Mr. Xu Jun, 54, Dies as a Result of Torture and Abuse at Yinmahe Forced Labour Camp

On June 11th, 2008, Mr. Xu Jun, 54, from Tumen City, Jilin Province was arrested and beaten by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) police. On June 25th, he was sentenced to a labour camp and he was mercilessly tortured and forced to work long hours at the Yinmahe Labour Camp in Jiutai City, Jilin Province. On February 17th, 2009, after eight months of maltreatment, Mr. Xu Jun died.

On June 11th, 2008 , officials from the Yanbian Autonomous Prefecture, police officers from the National Security Division in Helong City and police officers from the Xicheng Town Police Station seized Mr. Xu Jun when he was at his sister's home and took him to the Xicheng Town Police Station, where they tortured him in an attempt to get a confession. Two people beat Mr. Xu for two hours. Every two hours, another group of two people took turns to torture him. After they grew tired, they used torture, forcing him to squat. At 5:00 pm. on June 12th, they put Mr. Xu in the Helong City Detention Centre.

As a result of being beaten for two days at the detention centre, Mr. Xu suffered from chest pain and coughed up blood, and he could not even lie down. Mr. Xu was transferred to a criminal detention centre, 14 days later. On June 25th , Mr. Xu was sentenced to one year and six months in a labour camp under the trumped up charge of "disrupting social order." On August 11th, he was sent to the Yinmahe Labour Camp, Jiutai City. He often felt dizzy and his hands were numb and cold. However, every day he was forced to labour 17 hours, from 5:00 a.m. to 9:30 or 10:00 p.m., except for very brief breaks for using the toilet and three meals.

Mr. Xu's health suffered greatly due this heavy work load. At about 6:20 p.m. on February 6th, 2009, Mr. Xu collapsed while taking a shower. Later he was sent to the Traditional Medicine Hospital in Jiutai City and was diagnosed with brain haemorrhage. At 9:00 p.m., Xu's family received a phone call from Shi Chunguang, the warden of the Yinmahe Detention Centre. They rushed to the hospital. At about 11:30 p.m, Mr. Xu's family members arrived at the hospital and saw that he suffered badly from convulsions and difficulty breathing. When they looked closely, they saw that the oxygen tube was outside of his nose, the intravenous injection caused a bump on his skin, and the medicine had stopped flowing into his vein. Neither police nor nurses were to be found. Only a hired man, who was supposed to watch him, was present and sleeping.

The family members immediately went to the doctor to get some information about Mr. Xu's situation. The doctor advised that Mr. Xu must be transferred to a larger hospital for surgery, or his situation could be very dangerous. The family members immediately asked Gao Lei, a guard at the Yinmahe Labour Camp, for further medical treatment. Gao Lei reported it to the camp leader and the camp leader said no. Then the family members asked to transfer Xu to another hospital. Gao Lei said that he could only be transferred to a labour camp hospital, but the labour camp hospital did not have the facilities and equipment for treating brain haemorrhage. At the strong request of the family, around 3:00 a.m., the leader of the labour camp agreed to transfer Mr. Xu to the China-Japan Friendship Hospital in Changchun City. The entire process was delayed nearly three hours.

At the China-Japan Friendship Hospital, Shi Chunguang indirectly warned Mr. Xu's family members not to have the surgery done because they would lose both money and Mr. Xu. Desperate to save his life, the family members insisted on the surgery. Then Shi Chunguang asked Xu's family members to pay the medical expenses in the name of the labour camp and the labour camp would reimburse the money as soon as the office opened. Xu's family members requested a receipt from Shi. Shi said, "No one will give you a receipt. I promise to give it to you, that is your guarantee to get the money back." Guard Zhao Jiusheng and Luan Xuede were also present when Shi said that. Luan added, "How can a big labour camp owe you money? You'll get your money back." Mr. Xu Jun was put into the operating room at 5:30 a.m. and the operation ended at 12:30 p.m. The day after surgery, Shi said to Xu's family members, "Tell the doctors to use as little medicine as possible."

When the hospital officials informed Mr. Xu's family that there was not enough money on his account, the labour camp administration did not pay the hospital until Xu's family went to the Yinmahe labour camp twice, then officials from the camp sent 30,000 yuan¹ to the China-Japan Friendship Hospital account. After the 30,000 yuan was used up, Mr Xu's family contacted warden Shi, but Shi still asked them to pay first. Xu's family had paid 20,000 yuan, which the labour camp still has not returned to Xu's family. Mr. Xu Yuntao, Mr. Xu Jun's son, who is 24 years old, doesn't have a permanent job. Liu Shuyun, Mr. Xu Jun's wife was sentenced to ten years in prison due to her faith in Falun Gong. Currently, she is in custody in the Changchun Women's Prison.

