Mr. Cao Dong Still Detained in Prison Beyond His Sentence

When Ms. Yang Xiaojing sent the Vice President of the European Union, Mr. Edward McMillan-Scott, her favourite wedding photo taken with her husband Mr. Cao Dong, in an attempt to rescue her arrested and detained husband, she herself was constantly being threatened by the Chinese Communist Party's 610 Office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong). Afterwards, for over a year, Ms. Yang went everywhere, from Beijing to northwest China, appealing for her husband until she developed cancer. She passed away on October 1st, 2009, and died without seeing her husband again. Now her husband is still detained in Gansu's Tianshui Prison. He has been held beyond his prison term.

Mr. Cao and Ms. Yang married on October 12th, 2000. Nine days later, on the night of October 20th, Mr. Cao was arrested because he practises Falun Gong. In the subsequent nine years, the couple was repeatedly arrested and sent to forced labour camps. During those nine years, they spent less than a month together. Ms. Yang was sent to forced labour camps twice. Mr. Cao was imprisoned twice, once for four years and later, for five years.

Mr. Cao graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University. He specialised in French and worked in a tourist agency in Beijing. On May 21st, 2006, in order to rescue his wife who was detained in Beijing Women's Prison, he met with Mr. Edward McMillan-Scott. He told Mr. McMillan-Scott about the brutal persecution that he and his wife, as well as other Falun Gong practitioners, were being subjected to.

Just two hours after he parted from Mr. Scott, Cao Dong was arrested by police from the State Security Bureau. He was secretly detained in Beijing for more than three months. For over a month, he was handcuffed to a chair every day for as long as over ten hour. Mr. Cao was also subjected to sleep deprivation for six consecutive days and nights. Seven to eight people took turns constantly threatening him, and injured his left eye. Due to the torture, he developed hallucinations, vomited, and passed a lot of blood every day. He became extremely weak. In addition this continual abuse, he was forced to watch shows slandering Falun Gong.

During his imprisonment in Tianshui Prison, Mr. Cao was subjected to even more brutal torture, mentally and physically. Consequently, he suffered from an intestinal disorder and often passed blood. He was in so much pain that he could not sleep at night. Furthermore, he was constantly locked up in a cold, damp room and not allowed to go out. Thus, for long periods of time, he did not see the sun and his hair started to fall out in large clumps, his vision deteriorated, and his eyes often hurt and swelled. Due to the torture, his teeth became loose, he was very weak, and he walked hunched over. His reflexes were slow and he obviously suffered from memory loss.

On October 1st, 2009, at 6 a.m., Ms. Yang Xiaojing passed away, her death a result of persecution and long periods of harassment and threats. While she was dying, her family repeatedly asked the Tianshui Prison authorities to allow Mr. Cao to see his wife for the last time, but these requests were turned down. After Ms. Yang passed away, her parents went to visit Cao Dong and brought him her ashes. They were roughly turned away by prison officials. Mr. Cao asked to see his wife's ashes, but his request was also turned down.

Later, the prison stepped up its persecution of Mr. Cao. He was locked in a room with all the windows securely sealed shut. No one was allowed to have any contact with him. For five months beginning in December 2010, his family did not receive any phone calls or letters from him. His family sent him money for three months but is unsure if he received any of it.

According to a report on the Minghui/Clearwisdom website, Mr. Cao's five-year prison sentence was due to end soon. It was said that he has been severely tortured and has been reduced to skin and bones.
Yet in May this year, Mr. Cao was not released as he should have been. The reason given for his extended sentence was that his detention in Beijing from May 21st to September 27th, 2006, was not counted as part of his prison sentence. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) now claims his sentence started when he was transferred from Beijing to Gansu. If that is the case, then will Mr. Cao be released on September 28th, which is soon approaching?

Appendix:

More and more government organisations and non-governmental organisations, as well as those who support justice from around the world, are censuring the Communist regime's brutal persecution of Falun Gong. Vice President of the EU Mr. Edward McMillan-Scott has consistently criticised the regime's persecution of Mr. Cao on many occasions. Mr. McMillan-Scott has also repeatedly requested the unconditional release of Mr. Cao.

Regarding his trip to China, Mr. McMillan-Scott made the following statement: “My conclusions are that the Chinese regime remains brutal, arbitrary and paranoid but that the innate intelligence and self-discipline of the Chinese, led by a developing civil society and emerging rule of law, must lead to a democratic future.” (http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2006/6/6/74188.html)

Mr. McMillan-Scott made a speech at the “Torture Means Terror” activities organised by Amnesty International to commemorate World Anti-torture Day on June 26th, 2008. He said, “We know that in China, torture is used extensively and this must be stopped. Two years ago, I came into contact with China's prisoners of conscience and human rights activists. They were subsequently arrested and detained by Beijing authorities. At least three of them were tortured, particularly Cao Dong, a young man, who is currently imprisoned in Northern China. He has been tortured.”

At the “Silent Genocide” press conference held in London's Foreign Press Association, Mr. McMillan-Scott said, “... the Chinese Communist totalitarian regime has persecuted Falun Gong, this innocent and kind group, for ten years. I think it is time to put the Chinese Communist regime on trial for genocide.”
England's Prime Minister David Cameron visited China on November 9th and 10th, 2010. Before his trip, Mr. McMillan-Scott wrote him a letter on November 8th, urging him to raise the persecution of Falun Gong with the Chinese authorities.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2011/9/10/246460.html