Three Older Practitioners from Hebei Province Die as a Result of Persecution

Falun Gong practitioners Wang Xiaoshan, Meng Guangshen, and Guo Haisheng from Qinglong County, Hebei Province died after repeated harassment, arrests, forced brainwashing, and torture.

Mr. Wang Xiaoshan, 59, lived in Qinglong County, Hebei Province. The police arrested him at his home in November 2000. He was detained at the Qinglong Detention Centre for 202 days, during which time he was tortured in various ways. In October 2002, Mr. Wang was arrested again. After seven months of torture at the Qinglong Detention Centre, he was sent to the Hehuakeng Forced Labour Camp in Tangshan City, Hebei Province. In early 2005, Mr. Wang experienced heart failure from the horrifying abuse he suffered, and was released on medical parole on February 6, 2005. Later, he was arrested again, and was released only after paying a 1,000 yuan (1) fine. For an impoverished family that has endured persecution for many years, 1,000 yuan was a large amount of money. Wang Xiaoshan passed away on March 27, 2005.

Mr. Meng Guangshen was in his 60s, and was also from Qinglong County, Hebei Province. He began practising Falun Gong in 1996, and soon afterward all his illnesses, including hepatitis, disappeared. Since the beginning of the persecution, Mr. Meng had been arrested twice for distributing leaflets exposing the persecution about Falun Gong. During his detention, he was brutally tortured and was once sent to a forced brainwashing class. The former Chinese Communist Party Secretary of Qinglong Township, Liu Zhanmin, frequently led police and local officials to illegally ransack Mr. Meng's house, regardless of the time of day. Due to long-term persecution, Meng Guangshen's illnesses relapsed and he died in 2002.

Mr. Guo Haisheng was from Qinglong County, Hebei Province. After he started practising Falun Gong in 1997, his many chronic illnesses disappeared. When the persecution of Falun Gong started on July 20, 1999, Guo Haisheng went to Beijing to appeal. On his way home, the police abducted him, took all his money, and illegally detained him at a brainwashing centre for two weeks. In the spring of 2000, Mr. Guo was arrested again, and his home was ransacked. He was again detained at the brainwashing centre. After a joint hunger strike by more than 30 Falun Gong practitioners, they were released from the brainwashing centre.

The third day after his release, Guo Haisheng went to the county government to expose the persecution about Falun Gong and was once again arrested. He was released shortly afterwards. In the autumn of 2000, on his way to the farmers' market, the police stopped him and extorted all his money, which amounted to only 250 yuan. In the spring of 2001, Mr. Guo's house was ransacked and he was arrested once again. He was detained at the Qinglong Detention Centre for four months, during which time he was beaten with a leather belt, tortured on a tiger bench (2), deprived of sleep for long periods of time, shocked with electric batons, and forced to half squat for long periods of time. Guo Haisheng passed out once from the torture, and twice vomited blood from intense beatings.

One night in the summer of 2002, the police broke into Mr. Guo's house in the middle of the night and tried to take him to a forced labour camp. Guo Haisheng was able to escape. In 2003, while he was posting leaflets exposing the persecution, a village official reported him to the police. The police came to Mr. Guo's home but could not find him, so they arrested his brother, who was also a Falun Gong practitioner. His brother was detained at the Qinglong Detention Centre for more than four months. Because of the persecution, Guo Haisheng's family was poverty-stricken. Even so, the police regularly broke into their house to harass them, regardless of the time of the day. Guo's Haisheng's physical and mental health deteriorated due to the intense harassment, and he passed away on March 6, 2005 at the age of 54.

Note:

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

(2) "Tiger Bench": Prisoners 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 without movement for long periods of time.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2005/5/1/100855.html