Former Elementary School Teacher Succumbs to Physical Damage by Torture Two Decades Ago, Dies at 50
(Minghui.org)
Name: Du YingguangChinese Name: 杜英光Gender: MaleAge: 50City: N/AProvince: TianjinOccupation: Elementary school teacherDate of Death: November 9, 2021Date of Most Recent Arrest: January 30, 2001Most Recent Place of Detention: Shuangkou Forced Labor Camp
A former elementary school teacher became disabled and was extremely weak, after he barely survived 2.5 years of horrendous torture at a labor camp for practicing Falun Gong. For the next two decades, Mr. Du Yingguang struggled with failing health, while living in displacement to hide from the police. He passed away on November 9, 2021, at the age of 50.
Mr. Du, a native of Tianjin, took up Falun Gong, a mind-body practice, together with his mother, Ms. Wang Yuling, and younger sister, Ms. Du Yinghui, in 1996. All three experienced quick health recoveries and they strove to live by Falun Gong’s principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance.
After the Chinese Communist Party ordered the persecution of Falun Gong in July 1999 due to its sweeping popularity, Mr. Du was arrested and detained at various facilities multiple times. The torture he suffered at the Shuangkou Forced Labor Camp was heinous, including having his palms burnt with lit cigarettes, fingers stabbed with a needle, and mouth and nose smeared with feces, as well as being tied in excruciating positions for long hours.
Guard Tong Xiuhe once said to inmate Xu Guangsheng, who was assigned to monitor Mr. Du, that he could get term reduction if he tortured Mr. Du to death.
Below are details of the torture Mr. Du suffered.
Torture in a Detention Center
Mr. Du was arrested at home on the evening of January 30, 2002. The police ransacked his home and confiscated his Falun Gong books and lecture audio tapes.
After he was taken to the Wuqing District Detention Center the next day, an inmate ordered him to renounce Falun Gong. When he refused to comply, the inmate beat him for over 10 minutes. Another inmate kneed the outside of his thighs, causing his legs to be numb and painful.
When the inmates became tired, instead of punching him, they picked up a long wooden bench and hit his legs. When Mr. Du still remained firm in his faith, the inmates continued to beat him. Some slapped him in the face and others chopped his neck with the side of their palms.
After another hour of beating, the inmates forced Mr. Du to stand against the wall with his back bent at a 90-degree angle, his legs straight and the tip of his fingers touching his toes. He was forced to stay in this posture for two hours, which caused his body to ache and feel disoriented.
The torture caused injuries all over Mr. Du’s body. His legs were severely swollen and numb. He couldn’t squat to use the restroom for three days. He also had trouble putting on or taking off his pants.
For the next two weeks, the inmates continued to beat Mr. Du and verbally abuse him in order to force him to give up Falun Gong, but he didn’t yield.
Brainwashing Center Detention
The township officials talked to Mr. Du on February 15, 2001, in another attempt to pressure him into renouncing Falun Gong. As he refused to comply, the authorities took him to a brainwashing center located in a military base at 11 p.m.
During the two months that Mr. Du was held at the brainwashing center, he was repeatedly forced to watch slanderous programs against Falun Gong and write thought reports.
Because he refused to read books that smeared Falun Gong, the guards forced him to stand facing the wall for hours, which became a constant torture during his detention. Sometimes he had to stand in military posture, with his toes and nose touching the wall, his fingers pointing downwards along his pants and his body remaining straight.
Another torture was to sit on a small stool, with his hands on the knees, upper bodies remaining straight and eyes open. At times, he was made to stand or sit against a wall until 3:00 a.m. and then forced to get up at 5:30 a.m. The food he was given was scarce.
One evening, a police officer surnamed He took Mr. Du to a room and attempted to coerce him into tearing up a picture of Falun Gong’s founder. Mr. Du firmly refused and was slapped in the face many times, until blood dripped from his mouth. Officer He also hit Mr. Du’s right shoulder with an inch-thick copper rod, tearing his shirt and causing his shoulder to swell up.
A few days later, police officer Cui also hit Mr. Du’s hands and thighs with a copper rod, which caused deep bruises on his legs. When the brainwashing center director Chai came to check on Mr. Du’s situation, instead of providing medical treatment to him, Chai grabbed Mr. Du’s hair and beat him until he was tired.
The Forced Labor Camp Term
Mr. Du was transferred back to the Wuqing District Detention Center on April 15, 2001. The police soon gave him 18 months of forced labor on charges of “disrupting social order.” He was taken to the Shuangkou Labor Camp on May 18, and he faced even more appalling torture there for upholding his faith.
Initial Sleep Deprivation
On his first night at the labor camp, the guards forced Mr. Du and other practitioners to sit on a small stool until 3 a.m. They then woke them up at 5:30 a.m. After two nights of sleep deprivation, the five practitioners who were taken to the labor camp with Mr. Du were all forced to write a repentance statement to give up Falun Gong, with Mr. Du being the only one who remained steadfast.
Instigated by the guards, inmate Chen Xueyu took Mr. Du to a room and ordered him to read a newspaper article smearing Falun Gong. Mr. Du didn’t comply. Chen slapped his face, forced him to bend forward, and beat him with a club for more than one hour.
For the next 10 days, the inmates didn’t allow Mr. Du to sleep and forced him to sit on the floor. Whenever he closed his eyes, the inmates beat him and forbade him to use the restroom. One inmate weighing around 85 kg [187 lbs] stomped on his legs, shouting, “We are giving you a Thai-style massage!” Mr. Du’s legs were covered with hard bumps and he had difficulty walking for over a month.
Stuffed Under a Bed and Tying Torture
Sun Kai, a head inmate, also tortured Mr. Du to earn an award from the guards. He pushed Mr. Du into the little space underneath a bed, making him unable to raise his head or sit up. Sun also hit Mr. Du’s arms against the metal bed frame.
