Mr. Yu Donghui Passed Away in 2011 after Twelve Years of Persecution

Name: Yu Donghui

Gender: Male
Age: 67

Address: Liaoyuan City, Jilin Province
Occupation: Teacher
Date of Death: December 17th, 2011

Date of Most Recent Arrest: October, 2008

Most Recent Place of Detention: Siping Prison

City: Liaoyuan

Province: Jilin

Persecution Suffered: Forced labour, brainwashing, imprisonment, extortion, home ransacked, interrogation, detention

Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Yu Donghui was a teacher at the Liaoyuan City Communist Party School. He used to suffer from many illnesses, and he tried many sham qigong practices in an attempt to find a cure. But his health did not improve. After he started practising Falun Gong in March 1995, his illness symptoms disappeared as he followed the principles of Falun Gong. He soon became known as a very kind and healthy person in the community.

After the persecution of Falun Gong began in 1999, Mr. Yu endured constant harassment from the Nankang Police Station, the Domestic Security Division, and the Nankang Police Department. He was arrested and detained in the Liaoyuan Detention Centre, Chaoyanggou Forced Labour Camp in Changchun City, and Shilingzi Prison in Siping City. He was detained at the Liaoyuan Detention Centre for 30 days in May 2000, and sentenced to three years of forced labour in March 2002. He was sentenced to nine years in prison on May 12th, 2008. Mr. Yu passed away on December 17th, 2011 as a result of forced labour and brutal persecution in Shilingzi Prison.

The following is an account of the persecution that Mr. Yu suffered over a period of more than 10 years.

1. Sentenced to Forced Labour after Writing a Letter of Appeal

Mr. Yu Donghui was a member of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The Party expressly states that a member has the right to directly report a situation to its central committee. Mr. Yu wrote a letter about his positive experiences of practising Falun Gong. In the letter he talked about the goodness of Falun Gong and made three simple requests: “First, Falun Gong only benefits the society. It not only improves practitioners' health but also brings benevolence to their hearts and raises morality; Second, give people the freedom to practise Falun Gong; Third, restore Teacher Li Hongzhi, the founder of Falun Gong's good name.” Yu Donghui handed in the letter to the Appeals Centre of the CCP Organisation Department in May 2000.

Three days later, officers from the Nankang Police Station searched his office in the Liaoyuang Party School. They then took him home. Section Chief Gao of the police station ordered his wife, “Hand over all Falun Gong related items in your house.” They took away a copy of the Falun Gong book Zhuan Falun.

The police detained Mr. Yu in the Liaoyuan Detention Centre for a month without notifying his family, which is a violation of standard procedure. They first said it was criminal detention, then changed it to security detention. His family first took this as a good sign, but later learned that the police department was playing a game. The police used this devious means so they could send Mr. Yu to forced labour, because one can be sentenced to forced labour only after being twice detained.

In the detention centre, Mr. Yu temporarily succumbed to the brainwashing and wrote a “dissociation statement,” renouncing Falun Gong. He was released 30 days later after the police extorted 3,000 yuan¹ from his family. The money was claimed to be a security deposit but no receipt was issued. The family asked for the money several years later. Officer Wan of the Nankang Police Station, who took the money, said he'd resolve the issue in a couple of days. When the family went to the police station some days later, they were told that Wan was out. The money was never returned.

2. Arrested on Way Home from Grocery Shopping

In March 2002, practitioners successfully tapped into the closed-circuit television network in Changchun and broadcast information on the truth of Falun Gong. Mass arrests subsequently occurred in the whole province. Mr. Yu was arrested on his way home after grocery shopping on March 15th, 2002. Officer Lan (female) interrogated him in the Domestic Security Division. “You are a teacher in the party school, and do research on Marxism-Leninism. You believe in superstition? You believe Falun Gong? I'll immediately release you if you say that you do not practise Falun Gong. I'll give you the maximum term (of three years) of forced labour if you insist on practising.” Mr. Yu replied that Falun Gong was good and he would practise to the end.

Although the police arrested him in his community, the local Liaoyuan City News reported that they “arrested Yu Donghui as he fled out of town,” touting it as the police's so-called “huge success.”

Mr. Yu was sentenced to three years of forced labour.

