Dafa Practitioner Passes Away From Severe Torture-Induced Injuries

Mr. Liu Yan, born in 1969, was a Dafa practitioner from Qing'an County, Heilongjiang Province. Ever since he started Dafa cultivation in 1996, he was very diligent and always required himself to measure up to the standards of "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance." He was a good person everywhere. For several years, he volunteered to clean up the public toilets near his home everyday. He did this on his own initiative and never publicised his good deeds. Before July 20, 1999, he was one of the volunteer Dafa assistants in his local area. He organised a group Falun Gong practice at his home. Every day he led fellow practitioners to study the Fa [the teachings of Falun Dafa] and practise the exercises. In addition, he helped many people to learn Falun Gong.

After the persecution of Falun Gong began on July 20, 1999, Liu Yan, along with other practitioners, went to Harbin, the capital city of Heilongjiang Province, to peacefully appeal for Falun Gong. He was arrested and sent back to Qing'an County where he was illegally detained for over 20 days. He was also considered an organiser of the appeal by the local police, which led to his numerous arrests later on.

At the end of September 1999, the police intercepted some other local practitioners who planned to go to Beijing to appeal. Wang Zhilong, vice party secretary of the police department, thought Liu Yan was the organizer and he ordered his subordinates to arrest and detain him together with those who went to Beijing to appeal in the county detention centre. While in detention, Liu Yan was interrogated and beaten mercilessly many times. Every day he also suffered from hunger. He was not released until 72 days later.

Towards the end of June 2000, another group of local practitioners went to Beijing to appeal. Wang Zhilong once again ordered police to take away Liu Yan for no reason on June 26th. Under the direction of Chang Shijun, Chief of Zhongxing Police Station, the police ransacked Liu Yan's home and turned it upside down. While searching, they used abusive language. Chang Shijun had arrested practitioners many times. Many practitioners in his jurisdiction had had their homes ransacked.

Anyone who has even a little knowledge of Falun Gong knows that Falun Gong has no organisation or structure. Every practitioner follows his or her understanding and does what he or she deems appropriate. However, in Qing'an County, whenever anything came up, they would arrest Liu Yan.

While in detention, Liu Yan insisted on studying the Fa and practising the exercises. As a result, he was body searched many times and his Dafa books were also snatched away. Wang Zhilong personally beat and cursed practitioners. Liu Yan was once exposed to the scorching sun while enduring beating and kicking. The torture did not stop until he passed out.

In order to protest against the long-term illegal detention, practitioners went on a group hunger strike. Wang Zhilong again thought Liu Yan organised the strike, so he dragged Liu Yan out for corporal punishment. He whipped Liu Yan with bamboo sticks, insulted him and administered force-feeding on him. Liu Yan was once force fed high density brine that went into his lungs, causing him to spit blood and pass blood in his stool.

Other practitioners were also force-fed. During the process, practitioners were tied to chairs and could not move at all. Four policemen pinched the cheeks of practitioners, and nipped their noses preventing them from breathing. The police then used iron spoons to pry open their mouths. Some practitioners had their teeth loosened. Practitioners were also injected with some unknown drug and had various negative effects afterwards. Some female practitioners' menses turned black. Some lost their hearing, and spat blood. Some had to drink a lot of water after being released and they found they urinated dark fluid.

After going on hunger strike for 8 days, Liu Yan was extremely weak and near death. In order to shirk their responsibility, the county government finally decided to release him. However, they still ordered his work unit to send people to his home to monitor him every day. After Liu Yan gradually recovered, they again took him away.

On January 17, 2001, over 10 practitioners were arrested for distributing Dafa materials. In order to extort information about the source of the materials, Wang Zhilong, along with former political section chief Ye Guilin (who has since died of cancer), tied up Liu Yan and two other practitioners with thin ropes and hung them up. They then slapped them in the face, kicked them with leather shoes, and beat their ribs with hard objects. One practitioner had his thumb paralysed on the spot because of the tying. A female practitioner spat blood. Everyone had numerous wounds all over their body, and their faces were swollen beyond recognition. Still the police could not get any information from them. Furious, the police decided to send Liu Yan and other 5 practitioners to Suihua Labour Camp. Because Liu Yan was in critical condition, the labour camp refused to take him. The police used their relationship with some authorities and forced the camp to accept him. Thus Liu Yan was illegally sentenced to one and a half years of forced labour.

In the labour camp, Liu Yan was still very firm in his Dafa cultivation. He never wavered. He went once again on a hunger strike for 21 days. Before the persecution, Liu Yan was in excellent health. However, now because of the long-term detention, hunger strike, and torture he had suffered tremendously both physically and mentally, he was reduced to only skin and bones. He had various pathogenic symptoms: his feet were swollen, he had a fever, he coughed, he spat blood and his lungs were swollen as well. Not wanting to take any responsibility, the labour camp informed his family to pick him up. His sister and brother who live in Changchun came to get him and sent him to a hospital for treatment. He was hospitalised for several months, and his family spent tens of thousands of Yuan on the medical expenses. However, because of the severe injuries he suffered, he passed away on July 21, 2002, at the age of 34.

His elderly mother was heart broken after learning of his death. Now she is paralysed because of the trauma. His wife and his son were left behind. A once happy family was thus ruined. Even though more and more people are awakening to the lies and becoming aware of the persecution of Falun Gong, still the persecution is running rampant. The plight of Liu Yan is just the tip of the iceberg of the persecution of tens of millions of Falun Gong practitioners. We call for justice, and conscience. We hope all kindhearted people can lend their support to help end the persecution and bring Jiang Zemin and his "610 Office" to justice.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2003/10/29/59673.html