Mr. Wang Chengtao Dangerously Emaciated and Mentally Disoriented from Torture in Prison

Mr. Wang Chengtao was employed by the Park Bureau of Fushun City, Liaoning Province. He started practising Falun Gong in 1996. Since the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) persecution of Falun Gong began on July 20th, 1999, he has been relentlessly harassed, tortured, monitored, fined, and detained. In April of 2003, homeless and trying to avoid further persecution, Mr. Wang was taken by the police. He was later sentenced to 11 years imprisonment. He is currently in Shenyang City's Second Prison.

Since July 20th, 1999, the community CCP member, Guo Yumei, frequently harassed Mr. Wang at his home and his workplace. As a result, Mr. Wang's superior, Zhang Baoyuan, temporarily terminated him.

On October 7th, 1999, Mr. Wang went to Fushun City Government to appeal for Falun Gong. The under secretary of the city's CCP committee, Yu Zhenhai ordered officers from Linjiang Road Police Station to arrest Mr. Wang and detain him for 15 days at a city detention centre. The Shuncheng District 610 Office¹ extorted 4,500 yuan² from Mr. Wang for so-called "bail money." The Shuncheng District Comprehensive Law Enforcement Office also fined him 500 yuan. The neighbourhood committee and CCP member Sun Fang tried to take Mr. Wang to a brainwashing centre, but his family refused to cooperate. Still, Sun Fang extorted 160 yuan as fee for the brainwashing session. Mr. Wang's work unit gave him an official warning as punishment for refusing attend the brainwashing session.

In January 2002, Mr. Wang went to the Beijing Appeals Office to tell the Communist regime that Falun Gong is good. As a result, he was taken back to Fushun City and detained for 15 days.

In December 2002, he went to Tiananmen Square and was arrested by the Beijing police. Mr. Wang and another practitioner were taken back to Fushan City by Fushun City police and four people from his work unit. Total expenses for the trip were 2,280 yuan, which his work unit deducted from his and his father's paychecks. The Linjiang Police Station also fined him 1,200 yuan and extorted an additional 500 yuan for the expense of the brainwashing sessions.

Afterwards, Mr. Wang was forcefully taken to a detention centre and detained for 15 days. There, he went on a 15-day hunger strike to protest the detention. Later, he was taken to the Fushun Forced Labour Camp, where he was diagnosed with severe illnesses and believed to be in imminent danger by the labour camp doctor. Therefore, authorities at the labour camp refused to accept him. The police unwillingly released him.

In April 2003, a homeless Mr. Wang was arrested by the police again. He was then sentenced to 11 years in prison and taken to the 14th ward of the Shenyang City's Second Prison.

Mr. Wang's father was in perfect health until he learned about his son's prison sentence. His father missed him dearly and couldn't eat or sleep well. As a result, he became emaciated. He then suffered from a serious illness and was bedridden. His father passed away on February 17th, 2009. The father and son did not have a chance to see each other one last time.

In 2007, Mr. Wang's work unit fired him.

Mr. Wang has been transferred to the Shenyang City First Prison and continues to be tortured in the fifteenth ward. As a direct result, he is now skin and bones, mentally disoriented, always absent-minded, and has dark circles around his eyes.

We ask the international human rights organizations to help rescue practitioner Wang Chengtao.

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. "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/2009/6/30/203702.html