Mr. Qu Mingjun Severely Tortured and Seriously Ill but Held for Extended Term in Benxi Labour Camp, Liaoning Province

Name: Qu Mingjun
Gender: Male
Age: 50
Address: Sanjiangkou Town, Changtu County, Tieling City, Liaoning Province
Occupation: Unknown
Date of Most Recent Arrest: October 4th, 2009
Most recent place of detention: Benxi City Labour Camp
City: Benxi
Province: Liaoning
Persecution Suffered: Beating, sleep deprivation, brainwashing

Key Persecutors: Tieling Labour Camp: Wang Jianhua, Wang Zhibin; Benxi City Labour Camp, Liu Shaoshi
Over the past 10 years, Mr. Qu Mingjun, a Falun Gong practitioner from Liaoning Province, has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) many times because of his belief in Falun Gong.

After having been held in Benxi City Labour Camp, Liaoning Province for three years, Mr. Qu was supposed to be released in September 2009. On October 4th, Mr. Qu's wife went to the labour camp to take him home, but they refused to release him, saying that he would be held for another 45 days because he had not given up his practice of Falun Gong. They also did not allow her to visit her husband.

Mr. Qu is in his fifties and due to the cruel torture he endured in the forced labour camp for three years, his health condition deteriorated. He has suffered from many serious diseases, including pneumonia, pleuritis, and heart disease, and has become emaciated.

Over the past 10 years, Mr. Qu has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) many times because of his belief in Falun Gong.

In 2002 Mr. Qu was sentenced to forced labour in Tieling Labour Camp, Liaoning Province for his practice of Falun Gong. In the labour camp the prison guards, headed by Wang Zhibin and Wang Jianhua, tortured him cruelly. At the time of his imprisonment, the Tieling Labour Camp held more than 40 Falun Gong practitioners. To facilitate their persecution of these practitioners the CCP officials in the labour camp organised a special group named the Falun Gong Group. The chief of the group was Wang Zhibin, the deputy chiefs were Wang Jianhua and Cao Yang. The prison guards, including Li Bing, Chen Zhanyuan and Zhang Yanjie, tortured practitioners inhumanely using handcuffs, shackles, electric batons and clubs.

On March 14th, 2002 Wang Zhibing ordered prison guards to shackle the practitioners for a period longer than one month. The victims were Mr. Qiu Jiyao, from Tiefa City, Mr. Zhang Guojing and Mr. Tang Guoxiang from Changtu County, Mr. Zhang Wencheng and Mr. Han Haidong from Yinzhou District, Tieling City, Mr. Liu Qingyu, from Qinghe District, Tieling City and Mr. Yang Guoquan from Xifeng County. Following this torture they were transferred to normal prisoner groups. On March 15th, some practitioners went on hunger strikes to protest their mistreatment. In retaliation the chief of the labour camp, Wang Tiemin, ordered the prison guards, including Wang Zhinbin, Wang Jianhua, Cao Yang, Li Bing and Chen Zhangyuan, to cruelly beat them with various torture instruments including plastic beating batons and electric batons. The victims included Mr. Yang Guizhi from Yinzhou District, Tieling City, Mr. Guan Yunzhi from Qinghe District, Tieling City, Mr. Bai Jingrui from Kaiyuan City, Mr. Li Xinji from Tiefa City and Mr. Liu Haichen and Mr. Qu Mingjun from Changtu county. After the beatings the faces and bodies of the practitioners were covered with terrible bruises and injuries.

During April and May of 2002 Wang Zhibing and other prison guards stepped up their persecution of practitioners who were firm in their belief. The victims were Mr. Wei Guojun from Tieling County, Mr. Wang Huaxuan from Kaiyuan City, Mr. Wang Quan from Changtu County, Mr. Meng Fanwei from Yinzhou District, Mr. Zhang Bo from Tieling County, Mr. Yang Guizhi from Yinzhou District, Mr. Guan Yunzhi from Qinghe District, Mr. Bai Jingrui from Kaiyuan City, Mr. Li Xinji from Tiefa City and Mr. Liu Haicheng and Mr. Qu Mingjun from Changtu County. They were shackled, handcuffed and beaten with electric batons and beating sticks. Each beating lasted for two to three hours and the victims' screams were said to be heartbreaking.

