Mr. Fan Qingjun Files Lawsuit Against Jidong Prison Guard He Xiaoqiang

Name: Fan Qingjun
Gender: Male
Age: 40
Address: Nanzhang Village, Xiulin Town, Jingxing County, Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province
Occupation: Employee of Hebei Pharmaceutical Factory, Shijiazhuang City

Date of Most Recent Arrest: September 23rd, 2002
Most Recent Place of Detention: Jidong Prison

City: Shijiazhuang
Province: Hebei
Persecution Suffered: Sleep deprivation, brainwashing, beatings, imprisonment, solitary confinement, torture, force-feedings, physical restraint
Key Persecutors: He Xiaoqiang, Dai Guiyou, Li Yinqiang, Zhang Dongqiang, Wang Guocai, Chen Yushan, Zhang Xiusheng, Wang Yanxin, Du Guojun

Mr. Fan Qingjun was sentenced to seven years in prison in October 2003. He has been held at the No. 1 Division in Jidong Prison, Tangshan City, Hebei Province. Seven years of continuous persecution has caused his health to deteriorate. Prior to his imprisonment, he was in excellent health. Recently, Mr. Fan has filed a lawsuit against He Xiaoqiang, a prison guard at Jidong Prison. The following is the main content taken from the indictment:

My name is Fan Qingjun. I am male, 40 years old, from Nanzhang Village, Xiulin Town, Jingxing County, Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province. I was arrested and taken to the Xushui Detention Centre. I was then taken to the No. 1 Division in Jidong Prison on October 16th, 2003, to serve a seven-year prison term.

I am writing to expose the indecent acts of He Xiaoqiang, the political instructor of the No. 9 Team, while I was held in the prison. He Xiaoqiang took advantage of his authority to instigate other inmates to beat, physically penalise, and abuse me on numerous occasions, which seriously violated my personal rights, purposefully damaged my health, and deprived me of rest. In so doing, he was trying to advance his personal goal of promotion.

I am a Falun Gong practitioner. I maintained my innocence for believing in Truthfulness-Benevolence-Forbearance and refused to engage in slave labour. In April 2004, He Xiaoqiang ordered two inmates, Dai Guiyou and Li Yinqiang, who were assigned to monitor me around the clock, and Zhang Dongqiang, a group leader, to forcibly hold me down in a pond where salt was crystallising. I was held in the salty water for an entire day, while the three who held me down wore water-resistant boots. The water was quite cold, as it was April. I developed arthritis, and I experienced frequent lower back and leg pain. At the end of the day, I was not allowed to take a shower. I was kept in a separate room, put in the No. 9 Team for "repentance," and forced to continue wearing the dirty, damp, salt-soaked clothes. I was also not allowed to talk to anyone other than the two inmates assigned to monitor me.

When the weather turned hot in June 2004, He Xiaoqiang ordered inmates Dai Guiyou and Wang Guocai to hold me down on a paved road, facing the scorching sun. I was not allowed to wear a hat or any protection from the sun, and was left exposed for the entire day. As a result, my vision was drastically impaired. I was told by the two inmates assigned to monitor me that if I didn't endure the torture, they themselves would be punished. About a week later, He saw that I still refused to engage in forced labour. This time he ordered the same two inmates plus six others, and group leader Zhang Dongqiang, to rip off my shirt. They held me against a used metal barrel, which had been exposed to the scorching sun the whole day, to burn a large area of my skin. I suffered traumatising pain physically and mentally.

In late June 2004, He Xiaoqiang ordered Dai Guiyou, Chen Yushan, and another thug, Zhang Xiusheng, to take me outside a room in the No. 2 Group which housed half a dozen pumps. Dai and Chen twisted my arms behind my back, while Zhang slapped me in the face about 30 times. Zhang then punched and attacked my legs with his knees about 50 times. He Xiaoqing himself was sitting 100 yards away, enjoying the brutal scene while smoking a cigarette. A dozen inmates in the No. 2 Group were still at work. They peered toward the pump room to see what was going on every now and then. He Xiaoqiang shouted, "Zhang Xiusheng! Zhang Xiusheng!" Zhang immediately took the hint, and he and the two other thugs dragged me into the pump room. The three inmates beat me for over half an hour more. After this torture, He Xiaoqiang and the inmates deprived me of sleep for four days straight. I was made to sit on a plank which was only eight inches long, two inches wide, and four inches thick, around the clock. My eyes became swollen, and had a constant buzzing sound in my ears. I was not able to squat down to defecate.

At night, Wang Yanxin and Du Guojun, who were assigned to monitor me, kept talking to me to prevent me from sleeping. For a long period of time prior to that, He Xiaoqiang didn't allow me to go to sleep until 1:30 a.m. Even after 1:30 a.m. He Xiaoqiang ordered Xi Yanhui and Zhang Dongqiang, who were on duty at night, to poke me every now and then to disrupt my sleep under the pretence that I was talking in my dreams or that they were trying to pull a quilt to properly cover me. I have since suffered functional nervous system imbalances, with symptoms of insomnia, dizziness, headaches, etc.

Under the continuous abuse ordered by He Xiaoqiang, I have endured excruciating physical and mental suffering. I have been having terrible dreams at night which wake me up, and after which I cannot fall back asleep. After seven years in Jidong Prison, I have suffered from severe insomnia, nervous system problems, deterioration of my memory, headaches, buzzing ears, damaged eyesight, plus arthritic symptoms of pain in my back and legs.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2010/10/2/230438.html