Mr. Wang Guiming's Remains Cremated

On April 28th, 2008, after the remains of practitioner Mr. Wang Guiming were cremated, the Chaoyanggou Forced Labour Camp in Changchun City, Jilin Province, dispatched prison guards to bring the ashes to Tonghua City, where Mr. Wang's family resides. Their aim was to take Mr. Wang's wife, Ms. Han Fengxia, into custody and hand her over to the local 610 Office¹. To avoid being arrested, Ms. Han did not attend her husband's ash spreading ceremony on the following day. The car from the forced labour camp arrived at the Daquan Township Police Station in Tonghua County and then Tonghua City's 610 Office, but the guards failed to find Ms. Han Fengxia.

Mr. Wang Guiming, 38, from Tonghua City, Jilin Province, was a healthy farmer with no history of heart disease. On February 13th, 2008, police from the Xinzhan Police Station in Tonghua City arrested Mr. Wang and sentenced him to two years of forced labour. On February 27th, Mr. Wang was transferred to the Chaoyanggou Forced Labour Camp in Changchun City. He died within two days of his arrival as a result of inhuman torture. His family was told that he had tried to commit suicide by throwing himself into the radiating fins of the central heating system. On March 4th, his family obtained a lawyer. They examined Mr. Wang's remains and filed a lawsuit at the court listing eight questionable points to show that Mr. Wang's death was a result of homicide rather than suicide:

Mr. Wang Guiming, 38 years old, was a healthy farmer with no history of heart disease. The results of the medical check-up on his arrival at the forced labour camp were normal and the forced labour camp accepted him with normal procedures.

It was impossible for him to die as a result of a hunger strike since he was admitted in the labour camp for only three days. He was force-fed once. According to the forced labour camp officials, Mr. Wang drank four capsules of water on the day he died.

There were two cuts on the top of his head which could not be caused by throwing himself into the radiating fins of the central heating system. Five reasons for this include:

(1) The cuts were very long. It was estimated that they were 10 to 12 mm long.
(2) There were only two cuts with no other wounds or marks, which is not possible if the person banged his head against the radiator.
(3) The edges of the cuts were very neat, as if cut by a knife.
(4) The cuts were long and deep. If they were caused by banging against the radiator, the soft tissue and the skin would swell. However, nothing was swollen.
(5) If the cuts existed before his death, why were there no marks from stitches?

According to the forced labour camp, at 10:50 p.m. on the evening of his death, Mr. Wang was found unable to breathe properly. He was rushed to the No. 1 Hospital affiliated with Jilin University for emergency treatment. The treatment cost 1,800 yuan² and a pacemaker was inserted in his body. However, when his family checked with the hospital through their connections, they found out that the emergency department had never had Mr. Wang as a patient.

There was a dark-brownish mark the size of a fist on the left side of his chest. It was not caused by inserting a pacemaker.

On the back of his head there was clearly a hematoma. Without the use of a blunt object, it is nearly impossible to damage the blood vessels and cause such an injury.

On his back and the buttocks, there was a large calloused area.

There were unidentified lumps on his left jaw and right collarbone.

Mr. Wang's family filed a lawsuit at the Suburban Procuratorate in Changchun City to sue the forced labour camp, and requested an investigation to affix criminal responsibility. Wang, head of the Procuratorate, deputy head Li, prosecutor Li Hongbo (who was stationed in the forced labour camp), and two others had a meeting with the victim's family and their lawyer. After hearing the lawyer's statement, these officials promised to protect the remains and to investigate and affix criminal responsibility.

When the family members asked who the prison guard on duty was, deputy head Li asked another man to check the file and said there were two personal cangues. One of them had the surname Dong. Li said these two personal cangues would not be released even when their terms of detention expired, meaning the authorities intended to push the responsibility onto the personal cangues. When Mr. Wang's family members asked who the prison guard was, Li and Wang tried to not answer the question. Mr. Wang's family asked Li, "You said you went to the scene at your first available moment. Please tell us, were there blood stains on the radiator fins?" Head Wang blurted out, "No." Li cut in immediately, "We can not say that." Mr. Wang Guiming's family asked why they could not say whether or not there were blood stains. Was there something that they wanted to hide? Deputy head Li stiffened his face for a long time and did not answer. Head Wang said, "We will certainly handle the case justly and punish whoever committed crimes. We will give you a satisfactory answer. Please rest assured."

At the time the Procuratorate officials said they had to do an autopsy to determine the cause of death. Mr. Wang's family asked, "How can we trust the medical experts? Are they obeying your orders? Can they speak the truth?" Head Wang said, "You can find your own medical experts, but they should be from within the province." Mr. Wang's family asked what kind of medical experts they could not look for. The Procuratorate office answered that, for example, those from Beijing would not be accepted. Mr. Wang's family said the wounds were enough to determine that Mr. Wang did not commit suicide but was murdered. The Procuratorate officers claimed, "You do not know the law. If you want to reach a final conclusion on the autopsy and if you want 'sudden death' as the conclusion, the autopsy fee would be 3,000 yuan, which should be paid by the family of the deceased." Mr. Wang's family said, "You killed him, and you're asking us to pay 3,000 yuan? We do not have that sort of money to engage in a lawsuit any more. We will just take his remains and go home." They did not let the family have the remains and said they had to conduct an autopsy. If the family had financial problems, the fees could be shared by the two sides through consultation.

Mr. Wang's family knew that the verdict was already decided, therefore they did not agree to have the autopsy. However, the judicial department insisted on having the autopsy. Mr. Wang's family had no choice but to return to Tonghua City.

