Torture at Wanjia Hospital: Father and Son Die Within Half a Year

For practising Falun Gong, Mr. Yu Zhenyi, from Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province, was arrested on September 19, 1999. He was sentenced to a four-year term in September 2001 and was transferred to Harbin Third Prison at the beginning of April 2002. He was transferred to Wanjia Forced Labour Hospital (referred to as Wanjia Hospital in this article) on April 25, 2002, where unknown drugs were injected into his brain. He died on May 14 at home, at the age of 29.

His father, Mr. Yu Guanyun, also a Falun Gong practitioner, was arrested during July 2002 and sentenced to three years of forced labor. He was tortured while serving time in the Changlinzi Forced Labour Camp in Harbin. He was transferred to Wanjia Hospital at the beginning of December 2002 and died on January 11, 2003.

Mr. Yu Zhenxiong, the younger son of Mr. Yu Guanyun, was forced to leave home to avoid being persecuted after his father's death. He returned home five years later.

Falun Gong (also known as Falun Dafa), is an ancient spiritual and meditation discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

Mr. Yu Zhenyi Persecuted to Death
The police from the Nangang Police Department of Harbin arrested Mr. Yu Zhenyi, a bookstore owner, in August 1999. They confiscated 7,000 yuan in cash, and his cell phone.

The police from the same department arrested him again for printing Falun Gong books on September 19, 1999, and detained him in a hotel. The police extorted 5,000 yuan cash that he carried. He was sentenced to four years in prison in September 2001.

However, the prison refused to admit him because of his poor health, the result of torture during detention. He was taken back to the Nangang Detention Centre and held for two years without providing any legal grounds. His health deteriorated rapidly. His family had to pay 700 yuan a month for him to stay in an upgraded cell with fewer inmates, which also allowed for him to receive some rice in his meals.

Mr. Yu was sentenced to four years in prison in early 2002. He was taken to a prison in Beian, Heilongjiang Province. Not long afterward, his father was notified that he was returned to Nangang Detention Centre, because he was diagnosed with tuberculosis.

A practitioner released from Nangang Detention Center in early April 2002 told his father that his son's mind was not clear. His younger brother went to the detention center right away, and requested that he be released on medical parole. But, the deputy director claimed that he wasn’t aware of his brother's condition.

Mr. Yu was transferred to Harbin City Third Prison three days later. His father and brother visited him in the prison hospital. He was emaciated, and found his mind to be unstable.

Only one day after their visit, they received a surprise phone call from a Wanjia Forced Labour Camp official. The official told them that Mr. Yu was dying in Wanjia Hospital, and asked them to come to see him for the last time. But he didn’t explain when and why Mr. Yu was transferred to Wanjia Hospital.

Mr. Yu’s younger brother, Mr. Yu Zhenxiong recalled, “We could not fathom how his condition had deteriorated so fast. When my father and I got the hospital, we saw him lying on a gurney, breathing heavily. His lower front tooth was broken, and was attached to the gum with a thin thread of flesh. He had lost his wits. We asked the police that he be released on bail for medical treatment, which was approved an hour later – at midnight.”

Late at night that same day, Mr. Yu was taken to the Second Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, given his serious condition. His limbs were twitching uncontrollably and his mind wasn’t clear. The examination indicated that he had been struck on the head repeatedly with a heavy object. He also had a puncture wound in his chest. There were also internal injuries, and one of his teeth was broken.

The hospital refused to continue his treatments. After persistent effort from his family to rescue him, his medical parole was approved. He finally came home on April 29.

When he regained consciousness at home, he told his brother that four or five people forcibly injected some unknown fluid into his brain during the half-day that he was at Wanjia Hospital.

Mr. Yu Zhenyi’s condition kept deteriorating during the following days. He passed away on May 14, 2002, at the age of 29.

Mr. Yu Guanyun Died in Wanjia Labour Camp Hospital
The father, Mr. Yu Guanyun, went to Tiananmen Square to appeal for the right to practice Falun Gong in late 1999, and was detained for 15 days. He was arrested again in July 2000 for talking to people about Falun Gong. He was detained for more than 50 days. His home was ransacked many times.

Less than three months after his older son died, Mr. Yu was arrested for distributing Falun Gong informational materials in July 2002. The police confiscated all his Falun Gong related materials and 2,000 yuan in cash.

Mr. Yu was detained in the detention centre of the Taiping Police Department in Harbin. Several days later, he was sentenced to a three-year term and transferred to Changlinzi Forced Labour Camp.

Shortly after he was admitted to the labour camp, he had scabies all over his body, which caused swelling of both his hands. He was subjected to different kinds of torture, including beating, long-time standing, squatting, and long-time standing under the scorching sun.

Mr. Yu developed a high fever at the beginning of December 2002, and was taken to the Wanjia Hospital. When his son, Mr. Yu Zhengxiong visited him at the beginning of January 2003, he was emaciated. He stood behind bars with a vest and pyjama bottoms on. The pants were too big and kept falling down. He told his son that the criminal inmates didn't allow him to drink any water.

His son applied for his bail for medical treatment. But, several days later, on the evening of January 10, 2003, he received a call from labour camp chief guard Li, who asked him to visit his father the next day due to his poor condition. The younger son said he had a strange feeling about the phone call since the next day was a Saturday.

Li and two guards picked up the younger son on the next day. Li said to him in the car, “I can tell you that your father is already dead. You must have him cremated immediately. Don't make any trouble. Accept it quietly.”

Death Cases in Wanjia Hospital
Wanjia Hospital has been used as a place to torture Falun Gong practitioners since the persecution of Falun Gong was launched on July 20, 1999. Below are a few practitioners who were tortured at Wanjia, just like Mr. Yu (father) and son, and passed away.

