(Clearwisdom.net) It has been almost one year since Ms. Gao Rongrong was tortured to death, but the people and departments involved in persecuting her have not been brought to justice.
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Recently, Ms. Gao Rongrong's parents and sister appealed to many different government departments, but to no avail. The departments usually responded either that they would hold a meeting to discuss the issue, that they were too busy with something else, or that they should go home and wait for an answer from the government.
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Ms. Gao's parents braved the chilly winds and cold temperatures to meet with someone from the Liaoning Province Prosecuting Bureau. However, no one would come out to meet them and they could not get inside the building.
Shortly before Ms. Gao Rongrong passed away, the Zhangshi Forced Labor Camp in Shenyang City, the Masanjia Forced Labor Camp, the Liaoning Provincial Judicial Bureau, and the Department of Forced Labor of Liaoning Province conspired to give the same replies to her family, "Be assured that the murderer will be brought to justice. You don't have to come here to appeal. Simply go home and wait. Gao Rongrong will not encounter any danger this time. It is simply because our superiors have not reached a conclusion on her case." During this whole process, however, no one ever mentioned to Ms. Gao's family that she was on the verge of death.
On June 16, 2005, 37-year-old Ms. Gao died in the emergency room of the No. 1 Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University. Officials from the labor camps, judicial bureau and provincial forced labor department who repeatedly stated that the "higher authorities" had not reached a conclusion regarding Ms. Gao's case are now pressuring her family members to have her cremated, thereby destroying all evidence of torture.
According to an inside source, upon learning that several Falun Gong practitioners had rescued Ms. Gao after her tragic suffering in the Longshan Forced Labor Camp, Luo Gan, a member of the Communist Party (CCP) Central Political Bureau Standing Committee and Head of the 610 Office, personally took charge of Ms. Gao's case. He designated Ms. Gao's escape as the "Number 26 Major Case."
On June 12, 2005, Ms. Gao Rongrong's parents received notice that they could finally visit her in the hospital. By the time they arrived at the hospital at around 9:00 a.m., Ms. Gao was unconscious, her internal organs were shutting down, she was emaciated, and she was breathing through a machine. The doctors told them, "She arrived at the hospital in critical condition."
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I. Shocked by Electric Batons Continuously for Seven Hours, she was Severely Disfigured
Ms. Gao Rongrong was an accountant at the Luxun Fine Arts College in Shenyang City, Liaoning Province. When the persecution began in 1999, she was a major target of the persecution. She lost her job because she persisted in practicing Falun Dafa. When she went to Beijing to appeal for Dafa, she was arrested and held for several months. She was sent to the Longshan Forced Labor Camp in July 2003.
At the labor camp, Ms. Gao was severely tortured. As a result, she suffered from abdominal pain, pain near her liver, intermittent fever and persistent nausea, and the inability to eat. Deputy head Tang Yubao of the No. 2 Brigade slapped her face until she lost hearing in one ear.
On March 22, 2004, Ms. Gao refused to attend a meeting that slandered Dafa. Tang Yubao pulled her out of bed, grabbed her by the neck, dragged her outside, and beat her. Several team leaders pinned Ms. Gao to a chair. Tang Yubao also ordered two team leaders to carry Ms. Gao into the Administration Section office and handcuff her to a heating pipe. Then they beat her and shocked her head, face, neck, hands, and feet with electric batons for thirty minutes. Later, labor camp head Li Fengshi walked in and ignored the guards' abuse of Gao Rongrong. Instead, he said to her, "This is an autocratic government agency. What do you think the handcuffs and electric batons are there for? I don't believe they can't discipline you, little Gao Rongrong."
In April 2004, the Longshan Forced Labor Camp detained 52-year-old practitioner Ms. Wang Xiuyuan from the Shenhe District, Shenyang City, by extending her term. She passed away on April 27, 2004, one week after she was released.
On May 7, 2004, Tang Yubao, deputy head of the No. 2 Brigade, and team leader Jiang Zhaohua, called Ms. Gao Rongrong to the duty office. They shocked her with electric batons for over six consecutive hours, starting at 3:00 p.m. and not stopping until after 9:00 p.m. She sustained severe burns on her face, head, and neck, which caused her face to swell and become disfigured. Her face was covered with blisters, her hair was matted with blood, and pus adhered to her scorched skin. She could barely open her eyes and her mouth was also severely swollen and deformed. Even the inmates who stayed in the same cell could not recognize Ms. Gao.
