Chibi City Practitioner Mr. Zhong Shoubang's Family Tragedy

Elderly Mr. Zhong lived in Dongliu Village, Chibi City, Hubei Province. His oldest son, 31-year-old Zhong Shoubang, was a handsome man. The practice of Falun Gong enabled him to be kinder. He had been his father's favourite son. Unfortunately, Mr. Zhong Shoubang was taken to the Shayang Forced Labour Camp for practising Falun Gong in 2006 and was subjected to gross abuse and mistreatment in Division No. 9. This was a severe blow to his father.

Elderly Mr. Zhong went to visit his son in Shayang in 2007. Shortly after he returned home, he had a stroke that left him half-paralysed and walking with a limp.

Mr. Zhong was completely bedridden in 2008. I visited him at home. Their rundown house was poorly furnished and had no ceiling. His wife (Mr. Zhong Shoubang's mother) led me to a room and showed me where elderly Mr. Zhong gazed vacantly at the roof of the house. He did not react to sound in the room.

When he saw me, his dull eyes lit up. He extended one hand toward me and murmured my name. I heard him weakly say, "My son is not wrong..."

Yes, that's for sure, Mr. Zhong Shoubang is not wrong for being a person with faith. He is not wrong to speak with people about the persecution of Falun Gong when the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) tries everything possible to smear and slander Falun Gong. He is also not wrong to support his son for being a person with moral integrity.

Mr. Zhong passed away the evening of July 21st, 2009. His family called the Shayang Forced Labour Cam and asked that their son, Zhong Shoubang, be allowed to bid farewell to his father. The camp officials turned down the Zhong family's request.

A partial account of the persecution Mr. Zhong Shoubang has endured

Mr. Zhong Shoubang was 28 years old in 2006. He had previously served three years in the Shizishan Forced Labour Camp. Lushuihu Scenic Area Police Department officer Huang Huaquan and others arrested him at home in early June 2006. He was held at Chibi City No. 1 Detention Centre for nearly four months before being sentenced to three years of forced labour and sent to the Shayang Forced Labour Camp.

The single cells on the first floor of the front of the building in Division No.9 are specially designed for the abuse and mistreatment of Falun Gong practitioners. Mr. Zhong Shoubang was incarcerated in one of the single cells as of late November 2007. The division officials used a technique called "closed management" on Mr. Zhong. Four drug offenders assisted the guards to severely abuse him. They forced him to stand for a long time or squat in a certain posture for a long time daily. He could only sit when he was made to repeatedly watch slanderous TV programmes. He was forbidden to sleep until 1:00 or 2:00 a.m. They woke him up at 5:00 a.m. and repeated the abuses.

Long-term isolation from the outside and torture devastated Mr. Zhong physically and mentally. His eyesight was severely impaired, and his health was very poor. However, he managed to escape during washing time one morning. The labour camp authorities were in a panic and mobilised all their forces to seize him. They had him back by 3:00 p.m. that day.

Following that incident, Mr. Zhong was subjected to a week of severe abuse in the Education Section and other locations. Details may be obtained and reported in the future. We have to wait due to the regime's tight information blockade. Mr. Zhong was forced to self-criticise and read statements of regret and a guarantee statement at a public meeting in front of all the other detainees. Under the regime's implication policy, all the guards on duty when he escaped were adversely affected, as were detainees in Division No. 9. Division head Wei Peng, Education Section head Yu Bangqing, and others held a meeting criticising Mr. Zhong. They incited the detainees' hatred toward Falun Gong. Detainee Li Hong humiliated and beat Mr. Zhong.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2010/2/5/217580.html