Mr. Pan Benyu, Who Saved Six Lives, Tortured and Imprisoned

Name: Pan Benyu
Gender: Male
Age: Unknown
Address: Qiqihar City, Heilongjiang Province
Occupation: Former Employee of Qiqihar Railroad Bureau Environment Sanitation Station
Date of Most Recent Arrest: February 21st, 2010
Most recent place of detention: Tailai Prison
City: Qiqihar
Province: Heilongjiang
Persecution Suffered: Beatings, Imprisonment, Solitary Confinement, Torture, Physical Restraint, Burned with cigarettes

Becoming a Good Person after Practising Falun Gong and Helping to Save Six Lives

In the summer of 1997, one of Mr. Pan's neighbours gave him a copy of the Falun Gong book, Zhuan Falun, and he started practising Falun Gong. Reading the book changed him, and he got rid of many bad habits. Since then, he has tried to be a good person according to the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. In September 1997, at a railroad crossing near his home, two children on bikes collided on a railroad track and fell on the rails just as a train was approaching. Mr. Pan, who had been watching, rushed over and pushed both children out of harm's way. The train came so close that his clothes were caught and torn.

Mr. Pan also saved four persons from drowning in a river. One of them was a man in his thirties, Mr. Zhang, who was on the other side of the river when he got into trouble and cried for help. Mr. Pan jumped in the river to save him. Zhang grabbed Mr. Pan's arm so hard that the flesh was broken. Mr. Pan finally was able to pull him out with all his strength.

Suffering Brutal Persecution for Firm Beliefs

Mr. Pan has been repeatedly persecuted because he has refused to give up his Falun Gong practice. Shortly after the persecution started on July 20th, 1999, he was sent to a brainwashing centre for two months and then sentenced to one year of forced labour. He was detained in the Nianzishan Forced Labour Camp in Qiqihar City, where he was beaten almost every day. He was also whipped with a plastic hose, hosed with cold water, burned with cigarettes, and beaten severely, among other tortures.

In July 2000, he was arrested and later sent to the Fuyu Forced Labour Camp. He was put into a pig pen and beaten to unconsciousness. In July 2001, he was transferred the Fuyu Detention Centre. In August, 2002, he was sentenced to four years in prison and sent to Bei'an Prison.

In prison, Mr. Pan was kept in solitary confinement for more than 70 days. Other inmates beat him until his head bled. His hands were chained behind his back and to the floor. He was not able to sit or lay down. When he was unlocked 15 days later, he could no longer move his arms, and his blood pressure was dangerously low. He vomited and urinated blood. The flesh on his arms and wrists was rotting. He was in and out of consciousness, on the verge of death.

On April 30th, 2006, the police tried to arrest him at his home, but he escaped and went into hiding. On December 8th, 2009, two officers from the Beijuzhai Police Station arrested him at the home of his parents. At the station, he was handcuffed to the heating pipes. He was kicked really hard in his stomach. He was beaten to unconsciousness. When he was on the verge of death, he was taken to the Qiqihar Second Hospital.

Mr. Pan was sentenced to seven years in prison in the Tiefeng District Court. On April 18th, 2007, he was taken to Tailai Prison and detained there until he was released on medical parole.

Tailai Prison is notorious for brutal persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. Liang Jinyu was persecuted to death on February 5th, 2001; Lu Yuping was tortured to death on May 30th, 2009; Liu Jingming was persecuted to death on March 2nd, 2007; Xu Linshan from Qiqihar City was persecuted to death in December 2005; and Pan Hongdong was persecuted to death on May 15th, 2005.

During his detention in Tailai Prison, Mr. Pan was tortured brutally and had symptoms of heart disease, liver ascites and myocardial infarction. He vomited blood and his head swelled badly. He was not able to take care of himself. Although he was close to death, the prison officials said that he would not be released unless he renounced Falun Gong. Finally, on May 22nd, 2009, the prison officials and the officials from 610 Office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong) asked his family to take him home.

Mr. Pan still suffers from severe heart disease and ascites of the liver. His whole body is covered with scars from scabies and cigarette burns. He has gangrene in two spots. He was bedridden after he came home. His family worried about how much longer he would live.

At around 8:00 a.m. on February 21st, 2010, two officers from the Beijuzhai Police Station in Qiqihar City and three prison guards from Tailai Prison went to Mr. Pan's home. They told him that he needed to go for a mandatory annual physical examination associated with his medical parole and told his family to pay 4,000 yuan¹ for the exam. They then took him to the Qiqihar First Hospital where they told his family that the examination fee could be waived if it was done at the prison. The family felt that they had no other choice but to allow them to take Mr. Pan back to the prison. He has not been released since.

We urgently call on all people around the world, international human rights organizations, and the World Organisation to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong to pay attention to the slaughter of innocents in Tailai Prison.

http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2009/4/17/106581.html

Note

1. "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.org/mh/articles/2010/3/24/220332.html

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