Torture illustration: stuffed under a bed
Sun later dragged Mr. Du out from underneath the bed. Several inmates pinned him face-down on the floor, while Sun Kai rolled a round wooden stick on his legs, causing him severe pain.
On another occasion, Sun forced Mr. Du to sit in the lotus position. He tied Mr. Du’s hands with a rope and then tied his neck to the rope, so his head was almost touching his chest.
After Sun untied him two hours later, he brought Mr. Du to another room where guard Zhao Changqing was present. The inmates forced Mr. Du to take off his shirt and then hit his left arm many times with a wooden stick until it was bruised. The marks were still clearly visible after several months.
The torture and sleep deprivation cause Mr. Du to feel cold and numb. Upon finding that he was having a high fever, the guards finally allowed him to sleep at night.
Palms Burnt with Cigarettes
Several days later, the inmates ordered Mr. Du to stand upright with his hands stretched out and his palms facing upwards. They put two lit cigarettes on his palms and left it there for five minutes. The inmates gave a name to the torture, calling it “Divine being holding peaches.”
Two large, fluid-filled blisters appeared on Mr. Du’s palms. The inmates pierced the blisters with needles. The flesh under the blisters ulcerated, leaving two large holes on his palms. His hands swelled severely.
The inmates tried to take him to the labor camp clinic for treatment, but guard Yang Zhiqiu stopped them, fearing the torture being exposed. “It’s just a little burn, not a big deal!” he said.
After another guard Du Yingxin saw Mr. Du’s swollen hands, he deliberately ordered him to swat flies in the stairway at night for over two hours. The burns on Mr. Du’s palms did not heal until one month later.
Kicking
Guard Wei Wei pummeled Mr. Du’s cheeks in order to make him write guarantee statements. He kept this up until Mr. Du’s face was terribly swollen and he could barely recognize himself in the mirror.
In another torture, Wei ordered Mr. Du to stand at the entrance of the room. Then he took several steps back and suddenly ran up to kick Mr. Du on his chest. He was knocked to the tile floor and bumped his head.
Stabbing Fingers with a Needle
In the cold winter, the inmates stripped Mr. Du of his coat and forced him to stand in a dark and cold room with an inner layer of clothes only. He was deprived of sleep again for a few days and stuffed under the bed. To increase his suffering, the inmates inserted a wood club between his back and the bed, pressed the club down against his head and back, before stomping on his hands and stabbing his fingers with a needle.
Torture reenactment: stabbing fingers with a needle
Freezing
When the torture still didn’t weaken Mr. Du’s resolve, the inmates began to hit his left arm with a wood stick, until it was severely bruised and swollen.
When Mr. Du could barely lift his arm, the inmates tied him to the stairs facing an open window for a long time. The freezing wind left Mr. Du shivering. He developed a fever later that night, which lasted several days.
Despite his condition, the guards still forced him to attend a brainwashing session, which was to watch propaganda news programs. Knowing full well the abuses he might have to face, Mr. Du still refused to watch it and shouted, “All of this is slander and lies! Don’t believe any of it! Falun Dafa is good!” The inmates covered his mouth and dragged him to a dark room.
At the end of April 2002, the guards shocked Mr. Du with electric batons. They deprived him of sleep one more time in mid-May. He was forced to sit on a small stool at night and sometimes had to stay awake for a whole night. Some nights he slept for one hour, and other nights he did not sleep at all. The torture lasted more than one month.
Physical Damage by the Torture
On July 19, 2002, the inmates beat Mr. Du for a long time. They pinned him down with his face on the ground and poured water into his nose and punched his abdomen. They tortured him for several hours, until he lost consciousness.
As a result of the torture, Mr. Du was quite weak, had trouble walking, and could not urinate. He lost consciousness once while using the restroom. The inmates brought him back. His abdomen was swollen and painful, and he felt as if a heavy object was pulling down on his waist. He groaned, and yet the guards told the inmates to make him work out. He suffered terrible pain with each step, but the inmates still forced him to continue walking, which inflicted tremendous strain on him.
One week later, the guards took him to a hospital for a checkup. He was found to have ascites, swelling of the stomach and duodenum, and another condition with his pancreas.
One day, Mr. Du overheard guard Tong Xiuhe saying to inmate Xu Guangsheng, who was assigned to monitor Mr. Du, that “I’ll reduce your sentence if you torture Du Yingguang to death.”
Mouth and Nose Smeared with Feces
The labor camp held several brainwashing sessions in February 2003 to target the practitioners. Another round of torture of Mr. Du kicked off, including shocking him with electric batons, tying him up, and pouring cold water over him.
Mr. Du went on a hunger strike again to protest the persecution, only to be hung up, stripped of his warm clothes and have his feet placed in a basin of ice cold water.
The guards later tied Mr. Du to a bed, poured cold water over him, and then turned on a fan to the maximum speed to blow on him. One guard said, “It’s really cold, put a quilt on him.” The inmate soaked a quilt in cold water and put it over Mr. Du. This went on for three hours.
During this period, Division Head guard Fan came to inspect the torture. They didn’t let Mr. Du sleep at night, but tied him in a chair and ordered the inmates to rub feces on his mouth and nose.
The inmates pinched Mr. Du’s nose, so he had to open his mouth. Then they shoved feces into his mouth.
Guard Fu Zhenshi also injected mustard water into Mr. Du’s nose with a syringe. They tortured him for more than 20 days. Mr. Du remained firm in his faith and refused to write a guarantee statement. His labor camp term was thus extended by one year.
Related reports:
Falun Dafa Practitioner Mr. Du Yingguang from the Wuqing District, Tianjin City Ruthlessly Tortured