Practitioner Mr. Gong Fengqiang Suffers Continued Abuse after Mental Collapse at Jiamusi Prison in Heilongjiang Province

Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Gong Fengqiang was detained for 34 days for appealing for justice for Falun Gong in Beijing in 2000. While in detention, officers from the Yilan County Police Bureau inserted toxic toothpicks under each of his fingernails, beat him using sharp sticks, and shocked him with electric batons so ruthlessly that he vomited and had diarrhoea. His wife Ms. Li Jiezhen was pregnant at the time.

Next, at about 9:00 p.m. on August 12th, 2000, officers from the Yilan County Police Department and the 610 Office¹ at the Dalianhe Coal Mine, and agents from Dalianhe Police Station arrived, accompanied by an officer toting a video-recorder. They broke into Mr. Gong's home. His wife, who had given birth less than a month before, was resting at home. The officers searched every corner and even checked the baby, and then forced Mr. Gong into a police car. Mr. Gong's mother, who had severe heart disease and rheumatism, followed the police into the yard and then went into shock. Dalian County Police Station official Zhao Wen insisted on taking Mr. Gong away, and Mr. Gong was once again pushed into a vehicle despite his mother's condition. His elderly mother, wife and newborn child were left at home.

On December 26th, Mr. Gong, his wife Ms. Li Yanjie, and their five-month-old daughter went to Beijing to appeal for justice and were arrested. Ms. Li refused to cooperate with the unreasonable demands of the police and decided to go into exile with her daughter to avoid further persecution. Mr. Gong, wearing only slippers on his feet, was sent to the Yilan Police Department Detention Centre, affiliated with the Dalianhe Coal Mine. Police officer Han Yunjie beat and tortured him. Mr. Gong was sentenced to two years of forced labour, but was held beyond his term until he became gravely ill. He was released six months later. By then, Mr. Gong could not recognise his daughter.

Mr. Gong became a three-wheeled-taxi driver to make a living and was able to return to work at his original workplace a year later. In September 2003, 610 Office agents from the Dalianhe Coal Mine planned to send his family to the Shuangcheng Brainwashing Centre. Mr. Gong manged to escape. Three months later, after returning home, he discovered that he had been fired from his job without having completed any paperwork. When the couple went to their workplace and petitioned to have their jobs reinstated, the Party secretary denied their request and threatened them, saying the 610 Office officials needed a guarantee statement ². Mr. Gong refused and made a living as a three-wheeled-taxi driver.

On December 12th, 2006, officials of Gaoleng Forest Bureau in Fangzheng County, Heilongjiang Province, arrested practitioners Mr. Gong Fengqiang, Mr. Sun Ren, and Mr. Ma Honggang and severely tortured them. Police searched Mr. Gong's home and took 600 yuan³ from Ms. Li Yanjie's pocket when their six-year-old daughter was sleeping.

On December 18th, Mr. Gong and the other two practitioners were transferred from Gaoleng to Yilan. Before the transfer, the guards beat Mr. Gong into a coma. He was unable to walk, so others carried him when he arrived at Yilan. At the end of December 2006, Yilan County Police Department officers tortured and interrogated Mr. Sun Ren and Mr. Ma Honggang in a basement in Harbin City for three days.

Following the arrest, the three practitioners suffered brutal torture at the hands of officers from Gaoleng, Yilan, and Harbing City. Mr. Gong, now detained at the First Detention Centre, suffered several mental collapses from the beatings. He bit his tongue, causing permanent damage. He also lost consciousness and could not recognise anyone, but the guards did not release him. Yilan Court officials had sentenced Mr. Gong to three years, Mr. Sun to four years, and Mr. Ma to five years of imprisonment, and brought their charges to the Intermediate Court. The Harbing Intermediate Court increased the sentences of Mr. Gong to five years and Mr. Sun and Mr. Ma to seven years.

During the detention and trial, Mr. Gong suffered recurring mental problems. His family members asked Li Bohe, the deputy director of Yilan County Police Department in charge of the detention centres and deputy head of the 610 Office, to have Mr. Gong treated and pleaded with him to release Mr. Gong, but Li refused.

Mr. Gong's illness worsened. By May 23rd, 2007, he was unconscious, could not recognise family members, and could not speak or eat. Officers from the County Police Department and the detention centre did not want to take responsibility for him. They transferred him, unconscious, and not having had any food for four days, to the Group Training Team at Xianglan Prison in Tangyang County, where Mr. Gong endured continued abuse. His family went to the prison, explained his illness to the officials, and asked for medical care. The guards said, "We can do whatever we want to Falun Gong practitioners according to orders from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). As long as he can breathe, we have to keep him here. We will not let him go, even if he dies." They also said that Mr. Gong's illness was not real and refused to have a doctor make a diagnosis.

All three practitioners were abused and otherwise persecuted at the Xianglan Prison Group Training Team for ten days. On June 4th, 2007, they were transferred to Lianjiangko Prison in Jiamusi City. According to a source, Mr. Gong's symptoms were getting worse. He did not talk or eat. His mind was not clear and he carelessly bumped into others.

We urgently ask kindhearted people in the world to pay attention to this persecution incident and help rescue Mr. Gong and the other detained Falun Gong practitioners.

Those involved in the persecution in Yilan County:
Zhang Wanping, County CCP Committee Secretary: 86-13904662183 (Mobile)
Zhang Shuwen, head of Politics and Law Committee: 86-451-57223055 (Office), 86-13904641811 (Mobile)
Liu Qifa, deputy head of county 610 Office: 86-451-57238610 (Office), 86-451-57239292 (Home), 86-13206528200 (Mobile)
Zen Fahui, head of County Police Department: 86-451-57230353 (Office), 86-13030073158 (Mobile)

County National Security Division
Zhang Wenguo, head: 86-451-57227618 (Home), 86-13945121989 (Mobile)

Liu Dawei, head of First Detention Centre
Wang Zhaojun, head of Second Detention Centre
Wang Zhifu, head of the County People's Procuratorate: 86-451-57283388 (Office), 86-13904661123 (Mobile)

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.

2. "Guarantee Statement": A statement to declare that one 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.

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

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2007/6/10/156621.html