63-Year-Old Mr. Mei Chunfu Dies as a Result of Persecution

Name: Mei Chunfu
Gender: Male
Age: 63
Address: Shawuo Township, Qi County, Henan Province
Occupation: Unknown
Date of Death: 2009
Date of Most Recent Arrest: February 7th, 2007
Most Recent Place of Detention: Jilin City Detention Centre
City: Qi County
Province: Henan
Persecution Suffered: Forced labour, brainwashing, beatings, solitary confinement, torture, physical restraint, detention

Mr. Mei Chunfu had many diseases before practising Falun Gong. He became a healthy person in both mind and body soon after practising, and his entire family was moved by the miracles of Falun Gong. Since July 1999, after the persecution began, he was detained for almost seven years, endangering his life.

Mr. Mei went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong in October 1999. The police arrested and detained him in the Qi County Detention Centre. The guards tortured him with tightening the ropes¹ and ankle shackles; they punched and kicked him, locked him up in a small cell², and deprived him of drinking water. Because Mr. Mei persisted in practising his faith and did not accept the brainwashing, the guards locked his shackles together with handcuffs, which meant that he could not stand up or sit down, and he had to stay in a very painful bent position. When it was meal time, he was still not released from this torture, and had to hold the bowl with both handcuffed hands, bending his head down hard. Mr. Mei tried to explain the truth of Falun Gong to guards, and was locked in the small cell another 15 days without drinking water. He could not bear the thirst, and had to drink some dirty water from the toilet bowl.

In May 2000, Mr. Mei went to Beijing again to appeal. He was arrested and picked up by the Qi County police, detained in the Qi County Detention Centre, and sentenced to three years of forced labour in the Kaifeng City Forced Labour Camp.

Not long after he was released from the labour camp, Mr. Mei went to Kaifeng City to visit family on March 16th, 2004. He was talking to people about Falun Gong on the way, and was arrested and sentenced to another three years of forced labour at the Kaifeng City Forced Labour Camp.

In the autumn of 2006, Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Zhang Zhagen was tortured to death in the Kaifeng City Forced Labour Camp. To avoid an investigation, the camp administration transferred all detained practitioners to the Xuchang City Forced Labour Camp, where Mr. Mei was again tortured.

Only two months after his release from the Xuchang City Forced Labour Camp, Mr. Mei was still suffering both mentally and physically from the torture. On the afternoon of February 7th, 2007, Qi County Domestic Security Division Chief Liu Hongtao had Shawuo Township police take Mr. Mei and his family to the Township Police Station. After a few questions, Liu said, "His thoughts are still not converted, take him in." They detained Mr. Mei again.

Mr. Mei went on a ten-day hunger strike to protest his arrest. He had not recovered from the forced labour camp, so ten days on a hunger strike caused him to be emaciated, and he could not walk. The Qi County Detention Centre authorities were afraid he would die, so they notified his family to pick him up.

The police never left him in peace, and kept harassing him at home. Mr. Mei never fully recovered, and died in 2009.

Note

1. The torture method "Tightening Rope" utilises a finger-size hemp rope soaked in water. The persecutors set it on the Dafa practitioner's neck, and tightly wrap it around the arms. In order to maximise the pain for the victim, they often strip the practitioner down to his underwear. Usually, over three persecutors work together to apply this torture. When the rope reaches the wrists, it is tightened. They pull the practitioner's hands behind his back, both ends of the rope are inserted through the portion of the rope on the neck, then two persecutors forcefully pull down both ends of the rope as hard as they can and then tie it. At this time, the blood circulation is cut off and the victim will experience increased heart rate, excruciating pain in both arms and within a few minutes, heavy sweating.

In order to make sure the rope is as tight as can be, the persecutors insert glass bottles and wooden sticks under practitioner's wrists, so the rope will sink deep into his flesh. Meanwhile, they also slap the practitioner's face and shock him with electric baton(s). Each session of "Tightening Rope" lasts ten to twenty minutes. After the rope is loosened, the victim has lost the feeling in his arms, and it takes a long time to regain it. For those who have experienced this torture, their arms are often disabled in severe cases, or they cannot raise their arms or they lose some function in the arms. The marks left on the arms by the rope usually don't disappear for one or two years. See case on http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2004/1/31/44607p.html

2. The detainee is locked up in a very small cell individually. The guards handcuff practitioners behind their back in a fixed position, in which the practitioners can neither move nor lie down. The small cell is very damp and no sunshine comes in. Detainees have to urinate and defecate in the cell. Only half of a regular meal is served to detainees locked up in a small cell during the daytime. During the night the rats are running around. The stench in the small cell is so bad that it is difficult to breathe.

Chinese version available at ttp://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2010/3/19/220042.html