(Clearwisdom.net) Ever since the birth of Xu Langzhou's son in 1999, Xu and his entire family have been repeatedly persecuted. His nine-year old son does not get to see his father. Every year at the New Year holiday, the boy asks, "Will Daddy come home?" To protect the boy, his family members have not told him about his father's imprisonment.
Over the years, Xu Langzhou's mother, Ms. Peng Guangzhen, has repeatedly appealed for her son. After details of guard brutality against Mr. Xu were exposed to the outside world, Panzhihua National Security agents became enraged and threatened Ms. Peng several times.
At around 10:00 a.m. on March 28, 2007, Ms. Peng went to a local jurisdictional agency to complain about brutality at the Panzhihua City Police Department, especially how they tortured and framed her son. National Security agents and those from the East District stopped her outside the agency office and arrested her. The police also searched her home. The officers did not wear uniforms during the home invasion, nor did they provide a search warrant or even drive a police car. The whole event was a covert operation.
Peng Guangzhen was held at the East District Police Station, where she was subjected to intense interrogation and torture. The police tied her hands and feet to a metal chair for a long time. Then they tied her hands behind her with a rope and hung her up by the rope. Ms. Peng suffered severe pain and her body was soaked in sweat. Finally, several parts of her body cramped, her hands and feet lost sensation, and she almost had a heart attack. She was eventually taken to the Wanyaoshu Detention Center, where the threats continued. Each time those in charge interrogated her, the severe psychological pressure caused her to experience heart distress and body cramps, along with cold hands and feet. The guards actually feared she might not survive such torment and let her go home after 20 days of illegal detention.
Imprisoned Mr. Xu Langzhou is in his 30s. He was an officer in the Panzhihua City Traffic Police Division One. After Mr. Xu began practicing Falun Gong in 1994, he followed the principles of "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance" in his daily life. Soon all of his health problems disappeared, and he became perfectly healthy. Prior to becoming a practitioner, he smoked, drank, and was violent toward other people. He would beat drivers who fled an accident site and were later captured. He always was quite open to accepting restaurant meals at the expense of others and took bribes and gifts unapologetically. After he learned Falun Gong, he abandoned all these bad and unethical behaviors. He stopped using violence, stopped accepting invitations to meals, and quit taking bribes.
His good conduct and hard work earned him many honors, including the yearly nomination "Outstanding Police Officer of the Year." Panzhihua City Television Station produced a program covering his inspiring turn-around. But sadly, after the Chinese Communist Party began the persecution of Falun Gong, this outstanding man became a subject of a prolonged and severe persecution.
Currently, Mr. Xu Langzhou is incarcerated at Guangyuan Prison, in Sichuan Province. His family lost contact with him after his first incarceration there in January 2005. They were forbidden from visiting the prison or talking to him on the phone. His family members repeatedly asked agents at the local 610 Office for a permission to visit, but were turned away every time. When they called the prison, as soon as the person answering heard the name "Xu Langzhou," he hung up.
According to inside information, those in charge at the Guangyuan Prison used extreme violence to torture practitioners. They limit the practitioners' food to rice only. Four or five criminal inmates are assigned to follow each practitioner around the clock on orders from the officials. These inmates hit practitioners with a spiked rod (wooden boards with nails), and they also used a belt buckle to hit practitioners. Some even poured boiling water onto their heads. Some practitioners sustained broken ribs from such violence. Guard Zhan Weiming was very gung-ho to enforce a 100 percent "reform" rate. Anyone who refuses to "transform" [give up Falun Gong practice] is subject to his "harsh treatment," including around the clock sleep deprivation. It was heard that Mr. Xu was tortured a great deal and became skeleton-like and dark skinned. He also suffers from constant stomachache and has trouble eating. He is extremely weak.
