Mr. Bai Sanyuan in Serious Condition in Lanzhou Prison

Name: Bai Sanyuan
Gender: Male
Age: 47
Address: Jinxia Village, Pingbao Township, Jingyuan County, Baiyin City, Gansu Province
Occupation: Farmer
Date of Most Recent Arrest: May 16th, 2010
Most Recent Place of Detention: Lanzhou Prison
City: Lanzhou
Province: Gansu
Persecution Suffered: Sleep deprivation, imprisonment, torture, force-feedings, physical restraint, home ransacked, interrogation, detention

Mr. Bai Sanyuan is incarcerated in the Sixth Ward of Lanzhou Prison. On July 4th, 2011, doctors issued a notice to his family stating that his health was not good and that he had been diagnosed with severe malnutrition and obstructive jaundice.

After graduating from high school, Mr. Bai stayed home and farmed. He earned several honorary technical certificates from the provincial and municipal agricultural research department and was one of the first to earn a technical agricultural certificate in Pingbao Township. He is upright, warmhearted, and helpful.
Since July 20th, 1999, he has been persecuted and harassed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). At the detention centre, he had to endure all kinds of torture and barely survived. At one point, he had no sensation in his limbs, his arms and hands were stiff, and he could only slightly move his little finger. He was so thin that you could see the bones under the skin. In 2004, he was released and sent home, where he was continually harassed by the CCP.

At 5:00 p.m. on April 22nd, 2008, while Mr. Bai was out, the Jingyuan County Public Security Department deputy director, Zhang Mingrui; Domestic Security Department Captain Pan Qianrui; and several others broke into Mr. Bai's house. They knocked Mrs. Bai to the ground, handcuffed her, and pushed her into another room. They ransacked the house and took the couple's laptop computer, television receivers, and Falun Gong books. The next morning before dawn, the police came again and conducted another search of every room. The third day, they surrounded the orchards in Nanping and stepped all over the neighbour's flax plants and ruined them. Mr. Bai had no choice but to leave home.

On May 16th, 2010, Jingyuan County Public Security Department Deputy Director Zhang Mingrui and Domestic Security Department Captain Pan Qianrui led police officers to Mr. Bai's home. He was arrested and taken to the Jingyuan County Detention Centre. Mr. Bai was forced to sit on the tiger bench¹ twice. The first time was for two days and nights, and the second time was for eight days and nights. Consequently, his legs atrophied and became paralysed. The person in charge of torturing him was Zhang Hongzhong.

On July 12th, 2010, Mr. Bai was sentenced to six years in prison. He was taken to the Sixth Ward of Lanzhou Prison to be tortured, including force-feeding. From November 2010 to January 2011, Mr. Bai was on a hunger strike. His left leg did not function properly, and the guards made him sit on a stool for nearly 15 hours a day to conduct “talks” with him and ordered other prisoners to closely monitor him.

In December, Mrs. Bai's family received a phone call from the prison officials saying they were allowed to visit and could bring food to Mr. Bai. On February 14th, 2011, Mrs. Bai and other relatives went to visit him at the prison. They entered the visiting room on the third floor. However, the ward instructor, Liang Xiaojun only allowed Mrs. Bai and not the other two relatives to see him. They were not allowed to give him food, otherwise Mrs. Bai could not see him, either. When the relatives asked which law Falun Gong violated, Liang threatened to arrest them.

The prison inmates carried Mr. Bai, who looked sombre, and his face was swollen and pale. He talked casually with his wife and asked her to give him some money. When his relatives asked for permission to give him the food they brought from home, Liang said that the prisoners ate well and were offered meat during the Chinese New Year. Liang added that Mr. Bai's son could visit him next time, as long as the son did not upset Mr. Bai. Since the relatives were not allowed to leave the food with Mr. Bai, they left the prison guards 200 yuan² for Mr. Bai.

On May 31st, Mr. Bai was hospitalised because he had anaemia, gallstones, and obstructive jaundice. On June 22nd, Sixth Ward Captain He Qin and others went to Mr. Bai's home. He asked the family to sign a permission to perform surgery, but the family refused. On July 4th, the prison hospital sent out a memo stating that Mr. Bai was in serious condition. Township Judicial Director Zhang Guowang and Township People's Congress Chairman Liang Xizhong went to Mr. Bai's house and asked the relatives to “cooperate” and visit Mr. Bai at the prison.

On July 5th, his family saw him lying on a prison bed. He looked emaciated, yellow, and thin. The prison authorities repeatedly asked his family to sign a permission to do surgery. His family members, however, did not sign it and wanted to take him home. His relatives wanted the prison authorities to be held accountable and to compensate them fairly. The officials claimed that there was no legal basis for their claim and refused to consider their request. The prison officials finally agreed to release Mr. Bai on medical parole, but stated that the family had to assume all responsibility for the consequences. The grieving family refused to accept the prison's unreasonable demands.

Lanzhou Prison, Gansu Province: No 298, Focida Street, Lanzhou City, Tel no: 86-931-8364911, ext.-2015
Lanzhou Prison mailing address: P.O. Box 730046, No 28, Dashaping, Lanzhou City， zip code 730000
Yang Wancheng, head of Lanzhou Prison
Mou Jianfeng, commander of the Sixth Ward of Lanzhou Prison
Next in command at Sixth Ward of Lanzhou Prison: Wang Wei, Li Hua, Yan Hua, He Qin, Yang Jianjun
Liang Xiaojun, instructor

Earlier reports:

http://www.clearwisdom.net/html/articles/2010/8/30/119717.html
http://www.clearwisdom.net/html/articles/2010/8/19/119355.html
http://www.clearwisdom.net/html/articles/2010/7/22/118747.html
http://www.clearwisdom.net/html/articles/2010/7/14/118562.html
http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2003/10/17/41369.html

Note

1. "Tiger Bench": Prisoners are forced to sit on a small iron bench that is approximately 20 cm (6 inches) tall with their knees tied together. With their hands tied behind their backs or sometimes placed on their knees, they are forced to sit straight up and look straight ahead without movement for long periods of time.

2. "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/2011/7/8/243584.html