Mr. Wu Songgang, an Engineer from Xi’an, Tortured to Death in Brainwashing Centre

Name: Wu Songgang
Gender: Male
Age: In his 50s
Address: Unknown
Occupation: Engineer of the Xi'an High Voltage Apparatus Research Institute
Date of Death: September 10th, 2011
Date of Most Recent Arrest: August 2011
Most Recent Place of Detention: Xuanpingyuan Brainwashing Centre
City: Xi'an
Province: Shaanxi
Persecution Suffered: Unknown

Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Wu Songgang went missing at the end of August 2011. A recent news report stated that he was tortured to death on September 10th, 2011 at the Xuanpingyuan Brainwashing Centre.

On August 26th, Mr. Wu was arrested and taken to the Xuanpingyuan Brainwashing Centre (also called the Shaanxi Province Legal Education Base), located at a remote village house in the northern suburbs of Xi'an City. As he refused to cooperate with the brainwashing efforts, he was targeted for “enhanced transformation” [forcibly renounce Falun Gong] and was beaten.

The brainwashing centre did not operate as usual on September 10th. The personnel locked up all detained practitioners in their rooms and closed all the doors and windows of the centre. However, even that could not stop the noise of Mr. Wu being beaten from being heard. It quietened down after a while, and Mr. Wu was killed that same day.

Mr. Wu was an engineer of the Xi'an High Voltage Apparatus Research Institute. He was thin and weak and frequently ill prior to practising Falun Gong. He started practising Falun Gong in 1997 and all his illnesses disappeared. He became a new person and was full of energy. Because of his own extraordinary experiences with Falun Gong, he believed in Falun Gong and followed the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. His colleagues witnessed the wonderfulness of Falun Gong through him.

After the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) started the suppression of Falun Gong on July 20th, 1999, Mr. Wu went to Beijing to appeal for the right to practise. When he returned, his superiors suspended his duties and wages.

The personnel from the 610 Office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong) and his superiors kept harassing him over the years. They even threatened his wife that she might be dismissed from her job. His wife had to divorce him in 2002, even though she was sick. It brought tremendous harm to their daughter. His wife's symptoms kept getting worse and she was diagnosed with cancer. She couldn't take care of herself. Mr. Wu moved back to take care of her and their daughter. His wife passed away in 2011. Mr. Wu had no stable income over the years. He overcame all sorts of difficulties to take care of his wife and pay for their daughter's college tuition.

In March 2003, Mr. Wu was arrested for distributing Falun Gong pamphlets. He explained the facts about Falun Gong to the officers and started a hunger strike to protest the arrest and was held in Ankang Hospital for a month.

In August 2011, Mr. Wu was arrested and taken to the brainwashing centre. He was tortured to death on September 10th. It was alleged that the brainwashing centre personnel attempted to create false appearances that Mr. Wu hanged himself with a red cloth. They had to give up the attempt as there were injuries on his body and the black marks on his neck did not look natural. The 610 Office paid Mr. Wu's family 280,000 yuan (~ 44,268 USD) as hush money. In the meantime, to the other detained practitioners, the authorities lied and said Mr. Wu had been “transformed” and released.

The brainwashing centre forced practitioners to watch videos and read books that slandered Falun Gong. They locked practitioners in their rooms for long periods of time. They deprived them of sleep and forced them to stand. They also beat the practitioners. Sometimes, Li Liang, head of the brainwashing centre, led several officers, and ordered the TV to be turned to its maximum volume, then they beat, swore at, threatened, and physically abused the practitioners.

Mr. Wu's family refused to meet with any practitioners due to the pressure from the CCP. We hope people who have any inside information can help disclose the details of Mr. Wu's death.

Those involved in the persecution of Mr. Wu:
Li Liang, head of the Xuanpingyuan Brainwashing Centre: +86-13379269275 (Mobile)
Xuanpingyuan Brainwashing Centre duty room: +86-29-87258833

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2012/3/10/254055.html