Practitioner Tortured in Dalian Detention Centre—Wife Sentenced to Forced Labour

Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Che Zhongshan from Dalian City, Liaoning Province, was arrested on July 6th, 2012. Mr. Che has been detained at the Yaojia Detention Centre in Dalian City for over four months. It was reported that he was handcuffed and shackled to a ground ring for more than two months, and was sometimes tied to a "tiger bench"¹ all night long. He was brutally persecuted. His wife, Ms. Wang Chun'e, was also arrested and persecuted at the Masanjia Forced Labour Camp. Their relatives have hired a lawyer to help the couple with judicial proceedings.

It was reported that Mr. Che swallowed a toothbrush to protest his detention and persecution. (Editor’s note: Falun Gong practitioners should always use peaceful and rational means to protest their persecution; one should not take a radical approach.) As a result, he had blood in his stool for several days and was in serious condition. On October 28th, his family heard about the incident. They went to the Kuiying Police Station and requested to see Mr. Che on October 30th. The staff at the police station said, “Yes, we arrested him but he is not here and we are not responsible. When we arrested him, his health was very good. So this has nothing to do with us. You should go find whoever did this to him.”

His family then went to the Yaojia Detention Centre and found the captain who had recently been transferred there. They asked to visit Mr. Che because he was in a serious condition. The captain said, “He had a physical examination and there was nothing wrong with him.” Later he said, “I know nothing about it. Let me check.” When Mr. Che’s family pointed out the captain’s contradictory comments, he said arrogantly, “Go ahead and accuse me.”

Mr. Che’s family then called squadron leader Chi Peng and requested to see Mr. Che. Chi Peng shirked his responsibility and said, “My words don’t count. We need to get permission from the upper level management.” After a few minutes, he said the upper level management didn’t approve. He later called and asked Mr. Che’s sister to pay 3,000 yuan² for Mr. Che’s treatment.

Event Recollection

When Mr. Che Zhongshan arrived at his home at around 10:00 a.m. on July 6th, he was pulled to the ground by several plainclothes police officers and brutally beaten and arrested. His hand was bleeding. After 1:00 p.m., his wife, Wang Chun'e, was also arrested by officers from Kuiying Police Station, who were hiding near the building. The police officers confiscated cash, and personal property including two cars, a motorcycle, furniture, and cabinets, etc. Even the flower pots were confiscated; nothing was left in the home. Many residents witnessed the robbery by the police.

Mr. Che was severely beaten and injured. His arm was still swollen a month later. None of the confiscated items, including cash and keys, have been returned to the family. Mr. Che was detained in a small cell in the Dalian Detention Centre. Mr. Che started a hunger strike in August to protest the persecution.

On the morning of August 8th, Wang Peiqi from the Kuiying Police Station told two of Mr. Che’s family members that he was in charge of Mr. Che’s case. But he changed his story the next day and told three other family members that he was not involved in Mr. Che’s case. Mr. Che’s family asked Gao Tiansheng, the deputy director of the police station, why they arrested Mr. Che and why the family had not been notified for over a month. Director Gao said he didn’t have their contact phone number.

On the morning of August 9th, Mr. Che’s family asked director Gao to release Mr. Che, but he sent them to director Wang instead, who in turn sent them back to director Gao. This was a case of the two directors shirking their responsibilities. When Mr. Che’s family asked for the notification, director Wang Jun lied and said they had already informed Mr. Che’s parents. In fact, his parents knew nothing about their son’s arrest. Other family members hadn’t heard from Mr. Che and his wife for some time and had learned from their neighbors that they had been arrested. Director Wang claimed that Mr. Che and his wife had committed a crime because they practised Falun Gong.

It was reported that the reason for the arrest was that Mr. Che had installed an NTD Television satellite receiver. NTD Television is an international, independent, and nonprofit television station founded by Chinese Americans in December 2001. The mission of NTD is to promote freedom of the press in China, promote traditional Chinese culture, and serve as a bridge between the East and the West. NTD strives to provide truthful information to Chinese people around the globe and gives firsthand, insightful coverage of China. Around 200 million viewers around the world watch NTD programmes. In China, 40 to 60 million households watch foreign satellite TV. More and more TV satellite receivers are being installed in the Dalian region, especially since the exposure of the events surrounding Wang Lijun, Bo Xilai, and Gu Kailai, and the crimes of forced organ harvesting in China for profit. NTD’s objective, truthful coverage resonates with the citizens of Dalian.

Zhou Yongkang, secretary of the Political and Legal Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and principal culprit in the persecution of Falun Gong, attended the 4th International Anti-Corruption Bureau conference in Dalian City on June 26th. In the lead-up to the conference, CCP officials in Dalian intensified the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in Dalian City in order to please the “boss.” It was reported that the Dalian 610 Office, or even higher level officials, had been plotting the intensified persecution for a long time, mainly targeting owners who had installed the overseas NTD Television receivers. Police had a list of people to arrest.

As a result, on July 6th, the Dalian 610 Office, the Politics and Law Committee, the Public Security Bureau, the National Security Team, and officers from the police department, the police station, and the neighborhood communities, conducted a large scale arrest of Faun Gong practitioners. About 100 practitioners were arrested and their homes ransacked. Ms. Zhang Guilian, 69, from the development district, was arrested by police officers who broke into her home while she was taking a bath. She was arrested and taken to the detention centre, then passed away on August 5. Falun Gong practitioners were brutally persecuted in the Dalian Detention Centre. Qu Bin and Zhang Guoli were persecuted to near death. Another practitioner, Hou Chunli, had her leg broken and her kidney injured.

Falun Gong practitioners Liu Meifen, Qu Lianxi, Song Ailian, Pei Zhenbo, Sun Yun, Zhang Yulian, Kang Yuying, Lin Weizhu, Wan Xiaohui, Wang Chun'e, Yu Changshun, Zhang Lina, Hao Qiujing, Luo Jinyu, Xiao Chunling, Liu Jiqing, and others, have been sentenced to a forced labour camp. Ma Ruitian, Wang Yu (Wang Defa), Liu Qingtao, Zhu Chengqian, Che Zhongshan, Wang Shouchen, Wang Jian, She Yue, Yan Jinhua, Hao Yaoshan, Li Shengjie, and others have been arrested. It was reported that families of the persecuted Falun Gong practitioners have hired lawyers from Beijing to represent the practitioners in the juridical proceedings.

Personnel in charge include Wang Like, the deputy mayor of Dalian City; Wang Ping, the director of the Public Security Bureau; the Dalian Municipal Committee secretary; Yu Qunbin, deputy director of Zhongshan District; the director of the Public Security Bureau; Ma Danliang, the captain of Dalian Municipal Public Security Bureau supervision detachment; the director of Dalian City Detention Centre, and others.

Chi Peng: 86-15566402217 (Mobile)

Note

1. "Tiger Bench": Prisoners are forced to sit on a small iron bench that is approximately 20 cm (6 inches) tall with their knees tied together. With their hands tied behind their backs or sometimes placed on their knees, they are forced to sit straight up and look straight ahead without movement for long periods of time.

2. "Yuan" is the Chinese currency; 500 yuan is equal to the average monthly income of an urban worker in China.