Wang Gang Attempts to Sue Baoding City Prison in Hebei Province for Torture and Consequent Amputation of His Leg

Letter of Complaint

Plaintiff: Wang Gang, male, Resident of Xiweituo Village, Tunzhou City of Hebei Province

Defendant: Gao Yin, male, Head of the Baoding City Prison of Hebei Province

Defendant: Fan Jianli, Chief of Political Department of Baoding City Prison of Hebei Province

Content of complaint

In order to "transform¹" me and force me to give up my belief in cultivating Falun Dafa, defendant Gao Yin ordered policemen and inmates to abuse and torture me using various devices. In particular, he ordered defendant Fan Jianli to use torture devices on me, causing injuries that eventually led to my leg being amputated. I was forced to see Fan in the monitoring cell. I couldn't stand due to the pain in my legs so I had to crawl into the monitoring cell. Fan insisted that I stand up and walk into the cell, so I had to crawl in and out of the cell three times. Even so Fan continued to hit me and stomp on me. A medical checkup later showed that the blood vessels, bones, and muscles in my leg had become necrotic. If it wasn't amputated immediately, the toxins would attack my heart and my life would be in danger. Gao Yin, head of the prison, refused to inform my family about the situation and forced me to submit to the amputation. Now I have only one leg, but the prison still refuses to release me or let my family see me.

Requests

I request that the People's Procuratorate of Baoding City immediately initiate an investigation of the two defendants and commence public litigation against them. According to relevant stipulations in the Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure Law, Prison Law, Police Law and Government Compensation Law of the People's Republic of China, and based on the criminal acts of the defendants, their physical and psychological torture of me using various devices causing me to become permanently handicapped, as well as the criminal act of my continued illegal incarceration, the two defendants should be held responsible both criminally and economically. I request that the defendants reimburse me for my loss of the ability to work, lead an independent life, or provide for my children and ageing parents, in an amount equal to 1,000,000 yuan². I also request that the People's Procuratorate recommend to the relevant governmental departments to remove the two defendants from their jobs and to immediately release me.

The Facts

On the afternoon of May 18th, 2005, because I had done the Falun Gong exercises the night before, the policemen tied me to a bed and placed me in the police office for an entire night. On May 19th, after they finished supper, they carried me out of the office and locked me up in a cell.

At one point I escaped the ropes that tied me to the bed. Having been tied to the bed for several days my legs and feet were numb. I had to hold on to the wall and move slowly to the corner of the room where there was a sink. I washed my face and used my underwear as a towel to wipe my face three times. When the police saw me they tied me to the bed again. When the next shift arrived in the evening, the afternoon shift reported my escape. Then they moved me to another bed with metal restraints. The bed had three iron bars welded to it. My feet were chained, my waist secured by a big metal band, and my hands were cuffed to the bed. For the next ten days I was locked up, and they wouldn't allow the caretaker to talk to me. They gave me very little water. Sometimes they forbade the caretaker to give me any water at all. Prison head Gao Yin was directly in charge of persecuting me. Even if the district captain of the prison wanted to meet me he'd have to get permission from Gao. They used this evil tactic in an effort to "transform" me. They said if I didn't "reform" they'd keep locked me up on the bed for two weeks or even a month.

I told the district captain several times that I didn't feel well, but he turned a deaf ear. Later I repeatedly asked the caretaker to take a message to my prison unit, and only then did they send a doctor to see me. The doctor saw me once and left without a word. The only change was that they took the chains off my feet. Prison counsellor Wang Langui secretly came to check on me several times. He asked my watcher if I had shown any signs of "reform." He never came back after failing to obtain a definite answer.

