Investigative Report on the Persecution of Falun Gong by Zhang Deqing
Full Name of Perpetrator: Zhang (last name) Deqing (first name) (张德清)
Gender: Male
Country: China
Date of Birth: July 26, 1953
China ID Number: 220121195307260239
Title or Position:
2001 – 2008: Director of Domestic Security and Protection Brigade under the Yushu City, Jilin Province Public Security Bureau. Previously Chief of the Zhengyang Police Station.
Present: Manager of the Yushu Armed Security Services, Ltd.[1]
Zhang Deqing Committed Particularly Severe Violations of Religious Freedom against Falun Gong
During Zhang Deqing’s tenure as Communist Party Political instructor, Director of the Zhengyang Police Station, and subsequently, Director of Domestic Security and Protection Brigade under the Yushu City Public Security Bureau, he actively implemented Jiang Zemin’s policy of persecuting Falun Gong. He brutally persecuted local Falun Gong practitioners and became an enforcer for the Chinese Communist regime to persecute Falun Gong practitioners. As a result, Falun Gong practitioners were detained, sent to forced labor camps, sentenced to prison, and even tortured to death. Their families were subjected to great pain and suffering. After 2001, Zhang Deqing was promoted to Director of Domestic Security and Protection Brigade where he further stepped up his efforts.
According to incomplete statistics, during the seven years of Zhang Deqing’s tenure as Director of Domestic Security and Protection Brigade, 19 Falun Gong practitioners in Yushu City were sentenced to up to 15 years in prison. Over 260 Falun Gong practitioners were sent to forced labor camps, the highest among county-level cities in China. Thousands were abducted, detained, and tortured. For example, Li Shuhua, Li Fengqin, and Liu Huijun were tortured to death by Zhang Deqing. He should be held accountable for the crimes he committed.
- The persecution of Li Shuhua
Falun Gong practitioner Li Shuhua died of torture at the Banyan Detention Center on the fourteenth day of her detention. At 9 AM on September 24, 2003, she was doing needlework at home when police from Zhengyang station came and took her to the police station saying they needed her to write something and would send her home when it was done. They took her to the Domestic Security and Protection Brigade for interrogation and then detained her at the detention center. When Li Shuhua refused to answer questions, police began to torture her. They wrapped her head with a plastic bag so she could hardly breathe. They stuck pins into her fingertips, arms, back, and chest, causing excruciating pain. Police vowed to make her provide information about her Falun Gong friends and hit her in the eyes with their fists. Li Shuhua screamed in pain and lost consciousness. The police, afraid they could not explain her condition to her families and society, at the direction of their superior, they killed Li Shuhua, suffocating her with a black plastic bag. She was cremated at 6 AM the next morning. The mortuary was heavily guarded by two rows of police cars and over 40 policemen headed by the Yushu City Public Security Bureau Chief and Zhang Deqing, Director of Yushu Domestic Security and Protection Brigade. Li Shuhua’s body was rushed into the crematorium. Her family was not allowed to pay their respects to her.
Li Shuhua’s husband, Yang Zhanjiu, was abducted by police in August 2002 and sent to the Domestic Security and Protection Brigade. He was tortured at the Yushu City Detention Center. At the detention center, Zhang Deqing, Director of Domestic Security and Protection Brigade, and others, handcuffed Yang Zhanji’s hands from behind and hung him up on the door frame using a rope tied to his handcuffs. This is called the “big hanging.” As he hung from the door frame, police kicked him in the thighs, swinging him back and forth. As a result, the handcuff cut into his wrists and he passed out. At night, he collapsed. His head was covered with blood and swollen. Afterward, he was let down and sent to prison. In March 2004, Yang Zhanjiu was sentenced to seven years in prison at the Siping Shiling Prison where he was subjected to torture until he became handicapped in both his legs and feet.[2]
- The persecution of Li Fengqin
Li Fengqin, a Falun Gong practitioner from Yushu City Fertilizer Plant, was 54 years old and was a classmate of Zhang Deqing. On October 11, 2005, Yushu Domestic Security and Protection Brigade and the Zhengyang Police Station kidnapped 12 Falun Gong practitioners including Li Fengqin. At the Domestic Security and Protection Brigade, police kicked her upper thighs. She immediately collapsed. Her bones were dislocated, and her skin turned black and blue. She was unable to walk.
Zhang Deqing spoke to Li Fengqin in the name of “old classmates,” indicating that if she would give him some money, he would let her out. Li Fengqin did not agree and was sent to the detention center in the afternoon. Zhang Deqing carried Li Fengqin on his back, walked to the police car and threw her into the police car. Li Fengqin instantly experienced severe visceral pain and could not move her body.
