Long-term, Bloody Persecution Reduces a Seven-member Family to Two

Chen Yunchuan was a Falun Gong practitioner in Canfangying Village, Beixinpu Township, Huailai County, Hebei Province. The plight of Mr. Chen's family is one of the cases the United Nations has paid close attention to.

Chen Yunchuan was the victim of a fatal car accident on January 11th, 2009. He died at the scene. It remains to be seen whether this car accident was truly accidental or intentional, as the driver left the scene afterwards.

Seven members of Mr. Chen's family practised Falun Gong. Mr. Chen and his wife Wang Lianrong had four children, including sons Chen Aizhong and Chen Aili, and daughters Chen Shulan and Chen Hongping. Granddaughter Li Ying is also a practitioner. Chen's family has suffered brutal persecution over the past ten years and lost several of its members. Chen Aizhong, Chen Aili and Chen Hongping died as a result of torture. Mother Wang Lianrong died while in exile. Chen Shulan is still being held at the Daxing Women's Prison in Beijing, and her daughter Li Ying's whereabouts remain unknown.

Below is a collection of reports that have been published on the Minghui/Clearwisdom website regarding the persecution of Mr. Chen Yunchuan and his family.

1. Father Chen Yunchuan Persecuted Constantly

On New Year's Day of 2001, Chen Yunchuan went to Beijing to appeal for justice for Falun Gong and was arrested. He refused to reveal his name and address and was detained in the basement of a police station for four consecutive days [Note: Because of the Chinese Communist Party's practice of implicating and persecuting family members, friends, and work associates, Falun Gong practitioners often refuse to reveal their names or addresses when they are arrested]. The windowless, concrete cell in the basement measured only two square meters. The metal door was shut tight, and there was no ventilation or sunlight. Lack of oxygen made it difficult for Mr. Chen to breathe. Not until he was on the brink of death on January 4th, 2001, did the authorities transfer him to the Handian District Detention Centre in Beijing.

While there, since the guards still couldn't get Mr. Chen to tell his name and address, they incited criminals to strip off his clothes and use a fan to blow cold air on his nude body for over two hours. At that time Mr. Chen had already been on a hunger strike for five days. He was extremely weak and cold and eventually collapsed. Three criminals pulled him up and gave him a severe beating for more than 30 minutes. They then forced him to eat, threatening that they would beat him more.

Police eventually recognized Chen Yunchuan and sent him, together with his two sons Chen Aizhong and Chen Aili, back to the Huailai County Detention Centre where they were jailed for seven months. Huanlai County Court officials sentenced Chen to two years in prison on July 17th, 2000 and sent him to Section Three of the Fourth Prison in Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province on August 27th, 2001.

On February 28th, 2004, police officers from the Huanlai County Police Department's Criminal Team and from the Beixinpu Township Police Station suddenly broke into Chen Yunchuan's home, taking away mother Wang Lianrong and son Chen Aili. They also apprehended Chen Yunchuan, who was on his way home. The three practitioners were taken to the Beixinpu Township government offices.

According to Wang Lianrong, "Both Chen Yunchuan and Chen Aili were tied to a bench with their hands cuffed behind their backs. The police covered Chen Yunchuan's head with a wool hat and gagged him with a towel, and wrapped the towel tightly with tape. Even before I could do anything, they also covered my head with a hat and then wrapped my nose and mouth with tape tightly. I could barely breathe, and it was extremely painful. I was handcuffed and tied to a long bench. They didn't loosen the bandage until it was almost dusk, but they still kept our mouths sealed. They cuffed our hands to the bottom of the car seats and drove us to Zhangjiakou City."

Later, the three were held in a brainwashing centre called the Shalingzi Legal School in Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province. They suffered inhuman persecution there and went on a hunger strike to protest. Two months later, Chen Aili was in grave condition, and only then did the authorities release him. At the same time they let Chen Yunchuan go home as well, to take care of his son. But the police put them under house arrest. The persecutors locked the door from the outside, with police watching them day and night.

