(Clearwisdom.net) Falun Dafa practitioner Mr. Pan Benyu from Qiqihar City was illegally arrested in October 1999 for persisting in Dafa practice. He was sentenced to forced labor, and was brutally beaten and tortured. After being released he exposed the guards' crimes of persecuting and murdering Dafa practitioners and was persecuted even more severely as a result. During the 2005 Mid-Autumn Festival, Mr. Pan's son, Pan Yonglie, 15, was arrested and taken to the police department for clarifying the truth about Dafa. Mr. Pan Benyu is currently living away from his home to avoid further persecution. Below is his personal narration of the persecution.
"They poured boiling water and cold water on me and hit me with a bench until it broke."
My name is Pan Benyu. I live in Qiqihar City, Heilongjiang Province. I used to work at the Qiqihar Railroad Sanitation Center. I want to expose the persecution as I experienced it to the United Nations, human rights organizations and international courts.
On October 26, 1999, I was sent to Division 1 at the Nianzishan Forced Labor Camp in the Qiqihar Railroad Bureau. Division head Jiang Baili ordered the inmates to violently kick my chest until I passed out. Then they poured cold water on me. I shivered and could not stand straight. They burned me with cigarettes and hit my head with hard plastic clubs each day until my head became swollen and I could not even count off during roll call. Jiang Baili screamed, "If you follow Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, I'll beat you until you are disabled, you won't get any food, and I'll cuff you to a tree in the summer and feed you to the mosquitoes!"
In September 2000 I appealed to the labor camp and the court about Jiang Baili's atrocities but received no response. In November 2000 I filed charges against Jiang Zemin for his crimes against Dafa practitioners. On November 20, 2000 I was transferred to the Fuyu Forced Labor Camp. Right after I got out of the vehicle, Jia Weijun, the head of Division 4, shocked me with electric batons. He often ordered the inmates to beat me.
In February 2001 the guards beat me for nearly one hour and then hit my head with a bench causing four gaping wounds on my head. The bench was broken and I lost consciousness. They proceeded by pouring boiling water on me.
On March 16, 2001, Dafa practitioners Ma Yong, Li Qi, Guo Dianhui and Li Weiling refused to watch a Dafa-slandering video. Guard Jia Weijun shocked the practitioners with electric batons. I ran out of my cell in the east end of the cell block and stopped him. The inmates pinned me to the floor. Practitioner Wang Baoxian then came out of his cell in the west end and shouted, "I absolutely won't tolerate persecution of Dafa practitioners." Jia Weijun dragged Wang Baoxian to a dark room and shocked him with electric batons for nearly one hour. Later, he extended Wang Baoxian's sentence by six months.
My Detention was Illegally Extended
On June 18, 2001, thirty-two Dafa practitioners demanded their unconditional release. Jia Weijun encouraged six inmates, including Zhang Baoshan, Liu Jianjun and Li Yan to persecute Falun Gong practitioners. Jia Weijun said, "Hit them! If they die, I'll be responsible!" The inmates beat all of the practitioners, including over 60 year-old Yang Licheng. Other practitioners shouted, "Falun Dafa is great" and they stopped the beating.
I told Li, the labor camp political secretary about Jia Weijun's role in the atrocity against Falun Gong practitioners. In response, Li prompted Jia Weijun to forbid Falun Gong practitioners from using the restroom for a whole morning. The practitioners held a hunger strike in protest.
When officials from the city Political and Judiciary Committee and the 610 Office came to the labor camp, I told them about the guards beating Falun Gong practitioners, and about how they transferred six practitioners, Ma Yong, Wang Baoxian, Zhang Xiaochun, Guan Changan, Lan Hongjun and Sun Jianjun to the Fuyu Detention Center and didn't permit restroom use. The labor camp authorities retaliated against me. On July 5, 2001, they announced that I was under criminal arrest and sent me to the Fuyu Detention Center. I did the Falun Gong exercises at the detention center, and guard Chen hauled me outside the cell. He clamped my hands and feet with a torture device called "hand sticks" [these sticks can cause pain and swelling, and long term use can lead to permanent disability]. He whipped my face with a belt until blood ran down my face. I shouted, "Falun Dafa is great." Almost all of the inmates in the twelve cells also shouted, "Falun Dafa is great! No beating allowed!" The guard was shocked.
The deputy head of the Heilongjiang Province Public Procuratorate came to the detention center for an inspection. I said, "Report!" The officials that accompanied him said, "Say that again and you'll be dead!" Practitioner Wang Baoxian also said "report." After the officials left, the guards forced him to carry a big stick on his back, put "hand sticks" on him, gagged him and then savagely beat him.
