Wei Danquan is on the Verge of Death in Jidong Prison After Years of Torture and Mistreatment

Name: Wei Danquan
Gender: Male
Age: about 42
Address: Unknown
Occupation: Military Officer

Date of Most Recent Arrest: May 26th, 2008
Most recent place of detention: Jidong Prison in Tangshan City
City: Tangshan
Province: Hebei
Persecution Suffered: Detention, beatings, torture, home ransacked, sleep deprivation, living under surveillance, extortion, interrogation, brainwashing.

Falun Gong practitioner Wei Danquan from Shanghaiguan was sent to the Jidong Prison, Tangshan City on July 24th, 2008. Due to long term persecution, he suffers from severe tuberculosis, heart disease and pleurisy etc. The situation is getting worse, he is on the verge of death. His family has asked for medical parole. The prison keeps delaying, and refuses to answer the request.

Wei Danquan's illness was already serious by the time he arrived at Jidong Prison. He was sent to the prison hospital for six days when he first arrived at the prison. Later he was sent to Team Five of Brigade Five. His tuberculosis has developed to type III. There are three holes in his lung and the lung membrane has become thicker and sticky which results in difficulty breathing. He spits up blood. He cannot walk. Jidong Prison still persecutes him mentally. Four inmates monitor him 24 hours daily. His every move is reported.

Staying Firm in Belief While Being Persecuted for a Long Time

Wei Danquan was a military officer at the Shanhaiguan Airport. He was discharged by the military due to his belief in Falun Gong.

On May 26th, 2001 Wei Danquan was arrested by police from the Shanhaiguan Police Station while he and his family members were climbing Jiaoshan. Zhu Ying, Deputy Director of the police station, policeman Wang Lijun and Liu Qi tortured him severely. Wang Lijun handcuffed him on the back; Zhu Ying slapped his face and hit his face and ears using a rubber baton. He lost consciousness (You can still see the scar on his left ear). Zhu Ying also beat his back and legs. When they hit very hard on his backbone, he collapsed on the floor right away. Wang Lijun hit Mr. Wei's left arm on the chair arm. Then they handcuffed him to an iron bed. Wei Danquan was taken to the Shanhaiguan Detention Centre, and detained for one month.

On May 26th when he was arrested, the local police department sent police to sneak into his home when no one was at home, and took his contact book.

Police at the Shanhaiguan Detention Centre threatened, inducted and tortured him. They used various methods including sleep deprivation by forcing him to stand until midnight. Policeman Fu Yong hit his left arm using a chair. He felt like his arm was broken. Wei Danquan was detained over the term. He was released on November 23rd. Wei Danquan suffered severe lung tuberculosis after four months of torture. The First Section of the Shanhaiguan Police Department is involved in this persecution. The persons who are responsible for the persecution are policeman Zhang Deyue, Huang Ke, and Fu Yong.

Wei Danquan was monitored by the Shanhaiguan Police Department 24 hours daily after he got home. He was harassed while he was recovering.

The Residential Committee assigned a person to follow him during the 16th Party Congress in 2002.

Around 2 o'clock on June 6th, 2003, police from the Shanhaiguan Police Station surrounded Wei Danquan's home. Wei Danquan lived on the seventh floor. Police tried to break into his apartment, shouting and screaming. The residents in the whole building were awakened. Wei Danquan's family refused to open the door. Police surrounded his home for three days. On June 9th, police broke into his home when Wei Danquan's child left home for school. Police took Wei Danquan, and ransacked his home. They took his PCs, camera, CDs, mobile phone, and Zheng Jie's sister's sewing machine etc.

Wei Danquan was detained in the police station for eight days, handcuffed at all times. They threatened and lied to him and tried to get information from him. At night he could only sleep on the table, or sitting in the chair (He only slept once on the bed). He was not wearing much clothing. He was often wakened by the chill of the night.

On June 17th he was detained in the Shanhaiguan Detention Centre. On June 25th Fu Yong sent him directly to the Hehuakeng Labour Camp, Tangshan City without any legal procedure. According to the labour camp's regulation they cannot take any one who has lung tuberculosis. But the Qinhuangdao 610 office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong) notified the labour camp that the labour camp had to take him no matter what. The Nanguan Police Station in Shanhaiguan, the First Section of the Shanhuiguang Police Department, policeman Yang Yandong, Wang Lijun and Fu Yong are directly involved in persecution.

From June 25th, 2003 to December 12th, 2003 Wei Danquan was persecuted in the Hehuakeng Labour Camp. The living conditions were very bad. There are 13 bunk beds in two prison cells. But 58 persons were detained there. Everyone sleeps next to each other. Mosquitoes bite people. Even though there were three fans, air in the room was dirty and smelly. The weather was very hot. So many people could not shower often. They sweat a lot when they were punished. Every week only two persons were allowed to wash their clothes.

