Practitioners who Consoled Earthquake Victims are Mercilessly Beaten, Robbed and Arrested by Police Officers in Guiyang City, Guizhou Province

Practitioner Ms. He Meixian and her family, all of whom are residents of Pan County, have been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) due to their belief in Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance since 1999, when the persecution of Falun Gong began. Ms. He's family members have been beaten to death by police, her home has been decimated, and her life made extremely difficult due to the persecution. Prior to the large earthquake in Sichuan Province, there was an earthquake in Pan County, Guizhou Province, in early May 2008. This earthquake damaged Ms. He Meixians house. After this news got out, practitioners in Guiyang City went to visit her at her temporary home near Erqiao Vegetable Market in Guiyang City.

On May 8th, these kind-hearted visitors, along with Ms. He Meixian, were all arrested by surveillance police officers from the No. 1 Section of Guiyang City Police Department. The money which was to be donated to the elderly victims was taken by the police, and even their personal money and belongings were looted by the police. The practitioners were beaten, arrested and detained. According to witnesses, practitioner Mr. Song Bangfu was beaten until his face was unrecognizable. He had wounds everywhere, and his belt, along with handcuffs and rope, were used to tie his hands together. The handcuffs cut into his flesh and caused bleeding. He was beaten by seven or eight police officers from the Touqiao Police Station and the No. 1 Section of Guiyang City Police Department.

Ms. He Meixian and her family continued cultivating Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance throughout these years. Her oldest son, Mr. Xu Guangdao, was beaten to death by the police when he went to Beijing to appeal in 2000. Ms. He's husband went to Beijing to search for his son and lost his memory after he was poisoned by the police. Her second son, Mr. Xu. Qihua, her daughter-in-law, and son-in-law were detained, leaving only Ms. He Meixian and a bunch of very young grandchildren behind to take care of each other.

On April 10th, 2008, the Guiyang City Court sentenced three practitioners, including Mr. Xu Qihua. Ms. He made a very difficult decision and was forced to abandon her husband, who couldn't take care of himself after the CCP's torture, and her ten grandchildren. She buried the pain of recently losing a twelve year-old grandson and went to the province capital city Guiyang to appeal to the 610 Office¹ and the judicial member involved in her son's case. She hoped that they would release her son as soon as possible, but her son has still not returned.

The practitioners who visited Ms. He Meixian on May 8-9th included Li Donghong's younger brother Mr. Li Hongyu, Mr. Song Bangfu, and Mr. Liu Yi'an, all of whom were arrested by the surveillance police. At least eight practitioners were arrested, and many were subjected to inhuman group beatings by the police officers. Practitioner Ms. Su Xueli from Xishui County, who is Ms. He Meixian's house mate, went to the city to look for a job, and was also arrested after the police severely beat her.

In order to protest the persecution and detention, Mr. Song Bangfu is holding a hunger strike, and has not eaten anything since his arrest on May 8th. This is very urgent, as his situation is very serious. Mr. Song Bangfu is currently stil detained in the Lannigou No. 2 Detention Centre in Guiyang City. Mr. Song Bangfu always thinks of others first in all his actions. He is publicly recognized as a good young man. He was sent to a forced labour camp for three years because he went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong. He was severely tortured by guards while in the No. 8 Labour Camp in Guizhou City, and he was once deprived of sleep for a week. He went on a week-long hunger strike to protest the persecution, and the police used a tube to force-feed and torture him. The police purposely picked a very thick tube and inserted it into his nose. In order to torture him, they pulled the tube back and forth several times, which punctured his oesophagus. When the tube was removed it came out with a lot of blood.

Mr. Song Bangfu's family is very poor. He is the breadwinner in the family and no one else has an income sufficient to support the family. His mother is over eighty years old and needs care, his older brother has one arm disabled and has no ability to support the family, his older sister and brother-in-law are both in prison and his sister's son is in middle school. The arrest of Mr. Song dealt the entire family a very heavy blow.

On May 8th, Mr. Song Bangfu was driving his new car, which his family borrowed money to buy. The car was used to buy some goods to do business, and Mr. Song planned to complete the new car registration the next day. On his way home, he decided to visit Ms. He Meixian, but he didn't know that her house had been ransacked. Mr. Song was arrested and beaten by the surveillance police. Police officers from the No. 1 Section of the Guiyang City Police Department robbed Mr. Song of nearly ten thousand yuan², which he had borrowed to do business. The police stole his savings account booklet, his new car and the goods in the car.

Mr. Song Bangfu's mother, who is over 80 years old, went to the police station to ask them to release her son and return the car, money and personal belongings, but the police refused her. The reason given was that donations made by Falun Gong practitioners for the earthquake victims are considered illegal activity. She was told that all the donated money and donor's personal belongings must be confiscated by the city police department.

The units involved in this persecution included the Erqiao Resident Committee, Touqiao Police Station, No. 1 Section of the City Police Department, and the city 610 Office.

People who joined the beatings included most personnel from the Touqiao Police Station, and the No. 1 Section of the City Police Department, including Ji Lin, Shen Yulin, Huang Boping, and Zhang Hongqin.

No. 1 Detention Centre of Guiyang City (Lannigou): 86-851-3762733
No. 2 Detention Centre: 86-851-3761400
No. 1 Section of Guiyang City Police Department: Dong Yang: 86-15985111127 (Mobile), Shen Yulin: 86-13985440821 (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. "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://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2008/5/30/179390.html