Name: Han Yingcheng (韩应成)
Gender: Male
Age: 56
Address: Bude Town, Renhe District, Panzhihua City, Sichuan Province
Occupation: Farmer
Date of Most Recent Arrest: July 22, 2008
Most Recent Place of Detention: Wumaping Prison (五马坪监狱)
City: Panzhihua
Province: Sichuan
Persecution Suffered: Detention, home ransacking, extortion, brainwashing, interrogation by torture, forced labor, sleep deprivation, starvation, brutal beatings, exposure to the baking sun, standing (squatting) in a military posture, hanging by handcuffs, tiger bench torture, denial of restroom use, illegal sentencing, solitary confinement, half squat torture

(Minghui.org) Mr. Han Yingcheng has been repeatedly arrested and detained in a brainwashing center, forced labor camps, and prisons since July 1999, because he practices Falun Gong. He has been subjected to many methods of torture. His mother, who is in her eighties, could not bear the harassment by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). She became extremely fearful, and passed away.

On July 20, 1999, local CCP personnel launched a campaign to search the homes of all local practitioners. Zhang Youfu, Yang Congxian, Huang Xingming, and other officers from the Renhe District Police Department broke into Mr. Han's home, rummaged through the rooms, and confiscated his belongings. That December, Mr. Han went to City Hall to clarify the truth about Falun Gong. He was detained for ten days and fined.

The Xinhua Township government held a “study” class in 2000, and forced Mr. Han to attend. They did not allow him to go home, and fabricated lies to brainwash him every day. He was detained for ten days.

Mr. Han was reported to the police on July 15, 2000 for clarifying the truth about Falun Gong and distributing Falun Gong materials. Cui Fuli and other officers from the Renhe District Police Department barged into his home and took him to the Renhe District Police Department. Mr. Han was tortured during the interrogation and held in the detention center for more than seven months. Cui Fuli and other officers then transferred him to Xinhua Forced Labor Camp in Mianyang. Cui Fuli also forced him to pay a 200-yuan transportation fee. Mr. Han was detained in the forced labor camp for one year. That year his 86-year-old mother died, in constant fear of CCP harassment. Mr. Han was not able to be with her when she died.

On the night of March 18, 2003, Mr. Han and eight other Falun Gong practitioners went out to distribute Falun Gong flyers. On the way home, officers from the Renhe District Police Department, along with township public security personnel, took them and their vehicle to the Tongde Police Station. The police took turns watching them and did not allow them to talk, sleep, or eat. The practitioners were interrogated and beaten. After being held in the detention center for two months, Mr. Han was sent to Xinhua Forced Labor Camp in Mianyang and detained for two years.

In the Xinhua Forced Labor Camp, guards took turns attempting to “transform” Falun Gong practitioners and did not let them sleep. The practitioners were forced to stand and squat down in military style under the baking sun. The guards also swore at, pinched, and beat them. Mr. Han witnessed many practitioners being tortured. Mr. Liu Yongsheng was beaten by the guards and covered with injuries. The guards burned his mouth and face with cigarettes, so that his mouth was covered with blisters and his face was full of scars. The guards also forced him to wear a heavy coat and hat in the summer. The guards ordered other detainees to beat Mr. Fang Zhengping, and his face was covered in blood. Mr. Liu Guixing from Panzhihua was monitored by six or seven people and pressured to write the three statements. He died rather than slander his faith. Mr. Zhu Junhua from Jingyan County, Leshan, was confined in a small cell and brutally beaten.

On the morning of July 22, 2008, Li Xianmei and Ran Qihua from the town government, Wu Yingkang from the Criminal Police Group, and other plainclothes officers broke into Mr. Han's home, handcuffed his hands behind his back, and took him away. The police also ransacked his home. Yang Kai and Song Qian were present. Mr. Han was taken to the Renhe District Police Department, interrogated, and threatened. He was sent to the Panzhihua Detention Center that night.

Torture Re-enactment: Hung and Handcuffed

While in the detention center, Mr. Han was taken away three times for interrogation by torture. Duan Qing and three other officers from the Panzhihua Police Department took Mr. Han to the Renhe District Police Department in the middle of the night. They tied his hands behind his back, hung him up, and tortured him. He was tied on a tiger bench. The police twisted an old towel and slammed his head until he fainted. The police also kicked his legs until he could barely stand. They tied his hands with a military backpack belt and hung him from a window bar. He could only touch the ground with his tiptoes. The police were not satisfied until he was bathed in sweat and fainted. They also struck his big toenail with a bamboo stick until it bled, slapped his face, and hit his cheek. Mr. Han was not allowed to close his eyes, drink water, or use the bathroom for 36 hours. The police officers did not get what they wanted. They moved to another place and played cards. Mr. Han was handcuffed to a window overnight. The window was open and it was raining. Mr. Han was trembling with cold.

On the morning of July 28, 2008, Mr. Han was tied on a tiger bench. Duan Qing said they would hang him upside down and feed him with chili water and salt water if he didn't cooperate with them and sign the statement to give up practicing Falun Gong.

The court set a case against Mr. Han Yingcheng on December 2, 2008, and tried him on February 5, 2009. Mr. Han was sentenced to three years in prison on the afternoon of February 27, 2009.

In Wumaping Prison, the guards tortured practitioners by not allowing them to sleep, eat, or use the bathroom. They were exposed to freezing temperatures, beaten, and cursed at, in attempts to pressure them into giving up their beliefs. Under orders from the guards, several criminal prisoners took turns watching one practitioner each, and did not allow him to sleep at all at the beginning. Practitioners were later allowed to sleep two hours every day, from 3:00 to 5:00 a.m. The practitioners were forced to stand at attention most of the night. Each practitioner was given only a small bun and half-bowl of congee for breakfast. Both lunch and dinner were less than half a bowl of rice and some vegetable soup without oil. Hungry and sleep deprived, the practitioners were also physically punished, forced to run in circles, stand up and squat down, do push ups, etc. They were not allowed any time to rest. Their energy was depleted.

At the same time, the guards stripped practitioners of their warm coats and pants during the winter. The practitioners wore only a thin layer of clothing and stood at attention for the entire night. Some practitioners were forced to stand day and night. They were all trembling with cold, their bodies were stiff, and their hands and feet swelled and festered. They had difficulty moving and taking care of their basic needs. The guards also confined practitioners in small cells, stuffed their mouths with soiled socks, and insulted them with all kinds of filthy language.

Because the guards and prisoners worried that their outrages would be exposed, they always tortured practitioners secretly behind closed doors. But their behavior could not be kept secret. Even other prisoners said that they would never have believed how evil the CCP was if they had not been in prison with practitioners.

Mr. Han Yingcheng's three-year term was extended for several days before he was released.