Arriving at the detention center, Zhang Deqing pulled and dragged Li Fengqin out of the car. While at the detention center, Li Fengqin was constantly in pain and could not sleep. She was force-fed pickled soup and other salty foods. When she was sent back to her cell, she would throw up blackish-green liquid. On the 10th day, Li Fengqin was carried out for a physical checkup. In the evening, Zhang Deqing extorted 2,000 yuan from Li Fengqin's family and allowed her family to bring her home only. By this point, Li Fengqin was dying. The family sent her to the hospital where the doctor examined and said that she would not survive. She died on the second day of the 2006 lunar year. The above facts are personally narrated by Li Fengqin before his passing.[3]
- The persecution of Liu Huijun
Falun Gong practitioner Liu Huijun, female, 70 years old, was a retired employee of Jilin Yushu Housing Company. On February 28, 2003, police kidnapped Liu Huijun and her husband, who did not practice Falun Gong, and brought them to the detention center. At the detention center, Zhang Deqing and others tortured Liu Huijun. They slapped her face and kicked her. They covered her head with a black plastic bag until she could not breathe. After more than two months of torture, police took her to the Black Mouth Labor Camp and continued the persecution. Because Liu Huijun was so badly tortured, the labor camp declined to accept her. Yushu Domestic Security and Protection Brigade extorted 1,500 yuan from her family before releasing Liu.
Since then, Liu Huijun's family has often been harassed by police, forcing her to stay with relatives several times to avoid harassment. In the winter of 2004, Zhang Deqing was lying in wait outside her son’s house and kidnapped her, sending her to the Domestic Security Brigade for interrogation. Zhang Deqing released her only after she had a convulsion and passed out. Due to long-term persecution, Liu Huijun constantly lived in terror, and suffered from depression and anxiety. She passed away on December 19, 2007.[4]
- The persecution of Li Lin
Falun Gong practitioner Li Lin was kidnapped by two policemen and sent to the Yushu Domestic Security and Protection Brigade in August 2002. There, Zhang Deqing directed the police to torture Li Lin for more than eight hours from 3 PM to 11 PM. Li Lin almost lost consciousness. They handcuffed Li Lin from behind to an iron chair and interrogated him. When they did not get any information from him, they stepped on the iron chain of the handcuffs to tighten the handcuffs so that they would cut deeply into his wrists. As a result, Li Lin was numb in his left hand for more than two months. They also used a pick handle to beat Li Lin on his calf bones for more than half an hour. They then used the end of the pick handle to hammer Li Lin's toe so that the fourth toenail of the right foot fell off a month later.
After a while, police handcuffed Li Lin’s hands from behind to the iron chair, this time with one arm from top-down and the other from bottom up. They stuffed the six or seven soft drink bottles into Li Lin's arm. At that time, the bones in Li Lin's arms and shoulders were about to crack and his whole body was in pain. Police thought the handcuffs were not effective and changed to wet towels to tie the two hands closer. Again, six or seven soft drink bottles were inserted as well as the pick handle. Two policemen lifted Li Lin up from the iron chair to increase the pains. As soon as they lifted Li Lin, the iron chair also lifted. The pain was so much that Li Lin felt like he would rather die than live. It was torture beyond words. In November 2003, he was sentenced to four years in prison and lost his eyesight due to torture.[5]
- Zhang Deqing Extorted Large Sums of Money from Families of Falun Gong Practitioners
On April 5th, 6th, and 7th, 2006, the Yushu Domestic Security and Protection Brigade teamed up with the police from Xiangyang, Heilinzi, and Fu'an Townships, and abducted four Falun Gong practitioners: Zhao Shuxian, Cong Yuhua, Xiao Shuyan, and Wang Ru'an. The four were detained at the Zhangshu City Detention Center. Zhang Deqing threatened the family members of Cong Yuhua and Xiao Shuyan, asking for 5,000 Chinese yuan per person for their release and threatened that if they did not pay up, they would be sent to forced labor camps. Wang Ru'an was released with a 5,000 yuan payment. Zhao Shuxian was sent to the Black Mouth Labor Camp in Changchun City for one and a half years.
On March 23, 2006, Fan Xiufang from Zhangshu City was kidnapped and detained before being transferred to a detention center. The next day, Zhang Deqing led police to ransack Fan Xiufang’s house. His family was extorted out of more than 10,000 yuan.
From October 11, 2005 to May 1, 2006, Zhang Deqing also extorted from Falun Gong practitioners Gao Yunlan, 2,000 yuan; Chen Shujie, 2,000 yuan; Gao Fenglian, 2,000 yuan; Li Fengqin, 3,000 yuan; Yang Shuqin, 5,000 yuan; Yang Yongchen, 2,500 yuan; Xu Lin, 15,000 yuan; Wen Fenghai, 5,000 yuan; Wang Yanan, 5,000 yuan; among others.[6]
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Reference
[1] http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2019/8/8/-391185.html
[2] http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2015/7/21/-312788.html
[3] http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2006/4/29/-126429.html; http://en.minghui.org/emh/articles/2006/5/17/73379.html
[4] http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2007/12/29/169219.html; http://en.minghui.org/emh/articles/2008/1/1/92834.html
[5] http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2019/8/8/-391185.html
[6] http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2006/5/6/126994.html
