Mr. Wan Chao, 35, was a teacher at the Langjun Town Luda Elementary School of Hubei Province's Yingcheng City.

Because he practices Falun Gong, Mr. Wan has suffered unjust treatment ever since the persecution of Falun Gong started in July 1999.

Mr. Wan used to teach in a middle school. In September 2000 he was transferred to an elementary school as a punishment for being a Falun Gong practitioner. On March 15, 2001, the school and the local police forced Mr. Wan to attend a brainwashing session. Because Mr. Wan refused to renounce his belief, one month later, he was sent to the Yingcheng City No. 1 Detention Center and detained there for nearly two months. During his detention, the guards  nailed metal screws into his hands. They extorted five hundred yuan from his family before they would release him. The Langjun Education Board also deducted 360 yuan from Mr. Wan’s salary.

On April 2, 2003, the Langjun Police took Mr. Wan away from the classroom. He was interrogated and detained at the Yingcheng City No. 1 Detention Center for two weeks before being sent to a forced labor camp. The labor camp refused to take him due to his health problems. Through his family’s help, he was released on April 28, 2003.

At noon on June 27, 2003, the principal of the Luda Elementary School, Mr. Zhou Hua, led the Langjun Police Station's political instructor, Mr. Liu Mingfang, and Deputy Director, Mr. Cao Guochao, and broke into Mr. Wan's house to force him to attend a forced brainwashing session. Mr. Wan ran out of the door but was closely followed by Liu and Cao. There was no way to escape, so he jumped into a pond near his home. Liu went into the water to catch Mr. Wan and held his head under the water. The spectators pulled the two men out of the water and helped Mr. Wan escape. In the afternoon, Mr. Liu Mingfang returned with more policemen from the Dong Mafang Police Station. They attempted to arrest Mr. Wan's wife in order to hold her as a hostage. Mrs. Wan escaped, so the police arrested Mr. Wan's uncle and detained him at the Yingcheng City No. 2 Detention Center for two weeks and extorted an additional 350 yuan from the family. The police also threatened to arrest and jail more of Mr. Wan’s relatives.

Mr. Wan was forced to become homeless to avoid being recaptured. On July 8, 2004, the Xiaogan City Security Section found and arrested him. They detained him at the Xiaogan City No. 1 Detention Center. While they were interrogating him, they beat, kicked and threatened him. Mr. Wan started a hunger strike to protest the persecution. As a result, they force-fed him multiple times as a means of torture. Mr. Wan was emaciated and suffered internal organ damage. According to the hospital’s diagnosis, Mr. Wan had developed purulent pneumonia and pulmonary tuberculosis. To shirk their responsibility, the detention center released Mr. Wan and put him under house arrest. Mr. Wan used to be strong and health, but when they brought him home, his family could barely recognize him.

After three months, Mr. Wan’s health recovered and he went back to school. Only one week later, on February 25, 2005,  policemen from Yingcheng City Security Section and Langjun Police Station came to the school and arrested Mr. Wan again.

Mr. Wan is currently detained at the Xiaogan City No. 1 Detention Center. His family visited him a couple of times at the beginning of the detention. After that the detention center denied all visitation requests. On May 28, 2005, Mr. Wan’s family obtained  information that Mr. Wan had been on a hunger strike for six days to protest the arbitrary detention and persecution. Mr. Wan’s current situation is unknown.

type = Case, Arbitrary Detention; type = Case, Torture; location = Hubei