(Minghui.org) On the 25th anniversary since the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) began to suppress Falun Gong in July 1999, practitioners from 44 countries submitted a new list of perpetrators to their respective governments, asking them to bar the perpetrators and their family members from entry and freeze their overseas assets according to the law.
Among the perpetrators listed was Xu Wenhai, deputy governor of Hubei Province and director of Hubei Provincial Public Security Department.
Perpetrator Information
Full Name of Perpetrator: Xu (last name) Wenhai (first name)Chinese Name: 徐文海Gender: MaleDate/Year of Birth: September 1965Place of Birth: Suixi, Guangdong Province, China
Title or Position
July 2020 – Present: deputy governor of Hubei Province, secretary of the Party Committee and director of the Provincial Public Security Department, chief inspector and first deputy secretary of the Provincial Political and Legal Affairs Committee
October 2016 – June 2020: deputy mayor of Shenzhen City, Guangdong Province, and director of the Shenzhen City Police Department
June 2014 – October 2016: deputy director of the Guangdong Province Public Security Department
Major Crimes
Since June 2014, Xu Wenhai has held significant positions within the CCP’s public security system. He actively implemented the persecution policy against Falun Gong, leading to the arrests and sentencing of a large number of practitioners. Several practitioners were tortured to death in custody.
After Xu became the deputy governor of Hubei Province and director of the Hubei Public Security Department in June 2020, the persecution in Hubei Province has remained severe. From June 2020 to May 2024, at least ten practitioners, including Mr. Liu Jigang, Ms. Wei Youxiu, Ms. Qin Hanmei, Ms. Tang Changjun, Ms. Li Juhua, Ms. Chen Wangqiu, Ms. Hu Hanjiao, Ms. Hu Yongxiu, Ms. Zong Ming, and Ms. Chen Xuzhen, died as a result of torture. Many others were disabled or injured from the torture.
1) Persecution in Hubei Province Between 2020 and 2024
In the second half of 2020, at least three practitioners, Mr. Liu Jigang, Ms. Wei Youxiu, and Ms. Qin Hanmei, were tortured to death. Seven were injured or disabled, including Mr. Feng Jiwu, Mr. Xiong Youyi, Mr. Zhou Guoqiang, Mr. Zhang Bo, Mr. Li Jun, Ms. Wang Qiong, and Mr. Wang Xinguo. From July to December 2020, 361 practitioners were arrested and had their homes ransacked.
In 2021, seven died in the persecution; 38 were sentenced; 123 were detained in brainwashing centers; 132 were held in detention centers; 321 were arrested; and 485 were harassed.
In 2022 and 2023, at least nineteen practitioners died as a result of the persecution; 71 were sentenced and fined for a total of 236,000 yuan; 392 were arrested; 120 were detained in brainwashing centers and five in psychiatric hospitals; and 517 were harassed. Another 49 suffered financial persecution, such as having their pension suspended or fired by their workplaces.
From January to May 2024, at least two practitioners, Mr. Ouyang Haiwen and Ms. Chen Xuzhen, died as a result of torture. At 7 a.m. on April 23, 2024, a mass arrest took place in Xian’an District, Xianning City, Hubei Province.
1.1) Select Death Cases
Case 1: Ms. Chen Xuzhen Released in Critical Condition, Dies a Month Later
Ms. Chen Xuzhen of Danjiangkou City, Hubei Province, arrested on March 2, 2023, while studying the Falun Gong teachings with several others. She was sentenced to one year with a 2,000-yuan fine. She became critically ill in the Shiyan City Detention Center and was released from the detention center in February 2024. She died a month later on March 14, 2024.
Case 2: Ms. Hu Yongxiu Dies Six Days after Arrest for Practicing Falun Gong
Ms. Hu Yongxiu, a 64-year-old resident of Wuhan City, Hubei Province, was arrested outside of a hospital on March 30, 2023, while talking to people about the persecution of Falun Gong. Her family confirmed on April 5 that she died that day. Her wake at home was closely monitored by the police. Due to strict information censorship, details about her death aren’t available.
