After 9 Days in Wanjia Forced Labour Camp, Gaurds Killed Falun Gong Practitioner Ms. Zhang Hong

Before her death, Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Zhang Hong asked fellow practitioners to expose the crimes that the police committed against her.

Perpetrators:

1. Lu Zhenshan, male, Director, Harbin Wanjia Forced Labour Camp, Heilongjiang Province.

2. Zhao Yuqing, male, team leader, Women's Intensive Training Team at Wanjia Forced Labour Camp; former Security Section staff member at Wanjia Forced Labour Camp.

3. Yao Fuchang; male, section chief, Women's Intensive Training Team, Wanjia Forced Labour Camp; former Management Section staff member at Wanjia Forced Labour Camp.

Requests:

1. Investigate everyone responsible for Ms. Zhang Hong's death and punish them according to the law.
2. Provide compensation to the victim's family for economic loss and mental trauma.
3. Immediately release all Falun Gong practitioners from detention.

Facts:

The victim, Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Zhang Hong, female, 31, lived near the Botanic Garden in the Dongli District, Harbin City. She was a quality inspection technician at Harbin's Number Four Hospital. From October 1999 to August 2001, after her first arrest she was detained in Wanjia Forced Labour Camp and was later released. After her release, she went to the Number Four Hospital several times, inquiring about being rehired and also being paid her suspended back wages. The hospital did not respond to her request until May 2002, when they started to pay her 200 Yuan (1) per month. After strong requests from her and her family, she was finally allowed to work at the hospital again, but they assigned her a lesser job - to escort patients to the doctor's office.

On May 8, 2004, when Ms. Zhang was writing words to clarify the facts (2) about Falun Gong on the outer wall of the Harbin Dongfeng Prison, a prison guard reported her to the local police. That night around 11:00 p.m., police arrested her and sent her to the city's No. 2 Detention Centre. In early June 2004, Ms. Zhang was sentenced to three years of forced labour and sent to the Wanjia Forced Labour Camp. Wanjia refused to accept her because she did not pass the physical exam. On July 22, the police again sent her to Wanjia and managed to get her assigned to the Intensive Training Team.

1) The Persecution Facts

On the morning of July 22, 2004, Ms. Zhang and fellow practitioners Ms. Di Lihua and a third woman were sent to Wanjia 's Intensive Training Team. Strangely enough, four men managed this women's team. Because Ms. Zhang and Ms. Di refused to write the "Three Statements" (3), the police forced them to squat for a long period of time. They forbade Ms. Zhang from having lunch at the cafeteria. A fellow practitioner later brought her something to eat. After lunch, a camp guard and training team head Zhang Guiyun chained Ms. Zhang to a bed. She had to keep her arms stretched out in front of her and stand there for a full night.

On July 23, the guard said that Ms. Zhang Hong had "heart disease," so they wanted to inject her with some medicine. At the same time they also continued to demand that she and the others write the "Three Statements." Ms. Zhang refused to take the injection, so the guards pushed her down onto an un-cushioned wooden bed, handcuffed her arms to the headboard and tied her feet to the footboard. They forcibly injected her with an unknown drug. Ms. Zhang Hong had a strong reaction. She felt both pain and humiliation; she also lost control of her bladder.

They left Ms. Zhang handcuffed and tied up like that for seven days and nights, from July 23 to 30. She was forbidden to use the toilet, compelling her to relieve her bowels and bladder on the wooden bed. The police left her in a windy location, with her lower body naked and a sleeveless undergarment on top. They did not allow her any extra clothing or even a blanket. One chilly night, a camp inmate on duty gave Ms. Zhang and Ms. Di extra clothing since they had requested them. The next day, policewoman Wu Baoyun angrily scolded the inmate.

On July 24, Ms. Zhang started a hunger strike to protest this inhumane abuse. Two days later, on July 26, the police started to force-feed her. They fed her with very salty corn meal soup. This kind of feeding severely damaged the practitioner's health. The team leaders told everyone not to give Zhang Hong water to drink, and toilet breaks were again denied.

Ms. Zhang Hong's feet turned blue after being tied up for a long time without adequate circulation. On July 29, the force-feeding torture caused severe bleeding, and a towel was soaked with her blood (the bloody towel was seen in the toilet). On July 30, section Chief Yao rinsed the intravenous drip bottle with tap water before using it on Ms. Zhang. Later, they intensified the torture by force-feeding her three times a day. The force-feeding team leader Zhang Guiyun and others pulled Ms. Zhang's hair and pinned her head to the bed. After verbal abuse and humiliation, they inserted a tube into her stomach through her nose.

