(Minghui.org) Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Yu Ming has suffered years of persecution at the hands of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). He was illegally arrested again in September 2013, and his family in China have not been able to contact him. On November 12, 2013, Mr. Yu's wife and daughter, along with other Falun Gong practitioners from the Bay Area, held a press conference and peaceful demonstration in front of the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco to expose the CCP's brutal persecution of Yu Ming. The practitioners demanded Mr. Yu's immediate release.

Mrs. Ma Li, wife of Falun Gong practitioner Yu Ming, and other Falun Gong practitioners protest the CCP's arrest of Mr. Yu and demand his release in front of the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco, Nov. 12, 2013.

Yu Ming's wife and fourteen-year-old daughter recount the persecution that the family has suffered.

Mr. Yu's wife, Mrs. Ma Li and their fourteen-year-old daughter were visiting San Francisco when they heard that Yu Ming was abducted in China by the Shenyang City Domestic Security Team and the local police of Beizhen. Mr. Yu was taken away on August 29, 2013 when he was visiting his sister to help her prepare for his nephew's wedding. According to the police, the reason for the arrest was the upcoming National Games in Shenyang and the upcoming visit of CCP head Xi Jinping to the Duofu residential community in the Shenhe District of Shenyang City. Mr. Yu managed to escape on August 30, but was arrested again on September 24 and held in the First Detention Center of Shenyang City. His current situation is unknown.

According to Mrs. Ma, her husband's family in Shenyang have tried to visit him in the detention center and his attorney has tried to see him six times. However, all of the visitation requests were declined by the detention center, under various pretexts.

Subjected to Years of Persecution

Forty-two-year-old Falun Gong practitioner Yu Ming is the owner of a clothing business with more than one hundred employees. Because he upholds his freedom of belief, he was imprisoned three times from 2001 to 2009. He was tortured by various methods, including being severely beaten, shocked with high-voltage electric batons, tied to a bed board, exposed to the hot sun for extended periods of time, confined in a solitary cell, and tied up with a dog leash.

In 2001, Yu Ming was detained in the Tuanhe Forced Labor Camp in Beijing. He was deprived of sleep, forced to stand under the hot sun, shocked on his feet, and forced to perform hard labor. He was arrested again in October 2003, after being free only a short time. He was detained at the Tuanhe Forced Labor Camp again and was later transferred to the No. 1 Forced Labor Camp in the Kaiping District of Tangshan City, Hebei Province.

In March 2006, Mr. Yu was arrested by security officers from the National Security Team of Beijing. He was then detained at the Beijing Forced Labor Camp Dispatch Center. On September 14, 2006, Mr. Yu was transferred to the Tuanhe Forced Labor Camp again. This time, the guards used another form of torture on him. They tied Mr. Yu to a chair, binding his neck, chest, hands, and legs. Other inmates were assigned to watch him constantly for the rest of the year. Yu Ming suffered two heart attacks during this period. His weight dropped quickly, from 175 lb. to 100 lb., and his muscles atrophied. He could no longer keep his back straight without assistance, or raise his arms and hands.

On May 21, 2007, Yu Ming was transferred to Masanjia Forced Labor Camp, a place notorious for brutally torturing inmates. There he was beaten, shocked with electric batons, and hung by his wrists for several days. He was detained for three months in a large iron cage, designed so that he could not stand up or lie down. The guards shocked his genitals with electric batons and then poured cold water over him. They beat him with an iron bar until he lost consciousness.

Family Traumatized

Mr. Yu's family also suffered tremendously under the persecution. His father was so traumatized by the persecution that he passed away in 2002. His daughter has rarely seen her father since she was two. She witnessed the horror of her family members being abducted and beaten. Mr. Yu's two-year-old son was sound asleep in his daddy's arms when the police broke in and arrested Mr. Yu. The little boy was terrified on seeing his father beaten and abused, and could not speak for many days. He still has nightmares and cries at night.

At the November 12 press conference, Mrs. Ma said at the end of her statement, “I'm a Chinese. I love my country. I'm not interested in politics or political power. We Falun Gong practitioners believe that the good will be rewarded and the wicked punished. During the persecution of Falun Gong, Jiang Zemin's regime has destroyed thousands and thousands of families like mine. The CCP's crimes are too numerous to list. It must be brought to justice. I'm calling for the Chinese officials to conform to the law of heaven and the people's will, and release imprisoned Falun Gong practitioners. Let's work together to end this illegal persecution of innocent people and bring Jiang's regime to justice.”