Older Practitioner Wang Zhiwu Being Persecuted in the Handan Forced Labour Camp

Mr. Wang Zhiwu is an older Falun Gong practitioner in Handan City, Hebei Province. He has been incarcerated in the Handan Forced Labour Camp since 2005.

Forced into Homelessness

On August 3rd, 2002, Mr. Wang attended a local Falun Gong experience-sharing conference in the city of Handan. Someone reported this conference to the police and he was arrested along with 67 other practitioners. He was beaten by police officers that evening and was taken to the Fuyuan Police Station the next day. He was able to escape on the way to the station, and was then forced to become homeless to avoid further persecution.

Persecution at the Forced Labour Camp

On February 25th, 2005, the city of Handan sent out all of its police officers to arrest practitioners. The leading officers from Fuyuan Police Station were Wang Leiming, Zheng Guoqing, and Xue Baozhong. They arrested Mr. Wang Zhiwu and sent him to the Handan Forced Labour Camp in March.

To carry out the mission of the 610 Office¹, (which is to force Falun Gong practitioners to renounce their beliefs) this labour camp put together a special team, specifically designed for persecuting practitioners. One of their officers, Gao Fei stated, "We need soldiers to kill people and police officers to beat people." Another officer, Li Haiming said, "We prepared all these weapons of torture for a reason. We need to use them to accomplish our goals." The head of the forced labour camp, Mr. Zhang Xiuping, the deputy head, Mr. Wei Yongsheng, and the political commissar, Mr. Cheng Yin, encouraged these means of torture to achieve their goal of "transforming²" practitioners.

Mr. Wang was tortured by this special team, and they tried to force him to give up his practice. He was handcuffed and forced to stand for days without sleep until his legs were swollen. He was beaten regularly with an electric baton by officers, Xing Yansheng, Zuo Tao, Wang Haiming, Liu Baotao, Gao Fei, Zhao Wen and Zhang Shanduo. His skin was burned with cigarettes, and he lost three of his front teeth during the various tortures.

On July 15th, Mr. Wang was put in solitary confinement for five days. During this time he was bombarded with brainwashing propaganda and not allowed to sleep. He became completely disoriented and signed a document, promising not to practise Falun Gong. This is how Handan Forced Labour Camp "transforms" practitioners.

On September 6th, Mr. Wang was beaten again by officer Liu Zhaobo for not making his bed properly. He was beaten so hard that blood came out of his mouth. On September 12th, he was beaten again by officers Tao Jianming, Xing Yansheng and Zhang Wenshan, and shocked with an electric baton. He was not allowed to eat and had to stand for long hours. On September 16th, he was beaten again by Xing Yansheng for not answering a question properly.

On October 9th, Mr. Wang refused to write articles that discredited Falun Gong, and as a result was beaten and kicked. The beatings were repeated the following day by officer Wang Zhiming. In November when his prison time was up, they extended Mr. Wang's imprisonment for another six months. Also, beginning on the day of his imprisonment, he has not seen or been allowed to contact his family at all.

In 2007, during the Chinese People's Congress meetings, the labour camp began another wave of persecution and Mr. Wang was tortured again.

Sent to Forced Labour Camp for an Additional Year

In 2008, the security agencies in Handan city used the Olympics as an excuse to start another round of persecution. Mr. Wang was again one of the victims. Actually, his time of imprisonment expired in March 2008, but he was not released. When his family went to the local police station, they were told to check with the district 610 Office. When they got there, they were told to check with the Handan 610 Office, but no one at the Handan 610 Office would respond. Finally, Mr. Wang's family members had to pay someone to find out his whereabouts. The message they received was that he refused to give up his practice at the forced labour camp, so he was taken to a brainwashing centre.

On August 8th, 2008 Mr. Wang explained the facts about Falun Gong to people at the brainwashing centre in Handan City. A staff member there, Li Haisheng, was enraged and sentenced Mr. Wang to one more year in the forced labour camp.

Perpetrators involved in this persecution case:

Director of 610 Office in Handan city: Cao Zhixia, 86-310-7413519, 86-13803101111 (Mobile)

Secretary of the Political and Judiciary Committee: Zhou Guojiang (Responsible for arresting practitioners)
Handan Forced Labour Camp: 86-310-4010037
Head: Zhang Xiuping
Deputy head: Wei Yongsheng
Political commissar: Cheng Yin

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. "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")

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2009/3/15/197184.html