Even while suffering from this tremendous pain, Ms. Zhang still tried to reason with the police. In the middle of one torture, she protested loudly about the mistreatment. Under police supervision, criminal inmates performed the force-feeding on her. Once, when Ms. Zhang passed out during the torture, the camp guard lied to his team leader saying that Ms. Zhang was faking. Zhao Yuqing told Li Changjie to punish her with electric shocks after she regained consciousness.

On the afternoon of July 30, the police tied Ms. Zhang to a metal chair. Her head was covered with white bandage tapes, and her hands were cuffed behind her back. She had lost much weight, and her legs and feet were badly swollen.

Around 8:00 a.m. on July 31, people heard a loud cry from Ms. Zhang Hong, "I don't want to die. I want to go home. My house is at... in the Dongli district."

Around 1:00 p.m. on July 31 two policemen wearing protective facemasks arrived. They ordered four inmates to carry Zhang Hong away to the 211 Military Hospital. At 3:20 p.m., Zhang Hong's family received a notification that she had died at 2:00 p.m. of a "heart attack" in the 211 Hospital. Later police Zhao Yuqing claimed that Ms. Zhang had died from kidney failure induced by a heart attack. According to a family member, Ms. Zhang never had any history of heart disease.

During the visit, family members discovered that her eyes and mouth were wide open. She had lost almost forty pounds, and her own waste was found in her pants. Ms. Zhang's mother asked the police why her daughter's mouth was full of blood if she died of a heart attack. A prison doctor said that he could not explain it. Family members asked to photograph and videotape her disfigured corpse. The police refused and attempted to force them to cremate the corpse right away. The family refused. They asked the police to follow legal procedures and conduct an autopsy. On August 26, after repeated threats and pressure from the police, Zhang Hong's two brothers, their wives and other family members finally agreed to the cremation. More than 40 police officers were on site to monitor the cremation. Ms. Zhang's former employer paid 1,200 Yuan for the cremation, and her family paid 500 Yuan. All of the money went into the Wanjia Forced Labour Camp's account.

On August 5, in order to cover up their crime, the police changed the sign of the room where Ms. Zhang was tortured from "Intensive Training Class of Strict Monitoring Class " to "Medical Room." They also brought in some oxygen tanks and other medical supplies to make the room look legitimate. The police officers in the intensive training team all looked very nervous, fearing that the truth might leak out.

Lu Zhenshan, the Wanjia Forced Labour Camp Director, has been supporting the police brutality and even the murdering of practitioners. Between the summer of 2002 and the autumn of 2003, Lu Zhenshan moved his office near the Intensive Training Team so that he could personally supervise the abuse, torment and torture of the practitioners. During his tenure, nearly one hundred practitioners were permanently injured, disabled, mentally traumatized or killed. Perpetrator Lu once said, "Go ahead and hate me, they (the police officers) are only following my orders."

Policemen Zhao Yuqing, Yao Fuchang and others have worked full time in the women's team for over two years. This is a direct violation of the rule that "Policemen cannot manage women inmates," a prison rule set up by China's Ministry of Justice.

Policeman Zhao Yuqing once told practitioners who refused to write the "Three Statements," "Lets not make a fuss about it; the government has the privilege to be unreasonable, because you practitioners cannot win a debate. They told you to shut up and squat. They forced you to write 'Three Statements.' The Communist Party's job is to twist the facts 180 degrees. We are only tools, because we get paid by the Communist Party."

2) Criminal Evidence

According to provisions in China's Constitution, Criminal Law, Police Law and relevant international laws, Director Lu Zhenshan, policemen Zhao Yuqing and Yao Fuchang's conduct in torturing Falun Dafa practitioner Ms. Zhang Hong to death is clearly illegal. They violated statutes 50, 146, 254 and 297 of the Criminal Law; statute 49, No.2 of the Constitution and statute 13 of Women's Rights under the Protection of Law. They committed the crimes of "Revenge and Framing" and "Abuse of Power."