Wang Lianrong stated, "They later arrested Chen Yunchuan again and sent him back to Shalingzi Brainwashing Centre. I developed a fever and cough after being held there for more than six months. They took me to Zhangjiakou City Infectious Diseases Hospital where I stayed for more than a month. Not only did my condition not improve but it got worse, and I was often fainting in the end. They released me on October 19th, 2004, seeing that I was near death. Because no one was home [to take of me], they also released Chen Yunchuan."

On April 24th, 2007, while living destitute and homeless in other region, Chen Yunchuan was arrested and sent back to Huanlai County. A medical examination revealed that he had acute tuberculosis. He was released from the hospital about ten days later.

In mid-July 2008, officers from the Huanlai County Police Department Criminal Team and agents from the Beixinpu Township Police Station suddenly arrived at Chen's home, asking if he still practised Falun Gong. Chen Yuanchuan replied yes, and the police ordered him to go with them. When Mr. Chen refused they forcibly carried him to a police van. It was later learned that certain villagers were ordered to keep an eye on him so he couldn't leave home during the Beijing Olympics.

At a bit past 6:00 p.m. on the evening of January 11th, 2009, Chen Yunchuan was suddenly struck down by a car and died at the scene. He was just 14 days shy of his 71st birthday. The driver left the scene of the accident.

2. Mother Wang Lianrong Died

By November 5th, 2004, three of Wang Lianrong's four children had died as a result of persecution, with her elder daughter in prison. In January 2005, to avoid additional arrest, Wang Lianrong and Chen Yunchuan decided to leave home and go into exile. In the following one and a half years, the elderly couple moved from place to place and suffered from numerous hardships. Wang Lianrong died on August 4th, 2006 at 11:00 a.m. in an out-of-town place, at the age of 65, after suffering seven years of persecution.

3. Eldest Son Chen Aizhong Died As a Result of Repeated Tortures

In January 2001, Mr. Chen's whole family, including then 9-year-old granddaughter Li Ying, went to Beijing to appeal for justice for Falun Gong and was arrested.

Eldest son Chen Aizhong was held at the Dongbeiwang Detention Centre for seven days. In order to have him to reveal his name, the guards stripped off his clothes and handcuffed him to a tree, with his feet buried deep in the snow. He was left outside frozen for over one hour. The snow around his feet melted into two puddles. His legs and feet had severe frostbite and lost feeling. Chen Aizhong firmly refused to tell his name and address, despite the abuse he was subjected to. The persecutors tried every torture method on him, including hitting him with sticks, shocking him with electric batons, slapping him on the face, kicking him, and depriving him of sleep. They once used a 300,000-watt baton to shock his head, face, arms, inside of his thighs and his genitals. Chen lost consciousness several times and had blisters all over his body. His legs were very swollen. He became completely paralysed and could no longer stand up.

Several days later they transferred Chen Aizhong to the Haidian District Detention Centre where the guards continued to torture him. Again, they stripped him naked and dragged him to the yard where they buried his whole body in the snow for about four hours.

Then they subjected Chen to another torture, called the "open lock." A criminal held two of Mr. Chen's fingers tightly while another criminal inserted and twisted and turned a toothbrush with square edges between the two fingers. Very soon the skin between the two fingers was broken and bled. Mr. Chen's hands were thus severely injured from the torture, in addition to his injured feet.

On January 9th, 2001 the perpetrators sent Chen Aizhong back to the Huailai County Detention Centre where guard Tong Yufu shocked him with electric batons. On September 12th, 2001, Mr. Chen was subjected to three years of forced labour and sent to the Hehuakeng Labour Camp in Tangshan City, Hebei Province. While in Team Six, the guards subjected him to various tortures. Guard Wang Yulin and criminal Liu Zhonghua took turns beating him, shocking him with electric batons and tying him up with ropes. Mr. Chen went on a hunger strike to protest the persecution.

On the seventh day of his hunger strike, Wang Yulin and criminals force-fed him Chen Aizhong. He was already emaciated and barely breathing. On the third day, at 3:30 p.m., they force-fed him again. His heart suddenly stopped beating, there was no pulse, and his pupils were dilated. Labour camp management officials and staff from other teams were present and witnessed what happened.

