The Chens are a family from Canfangying Village, Beixinpu Township, Huailai County, Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province. All six members in the family were Falun Gong practitioners.

Since July 1999, the Chen family has suffered continuous persecution and violence from the Chinese authorities. Their cases have been reported by Prof. van Boven (E/CN.4/2003/68/Add.1, 27 February 2003, para. 299, 335, and 336) and Ms. Jahangir (E/CN.4/2003/3/Add.1, 12 February 2003, para. 55 and 68). At that time, Mr. Chen Aizhong, the elder son of Mr. Chen and Ms. Wang, had already died from police force-feeding.

The Chinese government, in its reply to Prof. van Boven and Ms. Jahangir, insisted the treatment of Chen's family "was conducted in accordance with the law and did not entail the infringement of any human rights." In particular, the government stated that Ms. Chen Hongping, the younger daughter of Mr. Chen and Ms. Wang, was never subjected to corporal punishment or ill-treatment. Ms. Chen Hongping, however, continued to suffer torture for one and half years in the Gaoyang Labor Camp, and died on March 5, 2003.

Victims:

The Chen family, residents of Canfangying Village, Beixinpu Town, Huailai County, Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province, including:

1. Mr. Chen Yunchuan, 64, the father;
2. Ms. Wang Lianrong, 61, the mother;
3. Ms. Chen Shulan, 36, the elder daughter;
4. Mr. Chen Aizhong, the elder son; died on September 20, 2001;
5. Mr. Chen Aili, 35, the younger son;
6. Ms. Chen Hongping, the younger daughter; died on March 5, 2003.

Locations:

1. The Dongbeiwang Detention Center, Beijing
2. The Haidian District Detention Center, Beijing
3. The Huairou Detention Center, Beijing
4. The Huailai County Detention Center, Huailai County, Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province. Phone: +86-313-6235362
5. The Huailai County Police Department, Huailai County, Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province. Phone: +86-313-6234170
6. The Beixinpu Township Government Offices, Huailai County, Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province. Phone: +86-313-6841019
7. The Beixinpu Township Police Station, Huailai County, Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province. Phone: + 86-313-6841011
8. The Donghuayuan Police Station, Huailai County, Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province.
9. Gaoyang Labor Camp, Hebei Province. Phone: +86-312-6816458
10. Tangshan First Labor Camp, Tangshan City, Hebei Province
11. Randong Prison, Fengnan County, Tangshan City, Hebei Province
12. Shijiazhuang Beijiao No. 4 Prison, Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province
13. Zhuolu County Prison, Hebei Province

Perpetrators:

1. Wang Yulin, Team Leader at the Tangshan First Labor Camp, Tangshan City, Hebei Province
2. Li Weidong, Section Chief at the Tangshan First Labor Camp, Tangshan City, Hebei Province
3. Liu Zhonghua, inmate at the Tangshan First Labor Camp, Tangshan City, Hebei Province
4. Shi Jin, Huang Hao, officer at Randong Prison in Fengnan County, Tangshan City, Hebei Province
5. Li Jingang, Shao Mingli, Li Hailong, Zhao Fei, He Xu, inmates at Randong Prison in Fengnan County, Tangshan City
6. Hou Yufu, guard at the Huailai County Detention Center, Hebei Province
7. Yao, Beixinpu Township Mayor, Huailai County, Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province
8. Wang, Political Instructor at the Beixinpu Township Police Station, Huailai County, Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province. Phone: +86-313-6841019

Background:

The Chen family lives in Canfangying Village, Beixinpu Town, Huailai County, Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province. All six members of the Chen family are Falun Gong practitioners.

Since July 1999, the Chen family has suffered continuous persecution and violence from the Chinese authorities. Their cases have been reported by Prof. van Boven (E/CN.4/2003/68/Add.1, 27 February 2003, para. 299, 335, and 336) and Ms. Jahangir (E/CN.4/2003/3/Add.1, 12 February 2003, para. 55 and 68). At that time, Mr. Chen Aizhong, the elder son of Mr. Chen and Ms. Wang, had already died from police force-feeding.