The torture methods used in the labour camp were various, including the "Stool Sit". The practitioners were forced to sit all day long on a small stool just 20cm high, 30 cm long, and 10cm wide. The practitioners were forced to sit two legs on the floor, with the two feet shoulder-width apart, sitting up straight, hands with palms facing up on the knees. The inmates on guard would curse, beat with chairs, hit with batons, or kick the practitioners if they did not sit according to the rules. "Stool Sit" is very crude. The flesh on the buttocks festers. Many people could not stand up after long sitting. Sometimes, when people stood up, some flesh from the buttocks stuck to the bench.

Other torture methods include "Nailing into the wall" (kneeling, body against the wall, both feet 10~30cm away from the wall) and "Riding the airplane"(Body is bent 90 degrees and both hands are stretched. Sometimes a cup of water is put on both hands. If the water is spilled, prison guards will beat the practitioner brutally).

Police brainwashed the practitioners every day. The practitioners were forced to watch videos slandering Falun Gong during "Stool Sit". They were beaten if they refused to watch. Wei Danquan was beaten up many times, and tortured badly because he refused to watch.

After five months in the labour camp, his lung tuberculosis broke out again. The Qinhuangdao 610 office did not want to release him. But the labour camp sent him home by the end of December because they were afraid of infecting others.

Sentenced to Four Years Imprisonment for Clarifying the Truth of Falun Gong

In the afternoon of April 30th, 2004, Wei Danquan and five other practitioners from Qinhuangdao went to the tourist site Jiaoshan in Qinhuangdao to distribute leaflets exposing the persecution of Falun Gong. They were arrested by the Nanguan Police Station in Shanhaiguan. They forced them to admit by threatening and cheating that Wei Danquan organised the trip.

On May 2nd Wei Danquan was sent to the Shanhaiguan Detention Centre again. Fifteen days later he was arrested on criminal charges. Later he was transferred to the Qinhuangdao First Detention Centre. The Qinhuangdao Third Hospital discovered that his tuberculosis was active, but the police did not release him immediately. On the morning of June 4th, after one month torture, the police released him on medical parole.

Wei Danquan's health was bad. He spat up a lot of blood. Doctors suggested he stay in the hospital to save his life. But the Qinhuangdao 610 Office and the Shanhaiguan Court still wanted to put him on trial. On October 14th, 2004 police from the police station and the court and Chief Judge came to his home to take him away. Wei Danquan's wife requested them to sign and to be responsible for his life. But no one was willing to take the responsibility. They took his wife away and then released her in the afternoon. Wang Yu, the Deputy Director of the court, said they would come to Wei Danquan's home to get him for trial on October 15th. But no one showed up that day. It was said that this would be handled later.

Wei Danquan was Arrested and Detained Many Times in the Following Four Years

On April 14th, 2007 Wei Danquan and another practitioner Ji Yan went out. They were arrested secretly by the Qinhuangdao National Security Bureau. They were tortured in order to get information from them. Wei Danquan was beaten by two spies, and sent to the National Security Division for further torture. Later he was transferred to the Xidajie Police Station in Shanhaiguan, then Qinhuangdao Third Detention Centre. He was tortured in both places. On April 15th, 2007 he was sent to the Baoding Labour Camp for one and half years. Due to Lung tuberculosis, the Baoding Labour Camp asked his family to bring him home after 35 days of detention.

On July 14th, 2007, police ransacked his home again.

At 8 o'clock May 26th, 2008, nine policeman from the Shanhaiguan Police Branch took Wei Danquan away from his work place. He was detained at Qinhuangdao First Detention Centre.

On June 10th, the Shanhaiguang Court tried him secretly and appointed a lawyer for a 'guilty defence'. Wei Danquan fainted during the trail. On June 23rd, the Shanhaiguan Court tried him again, and sentenced him to four years imprisonment. It needs to be pointed out there was no confession and signature for the case. The Shanhaiguan Police Branch's evidence consisted of reports from other people.

On July 2nd, Wei Danquan appealed to the Qinhuangdao Intermediate Court. But Qinhuangdao Intermediate Court upheld the original sentence without an open trail. The Chief Judge Zhang Guigui said "No matter how you defend yourself, we will uphold the original sentence. It's on orders from our superiors."

From July 28th to 30th, Wei Danquan's wife was monitored. The Residential Committee harassed and followed her while she went to work.

On October 8th, Wei Danquan's wife overcame several difficulties to see Wei Danquan in person and brought him some clothes. Only 40 years old, Wei Danquan is very pale and weak. He has become very thin. He could not even lift up his head in the visiting room. Wei Danquan's wife can only talk to him though the glass. Police stand behind to monitor them. They made the microphone very loud, even people in the hall way could hear their conversation. On October 27th, Wei Danquan's wife found his health was getting worse when she visited him. Now he spits out blood, and is on the verge of death. His family members strongly request his release for medical parole.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.org/mh/articles/2010/5/12/223455.html