Chen Aizhong thus died on September 20th, 2001 at the labour camp, only 33 years old.

4. Youngest Daughter Chen Hongping Stopped Breathing in her Brother's Arms

On June 10th, 2001, Chen Hongping and her older sister Chen Shulan were explaining the facts about Falun Gong at the Donghuayuan Train Station when they were reported and arrested. While held in the Donghuayuan Police Station they were subjected to various tortures, but they refused to reveal their names. At around 6:00 p.m., Chen Hongping managed to free herself from the handcuffs and escape. Unfortunately, policemen caught her, handcuffed her arms behind her back and then hung her up by the handcuffs from the top of a door. Policemen beat her legs until both legs sustained fractures. She spat out blood from the beating, her hands were swollen, and there were wounds covering her body. A big strand of hair was also pulled off her head, exposing her scalp. She lost consciousness from the pain from being hung up.

At 11:00 p.m. that night, the two sisters were sent to Huailai Detention Centre. The two sisters were constantly beaten and threatened at the detention centre. They were also subjected to no-stop brainwashing.

On June 11th, 2001 Chen Hongping was sent to the Gaoyang Labour Camp by Beixinbao Town Police Station head Liu Yufeng and other people. Since her older sister Chen Shulan was near death, the guards informed Shangping Police Station officials to take her back. Seeing her condition, Shangping Police Station agents refused to take her. To shirk responsibility, the guards released Chen Shulan.

While at the labour camp, Chen Hongping was constantly subjected to brainwashing and physical tortures. After suffering one and a half years of brainwashing and torture, she was extremely thin, and her weight dropped from 120 to 55 lbs. Her life was in danger. On January 29th, 2003 camp officials sent Ms. Chen to a local hospital, where she was diagnosed as having four diseases. The camp officials didn't want her to die at the labour camp and ordered a guard to send her home, without even allowing her to put on her coat.

Once at home Chen Hongping had a persistent cough while suffering from a chronic high fever. She had a blank look on her face and a very weak heartbeat. She couldn't eat. She died in her brother Chen Aili's arms on March 3rd, 2003. In her last minutes, she kept reminding her family to persist in their belief. A beautiful 33-year-old woman thus lost her life.

Her mother Wang Lianrong said, "At a bit past 6:00 p.m. on January 31st, 2003, a man named Yang knocked on my door saying Chen Hongping was back. My daughter didn't even recognize us. She had that blank look on her face. She didn't talk, and any small noise frightened her. Sometimes she just stared at me for a long time. She didn't dare to stay at home by herself. There was always someone by her side. At night she needed me to hold her, as she was afraid to sleep by herself. Her second brother cried seeing his sister like this. He suspected the guards at the labour camp had given her harmful medicines. He asked if that was the case. My daughter said they did give her various medicines. Some were yellow pills, while other medicine was injected into her. I saw with my eyes how she died. It was extremely miserable."

5. Second Son Chen Aili Died as a Result of Torture

Chen Shulan recounted the gross abuse and mistreatment Chen Aili suffered:

On January 1st, 2001, Chen Aili was arrested while appealing on Tiananmen Square and was held in the Haidian District Detention Centre for nine days where he immediately went on a hunger strike. During the medical examination on the first day he was found to have a heart problem. Then the guards demanded to photograph him, which he firmly refused. They knocked him down and kicked his whole body, and constantly slapped him on the face. Then two policemen interrogated him. When he refused to reveal his name, they pushed his head down and tried to make him kneel. Chen Aili sat down, to cross his legs to meditate. One policeman poured a cup of tea on him while another policeman shocked him with an electric baton. Chen Aili shouted, "Falun Gong is good," which stunned the police. One policeman stopped the other policeman saying, "Stop it. He's not afraid of electric shocks." That policeman left. Chen went on a hunger strike together with other practitioners. The police force-fed each of them.

On January 9th, 2001 the abusers took Chen Aili back to the Huailai Detention Centre, together with his older brother Chen Aizhong and his father Chen Yunchuan.