The Chinese government, in its reply to Prof. van Boven and Ms. Jahangir, insisted the treatment of Chen’s family “was conducted in accordance with the law and did not entail the infringement of any human rights.” In particular, the government stated that Ms. Chen Hongping, the younger daughter of Mr. Chen and Ms. Wang, was never subjected to corporal punishment or ill-treatment. Ms. Chen Hongping, however, continued to suffer torture for one and half years in the Gaoyang Labor Camp, and died on March 5, 2003.

The remaining four members of the family are still in the custody of the Chinese authorities. We are greatly concerned of their safety and hereby request an urgent action by the United Nations to safeguard the lives and basic human rights of the Chen family.

Description:

1. Mr. Chen Yunchuan, the father

The police have arrested Mr. Chen Yunchuan multiple times for practicing Falun Gong.

On July 20, 1999, the police arrested Mr. Chen and Ms. Wang and their two sons and tried to force them to renounce Falun Gong. The police beat the father and forced the sons to watch, then beat the sons and forced the father to watch. Mr. Chen’s chest was bruised to a dark blue. The police beat them for a whole day before releasing them.

On December 27, 1999, the police arrested Mr. Chen, Ms. Wang and their younger son, and locked them together with three other family members[AEF1] , who were arrested on December 21, 1999. The police beat them all severely to force them to renounce Falun Gong. Since they all refused, the police detained them indefinitely. The whole family started a hunger strike on October 5, 2000, and all of them were brutally force-fed. The police release them on the ninth day of their hunger strike.

On October 24, 2000, the Chen family was arrested in Beijing for appealing to the government to stop persecuting Falun Gong. They were escorted back to the Beixinpu Township Police Station. During the interrogation, the police grabbed Mr. Chen’s collar, choked him, and pulled him down from a bed-board. The choking and the fall caused Mr. Chen to lose consciousness for half an hour. To protest the inhuman treatment, Mr. Chen and his family went on a hunger strike. They were all brutally force-fed. They were released on the 19th day of their hunger strike. At that time, many members of the Chen family had blood in their urine, low blood pressure, weak pulses, and other signs that their health was in danger.

On November 28, 2000, at 9 a.m., a team of about 20 policemen once again surrounded Mr. Chen’s house, and tried to break in and arrest the family. Only after the Chen family called out loud for help and attracted over one hundred onlookers did the police retreat.

On January 1, 2001, the Chen family went to Beijing to appeal to the government to stop persecuting Falun Gong. They were all arrested. Mr. Chen was locked in a small room in the basement of a police station in Beijing for four days. The room was only about two square-meters in size, with only a tight door, and no fresh air and light. Slowly, the oxygen became depleted, and Mr. Chen had difficulty breathing. After four days, Mr. Chen almost suffocated to death. Only then did the police take him out of the room and transferr him to the Haidian District Detention Center in Beijing. There, the police continued to interrogate Mr. Chen and force him to renounce Falun Gong. Although the room was quite cold, the police stripped his clothes off, and used an electric fan to blow chilly air towards him for two hours. At that time, Mr. Chen had already been on a hunger strike for five days and was already very weak. Mr. Chen finally passed out. Still the police ordered three inmates to beat and force-feed him for over half an hour. On January 9, 2001, he was escorted back to the Huailai County Detention Center in Hebei Province with his two sons. There, the guards beat the three of them all over their bodies. On July 17, 2001, he was sentenced to two years in jail. On August 27, 2001, Mr. Chen was transferred to the Shijiazhuang Beijiao No. 4 Prison. No word has been heard from him since then.

