Torture Cases of Dafa Practitioners by Police Officers and Criminal Inmates in Daqing City

The Daqing Prison began detaining Falun Dafa practitioners in 2000. In order to gain political benefits, the prison authorities used various methods to torture detained Dafa practitioners in an effort to make them renounce Falun Dafa. Their methods included coercing common criminal inmates to physically torture practitioners, depriving practitioners of sleep for extended periods, depriving them of going outdoors, of having family visits, and even of talking. They tried to force practitioners to write the so-called "Five Statements" (1). More than thirty of them were tortured in the Daqing Prison. The following cases of persecution in Daqing City have been carefully investigated, and are detailed below.

Yu Yongquan: Mr. Yu was tortured to death at the Hongweixin Prison, Daqing City at around 1 p.m. on March 8, 2003. So far, the prison authorities have been saying that Mr. Yu died of natural causes.

Zhang Zhong: At around 9 a.m. on January 15, 2004, Mr. Zhang was called to the management office by the deputy brigade leader, Li Fangjie, because he was doing the Falun Gong exercises. Li Fangjie and police officers Yu Qingjiang and Liang Shuyi beat Zhang Zhong on the head until he was unconscious, and then they jabbed his head with needles. When there was no response from Mr. Zhang, they started kicking his abdomen. Later they ordered two criminal inmates to prop Mr. Zhang up. When other police officers entered the room, Li Fangjie explained that Zhang Zhong chose to lie down on the floor. Later he was vomiting blood and could not eat anything. On February 16, Zhang Zhong was sent to the prison hospital where he is now in critical condition.

Li Lizhuang: Mr. Li is a Dafa practitioner from Harbin and was transferred to the Daqing Prison from the Harbin Prison in April 2003. He firmly continued to do the Falun Gong exercises whenever possible. Police officer Zhang Dajun, of the First Brigade, coerced criminal inmates He Gangfeng and others to torture Li Lizhuang for the period of August to October 2003. As a result of the abuse he suffered, Mr. Li's clothes were torn to pieces and the beatings left him with multiple injuries, including one broken rib. He was repeatedly dunked into a bucket of cold water for over one hour, and soaked with cold water. They also inserted a plastic tube into his anus and filled it with cold water. After the 2004 Chinese New Year, Li Lizhuang refused to wear the criminal uniform. He was beaten up repeatedly by other criminals. In addition, he was stripped and left exposed to icy winds coming in through an open window.

Zhu Hongbing: Mr. Zhu resisted the persecution by steadfastly doing the Falun Gong exercises, refusing to wear the prison uniform and refusing to shave his head as required by the prison. The prison authorities tortured him cruelly. Mr. Zhu went on a hunger strike for 26 days to protest. The criminal inmates thought he would surely die after eating nothing for 26 days. But on the 26th day Mr. Zhu stood up. The director of the prison compromised and consented to his requests. The criminal inmates praised Mr. Zhu and said, "Great Falun Dafa! Strong Falun Gong practitioners!"

Yao Bin: The Reform Section head, Guo Chuntang, wanted to gain some personal recognition. So he tried to force Dafa practitioners Yao Bin, Zhong Zhaoqing and others to write articles slandering Dafa. The Reform Section intended to make a video that slandered Falun Dafa. Yao Bin refused to write anything against Dafa. Then the police officers forced him to stand for 24 hours a day without sleep. When Yao Bin could not stand up anymore, they forced other people to hold him up. This lasted for one month.

Zhai Zhibin: The deputy head of the Fourth Brigade, Zhu Zhongxin, arranged to have criminal inmates closely monitor Mr. Zhai when officers from the Provincial Supervision Bureau came to talk with Falun Dafa practitioners. They were afraid that Mr. Zhai would tell them the facts about the tortures done to Dafa practitioners in the prison. They stripped Mr. Zhai, tied him to a bench, poured cold water all over him and then beat him with pieces of wood.

(1) Five statements: Practitioners are coerced under brainwashing and torture to write these as proof that they have given up their belief. Created by the "610 Office" (2), the five statements consist of a statement of repentance for having practised Falun Gong in the past, a guarantee statement to never again practise Falun Gong and associate with other practitioners, a promise statement not to appeal for Falun Gong, a statement of denouncing Falun Gong, and a list of names and addresses of all family members, friends and acquaintances who are practitioners.

(2) "610 Office": a bureau specifically created by the Chinese government to persecute Falun Gong. It has absolute power over each level of administration in the Party, as well as over the political and judiciary branches.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2004/3/23/70615.html