The Persecution That Mr. Wang Hongtian Suffered in Jiutai Yinmahe Labour Camp Before His Death

In November 2001, police in Dehui City, Jilin Province kidnapped Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Wang Hongtian as he distributed Falun Gong truth-clarification materials. A few days later, he was sent to the Yinmahe Labour Camp in Jiutai, Jilin Province. This was the second time that Mr. Wang had been sent to this labour camp.

In the first half of 2002, without any explanation, a group of police from Changchun transferred Mr. Wang from the labour camp to the basement of a secret apartment building in Changchun City, Jilin Province. It had been specifically designed to persecute Falun Gong practitioners. There were "tiger benches" [1], electric batons and other instruments of torture. They tied Mr. Wang to a metal chair and shocked him with an over-sized electric baton. Usually the police used this size baton to shock only death row inmates, even though it was illegal to do so. The police interrogated Mr. Wang to try to find out where he got the Falun Gong truth-clarification materials. When they couldn't get any results from Mr. Wang, they cuffed him to the chair for a whole night. The next day they sent him to the Tiebie Detention Centre in Changchun City and illegally confined him there for more than 40 days. Afterwards, they transferred him back to the Yinmahe Labour Camp in Jiutai.

In the latter half of 2002, the entire Fourth Brigade, including Mr. Wang, was transferred to the "Education Team" for "strict guarding," which was actually just more brutal torture. Mr. Wang had little to eat every day, and he became very weak. He was still forced to process melon seeds every day. In order to "transform"[2] Falun Gong practitioners, the labour camp supplied them with only coarse food. Once another prisoner got an extra steamed bun with his meal, so he gave it to Mr. Wang. When the guard Lu Si saw this, he shouted that Officer Lu's orders were not to give any rice or steamed buns to practitioners. He took the steamed bun away from Mr. Wang and threw it in the toilet. Officer Lu, whose full name is Lu Changtai, once beat a Falun Gong practitioner to death.

In September 2002, Mr. Wang started to cough and felt cold all the time. Li Chengzhou , the political instructor of the Education Team said sarcastically, "We need to get a doctor for him." But he did nothing. Mr. Wang Hongtian fainted many times in the toilet. Even so, the guards forced him to continue to process melon seeds without any breaks, even through the noon hour. After more than 10 days, the guards took Mr. Wang to an outside hospital for an examination. The X-ray showed that both of Mr. Wang's lungs were in very bad shape. Afterwards, the guards said behind Mr. Wang's back, "Wang will not be able to survive for more than three days." Even so, the guards wouldn't let him off.

On September 16, 2002, Lu Changtai told Guo Zhongqiu, a former practitioner who turned against Dafa under extreme pressure and torture, to get Mr. Wang's signatures on two forms. One was a "release on bail for medical treatment form." The other form was a "Guarantee Statement"[3]. Mr. Wang was unconscious at the time, so Guo just took Mr. Wang's hand and pressed his hand imprint on the forms. Since Mr. Wang couldn't sign, Guo signed for him. He said, "It was a forged one anyway. I'll just sign for him."

On September 18, 2002, Guard Ying Xuefu put Mr. Wang Hongtian into a car. Zheng Haining and Officer Xie from the administrative office drove Mr. Wang home to Chalukou Town in Dehui City. On his second day home, Mr. Wang passed away. It was September 20, 2002.

Mr. Wang is survived by his wife and two children, and they now have a very tough life. His older daughter has been out of school. His wife is trying to make a living by picking and selling recyclable items from the trash. A once happy family has been wrecked.

To prevent such tragedies from happening again, to uphold justice, we ask all kind-hearted people to raise their voices in a call for justice. Together let us resist this inhuman and brutal persecution of innocent Falun Gong practitioners and stop the Jiang regime's atrocities.

June 25, 2004

[1] Tiger Bench: Practitioners are forced to sit on a small iron bench that is approximately 20 cm (6 inches) tall with their knees tied together. With their hands tied behind their backs or sometimes placed on their knees, they are forced to sit straight up and look straight ahead. They are not allowed to turn their heads, close their eyes, talk to anyone or move at all. Several inmates are assigned to watch over the practitioners and force them to remain motionless while sitting on the bench. Usually some hard objects are inserted underneath the practitioners' lower legs or ankles to make it harder for them to tolerate this abuse (see illustration on )

[2] Transform: Jiang's regime uses all kinds of torture and brainwashing methods to force Falun Gong practitioners to give up their belief.

[3] "Guarantee Statement": A statement to declare that he or she is remorseful for practising Falun Gong and guarantees not to practise Falun Gong again, not to go to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong, and never again associate with any Falun Dafa practitioners.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2004/6/26/78016.html