58-Year-Old Mr. Zhang Mingtong Dies as a Result of Torture in a Forced Labour Camp in Henan Province

Mr. Zhang Mingtong, 58, lived in Shawobei Village, Qi County. Before practising Falun Gong in 1996, he had severe brain infarctions and other illnesses, had a very bad temper, and he often drank, gambled, and fought with his wife and others. Soon after practising Falun Gong, he changed and became a sincere, good person, with no bad habits, and an even temperament. His illnesses all disappeared, and people said he changed from inside out due to practising Falun Gong. Under the huge influence of his fundamental changes, more than one thousand farmers in the nearby townships, including Hugang Township, Sumu Township, Gegang Township, all started on the path of cultivating Truthfulness-Benevolence-Forbearance. They sold their best wheat to the state, and even the Township governments had to admit this fact.

On July 20th, 1999, Jiang Zemin's, [former leader of China and instigator of the persecution] regime banned Falun Gong. In order to speak out for it, Mr. Zhang Mingtong went to appeal many times. On July 22nd, 1999, he went to the Provincial Government Compound, and was detained in the Qi County Detention Centre for more than a month. He was tortured and forced to sit in the half squatting position for a long time, and was handcuffed behind his back while being shackled and slapped.

In November 1999, he went to Beijing to appeal, was arrested and detained again by the Qi County 610 Office¹ police, was tortured with the Tightening Rope², handcuffed behind his back, and brutally beaten by other prisoners. The guards stripped him of his clothes in the freezing winter, put him inside a big conference room without heat, and opened the windows and turned on an electric fan to freeze him even more for over three hours. They released him after he went on a hunger strike for many days.

In May 2000, Mr. Zhang Mingtong went to Beijing to appeal again, and was arrested by the Qi County 610 officers. This time they detained him for several months in the Qi County Detention Centre, where he endured all sorts of tortures, and was sick with severe anaemia. His red blood count was very low. He was released temporarily, because they had him formally arrested, which means he was ready to be put on trial. They arrested him again after he recovered a little bit, sentenced him to three years in prison, and locked him in the Mi County Prison.

Upon being released from prison, he was very weak, but he recovered through persistently doing the Falun Gong exercises.

On August 12th, 2007, police arrested many Falun Gong practitioners with the "excuse" that the Olympics were getting closer. At around 1:00 a.m. on August 13th, 2007, Qi County Domestic Security Division Leader Liu Hongtao and Shawo Township Police Station Director Li Xiangyang, broke into Mr. Zhang Mingtong's home, and arrested him while sleeping, without following any legal procedures. He was detained in the Qi County Detention Centre, and was sentenced to 21 months of forced labour several days later. He was then taken to the Henan Province Forced Labour Camp in Xuchang City.

Mr. Zhang endured numerous hardships in the labour camp, such as brainwashing and sleep deprivation, and was brutally beaten and tortured by drug addicts and guards. He was forced to work overtime, which exceeded his physical ability, and he was starving. Mr. Zhang was tortured to the degree that he developed high blood pressure, his hands and feet were numb, and he could not take care of his personal needs. The Camp Administration still would not release him, but had to allow his family to pick him up in November 2007, as he could not speak, was paralysed, and unconscious.

After returning home, he recovered a little bit. He could move his hands and feet, could study the Falun Gong teachings and do the exercises, and get out of bed to walk with a walking stick and use the toilet. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) would never let him rest, and harassed him many times before the Olympics were held in August 2008. They threatened him and would not allow him to practise Falun Gong.

Once several officers stormed into his home and found him reading a Falun Gong book, and took the book away immediately. They threatened him, "If you dare to read that book, we will arrest you again." Mr. Zhang had just recovered a little bit, but his condition worsened under such harassment. He died on October 2nd, 2008. His son and daughter are both under 18.

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. The torture method "Tightening Rope" utilizes a finger-sizewidth hemp rope soaked in water. The persecutors set it on the Dafa practitioner's neck, and tightly wrap it around the arms. In order to maximize the pain for the victim, they often strip the practitioner down to his underwear. Usually, over three persecutors work together to apply this torture. When the rope reaches the wrists, it is tightened. They pull the practitioner's hands behind his back, both ends of the rope are inserted through the portion of the rope on the neck, then two persecutors pull down both ends of the rope as hard as they can and then tie it. At this time, the blood circulation is cut off and the victim will experience increased heart rate, excruciating pain in both arms and within a few minutes, heavy sweating.

In order to make sure the rope is as tight as can be, the persecutors insert glass bottles and wooden sticks under the practitioner's wrists, so the rope will sink deep into his flesh. Meanwhile, they also slap the practitioner's face and shock him with electric baton(s). Each session of "Tightening Rope" lasts ten to twenty minutes. After the rope is loosened, the victim has lost the feeling in his arms, and it takes a long time to regain it. For those who have experienced this torture, their arms are often disabled in severe cases, or they cannot raise their arms or they lose some function in the arms. The marks left on the arms by the rope usually don't disappear for one or two years. See case on http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2004/1/31/44607.html

Chinese version available at http://minghui.org/mh/articles/2008/10/30/188783.html