On July 22, 1999, the Communist regime's propaganda machinery rolled out a smear campaign against Falun Gong. Mr. Xu believed that all these reports were lies, aiming to defame Falun Gong. To explain the facts, Mr. Xu went to the Office of Letters and Calls in Beijing to complain. But he was arrested, sent back to Panzhihua, and placed in a detention center for several days. His employer gave him a choice--he had to give up Falun Gong or his job as a police officer. Mr. Xu said he wanted to keep both. Traffic Police Department officials fired him for his belief.
On November 23, 1999, Xu Langzhou went to the Panzhihua City government's Office of Letters and Calls to appeal. Before he had a chance to finish what he had to say, the officials called the police. He was arrested again by agents from the city "610 Office" and taken to Dadukou Police Station in the East District. The first day he was confined in an empty basement room for a whole night, without heat or winter clothing. The next day they took him to a detention center where he remained for a month, until his release.
In 2000, Mr. Xu Langzhou did the Falun Gong exercises outside his home. The police arrested him once again and took him to Panzhihua Detention Center. While there, he told the inmates the facts about Falun Gong. To punish him, the guards tied his wide-stretched arms and legs to a metal bed, with his chest restrained by a chain. He was restrained like that around the clock for 13 days. He did not even get breaks for meals or to to use the bathroom, and had to relieve himself on the bed. This was a very painful torture.
On March 15, 2000, Mr. Xu was sentenced two years of forced labor. Pronouncing the sentence were agents from the Panzhihua 610 Office system. They took him to the Mianyang City Xinhua Forced Labor Camp where he was mentally tormented and tortured.
To force practitioners to give up their beliefs, guards used high voltage electric batons to shock them, with the voltage set as high as 10,000 volts or even more. They badly burned people's skin with one touch. To force Mr. Xu to give up Falun Gong, several guards pinned him to the brick floor, tied him tightly, and stepped on his face. His face was bruised and bled, and the ropes cut into his flesh. The guards then threw him into the scorching sun, with the ropes still on him. After he left the labor camp, his scars and rope marks were still visible.
Mr. Xu was forced to make bricks in a high temperature kiln area. He had to pick up the bricks when they were still red hot. They were so hot that people could use them to light cigarettes. In the kiln area, worker's clothing became covered with red clay dust. Even during the hot summer months workers have to wear thick protective clothing near the kiln, and they still have to use pieces of used tires as extra protection. Most young people could stay in the kiln oven area for only two minutes. After they came out, most could not even stand, due to heat exhaustion. Dust covered their bodies.
Even during the hot summer days the guards refused to let practitioners drink fresh water. The practitioners were forced to drink collected rainwater. Sometimes the rainwater was already contaminated, smelled disgusting, and had already bred mosquitoes. But even the rainwater was sometimes in short supply. The practitioners had to drink from ditches when they were not watched. If caught, criminal inmates would beat them or were assigned to monitor them. The conditions were so bad that people often fainted from dehydration during lunchtime. According to people who experienced abuses at Xinhua Forced Labor Camp, the place is a sheer hell. After Mr. Xu had been there for two years, his sentence was extended by another nine months because he refused to give up Falun Gong.
Mr. Xu's wife could not endure the pressure during her husband's incarceration and divorced him. Following his release, Mr. Xu stayed at his sister's home for a year, where the police continued to harass him. He partnered with other people in a cloth business. But soon after the business took shape, the police started persecuting him again.
At 9:00 a.m. on April 9, 2004, Xu Langzhou was arrested at his business. Participating in the arrest were agents from the Panzhihua City Police. Policemen Qin Gang, Zou Yongjun, and Sun Zhiwen along with a dozen other officers all wore plainclothes. Without producing any legal documentation, they put a black bag over Mr. Xu's head and took him to the Jingu Hotel in the Yanbian County New Town Center.
