Crimes of Yu Tianmin, Secretary of the CCP Political and Legal Affairs Commission in Liaoning Province

Full Name of Perpetrator: Yu (last name) Tianmin (first name) (Chinese: 于天敏)

• Gender: Male
• Country: China
• Date/Year of Birth: January 1964
• Place of Birth: Chongqing City, Sichuan Province

Title or Position:

• 1997 – 2001: Deputy Chief of the Second Criminal Tribunal of the Chongqing Higher Court
• 2001 – 2004: Chief of the Second Criminal Trial Division of the Chongqing Higher Court
• 2004 – 2005: Vice President and Party Leadership Group Member of the First Intermediate Court of Chongqing Municipality
• 2005 – 2010: Deputy Chief Prosecutor and Member of the CCP Leadership Group of the Chongqing Municipal Procuratorate
• 2010 – 2015: Chief Prosecutor and Secretary of the CCP Leadership Group of the First Division of the Chongqing Municipal Procuratorate
• 2015 – 2017: Deputy Chief Prosecutor and Deputy Secretary of the CCP Leadership Group of the Chongqing Municipal Procuratorate
• 2017 – 2019: Secretary of the CCP Leadership Group and Chief Prosecutor of the Liaoning Provincial Procuratorate
• 3/2019 – 4/2019: Member of the Standing Committee of the Liaoning Provincial Party Committee, Secretary of the Party Leadership Group, and Chief Procurator of the Liaoning Provincial Procuratorate
• 2019 – Present: Member of the Standing Committee of the Liaoning Provincial Party Committee and Secretary of the CCP Political and Legal Affairs Commission

Main Crimes:

Since July 1999, Yu Tianmin has worked in courts, Procuratorate, and other governmental departments responsible for the persecution of Falun Gong. Throughout the years, he has implemented the CCP’s policy of persecuting Falun Gong and actively participated in the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners.

From January 2017 to February 2019, while Yu Tianmin was the chief prosecutor of the Liaoning Provincial Procuratorate, he directed the Procuratorate at all levels under his jurisdiction to illegally arrest, detain, prosecute, and sentence Falun Gong practitioners. Many times in his speeches, he instructed the Procuratorate at all levels in Liaoning Province to “carry out anti-cult campaigns” against Falun Gong.

According to available statistics reported by Minghui.org, between 2017 and 2018, 323 Falun Gong practitioners in Liaoning Province were sentenced, 80 were tried in court, 112 had their arrests approved, and 27 were indicted. Among them, nine elderly Falun Gong practitioners, with three in their 80s, were sentenced in 2018. Mr. Wang Dianguo and Ms. Li Yanqiu were tortured to death in prison after being sentenced.

 

The following are some key cases:

1. Mr. Wang Dianguo and Ms. Yu Baofang died from torture

At around 8 p.m. on July 4, 2017, a group of plainclothes officers broke into the home of Mr. Wang Dianguo, his wife Ms. Yu Baofang, and his son Mr. Wang Yu in Anshan City using metal hammerlocks and drills. The family of three were arrested and had their home ransacked. On July 17, 2017, after just 13 days, Ms. Yu Baofang was tortured to death in Anshan Women’s Detention Centre. Mr. Wang Dianguo was tried in court on April 24, 2018. He was sentenced to four years in prison and sent to Dalian City Prison in June 2018, where he was tortured to death on June 16, 2020.

2. Ms. Li Yanqiu tortured to death within 14 days of imprisonment to serve a five-year term

Ms. Li Yanqiu was arrested by police on December 14, 2018 and taken to a detention centre. On the morning of January 21, 2019, without notifying the family, the Procuratorate and the court secretly tried Li Yanqiu in the detention centre. The judge hurried through the process while Li Yanqiu was extremely weak, and unable to walk or express herself. The court-appointed lawyer entered a guilty plea for her against her will. The lawyer hired by the family was not allowed to meet with her. The family later found out that Li Yanqiu had been sentenced to five years in prison. On March 4, 2019, Li Yanqiu was persecuted to death by the prison only 14 days after her imprisonment. She was 52.

3. Ms. Xie Baofeng was persecuted in prison until she was no longer unable to take care of herself

Ms. Xie Baofeng was sentenced to five years in prison in 2017 and taken to Shenyang Women’s Prison on December 5, 2017. In 2018, Xie Baofeng, who was in good health before the arrest, developed severe medical symptoms. For a long time, she was unable to eat, and vomited after eating. As the prison did not provide medical treatment to her, her condition worsened. Her family asked for her release several times, however the prison refused because she did not “transform” (renounce Falun Gong). Unable to take care of herself, Xie Baofeng is now wheelchair bound in the Liaoning Women’s Prison.

