Eyewitness Account: Police Shoot at and Violently Arrest Older Practitioner Guo Yumin

Name: Guo Yumin
Gender: Male
Age: 60
Address: Northern residential part of the Qiqihar City Railroad at Gongren Rd. Heilongjiang Province
Occupation: Unemployed
Date of Most Recent Arrest: July 9th, 2009
Most Recent Place of Detention: Beijuzhai Police Station in Tiefeng District Police Department
City: Qiqihar
Province: Heilongjiang
Persecution Suffered: Beatings, imprisonment, torture, extortion, physical restraint, home ransacked, detention

I am a good friend of Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Guo Yumin. On July 9th, 2009, I personally witnessed Mr. Guo Yumin being arrested and shot at by officers from the Tiefeng District Police Department.

Guo is an upright citizen, gets along well with people and has many friends. Everyone considers him a good person. But because of his belief in Falun Gong, he was arrested, shot at, savagely beaten, cruelly tortured, and detained by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials.

At about 8:00 a.m. on July 9th, 2009, I went to visit Guo to inquire about his daughter's progress in taking the university entrance exam, as it was the second day of her examination. When I arrived, I was shocked to see several police vehicles parked in front of the building. A group of officers forced open the door of Guo's home and beat him savagely. They also beat his wife, who was so frightened that she fainted.

His daughter cried, "You can't arrest my father. My father is a good man!" At that moment, Guo seized the opportunity and escaped the grasp of the police. One officer got out of the car and aimed his gun at him. Guo's daughter jumped on this policeman, disregarding the danger, and cried, "Don't shoot! Don't shoot!" The gunshot was fired but missed the target, and his daughter fainted.

The officer wanted to take Guo's daughter to the police station, but a crowd of neighbours gathered around to defend the family, saying to the policeman, "You don't do such a thing even to people who commit murder and arson, but only treat Falun Gong practitioners in this severe fashion. Don't you have any human nature left? This child is taking the entrance exam today. Don't you have a daughter or a son?" At that point, the officer released the daughter. However, after being so frightened and suffering so much psychological trauma, she could no longer participate in the examination.

Before Guo could escape further, several police officers caught up with him and arrested him. They beat this 60-year-old man in broad daylight in public, to the point of breaking their leather belts. His two front teeth were knocked out. One policeman yelled, "I didn't come in time; otherwise, I would have shot his head open."

They took Guo Yumin to the Beijuzhai Police Station, hung him up by his handcuffs from a heating duct, then beat him. One policeman confiscated 1,400 yuan¹ from him and put the money in his own pocket.

Guo was then taken to the Tiefeng District Police Department, where he was tortured on an iron chair. They forced him to squat behind the back of the chair, with his hands placed through the two round holes in the back of the chair and handcuffed behind him, and his feet tied underneath the chair so that he could not get up. They left him in this squatting position from 9:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m., until he lost consciousness.

The police also searched Guo Yumin's home and took away many personal belongings, including a computer that belonged to his daughter, electric tools, a watch, a lighter, an electric shaver, and Falun Gong books. They took whatever was useful to them; their behaviour was no different from the bandits.

I was also questioned by the police at the scene and was released only when they were certain that I wasn't a Falun Gong practitioner.

The most vicious policeman was about 50 years old with a surname of Wang. He knocked out Guo's two front teeth and took money and other items from his home. He is an agent from the 610 Office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong).

Primary parties responsible for the persecution:

Beijuzhai Police Station in Tiefeng District Police Department: 86-452-2112035
Liu Gang, director of Tiefeng District Police Department: 86-452-2126304
Deputy director of Tiefeng District Police Department: 86-453- 2124609, 86-452-2125039, 86-452-2126767, 86-452-2126304
Tiefeng District CCP Political and Judiciary Committee, 610 Office: 86-452-2188661, 86-452-2188663

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://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2010/4/2/220873.html