The three Chen men were forbidden to practise the Falun Gong exercises during detention. Driver Qi Wenhai savagely beat them, using his shoes, until he was exhausted. Then the three of them were detained in different cells.

Chen Aizhong continued his hunger strike. The cellmates brutally beat him. His injuries got worse by the day. Chen Aili insisted on practising the Falun Gong exercises in the cell. Guard Hou Yufu ordered people to handcuff him to the metal window frame and then shocked his arms with 100,000-volt batons, resulting in numerous blisters on his arms that kept oozing pus. While Chen Aili still could not move his arms, the guards attempted to force him to work over ten hours. When Chen Aili refused, the guards urged criminals to hit his eyes with shoes. His eyes immediately developed lacerations and bled non-stop. Chen Aili held onto the window and shouted, "Falun Gong is good." The guards ordered the criminals to gag him with a towel. The guards also ordered the Chens to wear the prison uniform and recite prison rules. Chen Aili sternly told them that practitioners are good people, not criminals, and that prison rules apply only to criminals.

On August 17th, 2001 the guards suddenly transferred Chen Aili and Chen Yunchuan to the Zhoulu Prison where they were held for ten days. While there, Chen Aili firmly refused to cooperate with the demands of the guards. Once, when Chen Aili declined to shout "report," the guards slapped him on the face over 100 times, resulting in broken teeth and profuse bleeding. The guards also ordered criminals to forcibly put Chen Aili into a uniform. Chen Aili led everyone to shout, "Falun Gong is good," in unison. In the end the guards didn't bother to discipline Chen Aili, as he was not afraid of anything.

Each time officials came for a prison inspection, the guards had everyone line up, except for Chen Aili, who sat on the floor unmoved. Chen Aili's righteous thoughts and actions won praise from many people.

On July 17th, 2001, Chen Aili and Chen Yunchuan were sentenced to two years in prison. On August 27th, 2001, Chen Yunchuan was sent to Ward Three of the prison in north Shijiazhuang City. Chen Aili was sent to Team 7, Division 5 at the Jidong Prison in Tangshan City. The tortures he was subjected to at the prison are too many to count. On New Year's Day of 2003, Chen Aili suddenly developed a high fever and had bloody stool amid his hunger strike. The guards gave him an IV injection, but his bloody stools only got worse. The guards immediately ordered his family to secure a document from the village, to get him released. Village official Ren Zhaoxi refused to issue the document. Chen Aili wasn't picked up until January 8th, 2003 by the local officials.

On February 28th, 2004, officers from the Huanlai County Police Department Criminal Team and from the Beixinpu Township Police Station suddenly broke into Chen's family home, taking Wang Lianrong and Chen Aili away, along with Chen Yunchuan who was arrested on his way home.

According to Wang Lianrong, "Father and son were tied to a bench with their hands cuffed behind their backs. My son had a yellow plastic bag wrapped on his head, and his mouth was sealed with tape. They didn't untie us until it was almost dusk. We were cuffed to the bottom of the carr seats. They drove us to Shalingzi in Zhangjiakou. After more than four hours, my son was still alive without being suffocated by the yellow plastic bag, which was a real miracle. As soon as the bag was removed, he shouted, 'Falun Gong is good,' and his voice was loud and clear."

The three family members were sent to the Shalingzi Brainwashing Centre. All of them went on a hunger strike. More than two months later Chen Aili weighed only a bit over 55 lbs. and was near death. Only then was he released.

Back at home, Chen Aili was not able to recover. His health deteriorated. He died on November 5th, 2004, after having been homeless for four months. Wang Lianrong said, "On the night of November 5th, 2004, two strangers brought us Chen Aili's body. I was devastated!" He was only 35.

6. Oldest Daughter Chen Shulan Still Detained--Her Daughter Li Ying Missing

Chen Shulan and her daughter Li Ying both practise Falun Gong. On April 25th, 1999, the two of them went together with the rest of the family to Beijing's Tiananmen Square to appeal for Falun Gong. They did so again on New Year's Day 2001.