During my detention I submitted an appeal statement to Zheng, the former chief justice for Fuyu County Court, and to Peng, the deputy head of the Fuyu Public Procuratorate. Later I was informed that my case had reached the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court issued a judicial opinion that I did not fulfill the criteria for detention and should therefore be released. Yet, the 610 Office refused to release me, and instead held me at the Fuyu Detention Center for one year past my term without issuing any official extension of my sentence.
Practitioners Zhang Xiaochun and Wang Baoxian Died Under the Persecution
Practitioner Zhang Xiaochun took the lead in reciting Lunyu on Falun Dafa Day. The perpetrators conspired and issued an arrest warrant. Zhang held a hunger strike to protest the illegally extended detention. During the first five days of his hunger strike he was taken to a hospital where he was force-fed. On the tenth day, Liu, deputy head of the detention center, said, "This detention center does not have money to pay for the force-feeding. If you don't eat, we'll kill you." He asked Zhang Xiaochun whether he would eat, and Zhang Xiaochun said, "No." Liu transferred Zhang Xiaochun from Cell 7 to Cell 5 (they often transfer practitioners after they've arranged for cruel torture). They force-fed Zhang Xiaochun concentrated saline solution. At 9:00 p.m. on June 29, 2002, Zhang Xiaochun died as a result of force-feeding.
On July 12, 2002, we were escorted to the Fuyu Court where an illegal trial was held. The persecutors ordered me to sign the death certificate for Zhang Xiaochun and I refused. Two court security officers struck me to the ground and handcuffed my hands behind my back. They dragged me to the court and illegally tried me. The public prosecutor said, "You committed a crime by shouting 'Falun Dafa is great.'" I said, "I shouted 'Falun Dafa is great' to stop guard Jia Weijun from beating the practitioners to death. They beat a 60-year-old man like a rag doll, and inmate Zhang Baoshan knocked out my tooth. The real criminals are Jia Weijun and Zhang Baoshan. Zhang Baoshan is guilty of assault for knocking out my tooth, so he should be sentenced to between one and three years in prison. I am the victim! I am innocent! All Chinese citizens have the right to appeal for Dafa in Beijing, as the constitution states, and all Chinese citizens have the right to criticize heads of the Party and state. The government officials should not retaliate against those who criticize them. It is a fact that I was illegally sentenced to forced labor. As public prosecutors, you are violating the constitution and the Criminal Law by persecuting me. Where is your conscience?"
Li Guangping, the chief justice, gestured the security officer to stop me from defending myself. Wang Baoxian wrote, "the gravest injustice of 10,000 years," and Li Guangping kicked Wang Baoxian.
On August 1, 2002, I received the verdict, which stated that I was sentenced to four years in prison. I appealed at the Qiqihar City Intermediate Court. On August 15, 2002, my appeal was overruled and the original sentence upheld. Chief justice Guo Yinghua asked me whether I would continue to appeal, and I said I would. Public prosecutor Guan Yimin threatened me, "If you appeal again, we'll have you beaten to death at the Beian Prison."
Wang Baoxian wrote in his appeal statement how he was beaten at the detention center. Liu, deputy head of the detention center, was exasperated. He transferred Wang Baoxian from Cell 7 to Cell 6 and brutally beat him until Wang Baoxian's liver, spleen and kidneys were injured. On August 18, 2002, Wang Baoxian was beaten to death.
Wang, the procurator at the detention center, bore false witness for Lin Guotao, one of the inmates who beat Wang Baoxian to death. He said Lin Guotao did not beat Wang Baoxian, although he was one of the main perpetrators who beat Wang Baoxian to death. Wang Baoxian once told his wife that the injuries on his eyes were the result of beatings at the hands of Lin Guotao.
Six practitioners I knew personally died from torture and beating. Zhang Xiaochun and Wang Baoxian died at the Fuyu Detention Center, and Liu Xiaodong died at the Fuyu Reeducation Division.
Continuing to Appeal - Solitary Confinement Cell
On December 25, 2002, I was writing an appeal statement at the Beian Prison when an inmate hit my head, causing bleeding. Deputy division head Zhang Tongxin snatched the draft from me. After my repeated requests they gave me a copy of the original document.
In March 2003 I gave the appeal statement to the prison authorities and asked them to submit it to the court. On April 25, 2003, I asked the guards whether the court has responded to my appeal and they said, "No! What's the hurry?" I said, "The Communist Party murdered two Falun Gong practitioners. Certainly people in the Party are afraid that I would sue the perpetrators, so they blocked the information and locked me away at Beian Prison so I can't file a lawsuit. Which government in the world is capable of such a nefarious deed? Only the Chinese Communist Party!" Zhang Tongxin heard my words and detained me in solitary confinement, the condition of which is worse than the other cells.