The picture shows her face after the blisters had dried up, with the scars still present. The scars on some parts of her face are thick, which shows the severity of the electric shock. The authorities shocked many parts of her face repeatedly. Many blisters and burn scars overlapped in layers.
The doctors did not apply any medication to Ms. Gao's scorched face because applying medication, from the perspective of medical treatment, would leave too much pigment accumulating on her facial skin.
On May 7, 2005, practitioners Liu Jinzhi, Sun Yan, Jin Kegui, Liang Sujie, and Wang Yu were shocked with electric batons by Tang Yubao, Jiang Zhaohua and Wang Jichang. Among them, Ms. Sun Yan's face, mouth, neck, hands, and feet developed numerous cracks as a result of being shocked. Her mouth was swollen, and her hands and feet were burned. Tang Yubao shocked Ms. Jin Kegui on her face, causing severe burns and swelling. The skin surrounding her eyes became blue and purple. Pus seeped out from the cracks in her skin. She became disabled after the torture. Her daughter requested to visit her, but the camp authorities refused. Her daughter could only sadly yell, "Mom! Mom! I want to see my mom!"
After Ms. Gao Rongrong suffered seven hours of inhumane torture, she was compelled to jump out of a second story window to try to escape further persecution. As a result, she sustained two fractures to her pelvis, and her left leg and right heel were also broken. She was too weak to undergo surgery.
When Ms. Gao was receiving treatment in the First Hospital affiliated with the China University of Medicine, the Longshan Forced Labor Camp and the Shenyang City's Judicial Bureau constantly dispatched personnel to harass her, which worsened her health. The Longshan Forced Labor Camp police closely monitored her all day long and often deliberately provoked her family members. Police officers slept on the sofa in the ward day and night. Two policemen, Zeng Xiaoping and Wang Jichang, who participated in tormenting and abusing Ms. Gao, were assigned to guard her at the hospital.
Beginning on August 9, Ms. Gao had blood in her urine and she could not take in food or water. Her eyes had sunk into their sockets, and her whole body was completely out of shape. The doctors notified the police the she could die at any time and issued several "critical notices." However, the supervisors at the Longshan Forced Labor Camp and Shenyang City's Judicial Bureau refused to release her. They claimed that the hospital would give emergency treatment and they would not let Ms. Gao go home even if she died.
II. Obstructed by the Authorities when Appealing
After May 7, 2004, when Ms. Gao's face was disfigured by electric shocks, the departments involved in her case made no comments. Ms. Gao's family members have appealed her case according to the law, but the only reply they received was that her case had been taken over by the "special cases team." Her medical test results are not on file at the provincial level and her case is now in the hands of the Central Government's 610 Office.
The following is Ms. Gao's account of how her family members were stonewalled in their appeals process. It is also an account of the continued torment she suffered at the hands of the police while being treated at the hospital.
"Shenyang City Judicial Bureau personnel did not make arrangements for any examination of my injuries, saying that they were 'investigating the case.' They never came to talk to me, the victim, for five whole months, while they were supposedly investigating the case. Instead, they exerted pressure on the medical staff that was treating my injuries through the hospital's Party committee. In fact, they continued to torment and abuse me while I was undergoing medical treatment, saying that they would never release me, even if I died."
Because the Shenyang City Judicial Bureau illegally shielded the crimes of the Longshan Forced Labor Camp, Ms. Gao's family appealed to the Shenyang City Prosecuting Bureau on behalf of Ms. Gao. In addition, the National Prosecuting Departments had launched a movement dedicated to "Seriously Investigate the Cases Wherein Governmental Staff Take Advantage of their Privilege to Invade Human Rights" from May 2004 to June 2005.
On how her case was handled by the prosecuting bureau, Ms. Gao said,
"As early as July 1, when Shenyang City's Prosecuting Bureau personnel came to investigate the case, staff members Wang Hui and Liu Ge (both female) rushed to the hospital to find out what happened. They returned to the ward again in the afternoon, telling me that someone had reported my case to them. They also took notes and took photos of my facial injuries."
