Follow-up Report on the Torture Death of Dafa Practitioner Ms. Yang Yufang from Zhangjiakou City

Falun Dafa practitioner Ms. Yang Yufang was 49 years old. She had lived in a villge, near Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province. She refused to give up her belief in Dafa and was tortured to death on June 16, 2003, by perpetrators from the Qiaodong Vice Squad and the Qiaodong Criminal Police Group.

After the persecution began, Yang Yufang went to Beijing on October 24, 2000, and released pigeons that had messages that explained the facts about Falun Dafa tied to them. The authorities following Jiang's persecution policies arrested her during the morning of October 25 and illegally held her at Dongcheng District's Detention Centre for 49 days, in violation of the Chinese constitution. During her detention, the police often went to her home to harass her family. After Yang Yufang was unconditionally released on December 13, she was forced to leave the city and return to her hometown to live.

On April 9, 2001, the fourth day after Yang Yufang came back to the city from her hometown, officers from the Dongyaozi Police Station pried open her door and broke into her home. They took Yang Yufang to the Dongyaozi Police Station and later to the Xuanhua Detention Centre where she was held for over 40 days. They released her after extorting more than 10,000 Yuan from her family. This put a great financial burden on this farming family. Yang Yufang had no choice but to make a living by selling things on the street and working as a seamstress.

Yang Yufang clarified the truth to people as she sold clothes and often distributed flyers late at night. After the 2002 Moon Festival, authorities from the Dongyaozi Police Station again went to her home. Yang Yufang escaped but was forced to leave town to avoid arrest.

In the evening of May 17, 2003, Yang Yufang was arrested at her home by security officials from the Qiaodong Criminal Police Group. They tortured her.

In order to protest the persecution, Yang Yufang held a hunger strike but was force-fed. Around May 23, 2003, Yang Yufang was sent to a Detention Centre. She was extremely weak at the time. She had blood in her urine and her fingernails and toenails had turned black. She could not walk or take care of herself. Someone at the detention centre carried Yang Yufang daily to a dark and cold corner at 7 a.m., and then to a hot place at 2 p.m. The perpetrators didn't give her any dry bed covers. Detention centre doctor Liu Shuping said, "You'll have to freeze to death if you don't eat." The torture continued during rainy days. Yang Yufang suffered all kinds of torture at the hands of the authorities. They exposed her to the rain during the day and covered her with a wet bedcover at night. Sometimes inmates even poured water over her.

Yang Yufang was extremely emaciated after more than 20 days of her hunger strike. Two fellow practitioners helped her to go to the toilet on a daily basis. Doctor Liu Shuping encouraged inmates to pry open Yang Yufang's mouth and force-feed her, until her mouth bled. During the morning of June 14, inmates beat her with the bottoms of their shoes and poured cold water over her. Yang Yufang was carried out around 11 a.m.

At 12:40 p.m. on June 16, 2003, Yang Yufang's youngest son received a phone call from Chen Jianbin, an official from the Qiaodong Criminal Police Group, who told his family to come over. At the Qiaodong Criminal Police Group facility, three officials including Qiao, Wang and a female officer were present. The perpetrators threatened Yang Yufang's husband saying, "Yang Yufang's case is documented with the central and provincial government. The site producing Dafa truth clarification materials in Yang Yufang's area is the largest in its vicinity, and she was in charge. Over four truck loads of Falun Dafa materials were confiscated from the site, as well as more than 20 computers and other valuables, worth about 200,000 Yuan." The authorities also faked kindness and said, "Yang Yufang suffered from acute diabetes at the detention centre and was rushed to the No. 5 Hospital on June 14. For three days she was under constant care and died at 12:05 p.m. on June 16. Her body has already been sent to the crematory." Yang Yufang's husband was shocked by the news, because Yang Yufang never had diabetes in her whole life. How could such a healthy and strong woman die in less than one month? He didn't accept the death certificate.

At 6 p.m., Yang Yufang's husband, her son, sister and brother went to the Qiaodong Criminal Police Group and asked to see the body. The next day in the morning the family saw Yang Yufang's body. They noticed blood in her left ear, the right corner of her mouth and in the right nostril. The right side of her face was black. The inside of her right arm and right wrist were black, so were her right knee and right ankle. Large areas of the right side of her back and buttocks were severely bruised. Large amount of stool was found in her pants, and her whole body was swollen. Her family was beyond shock! They couldn't understand why these cruel people didn't notify them when Yang Yufang was in a critical state, or why they rushed her body to the crematory.

Cause of death listed on the notice given to the family, respiratory system failure, is different from the cause listed on the notice the police handed to the crematory.

When the family said they would sue the police the lawyer informed them, "The central government determines everything having to do with the Falun Dafa issue. We cannot represent your case."

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2004/5/16/74781.html