Three Falun Gong Practitioners Died As a Result of Persecution and Torture in Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province

The following is information on three Falun Gong practitioners who died as a result of brutal persecution and torture in labour camps and prisons in Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province within the past few years. The practitioners are Mr. Chen Pangen, Mr. You Xinggen, and Ms. Xu Jianping.

Mr. Chen Pangen, 68, was from the No. 3 Division of Xinghuo Village, Hengtang Township, Suzhou. He graduated from Tsinghua University in Beijing. Mr. Chen started practising Falun Gong in 1997. He taught at the Suzhou Professional University. In June 2002, officers from the Canglang District Domestic Security Division and the Hengtang Police Station took him to the Suzhou Detention Centre. The Canglang District 610 Office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong) subsequently sentenced him to two years of forced labour. He was held at the Fangqiang Forced Labour Camp in Jiangsu Province.

In the Fangqiang Labour Camp, Mr. Chen refused to be “transformed” [forcibly renounce Falun Gong]. Zhang Liansheng and many other labour camp guards participated in persecuting him. They held him in the Strict Supervision Team, and took him to brainwashing sessions alone during the day. They continued the abuse at night. On October 1st, 2003, the labour camp authorities escalated the brainwashing to coerce practitioners to give up their belief. They beat and cursed Mr. Chen and Mr. Hu Chunqing, a graduate student from the Suzhou Bridge Design Institute, every day. At night, they stripped Mr. Chen and Mr. Hu down to their briefs, and poured 16 buckets of cold water on them non-stop.

Mr. Chen Pangen remained steadfast in his belief in Falun Gong's principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance through more than a year of forced labour and torture. In November 2003, he was tortured to the brink of death. Afraid to be held responsible for torturing Mr. Chen to death, labour camp officials asked officials from the local 610 Office to take him home. Mr. Chen died in May 2004.

Mr. You Xinggen, 62, was from Dongzhu Township, Wuzhong District, Suzhou. He started practising Falun Gong in 1997. In December 1999, the Wuzhong police arrested him. They took him to the Fangqiang Forced Labour Labour to serve a one-year term. In early 2000, he was shocked with multiple electric batons in the No. 3 Division by labour camp guards for over half a day. His body was severely injured. After his release, the police arrested him again in 2001. Mr. You was sentenced to three years in prison and endured severe torture in the prison. After his prison term ended, there were changes that took place in his family, which resulted in his loss of income and support. Mr. You passed away in the spring of 2005.

Ms. Xu Jianping, 58, was an employee of the Suzhou Semiconductor Factory. She started practising Falun Gong in 1998. Because of her steadfast belief in Falun Gong, she was arrested in 2005 and was sentenced to one year of forced labour. She suffered severe torture in the labour camp. After she was released, she did not recover from her injuries. She had a hard time breathing and her body was swollen. Ms. Xu passed away in September 2009.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2011/4/4/238540.html