Falun Gong Practitioner Zhang Xingcai Dies as a Result of Torture in Wumaping Prison in Sichuan Province

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The local police in Panzhihua City arrested and tortured practitioner Mr. Zhang Xingcai from Panzhihua City, Sichuan Province, in March 2004. On September 8th, 2006, they arrested him again and sent him to Wumaping Prison for further persecution. He died on March 31st, 2007. The following details the persecution that he suffered.

Mr. Zhang Xingcai, who was 59 years old, was a retired officer of the National Land Administrative Bureau of Panzhihua City. He lived at Dianshe in Changping Village, Yimin Township, Yanbian County. Mr. Zhang's legs were almost paralysed before he started practising Falun Gong. He walked with difficulty with a cane, but he recovered after he started practising Falun Gong in 1995. Since then he was able to walk easily, and he recovered from many other illnesses. In December 1999 he went to the local city government to appeal and explain the truth about Falun Gong. Then he went to Beijing to appeal for justice for Falun Gong in April 2000. He was arrested and held, then sent to a brainwashing centre twice.

The police department of Panzhihua City arrested Mr. Zhang in March 2004 and held him at the Detention Centre of Yanbian County. During the detention, the National Security Team of Yanbian County took him out of the centre and tortured him to try to coerce a confession. The National Security officers handcuffed him to the frame of the window for three whole days. Hanging there, he could touch the ground only with his toes.

To coerce a confession, the officers of the National Security Team kicked and punched Mr. Zhang. They slapped his face and hit him in the face with a full bottle of water; they also stuck the water bottle into his mouth. They beat his face till it was black and blue and his mouth bled. They tortured him until he was unconscious many times. Sometimes it rained at night, and the rain drenched him totally. Chilly winds almost froze him, and he shivered the whole night. The 610 Office1 personnel took turns torturing him, interrogating him, and attempting to coerce a confession. When Mr. Zhang lost consciousness, the National Security Team officers pulled his hand up and imprinted his fingerprints on the interrogation record.

When the guards released him from the window frame, Mr. Zhang could not stand and his wrists were cut and covered with blood. He couldn't walk after they sent him back to the detention centre; he was only able to crawl in the cell. They never sent him to the hospital for medical treatment. The 610 Office authorities still didn't feel that they had enough evidence for their report, so they had the inmates torture and interrogate Mr. Zhang for a confession.

After the police authorities fabricated the evidence, the Yanbian County Court brought Mr. Zhang to trial in October 2004. He was carried to the court by prisoners. The court sentenced him to seven and a half years.

After practising Falun Dafa, Mr. Zhang fully recovered from a partial paralysis. Then he was again paralysed after being tortured by the 610 Office. His family tried everywhere to request his release, but they failed to get him released. Then they looked for connections and made a bribe; the authorities released him after six months as bailed out for medical reasons.

A gang of four led by police officer Li Faming of Hongge Town Police Station went to Mr. Zhang's home and took him out of bed on September 8th, 2006, when Mr. Zhang had not yet recovered. They took him to Wumaping Prison in Muchuan County, Sichuan Province. The prison authorities said that they would release him on bail for medical reasons at that time and even notified his family. However, when his family finally found the prison and asked for his release, the prison rejected their request. Mr. Zhang was taken to see them for the family visit.

On around March 20th, 2007, the prison authorities called Mr. Zhang's daughter and asked for a sweater, sweatshirts, thick trousers, shoes, etc. for a change of clothes. Then on March 30th, 2007, between 1:00 and 2:00 p.m., the prison phoned the family saying that Mr. Zhang had contracted septicemia and some kind of infection. His family took the train the same day and saw him in Jianwei County Hospital on oxygen until after 1:00 p.m. the next day (March 31st), when he lost consciousness. At 7:00 p.m. on March 31st, the doctors came and told the family that Mr. Zhang had died. The death certificate showed that he died of acute pancreatitis. The doctors also asked the family if they wanted to have an autopsy done.

Just how practitioner Mr. Zhang Xingcai was persecuted to death at the Wumaping Prison has yet to be investigated.

The prison authorities claimed to Mr. Zhang's family that they first sent him to Qingxi Town Hospital (Wumaping Prison Hospital) and then transferred him to Jianwei County Hospital. Wumaping Prison of Sichuan Province didn't show any regard for human or prisoners' rights. They didn't take care of the illness in a timely manner, or they only handled patients with extremely poor medical conditions at the prison's clinic. They also covered up the facts about cases of prisoners being injured or dying at the prison. The prison played a roll as an accomplice and hired thugs of the Chinese Communist Party's persecution of Falun Gong.

Prison address: Wumaping Prison, Muchuan County, Leshan, Sichuan Province, zip: 614503
Prison warden's phone number: 86-833-4652001, 86-833-4652002, 86-833-4652003
Committee for Discipline Inspection (hotline to report violations): 86-833-4652004
Wu Tao, Security Section Lead (4th section): 86-833-4652041
Guards in the 4th section: Xian Cong, Yu Baohua and Zhang Zhong.
The guards involved in the persecution of Falun Gong: Luo Jiangtao, deputy lead of educational section; Yuan Dingxing, administration section lead.

Note

1. "The 610 office" is an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other political and judiciary systems.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2007/6/2/156104.html

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