Parents of Ms. Gao Rongrong Speak Out to Demand Justice for their Daughter Who Was Disfigured and Tortured to Death

Our daughter Gao Rongrong, 37, was an accountant at the Luxun Fine Arts College in Shenyang City. She was known widely as a good person.

On June 20th, 2003, the wife of graduate student Xu Zhiyang of the Luxun Fine Arts College reported to the college that Gao Rongrong had talked about Falun Gong with Xu Zhiyang. After Gao Rongrong was questioned, the college authorities decided to take part in persecuting her. They and staff from the Shenyang City 610 Office¹, detained Gao Rongrong at the Shenyang City Detention Centre.

In the detention centre, Gao Rongrong was subjected to shocks from multiple electric batons, and her entire body was black and blue from the beating. Because of the torture, Gao Rongrong became feverish and very weak. On July 8th, Gao Rongrong was sent to Longshan Forced Labour Camp in Shenyang City for a three-year term.

As soon as she arrived at the labour camp, the guards forced her to squat down for four days and nights and forbade her to sleep. Her stomach and breasts became distended, and it was difficult for her to walk. Just before the 2004 Chinese New Year, Gao Rongrong's liver disease recurred, and she came down with a fever. She and her family requested that the labour camp allow her a physical examination, but the medical section of the labour camp only gave her a prescription for vitamin B6.

Despite her serious health condition, Gao Rongrong continued to suffer violence and torture. On March 22nd, 2004, because of her health condition, she did not attend a group meeting of the 2nd Team. The deputy team head Tang Baoyu dragged her from her bed and on the top layer of a futon. Tang took her to the management section office and cuffed her to the heater. Then, Tang beat, kicked, and shocked her face, neck and sensitive parts of her body with electric batons. Tang shocked her for half an hour, pressed a lighted cigar on the skin of her hands, and punched her back with his elbow. She had to suffer more cruel torture during that time. After that, Gao Rongrong was unable to sit straight. The X-ray showed that her spine was displaced. Many guards and Wang Xuetao, the head of Management Section of the labour camp witnessed Tang shocking her, but nobody stopped the torture. Deputy head of the labour camp Li Fengshi viciously said, "What are the dictatorship organisations for? What are the handcuffs and electric batons for? I don't believe that we cannot make Gao Rongrong yield to our demands."

During the subsequent month, the guards began to torture Goa Rongrong physically and mentally. Around 10 a.m. on May 7th, 2004, Gao Rongrong was too weak to do hard labour. Guards Jiang Zhaohua and Wang Jichang tried to force her. When finding out that Gao Rongrong was really weak, they took her to the Team Head Office on the second floor, and cuffed her to the heater. Jiang Zhaohua kicked her, slapped her face, and used electric batons to shock her for more than one hour. In the afternoon, she was taken back to the office again. Guards Tang Baoyu and Jiang Zhaohua cuffed Gao Rongrong on the lower rail of the heater so that Gao Rongrong had to squat down and was unable to stand. Tang and Jiang used four electric batons to shock her. Tang cursed, "I will torture you to death today." The guard of the 2nd Team Teng Jilian took our photo (the photo of Gao Rongrong's parents) to the office. Tang Baoyu put the photo on the desk and viciously said, "Now let your parents watch how you are being shocked."

The guards shocked Gao Rongrong for six to seven hours. The skin of her face, ears, neck, back and ankle were severely burned and charred. There were big blisters. Her face was swollen by more than two inches, and she could barely open her eyes. They became two narrow seams and a yellowish liquid seeped from her facial skin. The head of the labour camp, Fang Jinkai, health care section head Zhang Xiaoqiu and guards of management section all witnessed Tang Baoyu's cruel torture, but no one stopped him. A guard of 2nd Team Zeng Xiaopin even held a small mirror in front of Gao Rongrong to mock her. The perpetrators acted like beasts, without any sign of conscience.

Around 10 p.m., a prisoner had a sudden heart attack. Tang Baoyu had to put down the electric batons and left to check on the prisoner. Guard Tang Jiliang did not allow Gao Rongrong to go back to her cell and told her to wait for Tang Baoyu. Not wanting to be tortured to death, Gao Rongrong jumped out of the office window. She fractured her left thighbone, broke her pelvis bones and the heel of her right foot.

Longshan Forced Labour Camp sent her to the Shenyang military general hospital. At that time, her blood pressure had dropped to 40. The doctor was shocked when he saw her burned face. Gao Rongrong asked for her family. Team head Wang Jinhui said, "We will inform whoever is necessary to know about this situation." Later, the perpetrators transferred her to the Public Security Hospital and spread rumours to the outside that Gao Rongrong's wounds were caused when she fell down the stairs.

