Li Donghong, a Freelance Writer, Was Arrested Again and Is Being Severely Persecuted

Mr. Li Donghong is a freelance writer and a resident of Dafang Township, Dafang County, Guizhou Province. His articles have been published in literary magazines in China and abroad. In 1993, he began to practise Falun Gong.

On July 20th, 1999, Mr. Li's home was ransacked by Dafang County police officers. They took away his Falun Gong books, TV, CD player, and other personal property. The direct economic loss was around 10,000 yuan¹. Since Mr. Li Donghong is a freelance writer and takes other odd jobs he can find, this was a big financial loss for him. At the end of 1999, he was detained for nearly one year by the Dafang County Police on fabricated charges. The court later released him with a verdict of not guilty, but the police did not return what they had confiscated from his home.

Zhang Jin, the deputy director of the police station in Dafang County, was a key figure in the persecution of Li Donghong. Zhang Jin was eventually diagnosed with nasal cancer. He spent tens of thousands of yuan on medical treatments but nothing helped. In the end he could not be cured and died of the illness.

Two months after Mr. Li was released from detention in Dafang County, he was again arrested and sentenced to forced labour for three years. He was taken to Zhongba Forced Labour Camp. The guards at the camp detained each Falun Gong practitioner separately. Li Donghong was detained in a confined cell. In the cell, the police ordered some drug addict inmates to monitor and beat practitioners. The cell was only about four metres square with a cement bed, which took over two square metres of the floor. The toilet bucket occupied about one square metre and the last one square metre was where practitioners were forced to stand for prolonged periods, as a torture method.

Li Donghong was monitored by two drug addict inmates. They took turns sleeping on the cement bed and took turns torturing Mr. Li. He had to stand for 24 hours and was not allowed to go to sleep or sit down for a break. The inmates would beat him if he closed his eyes as he stood. Sometimes, he was dragged out of the cell and had to endure all kinds of brutal tortures. This inhumane persecution of practitioners would last one to two weeks, or even as long as a month.

The guards in the labour camp boasted that they had more than a hundred vicious methods they could use to persecute and torture practitioners, such as severe beatings, forcing practitioners to eat faeces and spit, and burning their eyes with high power light bulbs. In the severe cold of winter they would force practitioners to stand outside without wearing any clothes. During the hot summer days, they forced practitioners to run in winter coats. Some practitioners' legs and feet bled all over the ground. In the winter, they poured cold water on the practitioners. They also poured boiling water on their faces. They even wrapped practitioners in a bag and then beat them with all kinds of objects. They also forced practitioners to snort heroin. Guards Li Jiming, Ming Hong, Yang Renshou, and others boasted, "It's not a big deal if a few people die here. We have a quota to meet for deaths in detention."

Those people who participated in the persecution of Mr. Li Donghong in Zhongba Forced Labour Camp were: Pan Zhong, Yang Renshou, Huang Xianyue, and others.

Li Donghong was released from Zhongba Forced Labour Camp at the end of 2003. After returning to his hometown, he was frequently harassed by Chinese Communist Party (CCP) staff members. Because of this harassment he was forced to become homeless. He rented out a place to live in Touqiao Haimachong. On September 20th, 2007, he was reported by his landlord to Liu Ziquan (or Jin) and Zhou Xiaohong, CCP officers in Touqiao, who told them that he practised Falun Gong. He was soon arrested and was detained in Baihuashan Detention Centre in the Yunyan District of Guiyang City, where he was treated harshly. Mr. Li was then transferred to the Drug Rehabilitation Centre at the No. 368 Hospital, the notorious Martial Police Hospital in Guizhou Province. That hospital once participated in the persecution of Falun Gong practitioner Zheng Dinghe, who died as a result of the abuse. Zheng Dinghe died very tragically, and his death shocked the entire province.

We appeal to all people of justice to pay attention to this case and put forth all our efforts to rescue Falun Gong practitioner Li Donghong.

Note

1. "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.org/mh/articles/2008/1/29/171325.html