Mr. Qu Hui, who was tortured to the point of being paralyzed 13 years ago at the Dalian City Forced Labour Camp, passed away quietly on February 19th, 2014, at the age of 45. He was finally relieved of the tremendous pain he endured during the last decade of his life.
At the labour camp, Mr. Qu's genitals were shocked with electric batons, causing festering wounds. His cervical vertebrae had been fractured, and he was paralyzed as a result of the torture.
Mr. Qu could do nothing but lie in bed, unable to even turn over by himself. The torture devastated his body, and he endured immense pain. He hardly slept. His wife looked after him around the clock.
During the past 13 years, his daughter grew from a baby to a teenager. A simple wish of enjoying a walk with her father was a luxury never fulfilled.
Captured and Tortured
Mr. Qu and his wife, Ms. Liu Xinying, were once a happy family. Mr. Qu was a cargo clerk in Dalian Port, and Ms. Liu was a nurse at the Dalian Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital. They both practised Falun Gong, were healthy, and lived a peaceful life.
The couple travelled to Beijing in January 2000 to appeal for the right to practise Falun Gong, which was banned in China in 1999 by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Mr. Qu was beaten by police officers on Tiananmen Square and returned to Dalian. The authorities took 9,700 yuan (~1,590 USD) from him. He was fired from his job and detained at the Dalian Port Detention Centre. He was transferred to the Pulandian City Mental Hospital after one month of detention.
Mr. Qu was taken to the Dalian City Forced Labour Camp on April 13th, 2000, where he was forced to perform hard labour and subjected to brainwashing and torture.
On the afternoon of March 19th, 2001—25 days before his release date—a large group of police officers arrived at the labour camp with torture devices and ambulances equipped with oxygen apparatus. One by one, practitioners were taken into a room where officers tried to force practitioners to promise that they would stop practising Falun Gong. The officers also tried to make practitioners sign guarantee statements to renounce practising Falun Gong and slander Falun Gong's founder, Mr. Li Hongzhi. Each practitioner who refused to do so was tortured.
Mr. Qu once recounted his horrifying experience that day, “The sound of the practitioners' screaming and police officers' cursing filled the building. Practitioners who had been tortured were lying all over in the hallway. Some were spitting or drooling, and others were moaning in pain. It was a terrible scene.
“I was also dragged into that room at 9:00 p.m. The officers tortured me without interruption until 8:00 a.m. I don't know how many electric batons they used on me. My body was covered in wounds from their clubs. My buttocks was beaten so severely that the wounds festered. My knees were swollen from being beaten, and my back was broken. I spat blood and lost consciousness again and again.”
Mr. Qu described the inhuman-like actions of the prison officials, “Once after regaining consciousness, a doctor named Han Qiong inspected me, and said to the officers, 'He's all right. You can continue beating him.' While hitting me, an officer named Qiao Wei grinned and said to those watching, 'For years my cravings have not been satisfied like they are now.' Only demons from hell would get pleasure from torturing people.”
As a result of the brutal torture, Mr. Qu sustained a fractured cervical vertebrae and paraplegia. The wounds on his genitals—from electric shocks—became infected. He also had swelling and a high fever.
Because his lungs were failing and he was unable to breathe, doctors cut his trachea open and a breathing machine was inserted. His kidneys also failed, so doctors inserted a catheter tube.
He had severe and persistent diarrhoea, and was kept alive by intravenous drips. He developed bedsores everywhere. The doctors told his family to prepare for his death. After being held in the hospital for over 50 days, he finally returned home.
Thirteen Years in a 140-Square-Foot Room
Under his wife's great care, Mr. Qu partially recovered, but he was still paralyzed. He could not take care of himself and needed help with nearly everything, from eating and drinking, to turning over, and using the toilet.
The family was placed under continuous surveillance. The authorities harassed them frequently and threatened to confiscate their property.
Mr. Qu lay in bed every day for the past 13 years. His only scenery was the 140-square-foot room. The torture to which he was subjected devastated his body, and he was left to endure incredible pain. He often felt depressed, but his wife was by his side every day.
The following is Ms. Liu's account of life after torture:
“I had hoped that my family could become whole again, and I knew that my child should have a father. Regardless of what others said and regardless of Qu's situation, I hoped that he could again live well, and I was willing to give anything for that to happen.
“The doctors told me in 2001 that Qu would die quickly. It was truly a miracle that he lived for another 13 years.
“I started reading Falun Gong lectures and books to him as soon as we brought him home from the hospital. He started to urinate a lot, and his swelling disappeared within days. His bedsores turned from black to red, and the 10-cm-long wound on his back where the vertebrae were exposed also turned from black to red. His bedsores—more than a dozen—healed gradually in the following years.
“However, he suffered hyperthermic convulsions because of the damage to his central nervous system. His body shook so badly that even the bed and other things in the room would shake. The damage to his internal organs led to peritonitis [abdominal inflammation], which caused more than 1,000 ml of pus to come out, and it smelled very bad. Later on, his internal organs bled profusely—it was worse than hematorrhea during childbirth, based on my professional medical knowledge.
“Because he had been poisoned with drugs while imprisoned, Qu was not able to take any medication. I took care of him around the clock and didn't sleep much. I read Falun Gong books to him every day. Each time he was on the verge of death, his condition would suddenly turn for the better. Even the hospital staff who visited us were amazed.
“I manually removed his stool for the past 13 years, and we used a plastic bag to catch his urine. He could not feed himself, sit up, or turn over. He would not have survived without the help of others. On the other hand, we all experienced amazing health benefits from reading the Falun Gong books to him. I became strong and tolerant amidst all these hardships with the help of Falun Gong.
“A female practitioner who was imprisoned for 11 years once said, 'I faced death almost every day in that severe environment. I regarded each day as the last day of my life and cherished it. That is how I lived through the 11 years in prison, and I never compromised or gave up my belief.' This is also a true picture of my mentality over the past 13 years.”
Mr. Qu passed away after 13 years of immense suffering.
Mr. Qu wrote in 2004, “We should have a safe living environment. Our freedoms and the right to health, belief, livelihood, and the right to sue those who commit crimes against us should all be protected.”
Summary of Key Persecution Facts:
Name: Qu Hui (曲辉)
Gender: Male
Age: 45
Address: 41 Yihe Street, Zhongshan District, Dalian City, Liaoning
Occupation: Cargo clerk in Dalian Port
Date of Death: February 19th, 2014
Date of Most Recent Arrest: January 2001
Most Recent Place of Detention: Dalian Forced Labour Camp (大连市劳动教养院)
City: Dalian
Province: Liaoning
Persecution Suffered: Electric shocks, forced labour, brainwashing, beatings, torture, extortion, dismissal from workplace, mental hospitalization, detention.
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