Mr. Shi Mengchang from Heilongjiang Province Persecuted to Emaciation

Name: Shi Mengchang
Gender: Male
Age: 37
Address: Jiansanjiang Branch of Heilongjiang Land Reclamation
Occupation: Farmer
Date of Most Recent Arrest: April 19th, 2010
Most Recent Place of Detention: Wuchang City Brainwashing Centre
City: Wuchang
Province: Heilongjiang
Persecution Suffered: Electric shock, sleep deprivation, forced labour, brainwashing, beatings, torture, physical restraint, force-feedings, extortion, home ransacked, interrogation, detention

Mr. Shi's arrest and torture

At around 7:00 p.m. on April 19th, 2010, a dozen or so officers from the Qixing Police Station in Jiansanjiang District arrested Falun Gong practitioner Shi Mengchang and his wife, Han Shujuan, at their home. The next morning, Mr. Shi, still in cuffs and shackles, was driven to the Wuchang City Brainwashing Centre 600 miles away.

Fu Yanchun, the director, and Mo Zhenshan, the deputy director of the Wuchang Brainwashing Centre, interrogated and threatened Mr. Shi. Fu said, "This is the base of 'transformation' [forcibly renounce Falun Gong]. You have no choice but to 'transform.'" Mr. Shi told him that all Falun Gong does is to teach people to be good. Fu asked his subordinates to bring over some electric batons. They zapped the batons in the air and threatened him: "If you do not write a guarantee statement to renounce practising Falun Gong, we will hang you up and shock you all over your body. You will then do whatever we ask. We will put a condom over your head and you will not last for a minute. We can also force toothpicks under your nails. We have all sorts of methods. We will make you lose all your money, force your wife to divorce you and marry someone else, and destroy your family. We will inject you with drugs every day, at a cost of 60 yuan, but we will charge you 800 yuan¹ instead, and run you a bill of several tens of thousands of yuan a year. It does not matter if you resist; several of us will hold you down. If you don't 'transform,' we will simply torture you to death. Once your body is cremated, no one will miss you since there are over one billion people in China."

When Mr. Shi refused to write the guarantee statement, four officers ganged up on him. One slapped his face, another held down his arms, yet another pushed his head down, and the fourth one forced the pen in between his fingers and forced him to write the statement. Afterward, a few of them laughed, saying, "This time you have fallen down. We will publish this on the Minghui website and cause you to be rejected by your Teacher [Teacher Li Hongzhi, the founder of Falun Gong ]." A few minutes later, a few of them ganged up on him again, and forced him to write a "repentance statement" and mark it with his fingerprints. Because of the brutal and continuous pressure, Mr. Shi's health quickly deteriorated. He developed heart disease, high blood pressure, and ulcers. He was unable hold down any food, and would throw up as soon as he ate something. He became so thin that he looked like skin and bones and needed to support himself against a wall when he walked.

On the night of the 28th, the officers ganged up on Mr. Shi. Fu yelled, "Bring the photo of his Teacher and make him pierce it himself." They forced a nail into Mr. Shi's hand, and thrust the photo of Falun Gong's founder into the nail. Fu slapped Mr. Shi in the face, and he collapsed onto the floor. Deputy director Mo Zhengshan inserted heart medication into his mouth to save him. The next day, Mr. Shi was unable to walk and his life was in peril. Fu was afraid that Mr. Shi might die, and called the Jiansanjiang District office to take him away.

Background on the persecution of Mr. Shi

The Jiansanjiang Farming District Bureau is a branch under the Heilongjiang Farming Bureau. It is located on the eastern side of Fujing County and governs fifteen farms. Mr. Shi went to Beijing to tell people the facts about Falun Gong in November 1999 and was arrested and taken to Qixing Prison. During his detention, officer Zhao Yujun beat, humiliated, and tortured him. He was then taken to the Xigemu Forced Labour Camp in Jiamusi to serve two years. At the labour camp, Mr. Shi was beaten because he persisted in doing the Falun Gong exercises. They slapped him with a metal clothes hanger, hit him in the back with a board, stripped his shirt off and forced him to stay outside when it was 20 degrees Celsius below zero (-30 Fahrenheit). They forced him to stand with his legs spread, head down, and arms raised backwards, and poured cold water over him. After his term in the labour camp was over, officer Zhou Ji and others brought Mr. Shi back to Jiansanjiang, and held him in Qixing Prison for over 40 days. They finally released him after his wife and mother repeatedly requested his release.

About twenty days later, Mr. Shi went to practitioner Tian Baoyu's house and was arrested again, accused of having an "illegal meeting." (In China, three Falun Gong practitioners getting together is considered having an "illegal meeting" and those involved can be arrested.) Mr. Shi went on a hunger strike after his arrest. Officer Zhou Ji led several other officers and doctor Bo Heping to force-feed him several times, causing him to vomit and throw up blood. He became extremely thin and weak. Eighteen days later, officers, led by Don Maozhong, chief of the Sanfenchang Police Station, took Mr. Shi to the Qixing Brainwashing Centre.