Policemen Qin Gang and Zou Yongjun hung Mr. Xu up by ropes for a full day and night. They also deprived him of sleep for three days. Qin Gan, Zou Yongjun and Huang Jinyong worked in shifts to interrogate and torture him. They did not even dare to show him their IDs. At each note-taking session they did not record the time, location, investigator or name of the notetaker. They later forged the report, claiming that they questioned Mr. Xu once every four hours instead of around the clock. They also changed the location to the Yanbian County Police Department. They also coerced him to admit "forged evidence." When he refused to sign the statement, Qin Gang said, "I will kill you if you refuse." They forced him to sign a blank piece of paper, and then filled in the paper with wording they had prepared.
When they arrested Mr. Xu, the police seized his briefcase that contained a checkbook, [business] receipts and 3,000 yuan in cash. They said they found some Falun Gong flyers in the briefcase, but did not mention the money. To make their story believable, police officer Zou Yongjun even coerced a worker from Mr. Xu's coating company to provide false evidence to incriminate Mr. Xu.
On September 14, 2004, Yanbian County court officials held a hearing on Mr. Xu's so-called crime. Mr. Xu exposed how the police forged evidence with violence. He also declared that his statement made during the torture was null and void. Due to lack of evidence, the court did not dare sentence him, and the hearing was adjourned. But under intense pressure from the 610 Office, the court opened another hearing on November 1, 2004. This time the judge accepted the forged evidence, sentencing Xu Langzhou to eight years and six months in prison, based on forged statement from the 610 Office agents. Mr. Xu was taken to the Guangyuan Prison in January 2005 and has never left.
Panzhihua City Police Department Office:
Liu Huayun, deputy director of 610 Office, 86-13808142956 (Cell)
Zhang Bolin, director of 610 Office, 86-812-3350886 (Home), 86-13808147396
(Cell)
Panzhihua City Police Department, National Security Team:
Qiu Tianming, deputy team leader: 86-812-3323035 (Office), 86-13518414006
(Cell), 86-812-6901785 (Cell) (offender)
Duan Qing, policeman: 86-812-2223769 (Home), 86-13508232266 (Cell) (offender)
Zou Yongjun, policeman: 86-812-3323195 (Office), 86-812-3350081 (Home),
86-812-2223991 (Home), 86-13982366998 (Cell) (offender)
Guangyuan Prison office: 86-839-3956063
Guangyuan Prison: head, Wei Chengjun; deputy head, Xie Ping
Prison Ward Two: Political head Yao Baocheng, deputy head Ran Wei
Discipline section chief Ren Rui
Guards assigned to persecute Falun Gong practitioners: He Zhong, Tian Yong, Yang
Jun
Guards at the Xinhua Forced Labor Camp:
Deng Gang: team leader and expert in the persecution of Falun Gong. He
encouraged drug addict inmates to insult and exercise violence against
practitioners. He was responsible for the death of practitioner Li Xingzhe.
Because of his "hard work" he was promoted to deputy chief of the
management section.
Zhao Yu: guard of the Fourth Division. Because of his devotion in persecuting Falun Gong practitioners he was promoted to political instructor. He masterminded many plots to torture practitioners. He also did not shy away from using violence himself to beat practitioners. Due to his tendency to use violence, his team earned the nickname "Devil's Team."
Dong: a team head for persecuting Falun Gong in the Sixth Division. He is a very violent and dangerous man. He once told criminal inmates to cover practitioners Xiang Quanguo and Yang Xinkuan with chimney soot. This man not only tortures practitioners, he also humiliates them with dirty tactics.
Tang Xufeng, guard from the Fourth Division. He used horrible tortures on practitioners. He also encouraged criminal inmates to humiliate practitioners, including covering them with chimney soot. For his "hard work" he was promoted to deputy head of the middle team.
Police branch head Zhao Chengyong and section chief Yu Xincai are specialists appointed by Xinhua Forced Labor Camp officials to torture practitioners. They are behind all the dirty plots, torture methods, and campaigns against practitioners.
February 3, 2008
