Practitioner Mr. Xu Dawei Died as a Result of Gross Abuse from Persecution--Dongling Prison Officials Shirk Responsibility and Intimidate His Family

Mr. Xu Dawei was a 34-year-old Falun Gong practitioner from Yuzigou Village, Yingermen Town, Qingyuan County, Liaoning Province. He was grossly abused and mistreated for eight years in four prisons. The last place of incarceration was Dongling Prison in Shenyang City. He died on February 16th, 2009, less than two weeks after his release from this prison.

Mr. Xu's family was only able to see him once after his transfer to Ward Three of Dongling Prison in July 2007. The visit was on February 14th, 2008. Prison officials subsequently completely forbade any family visitation. Mr. Xu's eight-year term expired on February 3rd, 2009, but when his family went to pick him up, they found him extremely emaciated and mentally disoriented.

The family took him to a hospital. The doctors there declared it was too late for him to undergo any treatment because of his heart failure. No blood could be drawn for blood tests, and his rigid skin lacked any elasticity. Mr. Xu couldn't eat, and his organs were no longer working normally. Mr. Xu died despite being admitted to the hospital.

Mr. Xu Dawei, shortly before his death, with scars from electric shocks

On February 27th, 2009, Xu's wife, younger brother, and several other relatives went to Dongling Prison to request information regarding his abuse in the prison. They also demanded to know why the prison did not allow the family to visit him when he was there. They made it clear that they wanted the perpetrators to be punished.

The prison officials ordered Ward Three Head Guo Baiyuan and guard Wu Baoquan to deal with the family. The two refused to disclose their names and positions. Wu Baoquan initially wore his name badge, but when the family asked for his name, he hurriedly covered his badge with his coat.

Questioned by the family, Guo and Wu remained mute. After one hour the two said to the family, "We will give you a reply next Tuesday or Wednesday." But they refused to leave any contact information with the family. On their way out, the family noticed a phone bill posted on the wall, so they planned to write down the phone numbers they saw on the bill. A guard on duty rushed over to rip the phone bill from the wall.

On Wednesday, March 4th, 2009, Mr. Xu's father, wife, younger brother, and other relatives again went to Dongling Prison. Guo Baoyuan, Wu Baoquan, and a middle-aged guard whose police badge number is 2112094 and who claimed to represent Dongling Prison went to the prison gate to drive away Mr. Xu's family and onlookers.

Mr. Xu's father said to the three prison guards, "My son was only in his thirties and he was abused so severely that he died! I want to talk to you!" Guo Baoyuan first said, "No admission without ID." Then he said, "Wait outside the gate, and I'll talk to you a bit later."

Mr. Xu's father waited and waited but never got a chance to talk to anyone in the prison.

The three guards led Mr. Xu's wife and younger brother into their office building. Questioned by the family, they tried everything to deny their involvement in Mr. Xu's death. They also recorded the conversation.

The three guards lied and were self-contradictory when answering the family's questions. Below are some of their remarks:

"Xu Dawei was completely fine in prison. He wasn't sick at all. Why would we take him to the hospital?"
"What if he died in the prison if we didn't send him to hospital? How much trouble would we have then?"
"No one ever beat Xu Dawei. We didn't have any inmates near him."
"We chose some inmates to monitor Xu Dawei."
"Xu Dawei had been eating normally in the prison."
"Xu Dawei didn't eat for ten days."
"He once refused to eat for over two months."
"Xu Dawei already had some mental issues in the prison."
"Xu was too excited before his release, which was why he appeared mentally disoriented."

Xu's wife asked, "Why didn't the prison inform the family when he was tortured to such a degree? Why didn't the prison allow us to see him all year long? Dongling Prison claims to be a civilized prison. Why does it force visitors to curse Falun Gong's founder?"

The three guards were rendered speechless. In the end they said, "We don't care if you want to sue us. Go ahead."

The family pointed at Mr. Xu's picture taken the second day after his release and said, "There were marks on his neck indicating possible strangulation and wounds on his body from electric baton shocks. His hands and feet were swollen, and he had mental problems." Guo Baoyuan said, "You can't tell anything from just a picture." The family then said, "How about we show you his body?"

The guard with badge number 2112094 immediately threatened the family, "If you bring his body here, you're going to face legal consequences. If you utter anything related to Falun Gong from your mouths, you will also be legally responsible."

Before Mr. Xu Dawei's death, two other practitioners died while in custody in Dongling Prison. On October 22nd, 2007, 67-year-old Zhang Youjin from Qingyuan County died in the prison. On August 19th, 2008, 44-year-old Zheng Shoujun from Shenyang City lost his life due to abuse in the prison. One prison head, Yao Shuliang, once told Zheng Shoujun's family "I'm responsible," but he refused to take any responsibility. In order to shirk responsibility, the prison actually had someone poke a hole in Zheng's body to make it look like he had received medical treatment. After the family found this out, the guards didn't have anything to say. In the end, prison officials coerced the family into signing the paperwork to have Zheng Shoujun's body cremated.

After Mr. Xu's family left, prison personnel spread rumors about, "Falun Gong people besieging Dongling Prison." They also instigated the Yuzigou Village Party secretary and judicial people in Xu's hometown to harass Mr. Xu's younger brother and threaten to arrest him. The brother was outraged and askd, "My brother has died as a result of gross abuse. We as a family went to seek justice. Why would you arrest me?"

We call on people with a sense of justice to pay attention to the plight of Mr. Xu's family.

Dongling Prison

Prison officials who participated in the gross abuse and mistreatment of Falun Gong practitioners:
Zhou Qingjun: 86-13998151887 (Mobile), Li Zhong: 86-24-24711754, Yao Shuliang and Xu Shuwen

Dongling Prison Ward Three: Guo Baoyuan, head (46 years old, police badge 2112114); Wu Baoquan (in his fifties, police badge 2112116)
Team leaders Huo Xizhong, Qi Jinlong, Feng Chunjun, and Zhou Guanghong
Political head Wang Fa
Guards Jin Fuzhi and Xie Antai (both are very evil and are the ones usually there to prevent families from visiting detained practitioners)
Education office: Jin Weimin, Zhuang Zhigang, Ma Dengke, Wang Shouyong
Visitation office: Li Kefei
Inmates used to monitor practitioners: Na Jiajou, Chen Chen, Li Ximing

Supervising authorities of Dongling Prison
Shenyang City Judicial Bureau, Zheng Chaoquan, head, in charge of judicial administration and prison and labour camp administration
Phone: 86-24-22824660, Fax: 86-24-22822455, Internet: http://www.sypf.com/ Email: [email protected]

Related article: http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2009/3/11/105509.html

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2009/3/12/197006.html