(Minghui.org)
Name: Sun RenzhiChinese Name: 孙仁智Gender: MaleAge: 68City: MianyangProvince: SichuanOccupation: Former credit union directorDate of Death: June 25, 2022Date of Most Recent Arrest: April 9, 2017Most Recent Place of Detention: Jiazhou Prison
While Mr. Sun Renzhi survived three years of relentless torture in prison for practicing Falun Gong, the Mianyang City, Sichuan Province resident suffered declining health due to continued harassment and passed away two years later. Just twelve days before his death, a residential committee director had come to harass him.
Arrests and Latest Prison Sentence
Since the Chinese communist regime began to persecute Falun Gong, an ancient spiritual discipline also known as Falun Dafa, in July 1999, Mr. Sun, a former credit union director, was repeatedly arrested, had his home ransacked and held in brainwashing centers. He was given 1.5 years at Xinhua Forced Labor Camp in 2003 for distributing Falun Gong materials.
His second to last arrest was on December 13, 2016 for talking to people about Falun Gong. Two people refused to listen and reported him to the police. When the police came half an hour later, they attempted to take pictures of Mr. Sun with two copies of Falun Gong materials. He didn’t comply.
The police continued to interrogate Mr. Sun after taking him to the police station. They ransacked his home in the afternoon. He was given 15 days at Anzhou Lockup in the evening.
Mr. Sun’s last arrest was on April 9, 2017, also for talking to people about Falun Gong. The police interrogated him and ransacked his home when no family member was present. No confiscated item list was ever provided.
Although Mr. Sun was released after being denied admission by the Anzhou Detention Center due to high blood pressure, the police still submitted his case to the Anzhou District Procuratorate, which indicted him on June 21, 2017.
Mr. Sun stood trial at the Anzhou District Court on March 27, 2018. A human rights lawyer entered a not guilty plea for him. His nephew, Mr. Sun Houze, also defended his innocence. The judge didn’t announce the verdict at the end of the session. Mr. Sun returned home afterward.
As soon as Mr. Sun went to his nephew’s home on May 15 to help him with farm work, four officers, three of them in plainclothes, showed up and arrested Mr. Sun.
He was kept in custody and sentenced to three years with a 10,000-yuan fine on May 22. He appealed with the Mianyang City Intermediate Court, but it ruled to uphold his original verdict.
Brutal Torture at Jiazhou Prison
Mr. Sun was taken to the Jiazhou Prison on August 9, 2018. Prison instructor Shao Lin and guard Liu tried to make him recite the prison rules several times, but he refused.
Shao took Mr. Sun to a place with no surveillance camera on September 5, 2018, and sprayed spicy water into Mr. Sun’s face. Shao said, “Wait and see how I punish you.”
Yang Xilin in the prison’s “education” department talked to Mr. Sun six times in late March 2019, trying to pressure him to renounce Falun Gong. Mr. Sun refused to comply and he condemned the guards for torturing 70-year-old Mr. Deng Qixing, who was ordered to stand for 12 to 13 hours a day for three days.
An inmate didn’t allow the practitioners he was monitoring to defecate. If they did, they would be forced to stand for long hours as punishment. Mr. Sun spoke up for the practitioners and the inmate later relented.
Before a brainwashing campaign to force all practitioners to renounce Falun Gong started on June 18, 2019, the guards put up banners slandering Falun Gong around the prison. The deputy prison head said to the practitioners, “It will be a long battle in the future to ‘transform’ you. We will strike hard and show no mercy. For those who remain stubborn, you need to recognize the situation and change your mind soon.”
On the night of July 3, 2019, Mr. Sun was deprived of sleep. Two inmates sat by his bed and would wake him up if he closed his eyes. He was also denied the use of the restroom. When Mr. Sun protested by sitting in the hallway, the inmates pinched his thighs. He lost feeling in his legs after being tortured for half an hour. Even some of the inmates were scared by the torture.
The inmates then dragged him to a corner without a surveillance camera and ordered him to squat. He was having trouble maintaining his balance just standing after they’d injured his legs, but the inmates pushed him down into a squat. He couldn’t keep his balance and the inmates had to grab him by his clothes to keep him from falling over.
Mr. Sun protested and said it was wrong for them to beat him. Inmate Kang Yalei poured boiling water over Mr. Sun’s head and down to his neck. Mr. Sun could not bear the pain and fell down.
Torture reenactment: Dousing with boiling water
Mr. Sun’s neck was scalded and huge blisters formed. After two hours, the blisters festered. He didn’t dare to touch his scalp. His neck was burning and he was in unbearable pain. He couldn’t move his legs. He couldn’t get up if he sat down. He could not turn his legs when he slept. It was even more difficult to use the toilet. It was extremely difficult to get up afterwards. So he tried to eat less every day to avoid using the toilet.
Mr. Sun couldn’t file a complaint because the inmates watched him and didn’t let him send any letters.
When Mr. Sun refused to do unpaid labor on July 27, 2019, an inmate reported him to the guard on duty. The guard took Mr. Sun to his office and sprayed pepper water into his eyes. They also reduced his lunchtime to a few seconds. During the following two days, the guards sprayed pepper water in his face three more times. He was not allowed to wash his face afterwards. The skin on his chin festered.
Continued Harassment Following Prison Release
Mr. Sun faced constant harassment by the authorities after he was released.
On August 1, 2020, Xu of the Fucheng District Political and Legal Affairs Committee, Zhang of the Xinzao Town 610 Office and Long Zhengwei of the Domestic Security Office, came to harass him.
Two officers of the Xinzao Police Station and several residential committee directors harassed Mr. Sun again a year later on July 19, 2021 and ordered him to sign a statement to renounce Falun Gong.
Mr. Sun refused to comply, telling them that he didn’t sign such a statement when the prison authorities promised to pay him 2,000 yuan when he was released, so it’s even more impossible for him to sign it now.
Director Tang of the local residential committee went to Mr. Sun’s home one more time on June 13, 2022. After Mr. Sun allowed Tang to come in, Tang attempted to invite the police to come in to take Mr. Sun’s photos. Mr. Sun said he wouldn’t let the police in.
Mr. Sun said to Tang that his freedom of belief is protected by the Constitution and that their frequently coming to his home had interfered with his daily life. Tang repeated the smearing propaganda spread by the communist regime, trying to justify the persecution, even after Mr. Sun told him about the brutal torture he endured in prison, including savage beatings and scalding by boiling water.
When Tang left, Mr. Sun saw police standing outside of his front door. He shut the door tight and they then left.
Mr. Sun was emaciated and very weak when he was released from prison in 2020. Due to the harassment and mental distress from the persecution, his health continued to decline during the next two years. Just twelve days after the harassment by Tang, he passed away at 4 a.m. on June 25. He was 68.
Related reports:
Falun Gong Practitioners Tortured in Jiazhou Prison, Sichuan Province
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