Jilin Man Dies After Two Decades of Persecution for His Faith

(Minghui.org)

Name: Liu JunChinese Name: 刘君Gender: MaleAge: 70City: JilinProvince: JilinOccupation: FarmerDate of Death: August 23, 2022Date of Most Recent Arrest: June 18, 2006Most Recent Place of Detention: Yulinshanzhuang Brainwashing Center

A Jilin City, Jilin Province resident passed away on August 23, 2022, after enduring two decades of persecution and relentless torture for practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been targeted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999. Mr. Liu Jun was 70. 

Even a month before and after Mr. Liu’s passing, officers from the Erdaoxiang Police Station went to his home to harass him.

Two Decades of Persecution

Mr. Liu, a farmer, took up Falun Gong in 1995. Because of upholding his faith in the face of the persecution, he was arrested, detained and tortured. His home was also ransacked. Government officials, the police, agents from the Political and Legal Affairs Committee and the 610 Office participated in the persecution against Mr Liu. Those who harassed him came from all levels of government, from village and township levels to the municipal and provincial level.

On September 22, 1999, Mr. Liu was deceived into going to the police station. The police ransacked his home and confiscated his TV, media player and audio recorder. He was extorted for 500 yuan and given 15 days of detention. 

Mr. Liu went to Beijing to appeal for the right to practice Falun Gong shortly after he was released, only to be arrested again. His home was ransacked a second time on October 28. The police extorted 4,000 yuan from him. They ransacked his home yet again on December 29 that year and held him at the Jilin City No. 3 Detention Center. 

After 25 days of torture, Mr. Liu was given two years of forced labor. He was transferred to the Huanxiling Forced Labor Camp on January 23, 2000. There he was subjected to various forms of abuse, including being starved, forced to run laps while carrying a heavy sandbag on his shoulders, forced to squat, and beaten. On March 27, 2001, Mr. Liu was transferred to the Liaoyuan City Forced Labor Camp. A month of savage beatings and brainwashing left him with a broken leg. He was emaciated. He was so weak that he couldn’t get out of bed.

In May 2001, the guards began to force Mr. Liu to work without pay, mostly digging ditches to bury electric wires. The guards instigated an inmate surnamed Zhang to beat Mr. Liu with a shovel. He collapsed. His left ankle was broken and his pants stuck to his open wounds. His head, including his left eye, were injured. Many inmates present were shocked by the brutality. Some begged Zhang to stop and some cried. Yet the guards threatened that if Mr. Liu died, they would just bury him in the ditch. The guards said the labor camp had a quota for torture deaths, so no one would be held accountable for it. 

Shortly after Mr. Liu was released, he was arrested again on the evening of January 28, 2002 while walking on the street. The police handcuffed him to a bench, hung him up by the wrists, and suffocated him with the hood of his down jacket, while hitting him on the head with a heavy object. He fainted in two minutes. When he came to, his wrists were deeply bruised and bleeding. His wrists would become numb when he did heavy labor after that.

The police took Mr. Liu to the Jilin City No. 3 Detention Center the next day, but the detention center refused to admit him due to his physical condition.

Mr. Liu was arrested at home on October 11, 2002 and his home was raided. The police took him to the Jiutai City Forced Labor Camp on November 5, but he failed the physical examination and was denied admission. The police beat him en route to the detention center, leaving his face covered with blood. He was also subjected to savage beatings at the detention center. Fearing that he might die there, the guards released him on November 26, 2002. 

During the National Congress in March 2003, Mr. Liu was repeatedly harassed by the authorities. The police arrested him and took him to the Jiutai Forced Labor Camp on July 22, 2003, with a forced labor notice dated October 2002. Yet he was again refused admission due to his poor physical condition.

The police attempted to ransack Mr. Liu’s home on July 19, 2004. He refused to let them in. The police then called in Cao Jianguo, the police chief, who ordered his windows and locks broken. An officer beat Mr. Liu’s wife with a flashlight. After she fell to the ground, he stomped on her. Mr. Liu tried to stop him, but was knocked to the ground by a blow to the head. 

The police stole 510 yuan in cash and confiscated three audio recorders, the new motorcycle they had just bought for 4,000 yuan, his Falun Gong books, and related materials. 

During the raid, Cao said to the officers, “You can do whatever you want to them. It’s nothing if they die. I can cover it up for you.”

Mr. Liu filed a complaint against Cao on July 21. Cao retaliated by threatening to jail his family of three for the rest of their lives. To avoid further persecution, Mr. Liu’s family was forced to live away from home, leaving his elderly and ailing father unattended.

The police searched Mr. Liu’s home between 5 and 7 a.m. on August 4, 2004 when no one was home. They returned four more times, at 9 a.m. and 10 p.m. on August 4, at 6 a.m. on August 5 and at 11 p.m. on August 6. As Mr. Liu’s family was no longer living there, the police kept ordering his father, who had suffered a stroke and was unable to talk, to reveal their whereabouts. They also took the trembling elderly man to Mr. Liu’s sister’s home to look for him. 

Mr. Liu was arrested again on June 18, 2006 and held at the Yulinshanzhuang Brainwashing Center. He was monitored by staff around the clock and humiliated. He held a hunger strike to protest the persecution and was released four days later.