Flagrant Abuse of Human Rights Against Hubei Province Falun Gong Practitioners

Mr. Guo Xuelin, 71 years old, was illegally arrested by police from the Baiguo Town Police Station during the 16th Party's Congress in the autumn of 2002. After being detained at the Houtoushan Detention Centre for more than 10 days, he was taken to the Baiguo Police Station and beaten continuously for two days and nights without being allowed to sleep. Afterwards, he was sent to the First Detention Centre of Macheng City and illegally detained for three and a half months. Even though he was suffering from symptoms of hypertension and partial paralysis for nearly half a month, the police refused to release him until they were able to extort approximately 450 Yuan [Chinese currency; the average monthly income of a Chinese worker is about 500 Yuan] from him.

Mr. Dong Youcai, 40 years old, was reported to the Baiguo Town police after posting truth clarification materials in January 2003. He was arrested shortly after and was detained in the Baiguo Police Station for one week, where he was physically and mentally tortured using brutal techniques. Beaten unconscious by the police, they poured cold water over him to revive him so that they could continue their brutality. They tried to force him to renounce his belief in Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance using extreme torture methods. He was beaten severely, such that his body was covered in bruises and lacerations. Even so, police extorted 12,300 Yuan from his family before agreeing to release him. Within half a month after Mr. Dong was released, he still could not take care of himself due to the physical injuries he received.

Ms. Guo Jinhua, 40 years old, was illegally arrested by police from the Baiguo Police Station during the 16th Party's Congress. After being detained for over 10 days at the Houtoushan Detention Centre, she was taken to the Baiguo Police Station and detained for forty-eight hours. Afterwards, she was sent to the Macheng City Second Detention Centre and illegally detained for 19 days. The police refused to release her until they extorted approximately 570 Yuan from her.

On the evening of January 3, 2003, after Ms. Guo had been released, several policemen from the Baiguo Police Station, including Liu Shifa and Xiong Wenji, ransacked her home, purportedly looking for Falun Gong materials. Even though they didn't find anything, they took Ms. Guo back to the Baiguo Police Station. This time, four people, Xiong Wenji, Liu Shifa, Peng Honghui, and the head of the local "610 Office"--Xu Shiqian, took turns beating and kicking Ms. Guo viciously to try and force her to give up her belief in Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance. They then began shocking her with electric batons, beating her in the head, face, and jaw with police batons, and smashing her head against a wall. When she fell unconscious from the extreme and prolonged torture, they poured cold water over her body to wake her up, and then forced her to stand barefoot and handcuffed in a freezing room (about --4oC, or 25oF) for the entire night. Afterwards, her hands were injured from being handcuffed and she could not look after her own daily needs herself. Her head was covered in lumps from being beaten, and her face and jaw were swollen and bruised severely. Her ears bled from being twisted as well.

On January 7, 2003, Ms. Guo was transferred to the First Detention Centre of Macheng City. When the police claimed that she would be sentenced to jail, she refused to submit to the persecution and began a hunger strike in protest. During this time, the heart trouble and other diseases she once had in the past suddenly came back and her life was in critical condition. Afraid to take responsibility for Mr. Guo's condition, the police agreed to release her on condition that her family paid them a sum of 2000 Yuan. She was finally released on April 7, 2003.

Mr. Liang Deshi, is a 58 year old practitioner. On October 23, 2002, Lianmeng Village Party Secretary, Luo Xian'gao, led a group of policemen from the Baiguo Police Station to break into his home and allegedly "search" for Falun Gong materials. Mr. Liang wasn't home at the time so the policemen abducted his wife and took his colour TV and VCD player back with them to the police station instead. They also seized his work certificate and other documents so that he would not be able to function in society. Liang has been forced into homelessness to avoid certain persecution at home.

Ms. Yan Ping, a 28 year-old practitioner, was arrested by police from the Longchi Police Station on September 29, 2002, and detained at the Macheng City First Detention Centre. Because she went on a hunger strike twice for more than 10 days to protest her illegal detainment and refused to recite the jail regulations or wear jail clothes, police ordered prisoners to force-feed her. One of her teeth was broken in the process, and afterwards she was beaten and tied up to a "security bed" (this is the most severe form of torture in the Macheng City First Detention Centre). The pain from the torture was so tremendous that Mr. Yan lost consciousness. Even so, the "610 Office" of Macheng City still refused to release her, and she was unlawfully sentenced to one year in a forced-labour camp without any legal justification.

Below is a list of officials and police officers responsible for these crimes:

Head of Baiguo Police Station: Cao Guangyin
Deputy head of Baiguo Police Station: Liu Shijun

Baiguo Police Station officers: Peng Honghui, Ye XX, Xiong Wenji, Wang Wei, Dai Chunjie, Qu Zhigang, Zou Wanru, Luo Huisheng, Ye Guoxin
Macheng City 610 Officers: Xu Shiqian, Lu Xinghui, and Wang Yijie
Deputy Head of the Baiguo Public Security Bureau: Huang Shaokui
First Section Chiefs of the Baiguo Public Security Bureau: Jiang Feng and Luo Xuejian
Head of the Macheng City First Detention Centre: Cheng Houren.
Policeman from Macheng City: Tang Min, 28 years old.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2003/7/3/53402.html