
Xin Minduo's story is yet another proof of Jiang Zemin's policy, "beating [Falun Gong practitioners] to death is nothing and shall be counted as suicide; do not identify the bodies and cremate them directly."
The source of this story claims that Xin Minduo's eyes were wide open after his death. He had an excruciating look of pain on his face. His family tried to close his eyes several times but they remained open. They also learned that Xin Minduo was force-fed a thick paste and highly concentrated salt water. He was probably suffocated.
Qianyang Township police arrested Falun Gong practitioner Liu Cheng on July 20, 2004 and sent him to a detention center, following a home search. At the day of his arrest the persecutors transferred him to the Jinzhou Forced Labor Camp, where he was subjected to various tortures.
1. Enduring the iron chair for four days:
The iron chair is actually a metal chair made from only a few iron rods. Sitting on the chair for a long time can cause the victim's lumbar vertebra to become dislocated, the lower limbs crippled, or the person to become paralyzed. Since Liu Cheng refused to wear the prison uniform, the guards forced him to sit on the iron chair. His hands and feet were handcuffed to the chair and his whole body weight was on that metal rod. Before long, when subjected to this torture, one feels severe pain from the lower back, the arms, the lower limbs and back, which make one feel like dying rather than living. Liu Cheng had been subjected to this torture for four days.
2. Legs tied into double cross position
Around July 27-28, 2004, guards led by Li Songtao forced Liu's legs into double cross position and tied them, using a bed sheet. They also handcuffed Liu's hands behind his back and put a safety helmet on his head. They forced him to listen to brainwashing broadcasts that slandered Falun Gong. Guard Li also used an electric baton to shock Liu's face and neck. This torture continued for an entire day.
3. Handcuffing, plus beatings and electric shocks
Guards Liu Guangjiang, Han Lihua, Niu Jiyao and a person with the surname Sun attempted to make Mr. Liu give up Falun Gong. They made him sit on a bed, and handcuffed him separately to each side of the bed's headboard. The officers then incited criminals Chen Changbin, Wang Tao, Li Huanyu, Li Feng, Yin Mingde, Sun Guoze and others to beat him. They beat his chest with their fists and used the bottoms of their shoes to hit his head and face. They further used a mop handle to poke his chest, knees and ankles and kicked his back. While this was happening, the guards electrically shocked Mr. Liu's face and neck. Following that abuse, the evildoers handcuffed him to a heating pipe in such a way that he could neither stand nor squat, and they continued to beat and shock him.
In addition, they used a belt buckle to poke at his chest and his testicles. Such abuse continued for three days, leaving him black and blue. He was also deprived of sleep. When this torture was stopped, Mr. Liu was bedridden for two weeks.
Following this abuse, Mr. Liu was in constant pain and discomfort and had lost the feeling in his legs. He attempted to practice Falun Gong to relieve his pain, but the 2nd Group Leader Bai Jinlong threatened him. Ignoring Mr. Liu's agony, Bai had the practitioner incarcerated in a small cell, to torture him further. In addition, Bai urged common criminal Pan Xuehai to handcuff Mr. Liu onto a small chair and then beat and kick him. More abuse followed. They used a bit and bridle on him, the bit was rough and protruded toward the throat. It poked into his throat, making him vomit uncontrollably. He had to wear this bit all day long for two weeks. The guards thought of other cruelties as well. They hung him up and then later had him stand straight, with hands handcuffed behind his back. The abusers continued the tortures for two months, eventually leading to Mr. Liu's severe leg disability. A doctor diagnosed the condition as a protruding disc in the lower back, having led to leg numbness from chronic pressure.
Mr. Liu Cheng tried once to intervene in the beating of Falun Gong practitioner Liu Xiangyang. Guard Li Songtao had given the beating order. Mr. Liu Cheng said, "Stop the beating! Falun Gong is good!" That earned Mr. Liu Cheng a one-month extended imprisonment term.
4. Sitting on a small chair
Falun Gong practitioners had to sit for ten hours or more daily on tiny wooden chairs with a surface area of 1 sq. foot. This lengthy sitting bruised the buttocks, made them fester and have scabs, and in serious cases led to gangrene in spots. The rectal area was permanently damaged for some people due to lack of circulation. The legs were affected as well, causing some people to become disabled.
