Yang Baochun Lost His Right Leg as a Result of Torture and Has Been Held in a Psychiatric Hospital Repeatedly

On the afternoon of February 17th, 2008, Mr. Yang Baochun's wife went to see her husband, who was imprisoned in Yongkang Psychiatric Hospital in Handan City, Hebei Province. He lost his right leg as a result of being tortured in Handan City Forced Labour Camp. While his wife was visiting, Mr. Yang escaped from the psychiatric hospital, where he had been imprisoned for over five years. His wife was then detained for an hour before she was released. That night, Mr. Yang was arrested at his home and taken back to the psychiatric hospital.

Mr. Yang Baochun has been detained and tortured for eight years. His family has asked the authorities over and over again how it is possible that Mr. Yang could be imprisoned for eight years without any legal procedures having been followed. Local and central government officials claimed that their hands were tied. They said that the orders came from higher up and that they could not risk losing their jobs by releasing him.

Recently, Mr. Yang's wife talked to the head of the Handan City Dye and Textile Factory again and demanded that they fulfil their promise to help secure her husband's release. The factory staff knows that Mr. Yang will not write a guarantee statement to give up practising Falun Gong, so they claimed that only the District 610 Office¹ has control over the matter. The District 610 Office refused to release Mr. Yang unconditionally. They demanded 10,000 yuan² to have him released. Mr. Yang's family refused to pay them.

Mr. Yang Baochun, 40 years old, was a former employee of the Handan City Dye and Textile Factory. He has suffered brutal torture ever since the Chinese Communist Party started persecuting Falun Gong in 1999. Around the 2001 New Year, his right leg was amputated due to the torture he was subjected to in Handan City Forced Labour Camp. He was then sent to Yongkang Psychiatric Hospital in Handan City and detained for over three years. The hospital staff secretly put unknown drugs into his food. Mr. Yang told his wife that he was salivating uncontrollably, his tongue was numb, and he was drowsy. His wife raised this issue with the hospital and protested giving Mr. Yang drugs. After they stopped giving him drugs, Mr. Yang started doing the Falun Gong exercises and tried to go outside. The doctors assigned staff employees to monitor him 24 hours a day. They often dragged him inside from where he was outside and he developed bloody scabs on his buttocks. During his detention, they shocked Mr. Yang with electric batons and severely beat him many times. When the doctors were asked why they tortured him, they replied they did so because Mr. Yang was not satisfied to stay in the hospital.

In 2004, Mr. Yang was finally released due to his wife's continued efforts. Even though Mr. Yang was released, he did not have any freedom. People were stationed outside his apartment and monitored him. He went to the Association for the Disabled and the Petition Office in Beijing again and told them his story, that because he practised Falun Gong, he was tortured, and as a result of the torture, he was disabled. He was homeless and lived for six months on the streets of Beijing. He was arrested again and taken back to Handan City. The factory authorities did not know what to do with him because of the New Year holiday, so they put him in the psychiatric hospital temporarily. Another two years passed and he was still not released.

Mr. Yang Baochun walks by jumping on his one good leg. After he escaped from the hospital at around 11p.m. in the evening, he was arrested again from his home and taken back to the psychiatric hospital.

We call on the international society for their help to get Mr. Yang Baochun released unconditionally.

Yongkang Psychiatric Hospital, Handan City, Hebei Province: 86-310-3212320
Handan City Dye and Textile Factory, where Mr. Yang was employed: 86-13932011730 (Mobile)
610 Office, Handan City, Hebei Province:
Cao Zhixia: 86-310-7413519 (Office), 86-13803101111 (Mobile) 86-310-3158028 (Home)
Zhao, associate head of the 610 Office: 86-310-7413517

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.org/mh/articles/2008/2/19/172731.htm