The Persecution of Mr. Yang Guomin's Family in Wuhan City

On the evening of June 22nd, 2007, in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, the police arrested four family members of Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Yang Guomin. Later they arrested an additional family member. Mr. Yang's elderly mother, who did not practise Falun Gong, committed suicide due to sadness and despair.

Yang Guomin, 40, is an engineer with a Masters degree, working at Wuhan Institution of Science Research of Telecommunications (Fenghuo Communications). He received a national award in science and technology. Prior to his arrest, Yang worked in information and communications as a Chief Technology Officer (CTO) for a company.

Around 11 p.m. on the evening of June 22nd, 2007, a group of plainclothes police from Donghu and Xihu Police Departments and Changqing Huayuan Police Station in Wuhan City, entered Mr. Yang's home under the pretence of needing to check the house for gas leaks. They broke the locks on the doors and robbed the home of several valuable items including a computer, mini CD player, MP3 player and mobile phones. The police then apprehended Mr. Yang and his wife Zuo Ruru and left their 11-year-old son home alone. Mr. Yang was detained at Etouwan Brainwashing Centre in Wuhan City for more than two months, and then sentenced to a forced labour camp for one year.

Mr. Hu Yongjun, the brother of Yang Guomin (his brother took their mother's last name), was a national worker at Tianmen City's Land Administrative Bureau in Hubei Province. Mr. Hu went to Beijing to appeal on behalf of Falun Gong in November 2001. He was detained at Tianmen City Detention Centre for more than eight months and was denied any visitors. He was later sentenced to three years of imprisonment and sent to the notorious Shayang Fanjiatai Prison, where he endured forced labour and was insulted and tortured. When he was released in 2004, he was fired from his previous job. He then found employment in a telecommunications company in Wuhan City. Sometime around June 28th, 2007, he was called into work by his company and then arrested by police from Wuhan City Police Department. He was sent to a brainwashing centre, and a few days later he fortunately escaped. He has since become homeless to avoid persecution.

On the evening of June 22nd, 2007, in Jiangan District, Xuzhou New Village, no.3 Village, more than two dozen officers from Wuhan City Police Department and the area's 610 Office¹ forced their way into the home of Ms. Yang Linge, the sister of Mr. Yang Guomin. They abducted Ms. Yang Linge and confiscated her computer, printer, mobile phones, satellite dish, tape recorder and 1,000 yuan² in cash. Her 9-year-old son was so frightened by the scene that he hid under the bed and refused to come out. On the same evening, police arrested Ms. Yang's husband, Cheng Dehan, while he was working an evening shift at his job and took him to Chenjiaji Brainwashing Centre in Jiangan District. Mr. Cheng was sent to a forced labour camp for a year and a half. His place of employment, Jiangan Vehicles Company, fired him after 19 years and left the family without any income.

During the eight months that her youngest son, Yang Guojun, was detained, his mother made countless appeals to the officials of the village, township, city and the detention centre. She asked again and again for the release of her son. She even knelt in front of the Tianmen City Detention Centre for a very long time, but no one seemed to take notice. Those officials pretended they didn't see her. They even refused her the right to visit her son. After Mr. Hu was sentenced for another three year, his mother lost all hope and killed herself in December 2002. Police in Fanjiatai Prison rejected Mr. Yang's request to see his mother one last time after she died.

Currently both Mr. Yang Guomin and his brother in law Mr. Cheng Dehan are detained at Wuhan City Hewan Forced Labour Camp. Mr. Yang is under 24 hour a day observation.

On the written conclusion of the forced labour camp sentence, it says that the litigant can appeal to the court. When family members asked to see Mr. Yang so he could sign the appeal application, the officers in the labour camp said they would see that the application was submitted. Two weeks later, family members checked with Wuhan City Appealing Department and were informed that they were instructed by officials not to accept appeals from Falun Gong practitioners. The Hubei Province Forced Labour Camp Administration stated they never received the appeal. Family members returned to the forced labour camp and were told the application was turned into the 610 office for review. At the present time, Mr. Yang's family still hasn't received any result from the appeal process and the legal system appears to be simply a tool for deceiving people.

Before practising Falun Gong, Mr. Yang Guomin suffered from severe neurasthenia. He had difficulty sleeping and always felt tired during the day. Mr Yang often felt weak and was frequently ill. He tried many types of medicines and exercises but nothing helped. Only one week after he started to practice Falun Gong, his health condition dramatically improved. With a healthy body, Mr. Yang was able to make a greater contribution at his job. As a high-level researcher he took part in the research of a 10Gb/s SDH optical fibre transmission system and received a prestigious award for science and technology. In November 2001, Mr. Yang was detained in a brainwashing centre for more than 6 months because he went to Beijing to appeal. After he was released, he was forced to leave his job because he refused to give up his belief in Falun Gong. He had received a Technical Innovation Award from this company for his great work in information and communications, and had led a team that made huge contributions to the company. Yet such a person is sent to a forced labour camp by Chinese Communist Party (CCP). His family is now destitute.

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. "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/2007/12/29/169223.html