On September 16th, 2002, Chen Shulan and her daughter were arrested in Changping District, Beijing. Chen Shulan was eventually transferred to Division Seven of the Beijing Police Department before she was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison. Chen Shulan is still suffering from severe mistreatment and torment at the Tiantanghe Women's Prison in Daxing, Beijing.

Having lost her two uncles and one aunt, and her mother and both grandparents detained, Li Ying was sent to a nursing home by agents from Changping 610 Office¹ in Beijing, and lived there for over two years.

On the morning of September 17th, 2002, the then 10-year-old Li Ying was in her class at Liujie School in Changping, when her teacher took her to a resort in Chaofengan, Changping, actually a brainwashing centre. She saw her mother there. Li Ying said, "They wanted to take mum away, and I fought hard to keep her with me. I held tight to mum's arms, not letting anyone get close. Whoever came over I kicked them away." The persecutors lied to her by saying she could come see her mother once a week and took her mother away.

During a 2005 interview with a Minghui reporter, Li Ying said, "While in the brainwashing centre, the night I saw my mum, they took turns bombarding my mind with slanderous comments and threatened to "reform²" me, otherwise no school for me. They are so bad. They took Mum and didn't tell me where she was. They did not let me to go to school or go home. They also forced me to watch videos slandering Falun Gong. They didn't let me sleep until 1:00 a.m. or 2:00 a.m. Wherever I went two or three people followed me. Eight days later, to resume school, I signed my name on their prepared statements. But they didn't let me go home and kept me at the brainwashing centre except for attending my classes. Every day they brought me to and picked me up from school.

"On January 9th, 2003, without my consent, 610 Office agents sent me to the Changping nursing home, about three miles away from school. Every day I walked to school and was very afraid.

"They promised I could see mum once a week. That was a lie.

I didn't see my mum again until more than two years later. My second uncle took me there when he was still alive. That was February 16th, 2004, in the Tiantanghe Women's Prison. Mum was sentenced to seven and a half years. She was beyond recognition. Half of her hair had turned grey. She looked much older. My once young and pretty mum was gone. I wanted to cry, but I didn't want Mum to feel sad, so I held my tears back. The visit lasted only thirty minutes. We could only talk through the big glass partition. I could not express the many words deep in my heart. The guards were watching from the sideline. How I wanted a hug from Mum!"

Li Ying said, "I miss Mum. I hope this persecution can end soon. I fear Mum may be killed -- just like my aunt and two uncles."

Li Ying should be about 17 years old now. We wonder how she is doing and where she is.

In the fall of 2007, Chen Yunchuan, who had been homeless to avoid further arrest, attempted to see his oldest daughter; several relatives and friends accompanied him. The guards turned down their request for a visit under the pretext he didn't have proper identification. Chen Yunchuan wanted to leave money and clothes for his daughter, but this was also rejected.

7. Chen Aizhong's Family Plight Caught Attention at the U.N.

The plight of the Chen Yunchuan family is just one example of tens of thousands of other families that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is persecuting, and has caught attention at the U.N.

On April 1st, 2004, at a regular session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, representatives from International Education Development, a California-based human rights organization, discussed the plight of Chen's family and called for the U.N. to establish a special cases team to investigate human rights violations in China.

According to human rights lawyer Karen Parker, the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has addressed many Falun Gong cases. However, the actual number of Falun Gong practitioners arrested and detained is well beyond the capacity of the working group.

More than 3,000 Falun Gong practitioners have died of persecution, and 100,000 people have been arrested. Those who stand up for Falun Gong cannot have their human rights safeguarded, either. The communist regime ignores the U.N. investigation. Chen Aizhong's family is one typical example. Even though Special Rapporteur Asma Jahangir and the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention issued an urgent appeal to the communist regime, several members of Chen's family still died as a result of torture. One of them is Chen Hongping who died on March 5th, 2003, after suffering from one and a half years of torture.

Since these incidents are beyond what the U.N. can handle, it should appoint a special commissioner to specifically take care of Falun Gong-related issues in China. Falun Gong practitioners account for a significant portion of people in China who are persecuted for their belief and conscience. Any motion to stop the persecution of Falun Gong in China is of paramount importance.

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/2009/2/18/195633.html