The events described above are a mere fraction of the abuse and torture that Mr. Liu Cheng had to endure under the persecution at the Jinzhou Forced Labor Camp. Additional and even more ruthless incidents are daily occurrences at that camp, a camp notorious for years of savage persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. Several practitioners have died at this camp, and others have been physically or mentally disabled. Justice has not yet been served. The persecutors are so far still going freely about their cruelties and continue their evil ways, because the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) sanctions their conduct. The particular people who are clamoring for promotions and get-rich schemes at this camp by persecuting Falun Gong practitioners include the following individuals: Li Songtao, Bai Jinlong, Zhang Chunfeng, Liu Xingjiang, Zhang Jiabin, Yang Tinglun, Mu Jinsheng, He Yinglin, Shi Zhenshan and others.
As of the summer of 2006, several dozen Falun Gong practitioners have been illegally imprisoned in Liaoning Province's Panjin Jail. Many of them have held hunger strikes to protest the persecution and demand to be set free unconditionally. Some of them however have not been heard from after they were sent to the hospital, and so far, there is one practitioner known to have died from the persecution.
There are several thousand prisoners in the Panjin Jail divided into more than ten units. All the units have their own compounds, and in each of these compounds, the unit is divided into several secondary units. In the summer of 2006, there were several dozen practitioners there. As all the practitioners were closely monitored around the clock by specially appointed prisoners, it was very hard for them to make contact or communicate with each other. On the other hand, clarifying the truth to the prisoners was quite convenient. Most of the prisoners changed their perception about Falun Gong after they learned the true facts and witnessed the demeanor of practitioners. Some of the prisoners expressed the desire to practice Falun Gong. Clarifying the truth to the prison guards also made them aware that the practitioners are good people.
Panjin Jail persecutes practitioners principally in two ways: One is by blocking all channels through which practitioners communicate with each other and obtain Falun Gong books or articles. The other way is by closely shadowing them and tightly monitoring them around the clock to directly interfere with their exchanges, practicing the exercises and sending righteous thoughts. Another persecution method is forcing practitioners to do intensive slave labor, waking them up at 4:30 in the morning to do chores and clean up, and from 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. they have to plant rice in the field. Many other chores are then done within the two hours before they go to bed.
Even under such a difficult environment, every one of the practitioners steadfastly carried out the three things and adopted various measures to resist the persecution. For example, refusing to write any "transformation" material, and refusing to recite the prison regulations or to attend any test for prisoners, lodging appeals, complaints, and initiating lawsuits. The practitioners would also converse and practice the exercises openly and hold hunger strikes, etc.
When some practitioners held hunger strikes, many of the prisoners did not understand them. The practitioners explained to them that the hunger strike was the last resort under the circumstances when all else failed in order to protest against the persecution and awaken the people, it was not abandoning life nor tormenting oneself.
The following is the situation of three practitioners who went on a hunger strike:
One practitioner who was locked up in the third unit was sent to the prison hospital at 4:00 a.m. on the seventh day of his hunger strike. At 5:00 the same morning, he was transfered to the city hospital. He needed help into the car by two other persons. Two hours later, they announced that he had passed away. The details of this case are still under investigation.
Zhao Hongli, a practitioner from Chaoyang, Liaoning Province, was also imprisoned in the third unit. He held a hunger strike from September 2005 to late April 2006. He was force fed for seven months through a nasal-gastric tube. In April 2006, he regurgitated all the forced feeding. Intravenous infusion could also not be administered. He was not mobile at this stage and was carried into a police car. His whereabouts are unclear.
In June 2006, one practitioner who was on a hunger strike was sent to the prison hospital from the second unit and has since been force-fed and given infusions.
There are still other practitioners on long-term hunger strikes. Details await investigation.
Falun Gong practitioner Wang Guibin from Wanquan County, Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province was persecuted to death in the Shisanli Detention Center. On July 20, several practitioners accompanied his family members to view the body. These practitioners were all arrested and detained at the Xuanhua Detention Center.
At around 5:00 p.m. on September 15, 2006, Chinese Communist Party (CCP) government personnel brought the wife of Falun Gong practitioner Wang Guibin to the Shisanli Detention Center and told her they wanted to tell her something. When they arrived at the detention center it was past 7:00 p.m. The CCP government personnel told Wang Guibin’s wife that Wang Guibin had already passed away on the morning of September 15, and that he died of hunger. Wang Guibin’s wife fell to the ground and fainted on the spot.
When Mr. Wang's third son came home, he could not find his mother. He was told that his mother was taken away, so he took a taxi to the Shisanli Detention Center in Zhangjiakou. He was also told that his step-father had already passed away. Mr. Wang's son told the CCP personnel that since his father was dead, the family would take his body home. The CCP government personnel said, "We will decide if the body is to be cremated. It's against the law for you to take the body away." The mother and son did not see the body. When they arrived home it was already late at night. They went to the police department to argue with the officials, so the CCP personnel threatened them and said, "We ignore cases of Falun Gong practitioners. Have the family members sign the paper work and have the body cremated at 8:00 a.m. tomorrow morning."