Beaten by Fan Jianli

On May 27th at around 4 a.m. Fan Jianli and Ran Pu (Head of the Prison Political Department) came to the cell. Fan asked me my name and shone a strong light on my face. He asked, "Who gave you the cotton-padded mattress?" I didn't answer him. He kicked me in the leg (which was later amputated) seven or eight times. Then he tried to pull the mattress out from under me. When the mattress wouldn't budge he called for help. Zhang Wei and Shao Chengjun hurried over to help him pull out the mattress. Fan kicked me again. While they were pulling the mattress my body was bruised from the misshapen bed and iron bars, and I was left wounded and bleeding. Fan told me to say bad things about Falun Gong. He went to the monitoring cell and told me to join him there. At the time I wasn't even wearing underpants, but since I had to see him I was allowed to put on a pair of trousers. I told them that my legs hurt and I couldn't walk. Fan had me dragged from the monitoring cell and told me to walk in again. I couldn't walk so I crawled in. Fan told me to stand up and I told him that I couldn't due to pain in my legs. He stomped me to the floor and told me to get out and come in when I could stand up and walk. In this way I crawled into the monitoring cell three times. He said that if I continued to pretend he'd personally take me to the Intensive Control District in the morning. Shortly after, Fan and Ran left the room. I asked Shao Chengjun and Zhang Wei to tell my prison unit that I'd been injured by Fan and asked them to take me to the hospital. Zhou Zhanhu put me on a tricycle and took me to Xinsheng Hospital, the internal prison hospital.

Leg Amputated, Handicapped

They gave me an IV in the hospital until around 1 a.m. the next morning. Then I was taken back to the lockup room and locked to the bed. On May 28th they sent me back to the hospital for another IV. At around 11:30 a.m. I was taken to the #252 Baoding Military Hospital for a full check up. At around 5 p.m. I was transferred to the #301 Hospital at Jishuitan, Anzhen of Beijing. The hospital's conclusion was that I needed to have my leg amputated.

I returned to Xinsheng Hospital of Baoding Prison. In the morning of May 29th I was transferred to the #1 Hospital in Baoding City. That evening I underwent surgery to remove a blood clot. On the morning of May 30th I was informed that my leg was to be amputated as soon as possible. That morning my prison unit head Shi Chaoyin, counsellor Wang Langui, and Zhou Zhanhu were informed of my condition. At noon Xinsheng Hospital head Mr. Zhang came to see me. I said, "Mr. Zhang, I need to speak to you in private." At the time there were only the two of us in the ward. I told him how Fan Jianli had beaten me. I told him that the head of the prison had to give me justice, or I would withhold my consent for the amputation. He said he would take my message to the prison head. On the afternoon of May 30th the hospital again informed me that my life would be in danger if the toxins in my leg began circulating. I told Shi Chaoyin, "I need to speak with my wife before the amputation." Shi said, "No, what's the use of telling her?" They deprived me of the right to see my family.

Seeking Justice and People's Better Selves

I was in the city hospital when the prison 610 Office³ head came to see me on May 30th. I told him about Fan Jianli beating me. He said, "Wang Gang, you get well first, and then we'll discuss the issue." Later, Wang Langui came to see me at the city hospital. I asked him, "How are you going to deal with my case?" He said, "You can write a report to the prison about this incident and make a recommendation about how to resolve the issue." In my report I disclosed the relentless torture I suffered in prison.

The prison investigation group was involved in the investigation of my case, but in a very casual way. On the day of the investigation the prison investigation group chief threatened me, saying, "If you continue to make a fuss we won't release you, even if you pay the bail." They said that Fan Jianli only beat me once or twice, and they never mentioned the incident of my crawling into the monitoring cell three times. When I told Shi Chaoyin about the beating by Fan Jianli on May 30th he took notes and I signed and dated them. I also sent him a message asking him to tell Gao Yin about the beating incident. Why didn't Gao Yin initiate the investigation process? Why didn't he come to see me? It was the prison that sent me to the lockup. It was even difficult for the head of my prison unit to see me. Without the permission of Gao Yin nobody was allowed to see me. Then wasn't it Gao Yin himself who sent Fan Jianli to beat me in the monitoring cell? To this day Gao Yin has never shown himself.

Later Song Zhigang, the new head of the prison, spoke with me several times trying to learn my plans to deal with the torture incident. I have only one request: I want justice. I still can't get in touch with my family. I don't know if my family knows about what I've gone through. I want my family to know my condition. I want many more people to know about the true nature of the criminal political group. I want people to help stop this evil persecution.

This letter will be sent to the People's Procuratorate of Baoding City in the name of the plaintiff Mr. Wang Gang.

Note

1. "Reform or Transform" Implementation of brainwashing and torture in order to force a practitioner to renounce Falun Gong. (Variations: "reform", "transform", "reformed", "reforming", "transformed", "transforming", and "transformation")

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

3. "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://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2007/3/11/150537.html