1. Death and Torture in Custody

1.1 Ms. Zhao Jinhua Beaten to Death for Refusing to Give up Her Belief in Falun Gong

On September 27, 1999, Ms. Zhao Jinhua, a resident of Zhaoyuan City in Shandong Province was taken away by the Zhangxing County police while she was working on a farm. Together with her were four other practitioners:

1) Wang Fenglan from the Yujia Village in Shiduitou
2) Ma Yufeng from Xiaojiajia
3) Zhan Keyun from Heya Village
4) Wang Haohong who worked for a barbershop in the same town.

All five of them were detained in the same room of the local police station. They were tortured by the policemen for refusing to read a book that denounced Falun Gong. The torture lasted for an entire afternoon. That night, four of them (after one of the practitioners was transferred to another detention center) were not allowed to sleep. As soon as they fell asleep they would be tortured.

On the night of October 1, 1999, while four of them were doing the Falun Gong sitting meditation exercise, a bunch of cops came in and began to violently punch and kick them. They also beat the practitioners with rubber clubs. They struck Wang Fenglan a few times with the club and then wrapped her up with a telephone cord to electrocute her with an old-style rotary telephone until she fell to the ground and lost consciousness. They hit Zhao Jinhua with a rubber club, then dragged her to the office and shocked her with the telephone. As she was being tortured, they repeatedly asked her if she would stop practicing. The answer was always “No!” Therefore, they continued to torture her in this manner. Three times Zhao Jinhua lost consciousness. Wang Fenglan witnessed all of this.

Then the four practitioners were forced to stand barefoot on the concrete ground. Zhao Jinhua could hardly stand up. Her face was a pale yellow. After she fell down with her eyes closed, they sent Zhao Jinhua to a local hospital for emergency treatment. After a doctor gave her an injection, she was taken back to the police station. Zhao Jinhua said she felt pressure in her chest, and that the right side of her body felt numb. She felt a great deal of pain all over her body. There was blood in her urine, pain in both of her legs, and she was unable to eat. Her whole buttock was black and blue from the waist down. Wang Fenglan, Zhang Keyun and Ma Yufeng all witnessed this. The personnel in the police substation Ou Dafu and Fu Shaoxing also witnessed this. The police station did not take any further action to help her.

At 4 o’clock in the afternoon on October 7, 1999, when Zhao Jinhua tried to go to the restroom, she fell down right after stepping outside the door. The other three practitioners came to help her but could not get her to stand up. “She gets what she deserves,” A policeman named Bing Huachun commented. Finally, when she was pulled to her feet, she wet her pants. The police station sent her again to the emergency room at the local Hospital; the other three practitioners went along. But it was too late. She stopped breathing while medical personnel were doing an electrocardiogram.

Zhao Jinhua had no illnesses. Four years of Falun Gong practice had made her very healthy. She handled all the work on the farm and at home by herself. This is common knowledge throughout her neighborhood. She was tortured to death by the police officers because she refused to denounce her belief in Falun Gong. The public security personnel and the local government then prepared a report that described how well they attempted to save Zhao Jinhua, and forced the other 3 practitioners to sign it.

The autopsy report showed that, with the exception of the head, “there were multiple wounds on her body. Within the range of 120 x 60 millimeters there was sub-cutaneous bleeding.” The report concluded that she died from being beaten with a blunt object. The authorities were afraid of leaking out the truth about Zhao’s death, so they didn’t release the other three practitioners until November 12, 1999. They were also forced by the local government to say that Zhao Jinhua died from myocardial infarction. Otherwise, they would have suffered from beating and electric shocks. Ms. Zhao’s family was also threatened by the local government not to reveal the truth of Zhao’s death.

The Chinese government did not punish those who murdered Ms. Zhao. Instead, they investigated those practitioners who had disclosed the death of Ms. Zhao to the public. On November 20, 1999, practitioners Li Nanying and Chen Shihuan were sentenced to three years of forced labor education for revealing the truth of Ms. Zhao’s death to the public.

Related reports include:

· AFP: Chinese Woman Beaten to Death (10/11/99)

· AFP: Faithful Falun Gong member pays price for belief (10/8/99)

· Reuters: China sends two Falun Gong members to labor camp (12/29/99)

· AP: China Said To Send 2 to Labor Camps (12/29/99)

· AFP: Falun Gong Members Jailed For Publicizing Death Of Tortured Woman (12/29/99)

1.2 Zhang Chunqing Tortured while in Detention and Sentenced for Disclosing the Persecution

Zhang Chunqing was a resident of Nanshan #13, 2-101, at Dalian Engineering University in Liaoning Province.

On September 3, 1999, she was arrested for practicing Falun Gong exercises in a park with her granddaughter, and was subsequently detained for 15 days in the Dalian Nanguan Yaojia Detention Center under the charge of “disturbing social order”.

On September 5, Zhang Chunqing told the leader of her prison cell that she wanted to practice Falun Gong exercises and asked her to inform the guard. As soon as Zhang Chunqing started practicing the exercises, the section chief slapped her face with a letter-sized hard binder.

