Engineer Zhou Xiangyang in Critical Condition from Torture; Prison Tells Mother to “Wait Until He Is Dying”

Name: Zhou Xiangyang
Gender: Male
Age: 38
Address: Tangshan, Hebei Province
Occupation: Cost Engineer at the Third Tianjin Railway Survey and Design Institute Group in Tianjin
Date of Most Recent Arrest: March 5th, 2011
Most Recent Place of Detention: Gangbei Prison
City: Tianjin
Persecution Suffered: Interrogation, shocks from electric batons, sleep deprivation, forced labour, brainwashing, beatings, hung up by handcuffs, imprisonment, solitary confinement, torture, force-feedings, physical restraint, detention, denial of toilet use

Falun Gong practitioner and engineer Mr. Zhou Xiangyang, who is currently detained at Gangbei Prison (also known as Binhai Prison) in Tianjin, is in critical condition. His heartbeat is 40 beats per minute. Zhou's elderly mother has reached out to various officials and organisations to request her son's release, but she still has not received any response. She went to the prison officials to ask to take her son back home. Her request has been rejected numerous times. During one phone call, deputy head Li Guoyu told her to “wait until he is dying.”

Mr. Zhou has been on a hunger strike since March 5th, 2011 to protest against the unjust detention and brutal torture. He was sent to Xinsheng Hospital emergency department in Tianjin on January 16th, 2012. He had been on a hunger strike for over 330 days. He has not been given intravenous infusions for over a month. His elderly mother went to the prison to request his release several times, to no avail.

On February 2nd, 2012, the family called Li Guoyu, the deputy head of the prison. Li said that they treated Zhou Xiangyang very well and assured the family of his safety.

On February 6th, the family sent an appeal to various organisations to rescue Zhou, but they have not received any responses.

The night of February 13th, deputy head Li Guoyu called Zhou's mother again and told her to meet Zhou at Xinsheng Hospital. This was the second time since January 31st that the prison has phoned the family to have them see him due to his fragile condition.

Zhou's mother asked to take her son back home, but Li refused. On the morning of February 14th, the mother called Li Guoyu and strongly demanded to take her son home. Li first said that he would allow the mother to meet with her son the following Tuesday, but later said that he could not make the call on his own. Then he said he could not do anything until Zhou was dying. Then he said he would not allow the mother to take her son back, and only Zhou's brother-in-law (a non-practitioner) could take him back.

In many cases, the perpetrators in the regime's prisons do not want to send the practitioners back to their families until they are dying, and only to avoid taking responsibility and cover up their crimes. For example, the perpetrator in Jidong Prison saw that practitioner Wang Gang from Baoding, Hebei Province was dying, but the local police department refused to accept him. So they just dropped him off at home and quickly left. After returning home in critical condition, Wang Gang only lived for 15 more days. Yang Xiaojie, who was detained at Beijiao Prison, Shijiazhuang, only lived for 26 days after coming home. Luan Fusheng, who was detained at Qi County Prison, died after 19 days at home. Xu Dawei lived for only 13 days after he returned home from Lingyuan Prison. Gao Rongrong died after being taken to the forced labour camp hospital. On her “emergency record,” it stated what she ate every day. However, according to people who have inside information, Gao Rongrong was not given any food. Then the perpetrators claimed that she died because of staging a hunger strike.

We cannot allow these atrocities to continue. We hope that people from inside and outside of China will help this innocent man return home safely!

Related articles:

“Gangbei Prison Officials Refuse to Release Engineer Zhou Xiangyang, Who Is In Critical Condition (Photo)” http://www.clearwisdom.net/html/articles/2012/2/10/131385.html

"Mr. Zhou Xiangyang in Critical Condition--His Mother Calls for Justice (Photos)" http://www.clearwisdom.net/html/articles/2011/5/5/124948.html

Relevant phone numbers:

Tianjin Prison Administration Office: +86-22-27351374
Li Guoyu: deputy head of the Gangbei Prison: +86-22- 62071078, +86-13920446469
Meng, head of the Gangbei Prison Hospital: +86-22-62071039

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2012/2/16/253137.html