Belated News: Hunan Man Dies in 2021 While Serving 8 Years in Prison for His Faith

(Minghui.org)

Name: Liu ChaoyangChinese Name: 刘朝阳Gender: MaleAge: UnknownCity: ChangdeProvince: HunanOccupation: UnknownDate of Death: March 2021Date of Most Recent Arrest: May 2015Most Recent Place of Detention: Wangling Prison

The Minghui.org website recently confirmed that a Changde City, Hunan Province, resident died in March 2021 while serving eight years in the tenth ward of Wangling Prison, located in Zhuzhou City in the same province.

Mr. Liu Chaoyang was arrested on May 12, 2017 for his faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999. He was sentenced to eight years in June 2018 and admitted to the Wangling Prison on October 23, 2018. He died in the prison less than three years later. His age was unknown.

Last Arrest and Prison Sentencing

Mr. Liu and another practitioner, Mr. Liu Fenggao (no relation), were arrested at a local apartment complex on May 12, 2017. After 15 days of detention at an unknown location, they were transferred to the Dingcheng District Detention Center, where they were handcuffed, shackled, and subjected to various forms of abuse. The guards also withheld the necessities and clothing that their families delivered to them.

The two Mr. Liu’s had their arrests approved around August 2017, and they were moved to the Baiheshan Detention Center shortly afterward. The Changde City Procuratorate indicted them in March 2018. The police many times threatened to give them heavy sentences if they refused to renounce Falun Gong. Both practitioners held firm to their faith.

The Changde City Court held three joint hearings of the two practitioners’ cases, in March, April, and on June 6, 2018. Mr. Liu Chaoyang was sentenced to eight years, and Mr. Liu Fenggao to seven years. Both were admitted to the tenth ward of Wangling Prison on October 23, 2018.

Possible Torture

When Mr. Liu Fenggao’s wife visited him around January 2019, she saw that his entire body was swollen and his face was deformed. His hair had turned completely gray and he appeared physically and mentally exhausted.

According to other practitioners jailed in the same prison, the tenth ward has been used as a “concentration camp” to torture steadfast practitioners over the years. The guards usually do not directly torture practitioners and instead instigate inmates to carry out the persecution by using term reductions and other incentives. The inmates are given free rein to torture practitioners without facing any consequences. They also force practitioners to attend brainwashing sessions, during which they order practitioners to curse at Falun Gong and its founder, and to sing songs to glorify the communist regime.

The guards and inmates often organized meetings to share persecution experiences and devise further strategies aimed to force practitioners to renounce Falun Gong. They would use different tactics towards different practitioners based on their backgrounds, family situations, and other factors. While inflicting harm on practitioners, some inmates claimed they had no choice but to follow the guards’ orders. Some guards then shirked responsibility by claiming they never laid a finger on the practitioners.

There was no information leaking out about Mr. Liu Chaoyang’s imprisonment, but he was likely also tortured just like Mr. Liu Fenggao and other jailed practitioners.

News came recently that Mr. Liu Chaoyang was persecuted to death in the tenth ward of the prison in March 2021. We are calling on people who know more about him to provide any additional information, such as his age, and details about the persecution he experienced. 

Prior Persecution

Prior to Mr. Liu Chaoyang’s latest arrest, he had been arrested a few other times for upholding his faith.

According to a practitioner who was once held at the same detention center as Mr. Liu around May 2001, the guards tied up Mr. Liu on a bench and ordered him to read or watch propaganda that slandered Falun Gong. He refused to comply and closed his eyes in protest. The guards then pried open his eyes. They also didn’t allow him to sleep. He was later given an unknown term of forced labor.

The Changde police arrested multiple practitioners around later June or early July 2005, including Mr. Liu, after monitoring them for a long time. He was later sentenced to prison, though the exact term was unknown. He was admitted to the Jinshi Prison in October 2005. While held at the Dispatch Center within the prison, he was savagely beaten by Zhang Cenhua (center director) and a few guards. His clothes were ripped and his face became swollen as a result of the beatings.

The Political and Legal Affairs Committee (PLAC) and the Domestic Security Office in Wuling District, Changde City, orchestrated a group arrest of local Falun Gong practitioners on August 11, 2015. Local police and community workers were dispatched to raid the homes of 25 practitioners at 5 a.m. that day.

Mr. Liu and thirteen other practitioners were arrested in the police operation. Mr. Liu was interrogated by the Wuling District Police Department officers while he was held at the Baiheshan Detention Center. They beat him savagely, causing his lower body to bleed. He was released around October 2015.