Mr. Jin Yongnan from Tumen City, Jilin Province, Dies As a Result of Torture

Mr. Jin Fanlong, a Falun Gong practitioner, was brutally mistreated for two years in Yinmahe Forced Labour Camp, located in Jiutai City, Jilin Province, and died on May 11th, 2006. He once said, "When I was in Jiutai Forced Labour Camp, no matter how they tortured me, I never wrote a 'Guarantee Statement' not to practise Falun Gong. Later on, the guards suddenly started treating me very nicely and even gave me rice and meat to eat. After eating this for a few days, I became ill and noticed a strange odour, so I refused to eat the rice from the guards. I overheard a guard telling another guard, 'Why isn't this guy eating any more? Is it because he noticed something?' I suspected that they put some unknown drugs into my rice. I was worried that they had given the same rice to Mr. Jin Yongnan, who was also in the labour camp." A few weeks before Mr. Jin Fanlong died, someone from Jiutai Forced Labour Camp paid him a "special visit." Mr. Jin Fanlong, who couldn't get out of bed, said, "When they saw me in this condition, they seemed relieved, and they kept nodding." Whether or not Jiutai Forced Labour Camp personnel put unknown drugs into the food for practitioners who do not renounce their belief in Falun Gong is currently being investigated.

Mr. Jin Yongnan was born in 1948 and lived in Wugong Village, Tumen City. When he was young, he suffered from severe hepatitis and low blood pressure, plus he was very frail. It was difficult for him to do arduous farm work, so he led a poverty-stricken life. After he began practising Falun Gong in 1994, his blood pressure became normal, the pain in his liver disappeared, he seemed to have endless energy, his family life improved, and he had a new home.

In March 2000, when Mr. Jin Yongnan went to Beijing to seek justice for Falun Gong, he was taken back to Tumen City, detained for a month in the Tumen City Detention Centre, and 2,300 yuan¹ was extorted from him. In January 2001, Mr. Jin was suddenly arrested by officer Jin Changzhu (male) and others from the Yuegong Street Police Station. He was taken to the Shiyan Town Paper Mill Senior Home in Tumen City and was subjected to brainwashing. The people that participated in persecuting him included: Pao (male, first name unknown) from the Prefecture Judicial Bureau, 610 Office² personnel, Assistant Deputy Secretary Wang Baozhong (male) from the Politics and Law Committee of Tumen City, and Yuegong Street Police Station officers. Those imprisoned were tortured from 4 or 5 a.m. until 9 p.m. or midnight. They were watched at all times, even while eating and sleeping. They were insulted, forced to run, stand, complete drills, watch videos that slandered Falun Gong, and withstand personal attacks. Because Mr. Jin Yongnan did not renounce Falun Gong, he was transferred from the brainwashing centre to the detention centre and then back to the brainwashing centre. He was finally allowed to go home in mid April 2000.

In June 2002, Mr. Jin Yongnan, was arrested again while appealing for Falun Gong on Yanji City, by officers from the Wenhua Police Station in Helong City. The police punched and kicked him. In July 2002, Mr. Jin, who was over 50 years old, was taken to Yinmahe Forced Labour Camp in Jiutai City. He was placed in solitary confinement, and handcuffed to a bed for nearly six weeks. To resist the persecution, Mr. Jin once went on a hunger strike for 17 days and almost died from the persecution. After being brutally mistreated for nearly ten months, he was transferred to Yanji City Forced Labour Camp. He was released in July 2003, after being detained over the allowed time limit.

Only half a year passed before Mr. Jin was arrested again while he was at his home on February 4th, 2004. Police officers from the Yuegong Street Police Station ransacked his home and confiscated Falun Gong books and leaflets exposing the persecution. He was detained on the floor above the Tumen City National Security Section that day. The police tried to make him reveal the source of his materials by torturing him. From that afternoon on, the police beat him six days and six nights in a row, deprived him of sleep, and put a steel hat on his head so that two people could take turns beating it with a wooden bat. The bat snapped, his head bled and swelled, and every part of his body was damaged. His clothing was bloodied and one leg became disabled. The police used cigarette butts to burn his palms and sealed his mouth with tape, making him unable to breath. They used toothpicks to stab the wounds on his head, trying to make him confess. They even said if he was beaten to death, it would count as suicide and they would assume no responsibility. They did not give Mr. Jin any food or water during those six days and nights.

One of the two police officers that most severely beat Mr. Jin was named Hong (male, first name unknown). While they beat Mr. Jin, they said, "Because you won't write the Guarantee Statement, we won't receive a bonus. If you don't change your mind and write it, then we will beat you to death." After one week of torture, Mr. Jin could not walk by himself. He even had to crawl to use the toilet. Because Mr. Jin was tortured to the brink of death, the police took him to the Tumen City Hospital. Mr. Jin met one of his neighbours at the hospital, but because his head was so swollen, the neighbour wouldn't even believe that it was Mr. Jin Yongnan.

Because Mr. Jin's health had suffered significant damage, the Tumen City Police Department couldn't immediately send him to a labour camp. Only in October 2004 did they dare to send Mr. Jin to Jiutai Forced Labour Camp. Mr. Jin refused to write the Guarantee Statement at Jiutai Labour Camp and suffered even more cruel torture, including the "stretching bed³" and "swinging." Mr. Jin never gave up cultivation. When Mr. Jin started vomiting blood and showing other serious symptoms, the labor camp officials were afraid of being held responsible, so they allowed Mr. Jin's wife to bail him out and take him home in November 2006.

After returning home, Mr. Jin Yongnan's health recovered through practising Falun Gong. However, his health started deteriorating again in the second half of 2007. Beginning in March 2008, he started coughing severely. This seriously affected his sleep and diet, making him extremely weak. Due to suffering from long-term torture, Mr. Jin was constantly anxious even after returning home. Any slightly loud noise would frighten him. On May 3rd, 2008, Mr. Jin passed away with both eyes open.

Note

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

2. "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.

3. Stretching Bed - The police restrain the steadfast practitioners on a specially made bed on which there are four rings, one at each corner. Practitioners' hands and feet are fixed in the rings. Then the police apply force to the rings, so that the victim's body is pulled up and away from the bed as the limbs are stretched. If more force is exerted, one will pass out in a few seconds. If one is left in this position for more than ten minutes, all his/her muscles and bones will be dislocated and the person will be maimed permanently. Moreover, the police forbid others to take care of the maimed practitioners. See illustration on http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2005/2/11/57390.html

Chinese version available at http://minghui.org/mh/articles/2008/5/13/178336.html