After a while, they brought over a steel frame, which obviously had not been used for many years because it was covered with rust and spider webs. It weighed about 22-pounds and stood 20” high and 15” wide. They chained her hands and feet to it. The device was called the “Di Lao” (or translated literally “prison in hell”), used for the most severe criminals.

At 7pm on September 5 she was put into the shackles of this “Di Lao” and then forced to walk. She had been in these shackles until September 7. During this 48 hour period she didn’t go to the toilet. At 11pm on September 7, she was made to put on the “Di Lao” again until the evening of September 10. From then until 9am on September 11 she and another practitioner were hand-cuffed back-to-back and forced to lie on a bed. They could not fall asleep otherwise the handcuffs would get tighter and tighter, and eventually cut into the flesh. When they were freed from the handcuffs at about 9pm on Sep. 11, there were big and bright blisters all over their wrists. The hands of some practitioners were swollen into balls. Because of the stains on the foot-cuffs, many practitioners had brown and purple scars on their ankles. Because many of the handcuffs cut into their skin, it was not easy for the guard to take them off. Zhang Chunqing once asked the police: “I have already been here for four days, but I have not seen the arrest permit yet. I still do not know what crime I have committed.” The chief shouted at her: “What kind of people are you? Are you qualified to see the permit?” She saw the arrest permit at home later after she had been detained for 15 days. When she was released, many places around her ankles were swollen and infected, emitting pus and fluids. She indicated that the pain in her ankles felt like she was being stabbed with sharp needles.

 

Ms. Zhang Chunqing was tortured with the “Di Lao” device. All Pictures were Taken on the 7 Days after Hospital Treatment.

 The torture in the detention center was not the end of Ms. Zhang Chunqing’s story. After Ms. Zhang disclosed to the world the inhuman treatments she received in the detention center, the people around the world felt concerned to learn of such brutal torture, and started to condemn the Chinese government for it. Then, in November of 1999, she was “officially” arrested in Dalian City under the charge of “leaking state secrets”.

On December 27, 1999, Ms. Zhang Chunqing was sent to the Mashanjia labor camp for three years of forced labor without any trial. Her family only received a verbal notice regarding her detention without any detailed information. She was forbidden from visiting with her family.

Related reports include:

· AP: China arrests more members of meditation group, (9/20/99)

· AFP: Falungong member who publicized maltreatment sent to labour camp (12/28/99)

· AP: China Detains 20 Falun Gong Members (12/28/99)

1.3 Professor Zhu Hang Lost Consciousness while Being Tortured; Later Sent to Mental Hospital for Publicizing Her Maltreatment in the Detention Center

Ms. Zhu Hang is an Associate Professor in the Department of Humanity and Social Sciences, Dalian Polytechnic University, Dalian City, Liaoning Province.

She was arrested when practicing Falun Gong exercises in a park on August 30, 1999. In the Dalian Yaojia Detention Center located in Nanguanling, she went through unimaginable suffering, inhuman treatment, and torture.

She was tortured with the “Di Lao” (translated literally as the “prison in hell”) device that held her so that she was completely unable to move. As a result, she was not able to use the toilet or eat on her own. Because she did not want to make difficulties for other detained practitioners, and there was not enough food for everyone, she started fasting. After 7 days and nights, the authorities started to worry about possible “life accidents”, and ordered several guards to force her to eat by pricking her mouth with spoons ruthlessly, which caused severe injury to her mouth. Later, they installed a pipe in her nose to feed liquid into her. She finally lost consciousness because of this torture, and was sent to the People’s No. 2 Hospital in Dalian City.

Because of the “Di Lao” device, her left foot was swollen to almost double its size. Her right foot was not as bad but still had many injuries. She could not open her mouth to speak very well. The doctor infused liquid into her in order to revive her. She expressed to other Falun Gong practitioners that she would like to reveal everything to the media and human rights organizations in order to help to release others.

Zhu Hang was later sent to a mental hospital by the Chinese authorities for revealing to the public her experience in the detention center, and was forced to endure inhumane treatments. [Minghui, 12/27/99]

   

1.4 Xiang Jinying’s Arm was Broken when She was Totured by Police

My name is Xiang Jinying, a Falun Gong practitioner from Haiyan County of Zhejiang Province. On October 25 when I appealed in Beijing, I was beaten up by the police. My left upper arm was broken from the torture.

On October 25, 3 of us went to Tiananmen Square to peacefully practice the exercises of Falun Gong. Upon arriving at the Square we were questioned by the police for no apparent reason. They asked us whether we were Falun Gong practitioners or not. We gave them a firm answer. Therefore, we were sent to a nearby police station where 50 to 60 practitioners were already being held. The police dragged a dozen of us out and hand-cuffed our hands behind our backs. (with one hand extending back over the shoulder, and the other hand brought around and up from the waist, which is an extremely painful way of being handcuffed) The police also made us kneel on the ground and slammed our heads into the wall. A policeman even forcefully dragged my arm despite the fact that I was handcuffed. Suddenly, my arm broke with a crack. Cool sweat emitted out from my forehead because of the pain. I endured the pain silently. About 15 minutes later, the police found something wrong with me. He thus took my handcuffs off. He even swayed my arm to see whether I was lying to him or not. He thought it might be dislocated. He tried to push it back into place several times but failed eventually.