They used all sorts of ruthless torture against Falun Gong practitioners, including tying up with ropes while beating, hanging up and beating, confining people in cold and windy places, cold showers in winter, intimidation, and murder. Then they forced the families to have the victim's bodies cremated to eliminate the evidence. These torture methods have severely harmed the practitioners. They have dark marks on their wrists, deep scars, blisters on their faces, open sores, disfigured bodies, muscular atrophy and skin discolouration. Quite a few victims committed suicide because they could not handle the continued torture. Some were mentally traumatized and went insane. The camp enforcers violated statutes 15, 189, and 248 of the Criminal Law; statute 22 of the Police Law, and # 38 of the Constitution. They also violated item 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and committed the crime of "Abusing Prisoners."

They demanded that Falun Gong practitioners write the "Three Statements" as soon as they arrived at the labour camp. Those who refused were subjected to severe and violent torture: hanging up, electric baton shocks, long time sitting on a metal chair or squatting, punches and kicks, sleep deprivation, denial of drinking water and toilet use, denial of the right to appeal or access to law books, and long time bombardment with slandering videos. They were also forced to recite the "Pledge of Loyalty," "Camp Rules," and "Five Forbids." The camp officials forced people to memorize and recite this nonsense, as if they were legal documents. They arbitrarily extended terms, insulted people's dignity, made illegal fines, and demanded bribes.

Their outright disregard of the law was based on Jiang Zemin's terrorist policy against Falun Gong. Jiang hated Falun Gong so much that he gave the order to "ruin their reputation; bankrupt them financially; destroy them physically." Jiang Zemin and the Wanjia police violated the following laws: Statutes 36, 37 and 41 of China's Constitution; statutes 17, 232, 234, 251, 397 and 399 of the Criminal Law; items 9 and 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. They committed the crime of "Illegally depriving citizens of their freedom of religion and belief." They did severe damage to the dignity and image of China and caused great harm to the practitioners and their families, who are good, law-abiding citizens.

Recently, the Supreme People's Procuratorate launched a campaign to "Investigate the five acts of criminal conduct among national civil servants."

To the Supreme People's Procuratorate officials: we have provided you with the above-listed evidence of crimes committed in the Harbin City's Wanjia Forced Labour Camp in the hope that you can use it in further investigations. You must bring the criminals to justice, defend the law and restore the practitioners' reputations.

Murderers must be punished for their killings, and debtors must return the money they owe. These are universal principles. The perpetrators must be brought to justice!

Appendix:

People responsible for Ms. Zhang Hong's death:

Lu Zhenshan, Director, 86-13903602280(Mobile); 86-451-84282528(Home)
Fang Jun, Political Head:
Wanjia Forced Labour Camp Operators: 86-451-84101454, 86-451-84101455, 86-451-84101573, 86-451-84101509
Intensive Training Team (13th) extension: 3473
Zhao Yuqing (male), team head
Yang Guohong (female), deputy team head
Na Dongbo (female), deputy team head

Note:

(1) "Yuan" is the Chinese currency; 500 yuan is equal to the average monthly income of an urban worker in China.

(2) Clarifying the Truth: Because of the nationwide persecution of Falun Gong in China, and the fact that the unrelenting hate -campaign carried out by China’s state-controlled media, Falun Gong publish and broadcast nothing but false and slanderous reports about Falun Gong and cover up the brutal persecution taking place in China, practitioners inside and outside of China have been actively engaged in what is referred to as "clarifying the truth" – explaining to the public the facts about Falun Gong and exposing the evil persecution. Truth clarification activities include face to face conversations with people, posting notices and posters, handing out flyers, and hanging banners explaining the truth about Falun Gong. Outside of China, where Falun Gong is freely practised, practitioners further expose the persecution in China through anti-torture re-enactments, art exhibits, Internet websites, books, magazines, newspapers, movies and letter writing. The goal of clarifying the truth is to help people understand what Falun Gong is and, to raise public awareness and support, in order to dispel the lies of the current communist regime in China and to raise public support to to bring about the end of the persecution. (Variations: "clarifying the truth", "truth clarifying", "truth-clarifying", "truth clarification", "truth-clarification", "clarifying the facts", "clarified the truth", and "clarified the facts")

(3) "Three Statements": Practitioners are coerced under brainwashing and torture to write "Repentance Statement," "Guarantee Statement" or 'Dissociation Statement" as proof that they have given up their belief. In the statement, the practitioner is forced to admit remorse for practising Falun Gong, promise to give up Falun Gong, and never again associate with other practitioners or go to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2005/2/16/95596.html