In Memory of Practitioner Yao Sanzhong

I was extremely sad when I heard that Yao Sanzhong had been tortured to death. I knew him really well during our time in the Xuchang Forced Labour Camp. His unshakable faith in Dafa earned our respect and admiration. Even the drug addict prisoners had a high regard for him. Yao's compassionate nature and his impregnable belief in Dafa made him a thorn in some people's flesh, namely the prison guards. Yao showed no fear in the face of persecution and remained upright and dignified. He treated all fellow inmates with tolerance and also cared for them. He used his own words and deeds to inspire the prisoners' innate good nature, showing them the way to find Dafa. It is outrageous that the prison guards killed a kind person like Yao.

I remember what happened on March 21, 2001. Prison guards gave orders to non-practitioner prisoners to beat Yao and thirteen other Dafa practitioners, simply because they said, "Falun Dafa is good." Then all thirteen practitioners met with varied degrees of abuse, torture and mistreatment. Three of them underwent "Rope Torture" eight times, suffering in agony while the rope dug into their flesh. Practitioners were also assaulted with high voltage electric batons, sometimes used by several policemen on the same practitioner at the same time. One prison guard ordered a drug addict prisoner to slap Yao's face with a plastic sandal for two straight days. This left Yao unable to eat normally for many days. Eventually Yao's illegal term was prolonged for ten more months.

In September 2001, Yao Sanzhong was again beaten by a number of prison guards, and also tortured with electric batons and the "Rope Torture." This time the perpetrators' excuse was that the labour camp forbade Falun Gong practitioners to talk to each other, and Yao was seen talking to another person. Because of this, a team leader from Team No.2 of Division No.3 with the last name of Zhao beat him. In July 2002, because Yao refused to wear the prisoner's clothes and protested his illegal imprisonment, he was subjected to another round of brutal abuse, torture and mistreatment.

During the second half of 2002, Xuchang Labour Camp's head Yan Zhenye and his assistant Qu Shuangcai ordered the prisoners to start another round of abuse, mistreatment and torture. They used four prisoners to monitor one Dafa practitioner, following them around all day, even when eating and going to the bathroom. Practitioners were beaten at these prisoners' whim. Such were the conditions in the camp that Yao Sanzhong lived in. He endured constant physical and mental abuse. He eventually passed away under the torture. Yao was someone who believed in "Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance." He was a young teacher who dared to speak the truth and was then taken away from his parents, his wife, his young son, his students and his beloved music career.

Yao Sanzhong, we hope that have a good journey. Kind-hearted people will remember your story.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2003/4/19/48652.html