3. Persecuted in the Labour Camp

As soon as he was brought to the labour camp, Mr. Yu was physically abused for not “transforming” [forcibly renounce Falun Gong]. He was forced to sit on a small stool from 6:00 a.m. to past 9:00 p.m. daily for more then 40 days. The guards forced him to sit in a certain position and did not allow him to talk. After that, he was taken to the Sixth Group for heavy labour, mainly farming. One day in autumn, the detainees were ordered to shoulder heavy bags of potatoes. Mr. Yu was not strong enough for it, but the inmate monitors put a bag on him. He immediately collapsed.

Cells in the labour camp were dark and damp, and the sanitary conditions were poor. Mr. Yu seemed in reasonable health when his wife visited him in September, but just a month later, when his wife saw him again in October, he had scabies. The labour camp did not provide any medical care. His health deteriorated. His whole body swelled. He could not even urinate. His urethra collapsed and he had to cut a water bottle in half and use it to direct his urine to the urinal.

On February 9th, 2003, Mr. Yu was found unconscious on his bed at breakfast time. He was sent to the Changchun Hospital, where he was diagnosed with severe skin ailments, severe malnutrition and anaemia. The labour camp refused to release him. A section chief in the Changchun Bureau of Justice said, “He indeed looks in very bad shape. But, according to his diagnosis, he is not qualified for release, yet.” After a brain CT showed he had brain cavity infarcts, the section chief agreed to release Mr. Yu, but only after he extorted 5,000 yuan from the family as a “deposit.” His family took him home after they tendered the 5,000 yuan.

Mr. Yu fell into unconscious again after he got home. The hospital reluctantly admitted him, saying that they'd sent him to the hospital too late. The nurse had a very hard time finding a vein when giving him an intravenous drip. As he got better after a week, Mr. Yu insisted on going home. He recovered completely after he studied the Falun Gong teachings and did the Falun Gong exercises at home for some time.

4. Mr. Yu and his wife Arrested and Sentenced During the Beijing Olympics

Between 7:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m. on May 12th, 2008, half a dozen plainclothes officers arrested Mr. Yu and his wife at home and took them to the Nankang Police Department. They then searched their home, taking away their Falun Gong books, videos and audio recordings. They also stole a laptop and 2 new mobile phones which belonged to their son, valued at over 10,000 yuan.

The police interrogated Mr. Yu and his wife separately for one and a half days, then incarcerated them in a detention centre. Six months later, Mr. Yu was sentenced to nine years in prison. His wife, Ms. Zhen Chunling was sentenced to three years in prison. Although his blood pressure was as high as 200mmHg, he was taken to Shilingzi Prison.

Even though Mr. Yu was 65 years old, the guards treated him as a slave labourer. Before the Christmas season of 2009, prisoners were forced to make strings of beads using toxic glue. Dozens of inmates worked in a small prison cell with poor ventilation. There was not any protective equipment provided to the inmates. The pungent smell of toxic glue filled the room. Many inmates showed symptoms of acute toxicity. Most of the imprisoned practitioners were involved in the gluing process. They suffered more than others. Many developed symptoms of pleurisy and tuberculosis. Practitioner Mr. Pang Shikun developed severe tuberculosis and died three days after he was hospitalized. Mr. Yu also became ill in this environment.

The prison established the No. 11 Prison District on December 29th, 2010, to enforce intensive brainwashing on practitioners. Fifteen practitioners, including Mr. Yu, were transferred to the No. 11 District. Each practitioner in this area was monitored by three inmates.

Mr. Yu suffered a stroke after being subjected to the constant physical and mental torment in the prison. The guards phoned his daughter, “If you don't have money, he will be treated in the prison. If you have the money, he can be treated outside.” He was treated eight days later in the Siping Hospital, and his daughter spent more than 10,000 yuan on medical expenses. They did not allow his daughter to visit him and took him back to the prison once his health improved somewhat.

Mr. Yu's blood pressure was always above 180mmHg during his three and a half years in the prison. The guards constantly tried to force him to give up Falun Gong and write a repentance statement. His health rapidly deteriorated. After four physical exams from several hospitals substantiated his precarious condition, Mr. Yu was released on medical parole on November 8th, 2011.

This time, he was unable to recover, and 40 days after his release, at 8:30 p.m. on December 17th, 2011, Mr. Yu Donghui passed away.

Note

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