Practitioners Tortured in Yueyang City as Part of the Increased Persecution Related to the Olympic Games

Since the beginning of 2008, the Chinese Communist regime has been implementing a new round of suppression against Falun Gong under the pretence of increased security for the upcoming Olympic Games in Beijing. In Yueyang City alone, 38 practitioners have been arrested since March 3rd, nine of whom remain in custody. Seven practitioners are being held at the Yueyang City Detention Centre: The other two are being held in the Yueyang County Detention Centre.

1. Mr. Hu Heping Suffers Serious Internal Injuries as a Result of Torture

Mr. Hu Heping, 55, is a practitioner from Yueyang City, Hunan Province. On March 18th, 2008, he was taken into police custody and later held at the Yueyang City No. 1 Detention Centre. By June 7th, he was on the verge of death as a result of torture.

Mr. Hu is a painter. He was first arrested on March 12th, 2003, when he refused to give up his belief. He was taken to Xinkaipu Forced Labour Camp and injected with chemical agents three times. The labour camp guards shouted at him, "If you don't 'transform¹' and write the Three Statements², you're going to go back to your cell and cough your head off." After they restrained him to give him an injection, Mr. Hu was unable to stop coughing and eventually coughed up blood. He Jun (male), a guard at the camp, ordered an inmate named Huang to strike Mr. Hu with shoes. The guards also deprived Mr. Hu of sleep for seven days and nights by forcing him to stand facing a wall. When he returned home at the end of 2004, Mr. Hu was able to regain his health shortly after he resumed practising the Falun Gong exercises.

Several years later, at around 9:00 a.m. on March 18th, 2008, Li Yongfei (male) of the Luowang Neighborhood Administration Office, Zhang Yifei (male) of the Luowang Residential Community, and half a dozen officers from the Luowang Police Department forcibly took Mr. Hu to the Luowang Police Station because of his firm belief in Falun Gong. At around 2:00 p.m., they took Mr. Hu to the Dongting Hotel, where they interrogated him for the next 24 hours. They transferred him to the Yueyang City Detention Centre the following day.

At the time of his arrest, Mr. Hu had not been feeling well and was at home on medical leave. After he was taken into custody, he developed symptoms of serious illness. He had pain in his internal organs, he had blood in his urine, his legs swelled all the way to his toes, and he developed a chronic cough. His weight dropped from 126 pounds to less than 90. Despite his condition, labour camp officials forced him to perform 12 to 16 hours of labour each day.

On June 16th, 2008, Mr. Hu was taken to the Yueyang City No. 1 Hospital for an examination. Physicians found his internal organs to be in poor condition and diagnosed him with liver disease. But the authorities refused to disclose any details or to allow Mr. Hu's family to visit him. Later, as his condition deteriorated, labour camp officials contacted his family and extorted money from them in exchange for a visit. On the afternoon of June 18th, they placed Mr. Hu on parole and directed his family to take him home pending further investigation into his case.

Individuals responsible for the persecution (all male):

Deng Anhua, Qi Guanyi, Jiang Chao, Fu (last name), Li Yongfei, Zhang Yifei, Lu Ran

2. Mr. Yao Dahua Beaten by Police

Mr. Yao Dahua, 55, of Han nationality, is a practitioner from Yueyang City who has held firm in his belief in "Truthfulness-Benevolence-Forbearance." At 10:00 p.m. on March 18th, 2008, Mr. Yao stepped outside his home after receiving a mysterious call on his mobile phone. A dozen police officers were waiting for him and took him into custody. Among them were Liu Jian of the Beigang Township Police Department and officers from the Domestic Security Division of the Yueyanglou District Police Department. They took Mr. Yao to the Dongting Hotel in the Dongtan Factory in Yueyang City, where they interrogated him for 48 hours. The police feigned kindness at the beginning, but when Mr. Yao would not cooperate, they began beating him on the head and abdomen. The officers tied his arms behind his back, picked him up, and threw him to the floor repeatedly. They also forced him to kneel as they attempted to extract information from him.

On March 20th, a half dozen police officers searched Mr. Yao's home and confiscated his Falun Gong books. During the search, the police took him to the Yueyanglou District Prosecutor's Office for a two-hour interrogation. The prosecutor's office, however, would not accept the materials the police had seized from Mr. Yao's home during the interrogation.

Mr. Yao was held at the Yueyang City Detention Center for 35 days. The police then took him to the Forced Labour Administration Department, but he was not admitted to a labour camp. The detention centre, however, forced Mr. Yao to work 12 to 16 hours each day. Even when he went on a hunger strike for a week to protest this treatment, Mr. Yao was forced to work for the same length of time. The detention centre officials extorted 3300 yuan in cash from Mr. Yao's family. Of this amount, 1300 yuan³ was supposedly to cover "living expenses," but there was no explanation for the remaining 2000 yuan.

Agencies and individuals responsible for the persecution:

Domestic Security Division, Yueyang City Police Department
Domestic Security Division, Yueyanglou District Police Department
Beigang Township Police Department
Jiang Chao, Fu (last name, mobile phone number 86-13873929222), Liu Jian (all male)

Note

1. "Reform or Transform" Implementation of brainwashing and torture in order to force a practitioner to renounce Falun Gong. (Variations: "reform", "transform", "reformed", "reforming", "transformed", "transforming", and "transformation")

2. "Three Statements": Practitioners are coerced under brainwashing and torture to write "Repentance Statement," "Guarantee Statement" or 'Dissociation Statement" as proof that they have given up their belief. In the statement, the practitioner is forced to admit remorse for practising Falun Gong, promise to give up Falun Gong, and never again associate with other practitioners or go to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong.

3. "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/2008/6/22/180712.html