Mr. Chi Yaocai and Other Practitioners in Critical Condition at the Chaoyanggou Forced Labour Camp

Officials at the Chaoyanggou Forced Labour Camp have intensified the persecution of Mr. Chi Yaocai and other Falun Gong practitioners since January 2012. Many practitioners have been confined in solitary cells, shocked with electric batons, beaten, and had their terms extended. Mr. Chi Yaocai has symptoms of high blood pressure and his life is in danger. At least three other practitioners have been persecuted to the verge of death.

Mr. Chi Yaocai, in his fifties, was an employee of the Tumen City Shixian Paper Mill. He is a kind person who had gained the respect of his coworkers.

On September 2nd, 2011, officers from the Tumen City Domestic Security Division and the local police station arrested Mr. Chi. They arrived with many vehicles, including a firetruck with a ladder. They confiscated many of Mr. Chi's personal belongings from his storage room, including a broken satellite dish. The police claimed that the satellite dish was for receiving broadcasts from New Tang Dynasty TV, and used it as a pretext to arrest him. They also used the dish as “evidence” to persecute two other practitioners.

Mr. Chi was interrogated for 24 hours and then sent to the Anshan Detention Centre. During his detention, he held a hunger strike to protest the illegal detention. He was soon transferred to the Chaoyanggou Forced Labour Camp.

In January 2012, after the Chinese New Year, the guards began to persecute Falun Gong practitioners more intensively. Many practitioners were confined in solitary cells, shocked with electric batons, beaten, or their terms were extended. Practitioners in the First and Third Division were subjected to varying degrees of intensified persecution.

From January 25th to February 7th, 2012, practitioners in the Third Division, including Mr. Chi Yaocai, Mr. Zhu Ruibang, Mr. Ma Guohua, Mr. Feng Chen, Mr. Liu Guochen, and Mr. Du Guolin, protested their incarceration by refusing to wear the labour camp uniforms. Camp officials from the Third Division, including chief Gao Jianhui, instructor Liu Xiaoyu, deputy director Zhang Wei, guards Ji Wenquan, Fan Shenglu and Sun (given name unknown), retaliated by brutally persecuting them.

Mr. Feng Chen was shocked with electric batons on February 7th, 2012, and was subsequently unable to walk normally. On February 7th-9th, Mr. Zhu Ruibang was confined to a solitary cell and shocked with electric batons for more than five hours. Mr. Chi Yaocai was slapped more than 20 times, causing his face become swollen. The next day he had symptoms of high blood pressure.

Camp officials sent Mr. Chi for a physical examination which confirmed his high blood pressure. His family requested medical parole but the camp officials refused the request. Mr. Chi's family received a phone call from the labour camp on March 30th, 2012 to discuss his medical parole. When his family arrived at the labor camp, they were ordered to pay for his medical expenses and Mr. Chi was sent to the labour camp hospital for treatment. They said that he would be considered for medical parole after the treatment, only with the permission of officials from the local residential committee and the local police station. Although the labour camp officials would not guarantee it, Mr. Chi's family insisted on his release on medical parole.

Mr. Jia Lizhu from the First Division was tortured under orders of the prison officials, and his blood pressure rose to over 200. He was subsequently unable to walk unaided, but the labour camp officials refused to release him. Mr. Ma Guohua from the Third Division was abused until he had symptoms of heart disease and was unable to walk or eat.

A History of Persecution in the Chaoyanggou Forced Labour Camp

1. Mr. Zhang Quanfu and His Son Both Persecuted to Death Within Ten Days

Mr. Zhang Quanfu from Jiangyuan County, Jilin Province was persecuted to death at the age of 65 in the Chaoyang Forced Labour Camp on January 8th, 2003. Ten days later, his son, Mr. Zhang Qifa, also lost his life at the age of 38 in the same labour camp.

Mr. Zhang Quanfu and Mr. Zhang Qifa were both employees of the Jiangyuan County Forest Bureau. In February 2000, they went to Beijing to appeal to the government and explain the facts about Falun Gong. For this they were sentenced to eighteen months and two years of imprisonment, respectively, and were detained and persecuted in the Baishan City Forced Labour Camp. On the evening of March 6th, 2002, 14 days after Mr. Zhang Qifa was released from the forced labour camp, the police took him and his father away again and put them in the Changchun Chaoyanggou Forced Labour Camp, where they died as a result of severe brutality. The day before Mr. Zhang died, guard Li Zhong cruelly beat him and handcuffed him to a bed rail, in a position that left him unable to stand, squat, or sit down.

2. Mr. Sun Xianming Passes Away after Twice Being Sentenced to Forced Labour

Mr. Sun Xianming, 59, was a practitioner from Dongchang District, Tonghua City, Jilin Province. He had been sentenced to forced labour twice. During his unjust incarceration in the Chaoyanggou Forced Labour Camp, his arms were broken from the torture of being hung from a bunk bed while being shocked with several electric batons simultaneously. Not only did he not receive medical treatment for his broken arms and severe chest burns, he was forced to pick corn stalks in the cornfield all day, which caused severe swelling in his arms. His pain continued into the evening, when he was forced to sit on a small backless stool until midnight, and then again at 2:00 a.m. The guards also incited the criminal inmates to pummel and kick Mr. Sun, as well as force him to stand with his upper body bent at a 90-degree angle. During the winter months, he was forced to sit at the entrance of the camp, where he suffered from exposure to the cold and wind, while cold water was poured over him. Mr. Sun was later carried back to the camp, where he continued to suffer from the cold and wind that came through the open windows.

After nearly a year of this ongoing torture, Mr. Sun developed a serious case of tuberculosis. He experienced severe weight loss and was near the point of collapse. He requested to see his family one last time. Those in charge also believed that he would not live much longer, so they released him on bail. When Mr. Sun 's wife arrived at the Chaoyanggou Labour Camp to take him home, she did not recognise her own husband.

After returning home, Mr. Sun Xianming had x-rays taken at the city hospital. The results revealed that one arm had been broken with a 90-degree dislocation. He underwent surgery at the city hospital, but lost the use of his arm. To avoid further harassment and persecution, Mr. Sun left home and lived in exile. He passed away on May 30th, 2011.

3. Mr. Wang Guiming Persecuted to Death and His Wife Threatened

Mr. Wang Guiming, a Falun Gong practitioner from Tonghua City, Jilin Province, was arrested and sent to the Chaoyanggou Forced Labour Camp in Changchun City on February 13th, 2008. On February 29th, 2008, at the age of 38, he died as a result of torture in the labour camp. The camp officials admitted that Mr. Wang was force-fed, but emphasised that he did not die from the forced-feeding.

His wife, Han Fengxia, appealed on behalf of her husband. As a result, the Chinese Communist Party authorities from the police station and the street and community administration offices have threatened her many times. She is now too frightened to return home.