4. Falun Gong practitioners prosecuted and sentenced as a result of two large-scale arrests in Dalian City

On October 8, 2017, the Political and Legal Affairs Committee of Dalian Development Zone and the Public Security Bureau conspired to arrest Falun Gong practitioners. Several police stations acted in concert and arrested 19 Falun Gong practitioners. Ten were formally arrested. The Procuratorate and court held trials from April to June 2018. Nine Falun Gong practitioners were sentenced:

Zhou Haiyan was sentenced to eight years
Jia Xiuchun two years
Shi Ningyao five years
Fang Fang three years and six months
Lin Jingping four years
Hu Zhiqin seven years and six months
Lai Guifang seven years
Cao Er three years and six months
Hao Fukui (81 years old) three years.

Twenty three Falun Gong practitioners were arrested on November 12, 2018, six of whom were prosecuted and sentenced to long prison terms. Song Xuecun was sentenced to eight years, Chen Yuerong eight years, Zhang Kexin eight years, Xu Yanxia eight years and six months, Cheng Yurong four years, and Jiang Lianxiang was sentenced to three years and three months.

 

Persecution During Tenure at Political and Legal Affairs Committee

In April 2019, Yu Tianmin was appointed Member of the Standing Committee of the Liaoning Provincial Party Committee and Secretary of the CCP Political and Legal Affairs Commission. To advance his political career, Yu directed the arrest, prosecution, and sentencing of many Falun Gong practitioners. Some were tortured to death and their families were broken. Yu Tianmin bears full responsibility for these human tragedies.

According to Minghui.org, 44 Falun Gong practitioners were arrested in Liaoning Province in May 2019. In July 2019, the CCP Political and Legal Affairs Commission of Liaoning Province, the 610 Office, and the Public Security Department arrested at least 91 Falun Gong practitioners in the name of maintaining stability during the “70th Anniversary of National Day.” On July 10, 2019 alone, more than 20 people in Shenyang had their homes ransacked and were arrested.

According to available statistics, between 2019 and 2020, 165 Falun Gong practitioners were sentenced in Liaoning Province. The oldest was 81 years old, and the longest sentence was eight years. At least 1,031 Falun Gong practitioners were arrested during these two years, and the oldest being 83 years old.

Since Yu Tianmin became Secretary of the CCP Political and Legal Affairs Commission of the Liaoning Provincial in April 2019, at least 19 Falun Gong practitioners have been tortured to death in Liaoning Province, including Li Guirong, Zou Liming, Hu Lin, Yu Yongman, Zhang Zhencai, Lan Lihua, Wang Dianguo, Fu Shuqin, Yu Wenze, Du Xinggui, Song Shuchun, Pang Zhenlan, Li Guojun, Chang Xueling, Fu Jinghua, Zheng Decai, Zhao Delin, Zhu Benfu, and Chen Yongchun.

Yu Tianmin, as Secretary of the CCP Political and Legal Affairs Commission of Liaoning Province, must be held accountable for the persecution, torture, disability, and deaths of Falun Gong practitioners during his tenure in Liaoning Province.

 

Examples of persecution cases, representing only the tip of the iceberg:

1. Aeronautical engineer Mr. Hu Lin died from torture.

Mr. Hu Lin was born on February 19, 1972, and worked as an engineer. On May 23, 2019, he was arrested a third time and taken to Faku County Detention Centre, where he was frequently beaten. He went on a hunger strike to protest the inhuman treatment. With his arms and legs stretched out, police handcuffed him by his hands and feet to a plank, and force-fed him. They inserted the feeding tube into his stomach and refused to remove it.

On June 20, Hu Lin was sentenced to two years in prison. On October 30, 2019, the Faku County Court transferred him to prison. He was already on the verge of death. He could no longer move by November 7, but the prison authorities refused to release him or provide him with medical treatment. They said that because Hu Lin would not “transform” (abandon his faith in Falun Gong), they would not release him even if he died. Hu Lin died in prison on February 16, 2020.

2. Mr. Yu Yongman died from torture in the detention centre.

Mr. Yu Yongman, 65, was arrested on November 15, 2019, and detained in the Liaoyang Detention Centre. He was tortured to death on February 23, 2020. The detention centre said he died from a “sudden illness.” The coroner found that Yu Yongman had a rib fracture and a laceration scar in his lungs. Family members suspect that he was brutally beaten in the detention center before his death.

3. Ms. Lan Lihua’s body was forcibly cremated in Shenyang.

Ms. Lan Lihua was arrested on November 6, 2018, and taken to the Shenyang Detention Centre, where she was subjected to torture and persecution, such as force-feeding and hanging. An egg-sized lump appeared in Lan Lihua’s left breast, and she was later diagnosed with breast cancer. In May 2019, Lan Lihua was sentenced to three years and ten months in prison. On April 23, 2020, Lan Lihua died in the Liaoning Provincial Women’s Prison. She was 49 years old.