On September 27th, Mr. Qu and five other practitioners escaped from the Tieling Labour Camp. As a punishment for their carelessness, some prison guards were removed from their posts and their bonuses were revoked. This intensified the resentment of Wang Tiemin, chief of the labour camp, against practitioners and he began to mistreat practitioners even more cruelly. He ordered to reduce the original three meals to two meals a day and the amount of food was halved. Practitioners were forced to have dinner outdoors until November 6th when it is extremely cold. Wang also ordered other prisoners to mistreat practitioners. They forced practitioners to spread their legs apart as far as possible for one hour and would cruelly beat those who failed to do so. They transferred practitioners held for extended terms to normal prisoner groups and treated them inhumanly. The victims were Mr. Zhao Mingchen and Mr. Du Shilin from Tieling County, Mr. Qu Junxue from Yinzhou District, Mr. Shao Wenjie from Xifeng County and Mr. Bai Jingrui from Kaiyuan City. They were not allowed to sleep for 96 hours and were beaten with electric batons and beating sticks. Their bodies were covered with injuries.

Mr. Qu escaped from the labour camp, but was forced to become homeless. During the four years of his homelessness, he was usually short of food and suffered from continuous hunger. One day he came across a woman who was trying to commit suicide by drowning herself in a river. He jumped into the river and saved her. He also encouraged her to start a new life by telling her about the beauty of Falun Gong and its principles, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.

At 10 a.m. on October 28th, 2006 police from Henan Police Station of Changtu County arrested Mr. Qu and other practitioners, including Mr. Hao Yaru and Ms. Wang Shuqing. Mr. Qu was sentenced to three years of forced labour and was sent to Tieling Labour Camp on December 6th, while Ms. Hao Yaru and Ms. Wang Shuqing were sent to the Masanjia Labour Camp in Shenyang City, Liaoning Province.

In retaliation for Mr. Qu's escape several years ago, he was punished by the CCP prison guards of Tieling Labour Camp and cruelly beaten. Later Mr. Qu was transferred to Benxi City Labour Camp.

In Benxi City Labour Camp prison guards headed by Liu Shaoshi tried to force Mr. Qu to give up his practice of Falun Gong by all means. They arranged prison guards and collaborators¹ to talk with him in turn and tried to brainwash him with the CCP's slanderous words against Falun Gong. They tried to destroy him mentally by continuously imposing great mental pressure on him. Nonetheless, with his firm belief in Falun Gong, Mr. Qu remained steadfast in his belief.

In the three years of his detention in Benxi City Labour Camp Mr. Qu was cruelly tortured and subjected to brainwashing. His body and mind were severely damaged. He suffered through serious diseases and had a tumour the size of a egg on his back. His lungs developed inflammation and he coughed up blood. He also had fluid in his lungs. Being afraid that Mr. Qu might die and not wanting to be held responsible, Liu Shaoshi sent him to a hospital. The examination revealed that he suffered from pneumonia, pleuritis, heart disease and other conditions, but he refused to be treated medically as a prisoner in the labour camp. In an attempt to shirk their responsibilities, Liu Shaoshi and another prison guard, Guo Tieying, required Mr. Qu to sign a statement that he would be held accountable for his refusal to be treated, but he refused. They then asked other practitioners to sign a statement which said Mr. Qu agreed to such a statement, but they refused. The prison guards then asked those who had turned against Falun Gong to sign the statement. They succeeded and were able to save face. After learning about his physical conditions, Mr. Qu's wife and daughter went on many occasions to try and see him but were refused each time by the labour camp.

Now Mr. Qu is still being held in the basement of the so called Law Centre of Benxi Labour Camp. He is being subjected to mental and physical torture by the CCP prison guards. We call for people's attention to the Falun Gong practitioners detained and tortured in China and ask for peoples assistance to please help rescue Mr. Qu.

Benxi City Labour Camp address: Weiningying Village, Gaotaizi Town, Mingshan District, Benxi City, Liaoning Province. Zip code 117000
Liu Shaoshi, Chief, of the Law Education Centre, the group specialised in persecuting Falun Gong, police ID 2152071; 86-15941481718 (Mobile), 86-414-2811728 (home), 86-414-4618971 (office), 86-414-4618972 (office);
Current director, Zheng Tao, police ID 2152168;
Deputy chief, Gao Wenzhong, police ID 2152053; Guo Tieying, police ID 2152129; Zhao Wenyu, police ID 2152151;
Group chiefs, Ma Chao, police ID 2152132; Li Jingang, police ID 2152174; Li Changyou, police ID 2152134; Song Jigang, police ID 2152044; Su Zhengwei, police ID 2152119; Mao Shensheng, Liang Weichun, Fu Jingrong, Zhao Shichun, Guo Baogang;
Perpetrators who are not formal police: Ding Huibo, Wang Zhiduo, Han Changlu;
Lu Wenbing, chief of the Benxi Labour Camp: 86-0414-4618901;
Bi Youzhong, Political director: 86-414-4618902

Note

1. "Collaborators": former practitioners who have turned against Falun Gong under brainwashing and torture. They are then made to assist in brainwashing and torturing practitioners.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.org/mh/articles/2009/10/28/211229.html