Case 3: Ms. Tang Changjun Dies 66 Days After Serving 3.5 Years
Ms. Tang Changjun, a resident in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, was arrested on April 12, 2019, for talking to people on the subway about Falun Gong. The Hanyang District Court held a virtual hearing of her case on September 10, 2020, and sentenced her to 3.5 years and fined her 2,000 yuan on November 9, 2020. Her loved ones and lawyers tried several times, but the prison never approved their requests to visit her during her term. When she was released from Hankou Prison on October 12, 2022, she was unable to walk, had slurred speech, and was emaciated. Even so, the local street committee twice harassed her at home, trying to force her to renounce her faith. She died on December 17. She was 74.
Case 4: Ms. Hu Hanjiao Dies 13 Days After Being Admitted to Prison
Ms. Hu Hanjiao, a Hanchuan City, Hubei Province, resident, was arrested on March 15, 2021, after being reported for talking to people about Falun Gong. She was sentenced to a four-year prison term in late June 2021. During the seven months she was held at the Hanchuan City Detention Center, Ms. Hu held a hunger strike to protest the persecution and was force-fed. At 8 p.m. on November 9, 2021, 13 days after she was transferred to the Hubei Province Women’s Prison, a guard called Ms. Hu’s husband and said that she had died at the hospital from illness.
Case 5: Ms. Zong Ming Dies Six Days after Arrest for Practicing Falun Gong
Ms. Zong Ming was arrested on April 18, 2022 during the “Zero-out” campaign, which targets all practitioners on the government’s blacklist in order to force them to renounce Falun Gong. She was emaciated and had difficulty talking when she was released after eight months of brainwashing center detention. She passed away on January 1, 2023, six days after she was taken back home by her family.
Case 6: Ms. Wei Youxiu Dies in Custody After Over Two Years of Incommunicado Detention
Ms. Wei Youxiu was arrested at Zhongshan Park on June 2, 2018. Her home was also ransacked. She was detained in Wuhan No. 1 Detention Center for over a year. It’s reported that the persecution turned her into a mere skeleton and she had to be helped when walking.
Her family received a notice on August 15, 2020, saying the 72-year-old woman had died from leukemia. While the authorities refused to provide further information about her, her family suspected that she was tortured to death.
1.2) Select Sentencing Cases
Case 1: Two Sentenced for Distributing Falun Gong Informational Materials
Ms. Cheng Lianlian and Ms. Zhang Guiying, of Hongan County, Hubei Province, were arrested on August 21, 2021, after being reported for handing out fliers about Falun Gong. The police ransacked both women’s homes the day after their arrests. All their Falun Gong books and literature were confiscated as evidence. Ms. Cheng was later sentenced to seven years in prison and Ms. Zhang to three years.
Case 2: Two Elderly Men Given Heavy Prison Sentences
Two residents of Macheng City, Hebei Province were sentenced to prison in early 2023. Mr. Yi Jiahai and Mr. Yan Yingzhong, both in their 70s, were seized from their respective homes on November 6, 2021 and taken to the Macheng City First Detention Center. Mr. Yi was later sentenced to a nine-year prison term, and Mr. Yan to eight years. Both were admitted to the Shayang Prison Group on June 14, 2023.
1.3) Select Arrest Cases
Case 1: Seven Residents Arrested While Studying Falun Gong Teachings Together
Seven Wuhan residents, including Ms. Zhou Yuying, 83, Ms. Liang, 76, Ms. Liu Yunli, 71, Mr. Xu Nanshan, 70, Ms. Tang Lihua, 66, Ms. Yu Shifang, 57, and Ms. Tong Li, around 43, were studying Falun Gong teachings at Ms. Zhou’s home on March 11, 2021, when a police officer suddenly broke in after cutting through Ms. Zhou’s window security bars.
The officer opened the door and let in other officers. The police arrested all of the practitioners present and took them to the police station. The practitioners were interrogated and had their photos, blood samples, fingerprints, and footprints taken. Ms. Zhou and Ms. Liu were taken to the Wuchang District Brainwashing Center.
Case 2: Mr. Zhou Hongliang Beaten During Arrest
Mr. Zhou Hongliang, who did odd jobs at a local mall, was arrested at work at around 4 p.m. on March 10, 2023. The five arresting officers from the Xicheng Police Station, only one of whom in uniform, took him home. After raiding his home, they ordered Mr. Zhou to go with them. He refused to comply and said he needed to care for his 80-year-old incapacitated mother. Four of the officers then whipped him with their belts.
Mr. Zhou ran out of his apartment building but the officers caught him in no time and continued to beat him. They didn’t stop even when his neighbors condemned the police for beating such a good person.
