The Persecution of a Retired Military Officer

In 2002, Mr. Feng Xupeng, a retired military officer from Shanghai, was arrested and imprisoned for giving out DVDs that exposed the persecution of Falun Gong. Due to the brutal tortures he suffered, he can't do any physical work, gets easily tired, and his legs shake. His wife left him after being subjected to tremendous pressure by the authorities. Mr. Feng currently doesn't have a place to stay and is in financial difficulty.

The following recounts the persecution of Mr. Feng in his own words.

I was born in 1970. After I graduated from the military academy, I served as a major in the military. I retired in September 2002. I started to practise Falun Gong in 1995.

On November 3rd, 2002, officers from Jiangwan Town Police Station in Shanghai arrested me because I was giving out DVDs exposing the persecution of Falun Gong. They took me to Hongkou District Detention Centre and detained me for three months. Then, two officers from the Hongkou District Public Safety Bureau transferred me to Shanghai City Third Forced Labour Camp. I was imprisoned for two years and six months. For the first six months, my family was not informed of my whereabouts.

In the forced labour camp, I was barely given enough to eat and I didn't have cash to buy food. I was always starving. I had to do slave labour from dawn to dusk--making lawn lamps and wrapping stationary appliances for companies overseas. Everything had to be done manually. The intense workload caused pain in the joints in my hands.

In June 2003, I was transferred to the division that specialised in trying to brainwash practitioners. I was deprived of sleep and forced to sit still on a small stool. Captain Xiang Jianzhong tried to talk to me about giving up Falun Gong. Instead, I told him the facts about Falun Gong and the persecution. As a result, Xiang instigated other inmates to hold me down while he shocked my arm and mouth with an electric baton. Several days later, I was taken to a separate team. I was frequently beaten and kicked by many inmates.

In June, the weather gets very hot in Shanghai. I was forced to sit still on a small stool facing the wall. Someone named Zhan Shouxing punched me in the back a dozen times, while Si Daolong elbowed my chest and another person punched my jaw, loosening my teeth. Then they kicked me in the back until I ended up in a corner of the room, held me down on the ground and pulled my legs in separate directions. Gao Jingdong tried to stomp on my leg while they pulled it. I almost passed out from the excruciating pain. So many people were beating me that I started to lose feeling and became numb all over. I also couldn't breathe. They stopped only because they were exhausted. Afterwards, I was in extreme pain. My left leg swelled and turned black. Since then, I often have chest pain and sometimes I can't lift my right arm up.

On May 3rd, 2005, I was released from the labour camp. In July 2005, I applied for a passport, but the Shanghai immigration office turned me down.

My wife couldn't withstand the tremendous pressure during the two and a half years I was imprisoned. After I got home, the police continued to harass us and we couldn't live or work in peace. She later filed for divorce.

By the end of 2007, I started to cough uncontrollably. It got worse in 2008 and I couldn't take care of my basic needs. In March 2008, I went into a coma and was rushed to a hospital. The doctor told me that I had excessive fluid and inflammation in the chest area and tuberculosis. Twelve days later, I was transferred to a hospital in Shenyang City. The doctor told me that I'd had these illnesses for at least five years. Five years ago was when I was being tortured in a forced labour camp. The doctor was amazed that I had survived.

After three months of treatment, I left the hospital in July 2008. I weighed about 100 pounds and had to use a cane to walk.

Now I do not have a place to live or any source of income. I can't do any physical labour because my legs are numb and I get exhausted easily.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.org/mh/articles/2010/4/12/221359.html