The Relentless Abuse that Led to the Death of Mr. He Xuezhao

Mr. He Xuezhao died as a result of torture on January 13th, 2006. He had suffered from six years of imprisonment, mistreatment, and torture. He was subjected to numerous arrests and deprivation of freedom in police custody.

I first met Mr. He at a Falun Gong experience-sharing conference in 1997. He was in his thirties, a teacher in the middle school affiliated with the Liyujiang Power Plant in Zixing City.

Mr. He had many health problems prior to learning Falun Gong, including a gastric ulcer and arthritis. He had practised another form of Qigong that did not help. While at the Zhongnan Industry Institute in Changsha City in the summer of 1996 he saw a large group of people practising Falun Gong in the morning. He knew that this was what he had been looking for all his life.

He immediately called home and told his family members to burn all the other Qigong books he had bought that cost him over 1,000 yuan¹. In 1996, 1,000 yuan was about a three-to-four-month salary for an average worker. He took home Falun Gong books. He then began to cultivate and to follow the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. He returned some of the tools he had previously taken home from the science lab at work; he often volunteered to help with community activities after learning Falun Gong.

Because he was young and well-educated, it was expected of him that he be the co-ordinator for the local area, organising practitioners' group study, practising the exercises together and spreading the practice in the other villages and towns.

It rained all day on July 20th, 1999, the day the nationwide persecution of Falun Gong began. Mr. He and a few other practitioners went to the exercise site as usual. During the second exercise a gang of policemen arrived and took them to the local police station. Mr. He was detained for 15 days.

During the 2000 Chinese New Year, Mr. He returned to Laiyang to celebrate the holiday with his family. He and approximately 20 other Laiyang practitioners went to Beijing together, to appeal for Falun Gong. He was arrested on the way in Wuhan City. The persecutors handed him a one-year forced labour sentence and incarcerated him in the Binzhou City Forced Labour Camp.

He was one of the first practitioners held in labour camps in the Binzhou area. Dozens of government officials in Binzhou threatened him and attempted to coerce him into renouncing Falun Gong. Unmoved, he told them of the beauty of the practice. Three months later the captors transferred him to the Xinkaipu Forced Labour Camp in Changsha City, where he was severely tortured. The guards used different methods to torture him including the "stretching bed" method and putting him in a helmet, straitjacket and handcuffs. Furthermore, he practised the exercises in confinement for four days. The guards then simply ignored him and another older practitioner. The two practised the exercises together.

Mr. He was released in August 2001, following an eight-month extended term. He realised he should not have written the "three statements" to renounce practising Falun Gong while incarcerated. When officials arrived at his residence the next day, he announced that the "three statements" he had written were invalid. Stomping their feet, those officials yelled angrily, "You'll have to deal with us for a long time."

Even though Mr. He got his former job back, his workplace officials paid him merely 600 yuan a month, a minimum wage rate that barely covered his basic living expenses.

At that time no Falun Gong materials were available in Binzhou City. Mr. He and other practitioners made materials and distributed them to the other areas. One night Mr. He travelled more than ten hours by motorcycle to deliver materials to my area. On the way he collided with an automobile and was thrown from the motorcycle, but he was fine. He stood up and rode his motorcycle home and he returned to work the next day.

In 2002 the local officials kept him in the brainwashing centre in Binzhou City. Following a hunger strike, he was released on the eighth day.

In May 2002, Mr. He was arrested again at work. Policemen ransacked his home and took his personal belongings, like his computer, DVD player, motorcycle, and other items. He was kept in the basement of the Xiuliu Hotel. A gang of policemen headed by Peng Yanshou interrogated him. They whipped Mr. He, and handcuffed him on his back. Practitioner He again staged a persecution protest hunger strike. On the fifth day he used the power of righteous thoughts to open the handcuffs, and walked out of the hotel, under police surveillance. He then became homeless to avoid arrest.

Along with a few other practitioners, including me, he set up a materials production site to make and distribute Falun Gong leaflets exposing the persecution. The materials were distributed to areas outside Binzhou. Unfortunately, nine practitioners were arrested in May 2003. Mr. He was one of them. This time the persecutors locked him up in the Binzhou City Detention Centre. The guards took him to a hotel basement several times and tortured him ruthlessly. They whipped him and forcefully stomped on his stomach. When he became unconscious, the guards poured cold water on him to wake him up and then continued torturing him. Mr. He was handed an eight-year prison sentence this time.

While in the Changdejin City Prison, the guards designated certain inmates to monitor Mr. He around the clock. They barred him from reading Falun Gong materials or practising the exercises. Scabies covered his entire body. It itched so severely that he was unable to fall asleep. Having endured severe torture he contracted tuberculosis, a perforated lung and pleurisy. His family members went to the prison three times requesting his release on bail for medical treatment. The prison officials refused to grant their requests and waited until after Mr. He's situation worsened and he was at the brink of death before giving their permission. Even then, the officials only sanctioned a one-year bail. Furthermore, Zixing City 610 Office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong) head Li Yongsheng made Mr. He's family pay 15,000 yuan as a condition for his release. By the time he went home in March 2005 he was so skinny that he only weighed about 60 lbs.

Once home again, regime thugs monitored him closely 24 hours a day. They frequently called Mr. He's home and even followed him when he took a walk outside. This time, however, Mr. He was extremely frail. Unable to recover, he died on January 13th, 2006.

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.ca/mh/articles/2010/5/9/223122.html