Family members receive conflicting stories about the death of Guo Hanpo in Baoding Prison.

A Falun Gong practitioner and a senior engineer formerly employed by the Regional Civil Engineering Design Institute in Inner-Mongolia dies in custody after a series of imprisonments.

Additional Information about Guo Hanpo - Tortured to Death in Baoding Prison

Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Guo Hanpo was 56 years old and lived in Wangguantun Village, Nanchentun Township, Cangzhou City, Hebei Province. Early in the morning of April 5, 2008, Guo's family received a notice from Baoding Prison, saying that Guo was receiving emergency treatment. Prison officials told his family to see him as soon as possible. By the time they arrived in the hospital, Guo had been dead. Later, prison officials claimed that Guo died on the way to the hospital. The two explanations were quite different.

Falun Gong Practitioner Guo Hanpo from Cangzhou City, Hebei Province

When Guo's family inquired about the cause of death, the prison dodged the question and said Guo died of a stroke. The prison did not allow the family to take Guo's body back for burial in Cangzhou City. Instead, Guo's body was hastily cremated in Baoding City. Prison officials also called the Cangzhou 610 Office and threatened  Guo's family.

Guo Hanpo's mother, in her 80s, was waiting at home for her son to return. When the rest of the family returned with an urn filled with her son's ashes, she fainted several times. She cried and shouted: "Give my son back! Let me die instead of him!"

In 2001, Guo Hanpo was arrested by Cangzhou police because he practices Falun Gong. He was held for more than one year before finally being illegally sentenced to 11 years of imprisonment. He was detained in the Baoding Prison (i.e. the Hebei First Prison). Guards and "transformed" people tried to brainwash him. Several prisoners watched him around the clock. He was often confined to his cell for long periods. He was not allowed to have a full meal while doing heavy labor. Several years of torture forced his blood pressure up to 200. Under mental and physical torture, he became emaciated, losing the very healthy and strong body he earlier had. He looked totally different. Later on, although the guards did not force him to do labor, they tortured him mentally. Last year, his family members went to the prison to ask for his release. The prison did not release him until he died.

Mr. Qirimailatu Dies in Custody in the Inner-Mongolia Autonomous Region

Mr. Qirimailatu, 72, used linve in Huhhot City, Inner-Mongolia. He was a minority construction expert, with his name listed in The World Minority Who's Who book. He started to practice Falun Gong in 1999 and became healthy.

He kept clarifying the truth after the persecution started, wrote a letter appealing for justice for Falun Gong, and was sentenced to two years of forced labor, which he served in the Wuyuan County Forced Labor Camp. He was the oldest inmate in the camp and endured numerous instances of physical torture and threats. Prisoners closely monitored him 24 hours per day. His term was extended three additional months because he firmly held his belief in "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance."

The camp administration claimed that he "openly opposed the government," forced him to clean the toilets in the First Ward, and made him participate in cruel "physical training." Drug-addict inmate Liu Zhengrong, encouraged by Guard Zhao Naidong, always beat and cursed him, and often did not allow him to eat. 

In the beginning of May 2004, Mr. Qirimailatu was arrested by plainclothes police officers while clarifying the truth in a park. The police ransacked his home, then sentenced him to three years forced labor, imprisoning him in the Wuyuan County Labor Camp again. At the beginning of 2005, guards Yang Furong, Wang Donglei, and Liu Ming locked him in solitary confinement for several months. After serving more than two years of the term, he was bailed out on medical parole due to his physical condition.

On August 8, 2007, the police arrested him for the third time while he was clarifying the truth. They had him sentenced to forced labor again, but the camp refused to admit him due to his advanced age and the physical tests that he failed, so he was detained in Inner-Mongolia Detention Center. He went on a hunger strike to protest the persecution on December 6, 2007. He died after detention center administrators rushed him to the prison hospital on January 5, 2008. Information revealed he was as thin as a skeleton and was unable to speak during the time he was detained.