2. Ms. Wang Lianrong, the mother

Ms. Wang Lianrong had suffered along with her husband through much of the multiple arrests and beatings (see above). On January 1, 2001, after she was arrested with the family, she was separated from her husband. She was detained at the Huairou County Detention Center in Beijing for six days, where guards stripped her clothes off, poured cold water on her body and blew cold air on her with an electric fan. She went on a hunger strike to protest the torture and was released six days later. Then she became homeless to avoid further arrest and torture. On September 17, 2002, she was again arrested at an apartment in Beijing, and was detained at the Huailai County Detention Center. She was released after being on a hunger strike for ten days. After she got home, the local authorities sent six people to keep her under surveillance 24 hours a day for more than two months.

3. Ms. Chen Shulan, the elder daughter

Ms. Chen Shulan had suffered along with her parents through much of the multiple arrests and beatings (see above).

After Shulan was arrested with the family, she was released because she has a daughter to take care of. However, Shulan was arrested again with her sister on June 10, 2001, after someone informed police of their whereabouts. She was detained at the Huailai County Detention Center, where she went on a hunger strike to protest the detention. She was released only when she was on the verge of death because of the hunger strike. Then, she became homeless to avoid further arrest and torture. On September 17, 2002, she was arrested again in Beijing with her mother. She is still being detained in the Seventh Section of the Beijing Police Station.

4. Mr. Chen Aizhong, the elder son

Mr. Chen Aizhong had suffered along with his parents through much of the multiple arrests and beatings (see above).

On January 1, 2001, after being arrested with his family, Aizhong was detained at the Dongbeiwang Detention Center in Beijing for seven days. The police stripped off his clothes, chained him to a tree, packed snow around him, and forced him to stand naked for more than an hour. The melting snow formed two ice-water pits under his feet. As a result, he fainted many times, and both his legs were disabled. The police then savagely beat him with clubs and used high voltage electric batons to shock his head, face, arms, legs, and his private parts. His body ended up being covered with large blisters and dark bruises, and he passed out many times.

After four days of torture, the police still were not able to force Aizhong to renounce Falun Gong. They then transferred him to the Haidian District Detention Center in Beijing. At that time, Aizhong had been on a hunger strike for four days, and the torture had already disabled his legs, but the police continued to torture him. The police ordered inmates to strip off his clothes, and pack snow all around him. He was buried in the snow for more than three hours. The inmates tortured him with a cruel method named “un-locking.” The inmates inserted toothbrushes between Aizhong’s fingers, grabbed his finger tight, and turned the toothbrushes. This torture broke his fingers. As a result, his hands were also disabled.

On January 9, 2001, Aizhong was escorted back to the Huailai County Detention Center in Hebei Province with his father and younger brother. On September 12, 2001, he was sentenced to three years of forced labor and sent to the Tangshan First Labor Camp in Tangshan City, and was tortured more. Aizhong went on a hunger strike to protest the torture. On the seventh day of his hunger strike, guard Wang Yulin and inmate Liu Zhonghua brutally force-fed Aizhong and shocked him with electric batons. Two days later, on September 20, 2001, they force-fed him again, and Aizhong died during the punitive force-feeding, at age 33.

5. Mr. Chen Aili, the younger son

Mr. Chen Aili had suffered along with her parents through much of the multiple arrests and beatings (see above).

After Aili was arrested together with his family on January 1, 2001, he was detained at the Haidian District Detention Center in Beijing for nine days, where guards kicked his head, waist, abdomen and thighs, slapped his face, and shocked him with electric batons. He went on a hunger strike to protest the torture, so they force-fed him. On January 9, 2001, he was escorted together with his father and brother back to the Huailai County Detention Center in Hebei Province. There, guard Hou Yufu stretched and handcuffed Aili’s hands to a window, and continuously shocked him with a one hundred thousand volt electric baton. As a result, both his arms were covered with blisters, which soon started to fester. In this state, he was then forced to work more than ten hours every day. When he was unable to finish the work because he had difficulty moving his arms, guards ordered an inmate to beat him on his face with the sole of a shoe, causing many cuts and bleeding all over his face. Since the guards there failed to force Aili to renounce Falun Gong, they transferred him to Zhuolu County Prison on August 17, 2001, for 10 days, where a guard slapped his face more than 100 times, causing his teeth to break and his mouth to bleed profusely.