"At just past 2:00 p.m. that same day, Liu Ge, Wang Hui, and a middle-aged man came to my ward again, saying that a man named Li was the head of Shenyang City's Political and Judicial Committee. The man asked me if my facial injuries hurt. Then he pressed on the scabs on my face and quickly peeled off one of the scabs. The torn-off piece did not fall off because it stuck to the thin dressing. When my family members stopped him, they quickly left."
"On July 8, Shenyang City's Prosecuting Bureau asked a forensic doctor from Liaoning Provincial Prosecuting Bureau to check my injuries and take photos. They were shocked when they saw my disfigured face."
Normally, the forensics report only takes a couple of weeks to complete and certain measures should have been taken by the prosecuting bureau. However, Ms. Gao and her family never heard from the prosecuting bureau again. When they went to check with the staff, the responsible person told them that the CCP Committee and Politics and Law Committee of Shenyang City established a "special case team" for Ms. Gao's case, and Shenyang City's Prosecuting Bureau didn't have the authority to investigate the case.
In August 2004, when Ms. Gao was in critical condition, her family went to the Politics and Law Committee of Shenyang City and the city's 610 Office and requested that her case be handled properly. The reply they received was, "We are not responsible for handling her case." One month later, Ms. Gao's family received another reply, saying that the case was assigned to a "special case team." The forensic results were not in any departments in Liaoning Province, and the Central 610 Office was directly handling her case.
III. The Department of Public Security's "Number 26 Major Case"
On the afternoon of October 5, 2004, with the help of fellow practitioners, Ms. Gao Rongrong escaped from the hospital while under tight security. It was said that this incident shook the higher ranks in Beijing, especially the Party Politburo Member Luo Gan, who is in charge of the persecution of Falun Gong. He personally designated Ms. Gao's escape as the "Number 26 Major Case" for the Department of Public Security. Furthermore, he ordered a systematic search to find Ms. Gao, and mobilized each level of the government to plan accordingly.
Party Deputy Secretary of Shenyang City Liu Yaqin, female, issued orders that each work unit was to be vigilant, take immediate action, and view this search as a high priority operation. Monetary reward and employment opportunity were given to those who provided information regarding Ms. Gao and those who helped her escape. Each office in every city and county had to conduct a thorough search, focusing on practitioners, and their relatives' homes and rental houses. Liu Yaqin also ordered the police to solve the case as soon as possible.
Officials of Shenyang City's Judicial Bureau directed Liaoning Province's Transportation Radio Station to broadcast fabricated news in order to ferret out Ms. Gao Rongrong's whereabouts and arrest her.
In their news story, the Judiciary Department dared not to mention that Ms. Gao was a Falun Gong practitioner and that her face was disfigured as a result of the persecution. Instead, the fabricated news claimed that a helpless woman was kidnapped. They said, "The Judiciary Department is eagerly helping the victim's family by trying to find her." Furthermore, the Department lied, saying that the Gao family would greatly reward anyone who finds Ms. Gao.
The police stations and the police precincts at the railroads, commercial aviation sites, and Shenyang's oilfield and surrounding cities and regions received orders to apprehend Ms. Gao. In addition, they received a "Notice for Assistance in Investigation" originating on a letterhead from Shenyang City's Judicial Bureau. The notice said, "Gao Rongrong is thin, weighing only 90 pounds. There are obvious scars on the left side of her face. She is unable to walk by herself."
The Liaoning Provincial 610 Office, the Liaoning Provincial Judicial Bureau and the Shenyang City Security Bureau created a "Special Working Group" and set up a special office and interrogation room in the small white building of Zhangshi Forced Labor Camp. Every practitioner who was suspected of having any connection with Ms. Gao was taken in for interrogation. They publicly announced their names on websites and followed and monitored these practitioners for the most opportune time to arrest them.
Zhangshi's "small building," which used to be the guesthouse for inmates' family members, was turned into a place specifically to persecute practitioners in early 2001. Over half of the rooms are used to brainwash practitioners. The torture methods used there are extremely cruel.
Practitioner Ms. Wang Hong was in her 30s. She was transferred from the Longshan Forced Labor Camp to the Zhangshi "small building" in mid June 2001. She was tortured for 18 days, which included sleep deprivation, squatting and folding of the body for eight hours, beatings, and being force-fed with a mixture of concentrated saline solution and cornbread. In early July, she was sent back to the Longshan Forced Labor Camp for further persecution. As a result, she experienced kidney failure. Although she was released in late August, she died a few days later.
