Additional Information about the Death of 74-Year-Old Mr. Wu Botong, Tortured in Custody in Guizhou Province

Name: Wu Botong
Gender: Male
Age: 74
Address: Xixiu District, Anshun City, Guizhou Province
Occupation: Employee of Guanling County Water Conservancy Bureau
Date of Death: September 11th, 2005
Date of Most Recent Arrest: May 26th, 2005
Most Recent Place of Detention: Duyun Prison, publicly known as Duyun City Jianjiang Cement Factory
City: Anshun
Province: Guizhou
Persecution Suffered: Forced labour, brainwashing, imprisonment, ransacking of home, interrogation, detention

On September 11th, 2005, Mr. Wu Botong, a Falun Gong practitioner from Anshun City, Guizhou Province, died in Duyun Prison (also known as the Jianjiang Cement Plant in Duyun, Guizhou Province). He had only been in the prison for 5 days when he died. His family was only allowed to see his face; the prison personnel refused to allow them to examine his body. His body was then cremated without his family's permission.

After the persecution of Falun Gong started on July 20th, 1999, Mr. Wu Botong was sent to brainwashing classes several times for his continued practice of Falun Gong. He was also sentenced to Zhongba Forced Labour Camp in Guizhou Province for three years, during which he was forced to denounce Falun Gong. After he left the labour camp, he deeply regretted giving in under the pressure. He went to the government offices and declared that all he'd said and done while he was subjected to the brutal persecution in the forced labour camp was against his will and not his true intention. He was immediately taken back to the labour camp.

Mr. Wu Botong returned home after finishing his term in the labour camp. On May 26th, 2005, he and his wife, Pan Yingmei, went to Zhenfeng County to distribute leaflets exposing the persecution of Falun Gong. They were reported for distributing flyers while on a bus and when the couple got off the bus in Zhenfeng County, they were arrested and taken to the local police office. They were searched and sent to Zhenfeng County Detention Centre that night. Zhenfeng County police contacted Anshun City police to exchange information about the couple.

The couple was detained in the detention centre until they were sentenced in August. Pan Yingmei was sentenced to three and a half years and was directly transferred to the Yang'ai Forced Labour Farm. Mr. Wu Botong was sentenced to a five-year sentence. He was transferred to the Jingxi Relocation Centre in Guiyang City first and then sent to Duyun Prison on September 6th, 2005. He died on the morning of September 11th.

On September 12th, the personnel in Yang'ai Forced Labour Farm told Ms. Pan Yingmei that they were going to send a car and take her to Duyun Prison to see her husband. Ms. Pan was surprised at this but she went along anyway. Around 3:00 p.m., personnel from both prisons appeared before her and the director of Duyun Prison Hospital told her that Mr. Wu Botong had died. The director of the hospital, a woman in her 40's, said: "Yesterday morning, Mr. Wu Botong could not get up while he was squatting down brushing his teeth. He did not look right so he was sent to the prison hospital and then to Duyun Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital. He died within 20 minutes." The death certificate listed his cause of death as "a heart problem", but Mr. Wu Botong had never had any heart problems before. He previously had some minor problems with his kidneys but no longer had these problems after he started practising Falun Gong.

Ms. Pan Yingmei was shocked and deeply grieved. She did not get to ask for more details and the director left afterward. The personnel from the prison urged her to contact his other family members. His family (his sister, his niece and his nephew) arrived at Duyun at 8:00 p.m. that night. Whey they went to the mortuary to see the body, it was covered in cloth and dressed in the prison uniform. They were only allowed to see his face; they were not allowed to see the rest of his body.

The family was deeply grieved and the prison personnel had to pull all the family members away. Ms. Pan Yingmei was led to a police car and taken back to the Yang'ai Forced Labour Farm. She was allowed to spend less than five minutes in the mortuary. Mr. Wu's body was cremated at 12:00 a.m. that night.

Earlier report: http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2005/9/23/65226.html

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2010/4/24/222127.html