Later we were sent to a courtyard in Beijing in a truck. After we got off the truck, we were interrogated. We were then sent back to the truck after the interrogation. During the interrogation, we would be beaten up if we answered that we were Falun Gong practitioners. Twice we had gone through the process of getting off the truck, being interrogated and then sent back to the truck again. Later we were stripped and searched. At 1am on October 26, we were sent to the detention center. My arm was found to have been severely injured. On the morning of October 26, a doctor came to examine my arm. Upon discovering that I am a Falun Gong practitioner, he refused to examine my arm. On October 27, the police took me to the hospital to take a picture. The doctor was surprised to find that my upper arm was broken. On the morning of October 30, they again took me to the hospital. Several doctors held group consultations and decided to have a big operation on me. I refused to do that. They thus put my arm in splints and took another picture. On the same afternoon, they interrogated me again and allowed me to go home. I was sent to a motel by the local Haiyan police department. Later I escaped.

[http://minghui.ca , 11/02/99]

 

 Xiang Jinying’s left arm was broken when she was tortured by police.

1.5 Liu Jing From Jiangxi was Tortured in Tiananmen Square Police Station

Ms. Liu Jing is a Falun Gong practitioner from Jiangxi Province in China. On Dec. 22, 1999, she went to Tiananmen Square to appeal for Falun Gong by peacefully practicing the exercises. In a very short while, she got arrested by answering yes when asked by the police, “Are you a Falun Gong practitioner?” She was then taken to the Tiananmen Square police station and held for two days. During that time she was subjected to a full body search, interrogation, and torture by the police. She was released on Dec. 24. Below are her pictures showing evidence of having been tortured. [English Minghui, http://minghui.ca, January 4 & 10, 2000]

 

Photos Taken After Ms. Liu Was Released From the Police Station

1.6 Liu Xuguo Died of Lung Infection Caused by Force-Feeding during Hunger Strike

Liu Xuguo, 29, was a technician at a fertilizer factory in Zoucheng City, Shandong Province. He was detained after going to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong to the Chinese authorities in October 1999, and was sentenced to 3 years in a labor camp in Jining City, Shandong before the Lunar New Year (February 5, 2000).

Liu Xuguo and a few other practitioners went on a hunger strike over the Lunar New Year holiday to protest their imprisonment. Mr. Liu fainted after 6 days without food and was sent to a hospital where police worked with medical staff to stuff a plastic pipe down his throat to force-feed him. Their actions severely injured his wind pipe and seriously infected his lungs, which eventually caused his death on February 11, 2000.

Related reports include:

· AP: Banned Sect Member Dies in China (02/22/00)

· Washington Post: Death of Jailed Sect Member Reported (02/23/00)

1.7 Ms. Chen Zixiu Tortured to Death in Police Custody

Chen Zixiu, 59, was a Falun Gong practitioner from Beiguan Xujia Xiaozhuang, Weicheng District, Weifang City. She was picked up at Weifang Railway Station on the way to Beijing to make an appeal to the authorities. She was then taken to Chenguan Sub-district Office in Weicheng City and was detained there for a forced “reeducation”. Chen Zixiu was battered to death at Chenguan Sub-district Office and her body was transferred to the municipal Hospital at 9:00am on February 21, 2000. That night, at 7:30pm, public security summoned her family to Jinhai Hotel in Weifang City. They were put under house confinement and watched by a dozen policemen. The families wanted to see the body but were not allowed until the following day (February 22). At 10:00am they saw her body at a mortuary in Municipal Hospital.

Her family stated that before entering the mortuary, they saw Chen’s clothing and articles thrown in the corner of the yard, having been cut up with scissors. Pants and bed cover were stained with feces and urine. In the mortuary they saw Chen Zixiu’s body. It had been dressed in a shroud and her face was made-up. Her appearance had changed so much that they could hardly recognize her. Her mouth was tainted with blood; teeth were battered and broken. When viewing the body, they discovered her abdomen distended. Massive ecchymosis (black-and-blue) was found from her hips down. Her legs were also swollen. Her family could not bear to go on with a detailed examination of the body. Therefore the damage to her other body parts as well as damage to her internal organs, were not identified.

Related reports include:

· AP: Falun Gong Member Dies in Custody (02/28/00)

· Reuters: Falun Gong Member Dies After China Beatings-Group (02/28/00)

· Deutsche Presse-Agentur: Rights group charges China police with murdering Falun Gong member (02/28/00)

· AFP: Falungong Member Beaten To Death By Chinese Police (02/28/00)

Part II

Next