Ms. Yang Sulan from the Huanggu District in Shenyang City was 65 years old. She was sent to the Zhangshi "small building" in October 2002. Nearly ten people attacked and humiliated her and deprived her of sleep. They choked her until she couldn't raise her arms. They threatened that if she didn't "reform," she would be sentenced to forced labor or prison. After more than fifty days of severe torture, Ms. Yang was released. She died at home on June 1, 2003.
IV. Ms. Gao Rongrong is Illegally Arrested for the Second Time
At 3:00 a.m. on March 6, 2005, the State Security Division of the Shenyang City Police Department conspired with the State Security Team of the Tiexi Section Police Office of Shenyang City to illegally arrest Ms. Gao again. The officials included Chief Ma of the State Security Division of the Shenyang City Police Department (around 40 to 50 years old), team member Liu Bo, whose office is located at Malu Bay, Heping Section Chief Zhang (40 to 50 years old), Chief Li Shuwen of the State Security Team of the Tiexi Section Police Office, Commissioner Feng Deli, Deputy Chief Wang Anyu, team member Yang Hai, Zheng Zhiguo, Li Qiang and others. Another person whose name is unknown participated in the arrest of Mr. Sun Shiyou, who helped in rescuing Ms. Gao when she was in the hospital. On March 5, this person broke into Mr. Sun's room through a window in his fifth floor apartment, took him to the Criminal Police Office located on the first floor of the Tiexi Section Police Office Building, and viciously beat him.
In late February and early March 2005, everyone who was involved in the rescue of Ms. Gao was arrested and taken to the Zhangshi Forced Labor Camp, then to the Masanjia Women's Forced Labor Camp, and finally the Shenxin Forced Labor Camp. Meanwhile, they kept Ms. Gao's whereabouts secret after her arrest on March 6.
Ms. Gao Rongrong's parents had returned to Shenyang after going on a trip and found that she had disappeared. The staff from the Shenyang Public Security Bureau, the Heping Sub-bureau, and the local police station refused to disclose her whereabouts. Her former employer, Luxun Academy of Fine Art, even issued a phony document in late March, alleging that Ms. Gao had left China.
In March 2005, Ms. Gao's parents went to the Zhangshi Forced Labor Camp to inquire about her. Shi Fengyou, who was in charge of brainwashing practitioners, told them, "The Zhangshi Re-education Center did not accept Gao Rongrong," and that he had seen her in the Masanjia hospital. He later changed his statement and said that he saw Ms. Gao when he took Dong Jingya (another detained practitioner) to Masanjia Forced Labor Camp. Shi Fengyou stated, "The situation is under control. You don't need to look any further. Her legs have not returned to normal. She can't stand upright yet. When all is well, she will be sent home. She is doing fine."
Ms. Gao Rongrong's father asked, "Has Luo Gan been personally involved in handling this case?" Shi Fengyou answered, "Luo Gan has given direction, as this matter has too big of a worldwide impact. Let us 'handle the situation well.'"
Ms. Gao's elderly parents went to Masanjia Forced Labor Camp again, but no one would meet with them. Only after intense persistence did manager Su Jing come to meet with them. Su Jing said, "It can be said that Gao Rongrong is at Masanjia, though she is not here in person." She told them that she was unable to see Ms. Gao, as the appropriate authorities were interrogating her.
In early April, Ms. Gao's parents went to Masanjia again. They found Su Jing and asked about Ms. Gao's hunger strike. Su said, "At this time, everything is well. She is eating very well." Ms. Gao's mother asked, "Didn't you say that you were unable to see Gao Rongrong? How can you be so sure that she is eating well?" Su replied, "I have been informed about it. I do know."
They asked where Ms. Gao was and requested to see her in person. Su Jing refused the request and told them to go home. She said that they had to wait for instructions from persons at higher levels who were handling her case.
Ms. Gao's family went to Masanjia many times to try to see their daughter and ask for her release. Deputy Zhao (female) met with them every time. One time, Ms. Gao's mother asked about her broken leg and requested to see her. Zhao said, "She is doing well. You don't need to worry about having to bring food to her." The mother suggested again that she would like to take Ms. Gao home to nurse her leg, but Zhao claimed, "We can't let her go home the way she looks at this time. The social impact would not be good."