On the morning of September 17, police officers came to Wang Guibin’s home and made Wang Guibin’s wife sign the paperwork. A very healthy person died in two weeks unjustly. The family members refused to sign the paper allowing cremation, so the police turned around and left immediately. On September 18, the police again came for the signature. The daughter of Wang Guibin’s older mother already passed away and her son was her only living support. As soon as she heard that her son had passed away, she cried her heart out. She sat in the police car and cried so hard that she fainted. The police saw the situation was not in their favor, so they turned around and ran away. On September 19, Wang Guibin’s mother had seizures and almost died. She was revived after receiving injections of medicine. When the family members and Wang Guibin’s mother went to the police department to request the release of Wang Guibin’s body, the police saw that the elderly lady was extremely weak, so they consented to let the family see the body the next day. They also said that they would provide the funeral fee and help to resolve the living expense of Wang Guibin’s mother and wife.
On the morning of September 20, because Wang Guibin’s mother and family members were very weak, several Falun Gong practitioners in Wanquan County accompanied Wang Guibin’s family members to go to the funeral home in Zhangjiakou. Someone said in the afternoon that, "People were arrested when they viewed the body. The Wanquan Police Department is so evil."
Originally the CCP government personnel consented to let them see the body the next day, but it was merely a lie. On July 20, Falun Gong practitioners that were arrested included Wang Fengying, Cao Fengying, Yan Bin, Wu Xiutao, Tian Wenfang, Jia Huiqin. All were said to be detained at the Xuanhua Detention Center.
On the afternoon of September 18, 2006, Tang Longping and eight other police officers broke into the home of Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Zhou Jiali. Tang Longping, the Assistant Director of Lushuihe Township Police Sub-Bureau of Baishan City, Jilin Province was accompanied by Zhao Wenjie, police chief of the Criminal Investigation unit, officer Xiu Jihu and several others. They illegally searched the house and took a computer, a printer, a CD burner, Falun Gong books, copies of the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party and other truth-clarifying materials. They also illegally arrested Ms. Zhou's husband, Wang Zhongliang, who is not a practitioner, Mrs. Yang, Ms. Zhou's visiting relative, Mrs. Ding, a neighbor who was visiting, and Ms. Sun Changping and her son.
Mr. Wang Zhongliang and the others were having a meal at the house when the incident occurred. When he was released, the police said that Mr. Wang would be fined because they found the book Falun Gong in his home. Later that same day, the police arrested practitioner Ms. Yang Zhonghong. Ms. Yang clarified the truth to a family member of police officer Liang, and she was reported to the police. During the arrest, Tang Longping tried to coax Ms. Yang's four-year-old daughter into naming all the people that had met with her mother. The child was so frightened that she was trembling. The neighbors protested strongly against the abusive behavior of these police. People say the police these days are worse than gangsters.
On the afternoon of September 19, the families of these practitioners went to the Lushuihe Police Sub-Bureau asking for the release of their relatives. They were asked to leave and were pushed out the door in a hurry. All practitioners were sent to Fusong County Detention Center. When the families brought blankets and other daily necessities to the detention center, the police there refused to let the practitioners have them. Practitioners had to purchase these items at the detention center, and a thin blanket costs over 100 yuan. The police use every means to extort money from practitioners.
In addition, Fusong County Detention Center Director Li Kegang refused to let practitioners' families visit them or bring them anything, and also blocked any information to the outside.
Note: The following is a shortened version of a longer and more detailed article that appeared on the minghui.ca website (Chinese version of Clearwisdom.net).
Ms. Qi Songling, 66, was retired from Chongqing City Chang'an
Factory.
In April 2006, when Ms. Qi went shopping at the Jialefu Supermarket on
Mianhua Street, she was suddenly searched by security staff. When they
found Falun Gong truth
clarifying
materials, they reported her to the police and she was arrested. Later,
the police searched her house. They confiscated some Falun Gong
materials and a copy machine. At around 10:00 a.m on September 21,
2006, she was tried by Yuzhong District Court.
Except for Ms. Qi's relatives, the majority of people who attended the
hearing were Falun Gong practitioners. During the trial process, Ms. Qi
clarified the truth mercifully and peacefully with wisdom. After the
trial ended, practitioners clarified the truth to the agents and police
officers. The personnel who tried Ms. Qi and the police officers were
told by practitioners not to persecute Falun Gong.
Ms. Qi is currently detained in Yuzhong District Detention Center
at Liziba. After October 1, 2006, she will reportedly be tried again by
the Yuzhong District Court on Zhongxing Road.