We always worried about Rongrong's health. We heard at that time that a Falun Gong practitioner was tortured to death at Longshan Forced Labour Camp and we were deeply concerned. On May 14th, Rongrong's two sisters went to the labour camp to find out about Rongrong. Team head Wang Jinhui and deputy team head Tang Baoyu tried to hide from the questions and said after a while, "She was wounded, she attempted to escape by jumping out of the building." The sisters asked, "You beat her, didn't you? She was too weak to walk, how could she even escape?" After the sisters' continuous urging and questioning, Tang Baoyu said, "It was in March, This time we did not beat her." Because of the family members' insistence , they allowed the two sisters to visit Gao Rongrong in the Public Security Hospital.

When the sisters first saw Rongrong on the bed in the hospital, they could not recognise her because her face was severely deformed. On May 18th, Gao Rongrong was transferred to the First Affiliate Hospital of Shenyang Medical University because of family members requests. Longshan Forced Labour Camp dispatched many guards to watch Gao Rongrong. During her hospitalisation, Gao Rongrong and her family members received constant threats and were cursed by the guards from Longshan Forced Labour Camp, as well as staff from the Shenyang City Justice Bureau, Politic and Law Committee of Shenyang City, and the 610 office. A Politics and Law Committee employee even attempted to tear the scabs off Rongrong's face. They said, "Longshan Forced Labour Camp provided a detailed report to the Justice Bureau, indicating Gao Rongrong was injured while attempting to escape." We asked Wang Xuetao, the head of the management section of Longshan Forced Labour Camp, as to who wrote the report. He said, "The Longshan authorities made the decision."

We had no other way but to plead our case under existing law. We filed a case with the Liaoning Province Procuratorate and asked the Procuratorate to send a medical examiner to examine Rongrong's wounds and injuries. In July, the provincial Procuratorate sent a medical examiner to room 0533 of the hospital to examine Rongrong's wounds from electric shocks. The examiner checked the wounds, took photos and notes, also a sample of the scab from Rongrong's face for further tests. Even the examiner was shocked after seeing Rongrong's injuries: how could such torture still exist in our nation?

At that time, all procuratorates launched a national special campaign of "Investigation of state personnel using their authority to perpetrate human rights crimes." Our case was published in the newspaper. We believed that the perpetrators would be pursued under the law and receive punishment. Staff from the Shenyang City Politics and Law Committee and 610 Office also investigated the situation, but they did not provide any information to Gao Rongrong and family members. They also did not take the responsible staff and related units to task.

When we went to the provincial Procuratorate to pick up the examination report. The supervisor of the examination service, Qing Chunzhi said, "The report was taken by the special team organised by the Shenyang City Politic and Law Committee and the 610 Office. I don't have a copy for you, don't come again for it." We said, "What caused the wounds on Gao Rongrong? Since the medical examiner conducted the examination, there should be a conclusion." Qing said, "We cannot tell you."

We lost our hope that the Procuratorate would bring justice. We went to the Shenyang City Politics and Law Committee but could not find anyone willing to meet with us. They told us on the phone to visit the city 610 Office. But director Song of the 610 Office said, "You have to go to the provincial Procuratorate." We got the run-around, as Qing of the Procuratorate told us to visit the provincial 610 Office. No one gave us the location of the provincial 610 Office.

On October 5th, 2004, despite being closely watched at the Longshan Forced Labour Camp, Gao Rongrong escaped from the affiliated hospital of the medical university with the help of kind people. Before her disappearance, the Shenyang City Justice Bureau and Longshan Forced Labour Camp insisted on sending Gao Rongrong to Shenyang City Dabei Supervised Hospital for treatment and then returning her to Longshan Forced Labour Camp. In truth, Gao Rongrong was persecuted to near death several times at the affiliated hospital of the medical university. Following higher authorities instruction, Wang Xuetao and Bi Yinhong from the management section of Longshan Forced Labour Camp carried a camcorder to the hospital to record Gao Rongrong. When we asked them about Rongrong's whereabouts, they did not answer directly and only told us that Rongrong was taken away from the hospital.

Kindhearted people rescued Gao Rongrong. The government and legal organisations showed no interest in persecuting those responsible for torturing Gao Rongrong. After Rongrong escaped, all police and law units were on high alert to bring her back.

Unfortunately, Gao Rongrong was arrested again in early March 2005. Hearing the news, we went to look for her. Staff from the Xinxing police station told us to go to Masanjia Forced Labour Camp in Liaoning Province. In Masanjia Forced Labour Camp, camp head Sui Jing met with us and admitted that Gao Rongrong was in the labour camp. But she refused to tell us more details about where she was held and did not allow us to see her. She told us to wait for notification. She would let us know when we could visit Rongrong. But it took three months before we could finally see our daughter.