Shi Fengyou from the Zhangshi Forced Labor Camp, Su Jing, deputy director Zhao from the Masanjia Forced Labor Camp, and officials from the provincial judiciary department and the forced labor bureau all said that the law would accordingly punish the perpetrators. They told the family to go home and wait for more information and that "their superiors" had not reached a conclusion regarding the case. "This time, Ms. Gao Rongrong is not in trouble. The people who carried her away are in trouble, not Ms. Gao. We will send her home once the case is wrapped up. Furthermore, we will discuss the issue of treating her legs and whether to treat her first or let her go home and receive treatment there." From the beginning to the end of the inquiries, no one ever mentioned that Ms. Gao was on a hunger strike and in critical condition.
V. Tragic Stories from Before and After Gao Rongrong Passed Away
Masanjia Forced Labor Camp authorities sent Ms. Gao Rongrong to the No. 1 Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University on June 6, 2005, for emergency treatment after she was locked in the Prison Hospital of Dabei Prison, Shenyang City. There are at least five cells in the prison hospital that detain Falun Dafa practitioners and other prisoners, with each cell holding from four to ten people. However, Ms. Gao was detained alone in the No. 1 cell.
Two women wearing white "doctor" jackets took turns monitoring Ms. Gao around the clock. Detainees in the other cells later recognized the two women as prison guards from the Masanjia Forced Labor Camp. They weren't medical workers at all.
On June 10, 2005, three months after Ms. Gao's arrest, her parents went to the Masanjia Labor Camp to inquire if she was there. Director Wang said, "At first we didn't want to take her. It was the 'higher-ups' that pressured me. Now I will wait for orders from them as to when to let people visit and when to release her." He didn't mention at all that Ms. Gao was at the brink of death.
At around 9:00 a.m. on June 12, after receiving a notice, Ms. Gao's parents rushed to the hospital. They saw that Ms. Gao was at death's door after being diagnosed with systemic failure. She had a very weak pulse. She was hooked up to an oxygen tank and was emaciated. She was unconscious and did not react to outside stimuli. The scars on her face from the electric shocks were still deep.
One of Ms. Gao's relatives with some medical knowledge immediately pointed out that she was not receiving enough nutritional supplements and those that were administered were not appropriate for her condition. He concluded that Ms. Gao suffered failure of bodily systems caused by long-term malnutrition and was starving to death.
The emergency room doctor in charge of Ms. Gao's case said, "She was in critical condition when she arrived here on June 6."
Ms. Gao's family members questioned the guards from the Masanjia Forced Labor Camp who were posted by her room, "Why is she in such a condition? Why didn't you notify us earlier?" The guards all said that they had just started working for the labor camp, so they did not know anything about Ms. Gao.
Witnesses said that there were many strangers watching each door and gate of the hospital. The many plainclothes security and uniformed officers asked each other frequently, "When will she die?"
Meanwhile, several government representatives remained around Ms. Gao's home. They told Ms. Gao's neighbors, "Ms. Gao Rongrong is on a hunger strike, and she is dying."
On June 16, 2005, Ms. Gao died in the emergency room of the No. 1 Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University. She was only 37 years old when she died. Those in charge, who kept saying that the "higher authorities" had not reached a conclusion regarding the case, are now pressuring Ms. Gao's family members to cremate her body and destroy all evidence of torture.
As of today, according to inside sources, it has been verified that more than 2,800 Falun Gong practitioners have been persecuted to death. Among them, 55% were women, and approximately 57% were over fifty years old. Under the State Terrorism Policy executed by the Chinese communist regime, the 610 Office systematically persecutes Falun Gong practitioners who persist in their beliefs by carrying out the genocidal policy of "defaming their reputations, bankrupting them financially, and destroying them physically," and following the policy, "Beating to death is nothing and shall be counted as suicide; do not identify the person and cremate the body directly." As a result, many practitioners were injured, crippled, or beaten to death, their families torn apart, and they were forced to become homeless. Millions of practitioners' families, friends, and colleagues have been implicated to various extents and been subjected to brainwashing.
Category: Deaths