May 22, 2002: Death at Wanjia Hospital of Mr. Yu Tianyong
Mr. Yu Tianyong, a Falun Gong practitioner from Mishan City, Heilongjiang, was arrested in Harbin City on January 1, 2001. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison and was incarcerated in Harbin City Third Prison.

Mr. Yu contracted pulmonary tuberculosis. He was released on bail for medical treatment and went back to Mishan. One month later, police from Harbin arrested him again and imprisoned him at the Wanjia Hospital for what they called medical treatment.

Two months later, on May 22, 2002, Mr. Yu died in the hospital.

July 30, 2002: Death of Mr. Zhang Tao at Wanjia Hospital
Mr. Zhang Tao, was a resident of Shuangcheng City, Heilongjiang. He was arrested on April 19, 2002, for practicing Falun Gong, and detained at Changlinzi Forced Labour Camp.

Mr. Zhang went on a hunger strike to protest the persecution in July 2002. He was force-fed with an unknown drug, which caused vomiting, diarrhoea, and fever. However, despite his poor health condition, he was transferred to a solitary confinement cell and hung up in the air by his handcuffs until he lost consciousness. He was brutally force-fed with salty corn porridge, which damaged his digestive system. He was in extreme pain.

He was taken to Wanjia Hospital, where he passed away after five days, on July 30, 2002, at the age of 53.

His body looked horrible, his neck was badly bruised, and his left arm broken.

August 28, 2002: Death of Ms. Bai Xiuhua at Wanjia Hospital
Ms. Bai Xiuhua, a former police officer from Acheng City, Heilongjiang, was arrested three times for practising Falun Gong and fired from her job. Her third arrest happened on July 8, 2002. She was detained in the Harbin City Police Department.

To protest the illegal arrest, she went on a one-month long hunger strike, starting with the day of her arrest. She was brutally force-fed and beaten during that time.

When she tried to escape, she fell and fractured her backbone. As a result, she could no longer use the restroom by herself. The police refused to release her and instead transferred her to the Wanjia Hospital.

She was force-fed, and her hands and feet were tied. She was also injected with an unknown drug. Ms. Bai passed away two weeks later, on August 28, 2002, at the age of 40.

December 29, 2002: Death of Ms. Fu Guilan at Wanjia Hospital
Ms. Fu Guilan, from Harbin, started to practice Falun Gong in 1996. The police arrested her in April of 2001, for producing Falun Gong truth-clarifying materials. She was given two years of forced labour.

She went on a hunger strike to protest the persecution and was released on medical parole when her life became endangered.

She was again arrested in May 2002, and detained in the Harbin City Second Detention Centre. She went on a three-month hunger strike, after which she was transferred to Wanjia Hospital in September 2002.

At Wanjia, Ms. Fu was force-fed three times a day, and given intravenous injections. One day an officer could not find a vein to insert an intravenous drip in Ms. Fu, so she haphazardly stabbed her arms, the backs of her hands, and even her feet. Days of force-feedings put her life in danger. In November 2002, she passed out for an hour during her injections.

Ms. Fu developed a high fever starting December 20, 2002, with it reaching as high as 102.6 Fahrenheit one time. But, an official from the city's 610 Office mocked her for faking death, while watching the prison doctors force-feeding her.

Ms. Fu passed away, at the age of 55 on December 29, 2002,.

August 12, 2003: Ms. Liu Limei died at Wanjia Hospital
Ms. Liu Limei was an associate professor at Northeastern Agricultural University in Harbin. After the persecution of Falun Gong was launched on July 20, 1999, she was arrested many times because of her steadfast belief in Falun Gong.

In early 2003, Ms. Liu was arrested again, and detained in a detention center in Harbin where she was tortured. She showed signs of advanced tuberculosis and was in critical condition. But the local 610 Office refused to release her. She was transferred to Wanjia Hospital on July 17.

Ms. Liu was kept apart from other practitioners once admitted. She put up with whatever treatments the hospital gave her, and endured them. She developed allergic reactions later.

Ms. Liu passed blood in her stool, and her body became swollen on August 5. Her condition was problematic. At 6:30 a.m. on August 12, 2003, Ms. Liu died at the age of 41. The police refused to let her family see her body, and also threatened them if they should leak the news of her death.

June 14, 2003: Mr. Tong Wencheng Died After Release from Wanjia Hospital
Mr. Tong Wencheng was a resident of Shuangcheng City, Heilongjiang. He was arrested in Beijing on October 27, 2000, for appealing for justice for Falun Gong to the central government. He was taken back to his place of residency and detained in a detention centre. He was tortured at the detention centre and later sentenced to two years of forced labour.

He was transferred to the Changlinzi Forced Labour Camp in Harbin on January 22, 2001, where he was tortured, brainwashed, and deprived of sleep. He went on a hunger strike to protest the inhuman treatment and was force-fed. Due to long term torture, he developed scabies all over his body, and could not take care of himself. He was later diagnosed with “adhesive pleural membrane,” and was taken to Wanjia Hospital.

What was waiting for him in the hospital was another round of persecution. Once the police forced him to squat on the floor and poured water on him. After his two-year term expired, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was holding its 16th Congress. For that, he was held for an additional 18 days.

When his family took Mr. Tong home he was in bad condition. He passed away on June 14, 2003, at the age of 49.

September 30, 2003: Death of Mr. Tian Baobin
Mr. Tian Baobin was a Falun Dafa practitioner from Harbin. He was arrested on August 31, 2002, and later given three years of forced labour. He served his term in Changlinzi Labour Camp.

In early September 2003, he passed out during lunch and taken to Wanjia Hospital. His family was notified on September 13 that he was transferred to another hospital for emergency treatment due to his deteriorating condition. However, he had passed away by the time his family got there, at the age of 50.