Mr. Zhang Xiangfu Dies As a Result of Torture in the Changlinzi Forced Labour Camp

Mr. Fang Xiangfu was a 33-year-old practitioner from Fangzheng County, Heilongjiang Province. Police arrested and tortured him many times because he practised Falun Gong. In 2002, police from the Fangzheng County Police Department and 610 Office¹ sent him to Changlinzi Forced Labour Camp, where guards tortured him, using over 20 torture methods. As a result, seven ribs and chest bones were broken, his skull was injured and the backs of his hands were scorched. The guards invented a torture to increase his suffering. They shot needles from a homemade gun at practitioners. The needles went deep into the flesh and caused excruciating pain. As a result of the brutal torture, Mr. Zhang died on October 15th, 2005.

Mr. Zhang Xiangfu was an employee of Fangzheng County Coal Mine. He began to practise Falun Gong in 1998, after which he enjoyed good mental and physical health. After July 20th, 1999, the police and County 610 Office harassed him many times and arrested him five times. On October 18th, 1999, Chou Yongsheng, head of the Political Protection Section of Fangzheng County Police Department, broke into Mr. Zhang's home around 8 or 9 p.m. He arrested Mr. Zhang and detained him in the county detention centre for over a year. Mr. Zhang went on hunger strikes many times in protest of his detention. The guards then force-fed him. They forced his mouth open with an instrument before inserting a thick tube into his stomach, injuring his mouth.

In 2001, Mr. Zhang went to Beijing to appeal. On July 1st, 2001, he practised Falun Gong exercises on Tiananmen Square. The police shoved him to the ground, beat his head with batons, stepped on his head, and gagged him, mutilating his head. The persecutors sent him to Tiananmen Police Station and then transferred him to a small building inside the Yanshan District Police Department, where 4 or 5 people in security uniforms beat him for 48 hours. They beat him, slammed his head against the wall, and tore out much of his hair. After the brutal torture, the persecutors transferred him to the No. 2 Detention Centre of Yanshan District Police Department. In the detention centre, the guards used handcuffs to hang him on an iron stockade, with feet shackled. The torture caused excruciating pain. He felt as if his internal organs were all displaced.

In June 2002, police officer Chou Yongsheng (at the time, head of the State Security Team of Fangzheng County) and police staff from the Tiananmen Police Station arrested Mr. Zhang again. They detained him in Fangzheng County Detention Centre for 3 months and then sentenced him to 3 years forced labour. On September 12th, 2002, Mr. Zhang was sent to the Wanjia Forced Labour Camp. Five days later, he was transferred to Changlinzi Forced Labour Camp and detained in The Fifth Brigade (a brigade established specifically for brainwashing Falun Dafa practitioners). Two inmates dragged Mr. Zhang into a room, where they shoved him to the ground and tortured him with the "Pushing, Splitting, and Bending" torture.

Pushing: the practitioner's mouth is sealed with tape. He/she is forced to lie face down with the chest touching the floor. The head is pressed to the floor by a chair with a person sitting on it. The arms are held to the sides, then roughly pushed forward to form a 180 degree arc up over the back and down to the floor in front of the head.

Splitting: splitting the fingers and toes with hard implements.

Bending: bending the practitioner's legs into painful positions.

Mr. Zhang's shoulders, legs, and internal organs were injured, causing great suffering. Then he was dragged to another room, where he was forced to squat on a single brick. If he moved slightly or extended his feet outside the area, the inmates beat his back with a narrow stool.

The guards in the forced labour camp tortured him inhumanly. Seven of his ribs and chest bones were broken, his skull was injured, his leg was broken and the backs of his hands and fingernails were scorched. The guards also hit Mr. Zhang Xiangfu's head with police batons filled with lead, resulting in a bump and his head hurt excruciatingly. Then they shocked his head with electric batons. They forced practitioners to squat until 1:00 a.m. Once, the guards put the electric batons inside Mr. Zhang's clothes and shocked him. Pan, a guard in Brigade No. 5, shocked Mr. Zhang's face with electric batons until he was unrecognisable and fluid ran down his face. Guard Zhao Shuang kicked Mr. Zhang's ears until they bled. Guard Pan also threw a rat on Mr. Zhang's head while the inmates violently struck his head with rubber clubs.

After Mr. Zhang was tortured close to death, the guards sent him to the Wanjia Forced Labour Camp hospital for emergency care, but refused to release him. On June 20th, 2005, Mr. Zhang had served his 3-year term and he was released. However, he was close to death. His family sent him to many hospitals for treatment, yet no one could save him. Mr. Zhang Xiangfu passed away on the morning of October 15th, 2005.

Note

1. "The 610 office" is an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other political and judiciary systems.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.org/mh/articles/2005/10/25/113096.html