On July 17, 2001, Aili was sentenced to two years in jail, and on August 27, 2001, he was transferred to the Randong Prison in Fengnan County, Tangshan City. There, guards Shi Jin and Huang Hao ordered inmates Li Jingang, Shao Mingli, and others to take turns torturing Aili. They stretched and handcuffed Aili’s hands to a chair for 11 days, deprived him of sleep, and poured boiling water on his head. They would not remove the handcuffs even when Aili needed to use the restroom, and made Aili pull the chairs with the handcuffs to the restroom. As a result, his skin was broken and bleeding on both of his arms. After the 11 days’ of torture, the guards forced him to stand during the nights, and hung him up in the air during the day. Then, Huang Hao ordered inmates Li Hailong, Zhao Fei and He Xu to take turns torturing Mr. Chen for more than two hours, slapping and beating his face with their fists, force-feeding him unknown drugs, shocking him with electric batons, and hanging him up in the air. Shi Jin slapped Aili’s face with the sole of a shoe, and smashed his head against a wall. Huang Hao once also ordered an inmate to forcefully pull Aili’s right thumb against his arm. This caused severe pain and damage in his hand, and his right thumb swelled to the size of a light bulb the next day.

After two months of torture, Aili still would not give up Falun Gong. The police then hang Aili up in the air for two months. The first ten nights, the police also deprived Aili of sleep. Inmates poured cold water on his body, and burned him with cigarettes. On October 12, Huang Hao ordered inmates to hold Aili up while others punched his head with their fists. As a result, Aili’s whole face was bleeding. Then, Huang Hao hit Aili’s head against the wall many times, and shocked his mouth with an electric baton. The guards ordered inmates to torture him 24 hours a day. These inmates burned his ears with lighters, and the smell of burnt flesh filled the air. They also poured boiling water on his head. This torture brought Aili to the verge of death. He was sent to the jail hospital for treatment. He had a high fever and cramps that recurred every day. Even while he was in critical condition, the police tried to force Aili to read articles slandering Falun Gong. When Aili refused, he was again savagely beaten. As a result, Aili was once again sent to the hospital. There, Aili was forced to take nerve-damaging drugs three times a day, and as a result, his head became numb, and his vision was blurred for more than two months. An inmate named Shao Mingli kicked Aili’s waist for a long time, causing Aili not to be able to stand for more than ten days. The mental and physical torture caused Aili to lose his memory and be unable to speak for two months. The inmates all said: “He has become a dummy.”

On January 8, 2002, Aili’s sister Shulan visited him in the jail, told him the news of Aizhong’s death, and secretly brought to him a piece paper with Falun Gong teaching. Learning of the death of his brother, and reading the Falun Gong teachings woke Aili’s memory. He resumed doing the Falun Gong exercises in the jail, which dramatically helped him to recover his physical health. Guand Huang Hao again ordered inmates to torture Aili, and stop him from doing the exercises. On July 5, 2002, Mr. Chen went on a hunger strike for 45 days to protest the torture. On the tenth day of his hunger strike, the police started to subject Aili to punitive force-feeding. They tied him up and inserted a tube into his stomach through his nose. They intentionally inserted and pulled out the tube to create excruciating pain. They then left the tube in Aili for many days.

In early January 2003, Aili developed a high fever and had excessive blood in his stool. To avoid the responsibility of having Aili die in custody, the jail release him on January 8, 2003. However, the local authorities still put him under house arrest.

6. Ms. Chen Hongping, the younger daughter

Ms. Chen Hongping had suffered along with her parents through much of the multiple arrests and beatings (see above).

After she was arrested with her family on January 1, 2001, Hongping was detained at the Huairou Detention Center in Beijing for 14 days, where guards stripped her clothes off, poured cold water over her body, and blew cold wind onto her with an electric fan. She was released only after she went on a hunger strike for 14 days to protest the torture.

On June 10, 2001, Hongping was arrested again with her sister on their way to visit her grandmother. The police took her to the Do