Father and Son Die as Result of Persecution in Liaoning Province

Mr. Xiao Yubin and his son, Mr. Xiao Peng, lived in Jiudaoling Town, Yi County, Liaoning Province. Their entire family practised Falun Gong. But after July 20th, 1999, when the persecution of Falun Gong began, they were brutally persecuted for refusing to give up their faith. Xiao Yubin and his son both died as a result.

Xiao Peng, who was born in 1972, was a veterinarian. Before he began practising Falun Gong, he suffered from costochondritis (inflammation of the rib cartilage). It was extremely painful and left him unable to ride a bicycle. But in 1995, after only two months of practising Falun Gong, he completely recovered. After witnessing this miracle, his parents, wife, daughter, three younger sisters, and two brothers-in-law all started practising Falun Gong one after the other.

In late July 1999, eleven members of the Xiao family went to Beijing to peacefully appeal for justice for Falun Gong. Xiao Peng was arrested and taken back to Jinzhou City and then to the Jiudaoling Town Police Station. He was brutally beaten by Officer Zhang Chunfeng and Chief Li Chunlei. He was then sent to the Yi County Detention Centre, where he was held for fifteen days.

In late September 1999, Xiao Peng and his younger sister returned to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong. They were arrested at the Tangshan City train station. On September 23rd, they were sent back to Yi County and held in the Yi County Detention Centre. Xiao Peng was brutally beaten several times by detention centre director Wang Yan, prison guard Bian Zhigang, and inmate Yang Guotao. Xiao Peng's legs were severely swollen from the beating, which left him unable to sit or squat. They doused him with cold water, poured salt water into his mouth, and put twenty-pound shackles on his feet.

On October 29th, 1999, Xiao Peng was sentenced to three years at the Jinzhou City Forced Labour Camp. He was tortured there and suffered injuries all over his body. On one occasion, he was taken to the Jinzhou City Mental Hospital, where he was injected with nerve-damaging drugs. As a result, he suffered a mental breakdown, became emaciated, had difficulty walking, and was unable to take care of himself. The labour camp had to release him on April 7th, 2001. He died on June 9th, 2002, at the age of 30 (see http://www.clearharmony.net/articles/200610/36226.html).

Xiao Yubin was also a veterinarian. He began practising Falun Gong in 1996. He and his wife were both arrested on October 7th, 1999. They were detained in the Yi County Detention Centre for 75 days after their entire family returned to Beijing to appeal a second time. Officers from the Jiudaoling Town Police Station extorted 1,500 yuan¹ from them and harassed them numerous times after their release.

On October 5th, 2000, the Xiao family went to Beijing a third time. When they returned home, Xiao Yubin, his wife, and his daughter were held for a month in the Yi County Detention Centre and subsequently sentenced to three years of forced labour. Xiao Yubin was taken to the Jinzhou City Forced Labour Camp on November 13th, 2000. He saw his son tortured there over the course of a year and suffered a mental breakdown as a result. He was released to take care of his son in March 2001, as his wife and daughter were in the Masanjia Forced Labour Camp, and there was no one left at home.

Xiao Yubin's heart was broken after seeing his young son's mental state deteriorate as a result of the torture. Even after their release, officers would go to their home to harass them on the sensitive dates. They also tried to force them to write a guarantee statement to give up Falun Gong, threatened them, and tapped their home phone and mobile phones. Xiao Yubin was devastated when his son died. Afterwards, he became very quiet and withdrawn.

On October 24th, 2002, Xiao Yubin and his wife were arrested at their home by Officer Wang Dianhong and others. They were detained in the Yi County Detention Centre for 24 days, and the officers extorted 500 yuan from them.

Two weeks before the Olympics, Officer Wu Yunming and another officer harassed them at least three times, took them to the police station twice, and tried to force them to write guarantee statements. Altogether, they were harassed by officers from the Yi County 610 Office², Yi County Police Department, Domestic Security Division, Liudaoling Town Police Station, and the town government more than twelve times between 2002 and 2008.

The relentless persecution put Xiao Yubin under tremendous stress. He died on December 26th, 2008, at the age of 61. Eleven days after he died, local police officers were still calling his home to harass him.

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.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2009/1/20/193832.html