The police then brought Mr. Zhou back home, conducted a second-round search of his place and took him to the Suizhou City First Detention Center.
1.4) The Notorious Brainwashing Centers in Hubei Province
Since the persecution of Falun Gong began in 1999, the authorities in Hubei have closely followed the regime in suppressing the practitioners. They were especially experienced in hosting brainwashing sessions against the practitioners.
In 2021, there were as many as 27 brainwashing centers in Hubei Province, including 15 in the capital city of Wuhan. At least 123 Falun Gong practitioners were detained in the brainwashing center and forced to study propaganda materials smearing Falun Gong.
To carry out the CCP’s “zero-out” campaign aimed at forcing every Falun Gong practitioner on the government’s blacklist to renounce their faith, the authorities in Wuhan mobilized the police in various districts to arrest local practitioners and place them in brainwashing centers. The city’s Political and Legal Affairs Committee (PLAC) and 610 Office then signed contracts with “collaborators” (former practitioners who had quit the practice) to work for the CCP in the persecution. The city paid these collaborators handsomely to torture and “transform” the practitioners in brainwashing centers. The authorities also hired a retired policeman who had a record of torturing practitioners to work in the brainwashing centers in different districts. At least ten new brainwashing centers were set up in Wuhan during the time.
Ms. Li Yuzhen, a 72-year-old Wuhan City, Hubei Province, resident, was arrested at home on June 6, 2021. She was taken to the Wangjiahe Brainwashing Center and held in a dark room on the second floor. The guards forced her to watch videos slandering Falun Gong, and ordered her to write statements renouncing Falun Gong. She refused to comply and held a hunger strike to protest. The guards took turns watching her and didn’t let her sleep for four days. She was also forced to stand at times. On the fifth day, the guards force-fed her. She was in great pain, her eyes rolled back into her head, and she almost died.
In 2022, at least 60 practitioners were detained in nine brainwashing centers in Wuhan, including Etouwan Brainwashing Center in Qiaokou District and Baishazhou Brainwashing Center in Wuchang District.
Ms. Hu Yanhua, a 57-year-old Wuhan City, Hubei Province, resident, was arrested on May 31, 2023, right outside her apartment building as she returned home from work. The police raided her home next day and took her to the Wuhan City Second Lockup for ten days. She was not released on June 11, when her detention expired, but was taken to the Youfu Hospital (a mental hospital to the east of the Hankou Railway Station in Wuhan), where she was kept for nearly two months. The police pried open her door and raided her home on August 8. Hours later, they picked her up from the mental hospital and took her to the Jianghan District Brainwashing Center.
Ms. Kong Jiuhong was arrested on October 24, 2023 and taken to a brainwashing center. She went on a hunger strike to protest the persecution. Despite her serious condition, the police refused to release her, but transferred her to the Yunmeng Detention Center. She was taken to the Hanchuan Rehabilitation Hospital on November 12. The Anlu City Court sentenced her to seven years in May 2024.
2) Crimes Committed as Deputy Mayor and Director of Shenzhen City Police Department (October 2016 – June 2020)
During Xu’s tenure as deputy mayor of Shenzhen and director of the Shenzhen City Police Department, the persecution of Falun Gong remained unabated. In 2017, 25 practitioners were arrested, and six others were harassed. In 2018 and 2019, 11 and 15 practitioners were arrested, respectively, with many others harassed during this period.
Mr. Luo Zhiyin, a Shenzheng City, Guangdong Province resident in his 20s, was arrested on September 26, 2019 after the police suspected him of putting up informational materials about Falun Gong. They ransacked his home and interrogated him at the local police station. They beat him about the head and tore his clothes. One officer pushed Mr. Luo’s head between his legs to humiliate him. Another threatened to harvest his organs if he refused to answer their questions.
The Nanshan District Procuratorate indicted Mr. Luo on April 14. The Nanshan District Court held a hearing of his case on October 29, 2021 and later sentenced him to three years.
Ms. Liang Zhanhong, a 75-year-old resident in Shenzhen City, Guangdong Province, was arrested at home on April 10, 2020, after a security officer in her subdivision reported her for talking to him about Falun Gong. She was held in the Nanshan Detention Center and sentenced to three years in 2021.
Over the past few years, the police and residential committee members harassed her several times, causing her family great distress. Her latest arrest has left her incapacitated husband in difficult circumstances, unable to find care.
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