After I returned to my cell I said to the division head and Wang Guoliang, the group political head, "I gave my appeal statement to you guys four months ago, how come I have not heard anything from the court?" They said they didn't submit it for me. I said, "What right do you have to withhold my appeal statement? The constitution, the Criminal Law and the Prison Law all state that Chinese citizens have the right to appeal. The judicial Party officials persecuted Dafa practitioners to death; they are afraid of the truth being exposed, so they blocked the information and sentenced me to four years in prison. I have been wronged! Instead of submitting my appeal for me, you withheld it. According to ancient Chinese laws, you have committed a major crime and should be executed. You deceived the ruler of the country by withholding information from him, and you are persecuting me, an innocent person. According to current laws, you are shielding murderers and should be sentenced to prison."
I continued to appeal and I wrote a criminal indictment charging Jiang Zemin with the persecution of Falun Gong. Zhang Tongxin again locked me in solitary confinement. While being held in the solitary confinement cell I asked to meet with officials from the Heilongjiang Province High Court, but the prison authorities refused.
They detained me in solitary confinement because I appealed and filed charges against Jiang Zemin. Practitioner Zhou Yanjun from Division 3 also filed charges against Jiang Zemin. He was isolated. Practitioners Zhao Changhai and Feng Zhisheng in Division 7 were sent to solitary confinement for filing lawsuits against Jiang Zemin. Because we exposed Jiang Zemin's crimes at the prison, the prison authorities encouraged the inmates to persecute Dafa practitioners. They ordered the inmates to take turns monitoring Dafa practitioners and to not allow us to sleep. Practitioners Zhao Changhai and Feng Zhisheng were not allowed to sleep for eight days and eight nights. The inmates hit them every time they nodded off. Inmate Bai Fulin shouted, "Stop hitting 'Falun Gong,' don't kill them!" The guards locked Bai Fulin in solitary confinement and canceled his chance for an 11-month sentence reduction. Bai Fulin said, "So this is the people's government? They lock people who try to stop beating in solitary confinement while those who are doing the beating are free outside the law."
Zhang Tongxin arranged for five inmates to monitor me and not let me sleep. The inmates knew that I was a good person, so they stood and watched out for me instead of torturing me. Zhang Tongxin personally came to me and tried to take me to the solitary confinement cell. I refused to go and he dragged me. I shouted, "Falun Dafa is great!" Zhang Tongxin said he would torture me to death in solitary confinement. He didn't give me any bedding or quilt and shackled me to a ring fixed on the floor for about one month. The guards brought a guarantee statement and ordered me to sign it. I refused. They handcuffed my hands behind my back and cuffed them to another ring on the floor, so I could neither sit nor lie down. They used the smallest "hand stick" on me. My hands swelled severely within two hours. I held a hunger strike and vomited blood. I asked them to take the hand stick off. The guards said they would not remove it unless I signed the guarantee statement. I firmly refused to cooperate with them.
When will good people stop suffering?
Officials from the Provincial Judicial Department came to the prison to inspect the work. They came to the solitary confinement and I shouted, "Government officials murdered Dafa practitioners. They were afraid of their crimes being exposed, so they covered up the truth and sentenced me to four years in prison. They detained me in solitary confinement for appealing! They are using torture devices on me and they want to kill me!" I shouted for more than 20 minutes. They ignored me.
Because I told the Provincial Inspection Team the truth, the prison authorities retaliated against all Falun Gong practitioners held in solitary confinement cells. About eight of us were each given only two bowls of rice soup a day, with a spoonful of rice in a bowl of water. I was so hungry that I saw the white wall turn pink and often passed out from hunger. I told secretary Feng that I urinated blood from being so cold and not having any bedding or quilt. He answered, "Who are you trying to impress? If you urinated blood, drink it yourself." I said I vomited blood from a long-term hunger strike. He answered, "You deserve it!" I asked that the torture devices be removed so that I could use the restroom. He told me to relieve myself in my pants. I said to him, "I've never treated you wrong! Why are you so vicious toward me?" He answered, "Why would we lock you up if we didn't want to teach you a lesson?"
My bicep muscles ulcerated because the blood circulation was cut off. Small pieces of flesh budded from the joints, and the pain was excruciating. Time went by one minute at a time. I was locked in solitary confinement for more than seventy days.
My moral character improved after I studied Dafa. I offered several people salvation and turned in money I had picked up in the streets. Yet I was fired, lost my personal freedom, and was beaten and tortured. My wife divorced me, my parent(s) are hospitalized, and my 15-year-old son Pan Yonglie was abducted and sent to the police department when he was clarifying the truth during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Even now, the police are still pursuing me, and I'm forced to move from place to place.
Dafa practitioner Pan Benyu
September 19, 2005
Names of perpetrators
Jiang Baili: Qiqihar Railroad Forced Labor Camp
Beian Prison: Liu Youtang, Tan Zhonghua, Zhang Tongxin
The above perpetrators are extremely malicious toward Dafa practitioners
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