Brother and Sister Hung by Their Wrists and Beaten; Brother Dies from Torture, Abuse

NEW YORK (FDI) — Mr. Hongping Chen, a Falun Gong practitioner from Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province died last month after a year and a half of torture and abuse.

On June 10, 2001, Mr. Chen and his sister were arrested at the Donghuayuan Bus Station in Huailai County because they were openly discussing Falun Gong in public. The director and nine policemen of the Donghuayuan Police Station made the arrest.

According to sources familiar with the case, the police took the siblings to an outdoor “yard”. The police hung them both up by their wrists and then proceeded to beat them severely. These sources say that Mr. Chen was beaten until he spat up blood; his entire body was black and blue, and both his legs were broken.

After the beatings, the police sent Mr. Chen to the Huailai Detention Center.

The next day, the director of the Beixinpu Town Police Station, Liu Yufeng, told Mr. Chen he would be sent home. However instead, Mr Chen was taken directly to the Gaoyang Labor Camp in Hebei Province, without any legal procedure.

It is not yet clear what happened to Mr. Chen’s sister.

At Gaoyang Labor Camp, the police and inmates continued to torture and abuse Mr. Chen because he refused to give up his beliefs in Falun Gong. He was also forced to continually watch anti-Falun Gong propaganda.

After one and a half years inside the labor camp, Mr. Chen was on the verge of death.

On January 29, 2003, the officials at Gaoyang Labor Camp sent Mr. Chen to the local hospital where he was diagnosed with a number of serious conditions. Gaoyang Labor Camp officials ordered a policewoman to send him home the same night, in an apparent attempt to avoid responsibility for his death.

Mr. Chen never recovered from his injuries and died on March 5, 2003.

Contact information of responsible parties:

Huailai County Police Department 
Address: Shacheng Town 
Phone: 86-313-6223655

Donghuayuan Police Station 
Phone: 86-313- 6855745 
Director Office: 86-13903134350

Gaoyang Labor Camp 
Switch board: 86-312-6816458 
Reception Desk: 86-312-6816141 
Team Office: 86-312-6815245

Yang Zemin (captain of Team Five): 86-13603286301 (cell) 
Female Team: 86-312-6816141 
Policewoman: Ma Li 
Beixinpu Town Police Station: 
Phone: 86-313-6222979, 86-313-6841011