4. Ms. Pang Zhenlan died after multiple arrests

Ms. Pang Zhenlan were arrested multiple times and had her home ransacked after the onset of the persecution. She was arrested on April 24, 2020 while distributing informational materials about Falun Gong. The police ransacked her home and confiscated her Falun Gong books. On the morning of April 27, Ms. Pang went to the police station and demanded that the officers return her Falun Gong books. The police instead attempted to give her a ten-day detention. She refused to comply. She returned home at 2 p.m. The mental pressure from the persecution took a toll on her health. She passed away three weeks later on May 18, 2020.

5. Ms. Chen Yongchun died from torture in Shenyang Women’s Prison

Ms. Chen Yongchun was sentenced to five years in prison by Yingkou City Court in 2017, then transferred to Shenyang Women’s Prison. After a month of intensive persecution, the prison forced Chen Yongchun to do unpaid labor. She often worked late into the night and was subjected to corporal punishment. Prison guards also instructed inmates to beat her. The mental abuse and long-term, extreme workload caused her to lose weight rapidly, and she would often be lost in a trance, not eating or drinking.

Chen Yongchun developed symptoms of diabetes in 2019 because of the inhumane treatment. She became thin and weak. After being forced to stay in the hospital three different times, her health did not improve. On October 18, 2020, Chen Yongchun was released after serving a five-year prison sentence. When picked up by her family from the prison hospital, she could no longer walk by herself. She could not discern direction and her eyes were sunken. She was reduced to skin and bones. At home, local authorities, through community members, continued to harass her. Before she could recover, Chen Yongchun passed away on March 4, 2021.

6. Ms. Lou Yan brutally beaten and tortured by police

On February 12, 2020, Ms. Lou Yan, Fang Fuqiang, and Zhang Xu were driving to Shenyang City when they were stopped at a highway exit and arrested. Ms. Lou Yan was detained for 77 days, during which time she was subjected to various inhumane treatments.

On February 14, Lou Yan was tortured and suffered multiple epilepsy-like symptoms as a result. A police officer deliberately pressed hard on her “renzhong” acupuncture point (located on the philtrum, below the nostrils), causing her lips to swell and the skin near the acupuncture point to become dark and purple. Police also slapped her in the face so hard she lost the ability to hear in one ear.

Lou Yan was not allowed to wash her hair or feet or bathe during her detention. She was forced to sit on a metal chair, the longest time for over five days, with her hands and feet handcuffed to the chair. As a result of this torture, her buttocks bled and festered. She was only released from the chair after her feet and legs became so swollen the shackles could no longer fit around them.

For a period of about one month, the guards handcuffed her right hand to a ring on the ground near a wall while she slept at night. After two months of the torture, Lou Yan became emaciated. She coughed non-stop every day, sometimes for as long as four or five hours, spitting and vomiting up blood and bile. Lou Yan once went on a hunger strike to protest. A police officer pinched her cheeks and forced millet porridge into her mouth. Her cheeks started bleeding, and she vomited blood. Finally, Lou Yan fell to the ground multiple times, unable to breathe. The officer on duty feared that she could die at any time. Police took away 60,000 yuan she brought with her and didn’t return the money.

7. Judge: “Three years in prison for a guilty plea and seven to ten years in prison for a not-guilty plea”

Mr. Zhao Jiyuan, 65, and his wife Ms. Li Xiujie, were among over 20 Falun Gong practitioners who were arrested on July 10, 2019 in Shenyang City. Zhao Jiyuan was severely beaten while in custody at the detention centre. During the trial on December 10, 2019, Mr. Zhao Jiyuan pleaded not guilty and refused to sign court documents. The judge asked Mr. Zhao Jiyuan’s son to persuade his father to plead guilty and threatened “three years in prison for a guilty plea and seven to ten years in prison for a not-guilty plea.” Mr. Zhao Jiyuan did not plead guilty and was sentenced to seven years and six months in prison.

8. 72-year-old Ms. Dong Shuxian sentenced while at home to seven years in prison

Ms. Dong Shuxian, 72, was a resident in Chaoyang City. On July 14, 2020, three court personnel and three police officers from Qianjin Public Security Bureau, broke into her home. They took out a court document showing she had been sentenced to seven years in prison. Seeing this, Dong Shuxian was confused, and asked the judge, “What have I done? I stay at home and don’t know anything. I was sentenced to seven years in prison? What law did I break? Show me the documents.”

9. Ms. Zhao Yulan, 80, from Fushun City, sentenced to three years in prison

Ms. Zhao Yulan, 80, was previously sentenced twice for a total of nine years and six months in prison. She was arrested again on October 5, 2019. In October 2020, she was sentenced for a third time, to three years in prison, and taken to the Liaoning Women’s Prison.