Older Falun Gong Practitioner Persecuted to Death in Changchun City, China

Name: Yang Mingli
Gender: Male
Age: 60
Address: Shuangyang District, Changchun City, Jilin Province
Date of Death: May 10th, 2011
Date of Most Recent Arrest: December 18th, 2004
Most Recent Place of Detention: Chaoyanggou Forced Labour Camp
City: Changchun
Province: Jilin
Persecution Suffered: Forced labour, beatings, solitary confinement, torture, force-feedings, home ransacked, detention

After suffering a year of persecution at the hands of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in a forced labour camp, Yang Mingli was released into his younger brother's custody. Yang Mingli had to be carried down on his younger brother's back from the third floor of the labour camp building. He was not able to recover from the torture he had suffered, and passed away on May 10th.

Before becoming a Falun Gong practitioner in 1998, his health was poor. He had neurasthenia, as well as kidney problems and high blood pressure. He was unable to sleep a full night, and for the 18 months prior to becoming a practitioner, was not able to have salt, since it caused blood in his stool. He recovered completely from these problems soon after he started practising Falun Gong. Everyone at his office and factory, and several hospital staff heard of his miraculous recovery.

On April 25th, 1999, Yang Mingli joined fellow practitioners in Tianjin City to appeal for the release of arrested Falun Gong practitioners. The CCP officially began their campaign of persecution against Falun Gong on July 20th, 1999. Yang Mingli began explaining the facts about Falun Gong at work.

Yang Mingli was seen practising Falun Gong exercises outdoors in July 2000, and was arrested and put behind bars for 15 days. After his release, he continued exposing the persecution of Falun Gong at work, which put him in danger of further persecution. In order to keep his freedom, he quit his job and became homeless.

On May 25th, 2001, Yang Mingli went with a fellow practitioner to visit a dying practitioner at the Xinglongshan Brainwashing Centre in Changchun. They were arrested on the spot and brutally beaten. Zhang, one of the guards, spent the entire afternoon beating Yang Mingli. The following day, another guard took over to continue the beatings.

A week later, Yang Mingli was transferred to Weizigou Forced Labour Camp, where for eight months he was detained and persecuted so severely that he was close to death. He was then taken to a prison hospital in Jilin Province, where he was held for a month. He was then allowed to go home on bail. After he returned home, he resumed studying the Falun Gong teachings and performing the exercises, and his health gradually returned to normal.

On December 18th, 2004, Yang Mingli was arrested at his apartment by officers from Nanhu Police Station. The arrest was organized by officer Cui, who proceeded to ransack Yang Mingli's home, turning everything upside down and confiscating Falun Gong books and flyers. Later that night, Mr. Yang was interrogated by a particularly brutal officer who was intent on finding out who produced the materials he had in his possession. Mr. Yang was severely beaten, but still refused to say anything. That same night, Mr. Yang was transported to Changchun's Second Detention Centre. Mr. Yang went on hunger strike for a week. It was during his hunger strike that Mr. Yang was cruelly force-fed with salt.

Yang Mingli was later transferred to Chaoyanggou Forced Labour Camp for a year. While at the labour camp, Mr. Yang was continually tortured, and his blood pressure skyrocketed to 240. When his one-year term ended, personnel from the Sheungyang District political protection department wanted to send him to Xinglongshan Brainwashing Centre since he had not been successfully "transformed” [forcibly renounce Falun Gong]. But Yang Mingli's younger brother was able to persuade the officials involved against this course of action, and Yang Mingli was released. On December 20th, 2005, Yang Mingli was carried on his younger brother's back from the building's third floor.

After returning home, Yang Mingli's elder sister arranged a full physical examination for him. He was diagnosed with chronic nephritis, a cerebral infarction, and hypertension.

Even though he was cruelly imprisoned at various labour camps and detention centres, he never stopped practising Falun Gong, and never gave in to the torturers' demands to make a statement promising to stop practising Falun Gong.

Yang Mingli had difficulty speaking, and seldom communicated with others. His health gradually deteriorated, and he passed away on May 10th, 2011.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2011/7/26/244444.html