From March 6th to June 6th, a total of three months, when Gao Rongrong was imprisoned at Masanjia Forced Labour Camp, she was sent to the hospital for emergency treatment. We, an elderly couple of 76 and 73, went to Masanjia Forced Labour Camp every week with the hope to see our daughter. What worried us most was Rongrong's health. Once we went to the provincial appeals office for help to visit our daughter. The staff told us, "When Gao Rongrong was sent to Masanjia, a mutual agreement was signed between her and the labour camp. And they did gave her a physical examination."

We visited the Masanjia Forced Labour Camp many times, and met with Su Jing, the head of the labour camp. But, Su refused to tell us the exact detention location of our daughter and also did not allow us to visit Rongrong. The deputy head Zhao Laixi also met with us several times. At the beginning, we were asked to wait. Later, we were told that they could not make a decision about the visitation, and they had to follow higher authorities orders. We asked them who the "higher authority" was. They did not tell us. Every time we asked about Rongrong's health, they always said, "Excellent. She's eating well." When we asked to bail Rongrong out for medical treatment, they said, "The government has sole authority over Gao Rongrong's case. As her health is in such a bad shape, it would create a negative effect in society if we allowed you to take her home." They even said, "Gao Rongrong has special protection. We have assigned doctors, and special nurses to take care of her. If we made any mistake in taking care of her, Falun Gong would deal with us in the future." We were deceived by their words and believed that our daughter was given the necessary medical intervention.

The last day we visited Masanjia was June 10th. We met with deputy head Zhao Laixi and the other leader of the labour camp with the surname Wang. We still asked to visit our daughter. Wang said, "I will immediately inform you once we get word allowing you to visit her." In fact, right at this moment Gao Rongrong was lying on the bed on the 3rd floor of Emergency Building of the hospital.

One week after Gao Rongrong was admitted to the hospital, around 9:30 a.m. on June 12th, Su Jing told us on the phone that Gao Rongrong was in the First Affiliated Hospital of Shenyang City Medical University for emergency treatment. We immediately left for the hospital. Gao Rongrong was unconscious, and hooked up to a breathing machine. There was no reaction in her eyes and she looked like a dead person. We read on a small blackboard in the emergency room, "Gao Rongrong, admitted on June 6th. A doctor said, "She was dying when she arrived here."

Why did they inform us one week after Gao Rongrong was admitted to the hospital and in a deep coma? If they had informed us on the day (June 6th) when she just was admitted to the hospital, Gao Rongrong could have been saved with her family's support. Why and how could this turn out like this? From Shi Fengyou and the head of Shenyang Zhangshi Forced Labour Camp to Su Jing, Zhao Laixi, head Wang of Masanjia Forced Labour Camp in Liaoning Province, from levels of the Justice department, public security, government of Shenyang City to those of Liaoning Province, people kept lying to us, "Gao Rongrong is in good health, and eats well. You can wait at home. As soon as we receive the authority for you to be with your daughter, we will send her home." Why were they playing these games? Who is responsible for the manipulation of the facts? Who gave the perpetrators permission to murder Gao Rongrong? Our daughter Gao Rongrong suffered such cruel and inhuman persecution because she believed in "Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance." The staff members from all the aforementioned organisations are responsible for her death.

When we finally could see our child, she was close to death. At 4 a.m. on June 16th, our young, beautiful and lovely child, Gao Rongrong, left us without saying a word to us! We are heartbroken.

Our minds are filled with many thoughts about this tragedy. We request the following and appeal for our rights:

1. We request all responsible government units and law organs to investigate the officials and their staff responsible for the death of Gao Rongrong.

2. We request all work units involved in this matter to provide a detailed explanation about Gao Rongrong's whereabouts during the three months before her death, the tortures she suffered, health situation, why no family visits were allowed and why she suddenly died. Who was pulling the strings behind the scenes, and who triggered the murder of Gao Rongrong? Who manipulated all aspects of this case? What is our government going to do about this incident?

3. Gao Rongrong was wrongly sent to a forced labour camp by the Shenyang City Luxun Fine Art College, tortured in Shenyang Longshan Forced Labour Camp, and secretly detained in Masanjia Forced Labour Camp and eventually died from the persecution. We, her family, demand that Luxun Fine Art College, Shenyang City Justice Bureau, and the Liaoning Province Masanjia Forced Labour Camp compensate us for the financial losses we have suffered and the mental harm done to us.

Appeal Personnel: Gao Yuanxiao, Zhang Sukun
Address: No. 41, 3-4-2, Jiaxing Street, Hepin District, Shenyang City
Phone: 86-24-23873294

Note

1. "The 610 office" is an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other political and judiciary systems.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.ca/mh/articles/2005/11/30/115481.html