Mr. Li Yunbiao, 50, Dies in Custody in Heilongjiang Province

Name: Li Yunbiao
Gender: Male
Age: 50
Address: Fourth Branch, Changshuihe Farm, Bei'an City, Heilongjiang Province
Occupation: Mechanical technician employed by the Fourth Branch of Changshuihe Farm
Date of Death: October 18th, 2009
Date of Most Recent Arrest: May 2005
Most Recent Place of Detention: Jilin City Detention Centre
City: Bei'an
Province: Heilongjiang
Persecution Suffered: Forced labour, brainwashing, beatings, imprisonment, solitary confinement, torture, force-feeding, home ransacked, interrogation, detention

Mr. Li Yunbiao started practising Falun Gong in 1997. After the persecution began, he went to Beijing to appeal against the persecution of Falun Gong, and unfurled a banner in Tiananmen Square. He was arrested and detained at Changshuihe Farm.

In April 2000, he was sentenced to forced labour for a year at the Huayuan Farm Labour Camp in Wudalianchi City. Due to his refusal to give up his faith, he was under strict control and tortured by being forced to "fly an airplane," a form of torture where one is forced to bend down with the head lower than the knees and the arms forced up and back. He was often made to stay that way for more than an hour at a time. The guards also encouraged the prisoners to beat him. The cell leader, who was a prisoner, once forced his head under the bed and forcibly spread his legs apart, with his arms held high and back behind him. He used a three-foot-long wooden board and hit Mr. Li with the smaller end, which caused him extreme pain. Another time the cell leader asked him about Falun Gong. When Mr. Li stated how wonderful it was in front of all his cell mates, the cell leader hit him cruelly with the bed board, resulting in multiple injuries.

The guards beat Mr. Li frequently, and fellow practitioners witnessed two guards beating him more than a dozen times. Li Chunwei, warden of the Third Ward, beat Mr. Li most often. One day he called Mr. Li into the office and asked him if he would eventually accept the brainwashing. Mr. Li answered firmly, "I solidly believe in Falun Gong, because it teaches people to be good!" Li Chunwei instantly brutally beat Mr. Li. He grabbed Mr. Li's head and punched him against the wall. Mr. Li's face swelled up and he was covered with bruises. The warden then forced Mr. Li into the "flying an airplane" position for a long time against the wall.

A few days later, Li Chunwei asked Mr. Li again, "Are you going to give up Falun Gong?" Mr. Li's answer was the same, "Absolutely not!" Li Chunwei was so angry that he and another guard used a white plastic tube to beat Mr. Li for more than an hour, resulting in him falling many times. His front teeth broke off, and he bled from the nose and mouth. The two guards shouted while beating him, "Are you going to give it up or not?" In extreme pain, Mr. Li stood up, looked the guards straight in their eyes, and said, "Absolutely not!" Li Chunwei then beat him even harder and caused him to lose sight in his left eye. The back of his head bled. The beating finally stopped when the two guards were exhausted.

Mr. Li was disfigured, and his head was in extreme pain and swollen. Even his eyes were purple and swollen. He could not sleep at all due to the pain. He was even more swollen the next day, and he could not walk due to the pain. Li Chunwei still forced him to do labour.

Soon after this cruel beating, he was taken to the Suihua City Forced Labour Camp. Because this beating caused him such severe injury, he was sometimes disoriented and spoke nonsense. He lost feeling in one leg and was incontinent. The doctors in the Suihua City Hospital found that he was bleeding inside his skull, so they operated on him. He was released from the hospital one month later, but became very weak.

The Suihua City Forced Labour Camp detained him for an additional four months, because he refused to accept the brainwashing. He was then transferred to the Changshuihe Farm Police Department and locked in a night watchman's guardhouse at one of the Fourth Branches of Changshuihe Farm. He protested many times by going on hunger strikes.

One night it was snowing heavily, and while the watchman was asleep, Mr. Li escaped. He was wearing light clothing and had to hike through a mountainous area to his brother's home in Daqing City. The local police received news of his escape, and the next day they sent an officer to Daqing City. Mr. Li was arrested again and put in solitary confinement in a cage, and he was very cold. The officer purposely opened the door for the cold air to come in.

Mr. Li was subjected to inhuman treatment, and he was thin and weak. A doctor indicated that he had pleurisy, water in his liver, and tuberculosis. From his chest down to his stomach he was extremely swollen. When they extracted what was inside, they found water-like pus. The doctor concluded, "He will not live long. Tell his family to prepare his funeral."

Mr. Li's sisters, who live in Dalian City in Liaoning Province and Shanghai, came to see and care for him, and all of his relatives were worried and angered that such a good man would be persecuted to this extent. Due to his faith in Falun Gong, however, he recovered day by day, and after a few months he was able to take care of himself. His miraculous recovery validated how extraordinary Falun Dafa is. The police took turns watching Mr. Li day and night, but he talked to people through an open window. There were many people in the hospital who were willing to hear his testimonial. Some doctors and nurses came to listen at the window and asked questions. On rainy days they held up umbrellas so they could hear him.

The hospital Chinese Communist Party (CCP) secretary was angry, so he beat and cursed Mr. Li. He was later kept captive in a room in the rear of the hospital. They locked his door and did not allow any contact from the outside. He realised that he was in a hopeless situation and that he should leave. A fellow practitioner found him and came up with a plan. On a Saturday he was able to escape with the help of this practitioner.

In 2002, police officers were checking every house in Bei'an City. They found Mr. Li and put him in the Bei'an City Detention Centre. The local police later took him, and he protested again through a hunger strike. When he was about to die, they released him temporarily for medical treatment. His sister took him to Dalian City in Liaoning Province, and, after he recovered, he went to Beijing to appeal against the persecution again.

In 2005, he handed out many materials exposing the persecution of Falun Gong in Bei'an City, and walked through almost all of the Bei'an City suburban villages. In May 2005, while Mr. Li was carrying a heavy load of Falun Gong materials on his bicycle, he was stopped by local police officers in the Second Branch of Changshuihe Farm and was arrested again. In August 2005, he was sentenced to eight years in the Ninth Ward of Bei'an City Prison.

Mr. Li was forced to be under strict control and to do slave labour. The food was extremely bad, and with the torture he became as thin as a skeleton. He could not endure such inhuman mistreatment any longer and went on a hunger strike to protest again. He never gave in despite guards cruelly force-feeding him. In October 2006, he was taken to the Bei'an Prison Hospital. He was very weak and died on October 18th, 2009.

During the past ten years of persecution, Mr. Li Yunbiao has never had one day of peace in his life, as his days were filled with imprisonment, cruel beatings, living away from home, and sickness. His mother had high blood pressure and a stroke due to the mental pressure and living in fear, and became paralysed. His wife and son were threatened and harassed, and are now both missing.

Fan Yuxiang, director of Bei'an City Prison: 86-456-6860808
Wu Chunbo, Ninth warden: 86-456-6428559, and 86-456-6428301
Huayuan Farm (labour camp): 86-456-6345010
Changshuihe Farm: 86-456-6419011

Related report: http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2008/7/7/98774.html

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2009/11/11/212434.html