Mr. Xu Jun passed away at 9:00 p.m. on February 17th, 2009. On February 18th, Mr. Xu's family members went to the Yinmahe Forced Labour Camp to discuss his funeral and medical expense reimbursement with Shi Qiang, the deputy head of the camp, Shi Chunguang and others. Shi Qiang replied that Xu's family could get the medical expenses reimbursed, but they had to pay all the funeral expenses. However, only after Mr. Xu's family signed the paperwork to have his body cremated, could they get their medical expenses reimbursed. The family did not agree to this unfair arrangement. Xu Jun's body is kept in the Chaoyanggou Funeral Home in Changchun City.

Mr. Xu Jun had been sentenced to prison twice. The first time he was held in custody in the Tiebei Prison, Changchun City. In 2000 when his prison term matured, the police from Tumen City took him directly from the prison to the Tumen Detention Centre. During the detention, Mr. Xu suffered from paralysis and a doctor at the Tumen City's Traditional Medicine Hospital diagnosed him with cerebral thrombosis. The police notified Mr. Xu's family to take him back home. Mr. Xu recovered without suffering any sequelae, after 15 days of studying the Falun Gong teachings and doing the exercises.

Mr. Xu had serious bronchitis before he practised Falun Gong. However, he was cured of all his old illness after practising Falun Gong for only seven days. Since the persecution of Falun Gong began in 1999, Mr. Xu had been detained several times. Mr. Xu's teenage son was left at home by himself. Nobody took care of him for a long time. Later, due to lack of money, he had to quit school when he was in middle school. Now, after Mr. Xu Jun died as a result of being tortured, his son is in great pain.

The following is Mr. Xu Jun's Appeal Letter.

An Appeal Letter

Dear Leaders at all levels of government,

My name is Xu Jun. I live at the No. 1 Division of Jizhong Village, Yueqing Town, Tumen City. In May of 2008, I went to my sister's home, located at the No. 1 Division of Longhai Village, Toudao Town, Helong City to help her plant rice seedlings. At 6:00 a.m., six to seven policemen forced their way into my sister's home, claiming to be conducting a household census, and ransacked her home without any legal ID or documents. They found a few fliers in my bag and took me and my bag to the Xicheng Town Police Station, Helong City. They tortured me to get some confessions until at 5:00 p.m. and on June 12th they sent me to the Helong City's Detention Centre. After 14 days, they transferred me to a criminal detention centre. After being beaten for two days straight, I suffered severely from chest pain. I could not even lie down due to frequently coughing up blood. On June 25th , I was sentenced one year and a half in a labour camp under the false charge of "disrupting social order." On August 11th, I was sent to the Yinmahe Labour Camp, Jiutai City.

I haven't been able to figure out several things during the process of my being put in a forced labour camp.

1. Why can the police arrest people and ransack their house in the absence of any legal ID or documents?

2. Can someone be assumed guilty merely based on having several fliers?

3. How did I "disrupt social order" by visiting my sister, who suffers from a stroke and paralysis and is lying in bed?
4. Can the police confiscate personal belongings arbitrarily? When they arrested me, they took away my MP4 player and a new mobile phone. They haven't returned it to me so far.

5. I had 380 yuan in cash and deposited it at the detention centre. I only spent 40 yuan to buy a toothbrush and toothpaste, but I do not know where the other money has gone.

6. Do police officers have the right to force people to make confessions by using torture at will and restrict one's freedom for over 24 hours?

I would like to request that leaders at all levels of government uphold justice and restore my freedom and give me a clear answer.

Officers involved in Mr. Xu's Case:

Lei Lifeng, Head of the Yinmahe Forced Labour Camp: 86-13321406677(Mobile) 86-431-82515877
Shi Qiang, Deputy Head of the Yinmahe Forced Labour Camp: 86-13304399817(Mobile) 86-431-82513323
Shi Chunguang, political instructor of the Kaifang brigade: 86-13630548524(Mobile)
Gao Lei, Head of the Kaifang brigade: 86-13341486839(Mobile)

related article: http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2009/3/1/105225.html

Note

1. "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.ca/mh/articles/2009/3/25/197719.html