Since the family had evidence of the persecution and the lawsuit was handed to the Procuratorate and was put on file for investigation and prosecution, the "remains" became evidence. Therefore, the forced labour camp officials dared not to simply destroy the remains. The following day they rushed to Tonghua and tried to collude with the Changchun Judicial Department, the Procuratorate, and the Prison Administrative Bureau. They contacted Mr. Wang's family and their lawyer several times attempting to offer the family a check of tens of thousands of yuan which they said could only be cashed after the autopsy of the remains was concluded. Mr. Wang's family saw through their tricks and refused the offer. Then the evildoers tried to work with the Tonghua Judicial Department, the Police Department, the National Security Division, the Political and Judicial Commission, and the 610 Office to exert pressure on related individuals and force the lawyer to keep silent. They also threatened Mr. Wang's family that if they refused to cooperate with the forced labour camp then they, too, would be arrested and sentenced.

Mr. Wang Guiming's wife, Ms. Han Fengxia, was forced to leave home with her 17-year-old daughter to seek refuge with relatives. It just so happened that when Ms. Han phoned Mr. Wang's relatives at home from Changchun City, the relatives were communicating with the forced labour camp. On learning that Ms. Han was in Changchun, the evildoers went straight back to Changchun to look for her.

On the morning of April 16th, a dozen or so people broke into Ms. Han's residence. They were from Chaoyanggou Forced Labour Camp, the Changchun Judicial Department, the National Security Division, the Police Department and the 610 Office. They arrested Ms. Han and her daughter and took them to Anquan Police Station in Changchun City. Ms. Han sternly warned them, "Let the child go. I am the one you want. You have beaten my husband to death. Are you going to threaten me with death? I have resolved to stand up to you at all costs."

At the Anquan Police Station, Ms. Han's under aged daughter was kicked and slapped in the face by the police for failing to answer their questions. At 9 p.m., Ms. Han was escorted back to Weizigou Detention Centre in Changchun City. They informed Ms. Han's relatives of her arrest. On the following day, her relatives went to the detention centre to pick up Ms. Han's daughter. They questioned the police as to why they arrested Ms. Han. The police replied that Ms. Han talked too much about the death of her husband.

When the police from Anquan Police Station went to interrogate Ms. Han, they asked her where she got paper money with messages exposing the persecution written on it. Ms. Han replied that it was left by her late husband. A policeman kicked her and grabbed her hair. Ms. Han stared into the eyes of the officer. He said to himself, "We don't hate each other." Then he let go of her hair and said they would send Ms. Han to a forced labour camp.

In the days that followed, officers of the Chaoyanggou Forced Labour Camp brought Ms. Han from the detention centre to the labour camp several times during the day and sent her back in the evening. Ms. Han requested to see the on-duty guards. They ignored her but called in a man and a woman saying that they were from Ms. Han's hometown and tried to persuade her. Ms. Han asked them not to say anything because she would not listen to them. They stayed for a day and left.

During her time at the detention centre, the Chaoyanggou Forced Labour Camp sent people to negotiate with Ms. Han and offer her as much as 80 to 100 thousand yuan. Ms. Han said that they must release her first. At the time Anquan Police Station sent in a summons, sentencing Ms. Han to one year of forced labour. Ms. Han said, "If you want to sentence me to forced labour, I will not talk to you any more." They called in Ms. Han's younger brother to persuade her but failed. They talked to Ms. Han again. Ms. Han said, "You must call my lawyer. I must be present when you make the call to ensure that you do not exert pressure on him. If he refuses to come, then it will be useless to talk to me." At first the lawyer did not want to accept, saying that he was too busy. Only after the earnest request from Mr. Wang's family and a guarantee from the forced labour camp did the lawyer agree to accept Ms. Han's request. He went to Changchun and talked to the forced labour camp officials a few times without any progress. The lawyer and Ms. Han's family returned to Tonghua.

Two days later, on April 28th, the forced labour camp dispatched people to pick up the lawyer and Ms. Han's relatives. In order to make sure that Ms. Han's family could receive a cash payment, the lawyer prepared a document and asked officers of the forced labour camp, the Procuratorate, and the Judicial Department to sign the document to supervise the legal procedure. Ms. Han's younger brother acted on her behalf. The two sides agreed on a compensation payout of 180 thousand yuan and a release notification for Ms. Han. Ms. Han had no choice but to sign the agreement.

Thinking of her ageing mother-in-law's poor health and her under aged daughter being left unattended, and that she herself would have no freedom if she was imprisoned, Ms. Han reluctantly agreed to have her husband's remains cremated.

It was said that the forced labour camp conducted the autopsy, which was photographed and video-tapped. Although Mr. Wang Guiming's remains were cremated, the forced labour camp was unable to destroy all the evidence.

On the day when Mr. Wang Guiming was sent to the forced labour camp, several prison guards beat him up. The team leader who was on duty that day was Gao Jianhui. Prison doctor Li Fei was the one who conducted barbaric forced-feeding and cut Mr. Wang's head with a knife. The team leader who was on duty on the day when Mr. Wang died was Yu Tie and the prison guard was Li Shujun. The four personal cangues were Dong Qiang, Bi Keyu, Liu Xingming and Li Jianguo.

The whole truth will inevitably come out. The prison guards, leaders of the forced labour camp and the accomplices of the various departments concerned will never succeed in evading their responsibility.

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/2008/5/29/179343.html