Torture

  • Mr. Feng Guangyun, an Elderly Man from Daqing, Passed Away as a Result of Persecution

    Mr. Feng Guangyun, who was persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) because he practised Falun Gong, passed away on February 6th, 2010. In May 2002, Mr. Feng was taken into custody by police, and was detained and persecuted at the Qiqihaer Railroad Detention Centre. Mr. Feng was sentenced to two years in a forced labour camp and sent to the notorious Daqing Forced Labour Camp. After he arrived there, he was physically and verbally abused on a daily basis, and he was also tortured. After leaving the forced labour camp, due to the physical and mental torture, Mr. Feng was extremely weak and became sick leading to his death. He was 73 years old.
  • Mr. Zhang Kunyang, 55, Dies in Sichuan Province

    Mr. Zhang Kunyang worked in the coal mines for many years, and was sick with industrial pneumoconiosis. He started practising Falun Gong when there was no hope for him to survive. Soon after he began practising, his health greatly improved. On May 29th, 2006, police arrested many Falun Gong practitioners, including Mr. Zhang, because many Falun Gong leaflets exposing the persecution had been appearing in Nanjiang County. Mr. Zhang was sentenced to two years of imprisonment, and taken to the Wumaping Prison in Leshan City. He was inhumanly tortured there and forced to sign the statements to renounce practising Falun Gong against his will. The long term brutal mistreatment and harassment caused Mr. Zhang's family to blame him for all these sufferings. Mr. Zhang's silicosis recurred and developed into emphysema, and he died in July 2009.
  • Practitioners Mr. Shan Zhongxiang and Ms. Yan Xiuzhi, from Shuangcheng City, Heilongjiang Province, Died as a Result of the Persecution

    Two Falun Gong practitioners, an elderly man and an elderly woman, died as a result of the extended persecution by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Ms. Yan Xiuzhi was 63 years old when she died. On July 22nd, 1999, just after the CCP began the persecution, Ms. Yan visited the provincial government to appeal for justice for Falun Gong. She also went to Beijing in June and December of 2000 to tell the government that Falun Gong is good, but was arrested. Subsequently, the CCP authorities constantly visited Ms. Yan, harassed and pressured her. She passed away in mid-April of 2003.
  • Ms. Huang Songdong from Pingxiang City, Jiangxi Province Arrested and Her Family Blackmailed

    Ms. Huang Songdong, over 60, was sent to Nanchang Women's Forced Labour Camp for talking to people about Falun Gong. On March 5th, 2010, Ms. Huang was arrested, and she was only released after her son was blackmailed for 20,000 yuan. Ms. Huang was subjected to one and a half years of forced labour on March 11th, and was sent to Nanchang Forced Labour Camp. However, she was rejected for health reasons.
  • 55-Year-Old Ms. Jia Shuhua Dies after Years of Persecution

    Ms. Jia Shuhua passed away on March 25th, 2010 after years of persecution by the police. Ms. Jia, 55, benefited immensely after she started practising Falun Gong in the 1990s. She enjoyed her life, and treated others with kindness. In 2002, Ms. Jia was turned in to the police while telling others about the persecution of Falun Gong. She was taken to the Pingdu City 610 Office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong). She refused to give up her belief in Truthfulness-Benevolence-Forbearance and was sentenced to two years of forced labour. Due to inhumane treatment in the Wangcun Women's Forced Labour Camp, she developed stomach problems. Soon she was in critical condition. In 2006, the police broke into her home, and took her to a brainwashing centre. Ms. Jia's condition continued to deteriorate leading to her recent death.
  • Woman Suspended By Handcuffs For Seven Days at Forced Labour Camp

    In 2008, Ms. Liu Hong was imprisoned for practising Falun Gong. While incarcerated at Wangcun Women's Prison, she was brutally tortured and hung up by handcuffs, with only her toes touching the ground for seven days and nights. As a result, she almost lost the use of her hands. She recounts: "Guards intensified the persecution because I refused to be "transformed." They tightened the handcuffs on my wrists. In a few moments, my fingers swelled and felt like they were about to burst open. It felt as if tens of thousands of needles were pressing into them. It was extremely painful. Cui Hongwen released one handcuff so that I could write the statements to renounce practising Falun Gong. They finally let me down on September 12th, after seven days and nights."
  • Eyewitness Account: Police Shoot at and Violently Arrest Older Practitioner Guo Yumin

    I am a good friend of Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Guo Yumin. On July 9th, 2009, I personally witnessed Mr. Guo Yumin being arrested and shot at by officers from the Tiefeng District Police Department. They forced open the door of Guo's home and beat him savagely. They also beat his wife. Guo escaped the grasp of the police. One officer aimed his gun at him. Guo's daughter jumped on this policeman, disregarding the danger, and cried, "Don't shoot! Don't shoot!" The gunshot was fired but missed the target. Everyone considers Guo a good person. But because of his belief in Falun Gong, he was arrested, shot at, savagely beaten, cruelly tortured, and detained by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials.
  • Yinchuan City: Wife Sentenced to Four Years in Prison, Husband Serving Eight Year Sentence for Practising Falun Gong

    Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Shan Jining was recently sentenced to four years in prison. Her husband, Mr. Wang Desheng, was sentenced to eight years in prison in 2005. On October 17th, 2009, Ms. Shan was reported to the authorities while she was distributing leaflets exposing the persecution and telling people the facts about Falun Gong. After being held at the Yinchuan City Detention Centre for several months, she was secretly sentenced to four years in prison. She is currently detained at Yinchuan City Women's Prison.
  • Ms. Zhang Yuzhen Disabled as a Result of Nine Years of Torture and Imprisonment

    Ms. Zhang Yuzhen was imprisoned for six years and tortured in the Jiangxi Province Women's Prison. As a result, her arms and hands were disabled and deformed. She is unable to completely extend her arms, make a fist, or extend her fingers. Ms. Zhang suffers from wrist drop, also known as radial nerve palsy or Saturday night palsy, a condition where a person cannot extend their wrist and it hangs limply. Her upper limbs hurt all the time, her hands quiver constantly, and she has occasional sharp pains in her chest, neck, and shoulders.
  • Shenyang City: Business Executive Mr. Yu Yang Returned Home after Eight Months of Imprisonment; Six Other Practitioners Successfully Defended in Court by a Team of Ten Lawyers Standing Up for What is Right

    Officials from Tiexi District Domestic Security Division in Shenyang City arrested Mr. Yu Yang on July 14th, 2009. He was subjected to 21 months of forced labour and was covertly taken to Shenxin Forced Labour Camp, where he remained for more than eight months. He went on a hunger strike to protest the persecution and was recently released due to extreme weakness and has returned home. As a result of Mr. Yu's hunger strike in the labour camp, he became so emaciated that he was unrecognisable. Recently he developed severe swelling in his face and legs.
  • Mr. Pan Benyu, Who Saved Six Lives, Tortured and Imprisoned

    Mr. Pan has been repeatedly persecuted because he has refused to give up his Falun Gong practice. Shortly after the persecution started on July 20th, 1999, he was sent to a brainwashing centre for two months and then sentenced to one year of forced labour. He was detained in the Nianzishan Forced Labour Camp in Qiqihar City, where he was beaten almost every day. He was also whipped with a plastic hose, hosed with cold water, burned with cigarettes, and beaten severely, among other tortures.
  • The Persecution of Mr. Li Jingyi, a Falun Gong Practitioner in Dalian City

    Mr. Li Jingyi from Dalian City was sentenced to forced labour in 2000 after he went to Beijing to appeal for the right to practise Falun Gong. Mr. Li was taken to a Dalian forced labour camp. On August 14th, 2003, he was arrested by Zhongshan Division of Dalian Public Security Bureau officials and persecuted in Masanjia Forced Labour Camp. At the time of his release, he was emaciated and on the verge of death. He was arrested again on September 12th, 2007. The Shanghai Community of Qingni Neighbourhood in the Zhongshan Region helped the Zhongshan Division to arrest him, but their attempt to return him to Masanjia Forced Labour Camp failed.
  • Falun Gong Practitioners Persecuted to Death in Zhaoqing City, Guangdong Province

    After Mr. Zhang Yumin began practising Falun Gong, his health problems disappeared. In 1999, after Mr. Zhang's wife went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong, Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials ransacked their apartment. Because the officers found Falun Gong books in the apartment, Mr. Zhang was arrested and sentenced to a forced labour camp for three years. His store was forced to close. His child was also forbidden to go to school and life became extremely difficult. After he was released from the forced labour camp, Mr. Zhang remained under surveillance for a very long time, which caused his family a great deal of anxiety. He began to manifest symptoms of severe illness. Mr. Zhang left passed away on July 2nd, 2007, at the age of only 41.
  • Three Older Women Die as a Result of Persecution

    Ms. Sun Xianfen, 65 years old, was a retired teacher. Practising Falun Gong had restored her to health. After the persecution began, her home was ransacked twice in 2001 and 2002. On May 23rd, 2003 Ms. Sun was arrested by police. She was detained in a detention centre in Anlu City. During her detention she was given food infested with worms. She went on a hunger strike for three days and a guard slapped her face to punish her for her hunger strike. Because she would not write statements to denounce Falun Gong, she was not allowed to sleep. She was taken home on June 23rd, 2003. In 2005 police went to her home and forced her to write statements denouncing Falun Gong. On November 23rd, 2009, she passed away in despair.
  • Lawyers Plead Not Guilty on Behalf of Seven Falun Gong Practitioners in Yingkou City, Liaoning Province

    Bayuquan District Court in Yingkou City, Liaoning Province, brought seven Falun Gong practitioners to trial on March 23rd, 2010. Their lawyers pleaded not guilty on their behalf. Over the next several days the families asked the court to release their detained relatives. The judges said that, although the lawyers had entered a plea of not guilty for each practitioner, the courts had to do things their way and had to press charges. They also said that they had no intention of releasing any Falun Gong practitioners.