The next morning, Mr. Shi was cuffed and taken to the Suibei Forced Labour Camp by Officers Zhou Ji and others. Due to being malnourished for a long period of time and repeatedly being force-fed, both Mr. Shi's stomach and small intestines were damaged and developed ulcers. One night, he began to throw up mouthfuls of blood. He was unable to walk, and needed someone to carry him wherever he went. This situation lasted for four to five months.

After his forced labour term was over, officer Yan Xinxiao and others from the Jiansanjiang Police Station went to get him, and put him in Qixing Prison. Mr. Shi went on a hunger strike and was released after five days. After his release, the neighborhood association, police station, and 610 Office [an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong] kept harassing him.

On July 21st, 2008, eight or nine officers from the Qixing Branch Office went to Mr. Shi's house and arrested him and his wife, Han Shujuan, and ransacked their home, using security for the Olympics as a pretext. Mr. Shi went on a hunger strike and requested to be released immediately. The prison doctor Huang Xinli and a dozen officers pushed him to the ground and force-fed him. He passed out as a result and was taken to the hospital and given an IV. He was detained this way for 39 days.

The persecution of Mr. Shi's wife, Ms. Han Shujuan

Ms. Han Shujuan went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong on December 26th, 1999, and was arrested and taken to Qixing Prison. She was detained there for over 70 days, and had 10,000 yuan extorted from her.

She went to Beijing to appeal again in November 2000, and was arrested and sentenced to three years of forced labour. She was taken to Qixing Prison and a brainwashing centre for about two months in April 2002.

At around 5:00 p.m. on January 10th, 2010, a dozen or so police officers broke into Ms. Han's home and arrested her, leaving her seventy-year-old father at home alone without anyone to take care of him. On April 19th, she was arrested again along with her husband. When her brother strongly protested, the police released her to let her take care of her sick and bedridden father.

The persecution of other family members

Mr. Shi's brother, Mr. Shi Mengwen, was sentenced to two years of forced labour in November 2000.

On the evening of March 21st, 2008, practitioners Shi Mengwen, Cheng Dong, Tian Baoyu, Yu Fengxian and Sun Yan were arrested by police and taken to the local police station because they were distributing Falun Gong informational materials. That night, each of them was locked in a different room and beaten by seven or eight police officers. Shi Mengwen, Cheng Dong, and Tian Baoyu were beaten until they were bruised all over their bodies. One male practitioner was beaten until blood appeared in his urine. Mr. Shi Mengwen was sentenced to five-and-a-half years in prison and was taken to Jiamusi Prison.

Mr. Shi Mengchang was held in the forced labour camp for five years. His wife was jailed and put in the forced labour camp numerous times as well. No one took care of their 13-year-old son, who was left alone at home. His brother Mr. Shi Mengwen was also taken to the forced labor camp. Their 70-year-old mother was under extreme stress during this time.

Individuals involved in the persecution:

Fu Yanchun, director of the Wuchang 610 Office Brainwashing Centre: 86-13936017177 (Mobile), 86-451-53526327 (Office)
Mo Zhenshan, of the Wuchang 610 Office Brainwashing Centre: 86-13945764423 (Mobile), Other individuals responsible for the brainwashing classes: Zu Xianfu, Li Hong
Wang Jinhui, Jiansanjiang District party secretary: 86-454-5790243 (Office), 86-454-5802199 (Home)
Wang Jialing, Jiansanjiang District Political and Judicial Directory secretary: 86-13903645528 (Mobile), 86-454-5790335 (Home), 86-13763633399 (Mobile), 86-454-5802881 (Home), 86-454-5802366 (Office)
Li Bo, Jiansanjiang District Political and Judicial Directory deputy secretary: 86-454-5790507
Li Chunyao, Jiansanjiang District 610 Office director: 86-454-5725790 (Home)
Yu Wenpo, of the District National Security Division: 86-454-5808019, 86-13845433088 (Mobile),86-454-5710509
Liu Jihong, chief of the Qixing Farm Police Department: 86-454-5794878, 86-13845482666 (Mobile),86-454-5809666
Li Xudong, of the Qixing Farm District Police Department 610 Office: 86-13945444313 (Mobile),
Sun Peng, Qixing Farm party secretary: 86-454-5794999, 86-454-5790976, 86-13946488777 (Mobile),
Wu Guomin, Qixing Farm party deputy secretary: 86-454-5794224, 86-454-5808809, 86-15331967678 (Mobile),
Sun Chengyao, Qixing Farm manager: 86-454-5715798, 86-454-5794008, 86-13039649008 (Mobile),

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/2010/5/27/224368.html