(Minghui.org) Mr. Huang Zhufeng filed a complaint against the Sanshui Forced Labor Camp in Guangdong Province for torturing him while he was incarcerated there for practicing Falun Gong. His attorney was notified in August 2021 that the complaint has been accepted by a local court. The attorney is now planning to file complaints against the guards and inmates who participated in the torture.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Mr. Huang, a 51-year-old award-winning electronic automation engineer in Maoming City, Guangdong Province, was given two forced labor camp terms between 2001 and 2005 for upholding his faith in Falun Gong. While he was held in Sanshui Forced Labor Camp, a guard ordered two prisoners to pull his arms apart as hard as they could on January 2, 2003. Both of his shoulders were dislocated and his arms were disabled. He was unable to continue in his profession and had to do odd jobs to make a living.
Mr. Huang was arrested again outside of his apartment on December 12, 2020, when he returned home from work. When his attorney, Wang Yu, visited him at the Maoming City No. 1 Detention Center on April 6, 2021, she learned about the injuries to Mr. Huang’s shoulders.
Attorney Wang filed for state compensation for Mr. Huang’s shoulder injuries on April 14. She noted that the government had certified his injury as a “level-9,” with his left shoulder verified as being 50% disabled and his right shoulder 35% disabled. In China, injuries certified as levels 1-10 qualify for state compensation, but Mr. Huang had never been compensated for his injuries sustained in the labor camp. Attorney Wang demanded 1,177,771 yuan in compensation for Mr. Huang.
On April 26, the Sanshui Forced Labor Camp, now renamed the Sanshui Drug Rehabilitation Center, responded to the attorney, saying that Mr. Huang had missed the two-year statute of limitations to file claims and that they bore no responsibility for Mr. Huang’s injuries.
Attorney Wang visited Mr. Huang again on July 14 and was told that the Maonan District Court had scheduled a hearing for July 1 but later canceled it without specifying a new date. The court never notified her of Mr. Huang’s hearing.
That same day, the attorney also filed another administrative lawsuit with the Foshan City Court against the Sanshui Forced Labor Camp regarding Mr. Huang’s state compensation. The court responded the next day stating that the case had been accepted, only to withdraw that notice the day after, saying that the court clerk had made a mistake.
With the attorney’s persistent effort, the case was accepted by the Shunde District Court in Foshan City in August 2021. The president of the court has personally visited the attorney and asked her for the education background of Mr. Huang’s family and their financial situation. The attorney expressed that she was determined to seek justice for Mr. Huang. The court’s president indicated that they may hold the labor camp accountable for the state compensation, but Mr. Huang should still bear the “criminal responsibility” for practicing Falun Gong.
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The Persecution of Huang Zhufeng at the Sanshui Forced Labor Camp in Guangdong Province