Yu DongYue
Yu DongYue©open magazine
Yu Dongyue was gifted. An exceptional student in high school, he was accepted by Hunan Normal University when he was only 15 years old. A talented artist and poet who spoke fluent English - and he was enthusiastic about his country.
In 1989, during the pro-democracy demonstrations, he threw red paint on a portrait of Mao Zedong in Beijing. For this offence he was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment.
Even when imprisoned, Yu Dongyue was reportedly irrepressible. He organized other inmates to gather the necessary materials to make a radio to listen to foreign broadcasts. He would not accept injustice, and would quietly give visitors to the prison letters to forward to the government appealing against inmates imprisonment. And he constantly discussed democracy and his dreams of a new China with other prisoners.
As a result of this, Yu Dongyue was severely tortured and ill-treated during his imprisonment: he was tied to a pole and left in the sun for days; suffered periodic beatings; and at least two years in solitary confinement… until he reached the point of mental collapse.
After 1991, his family found that he began to talk to himself when they visited him; he also suffered from memory loss and could not recognize close family members. His family asked for him to be released on bail for health reasons, but the prison authorities claimed that he was only pretending to be mentally ill and refused the request. With international pressure he was finally released on 22 February 2006, after serving nearly 17 years in prison.
The impact of torture and ill-treatment on Yu Dongyue’s mental health has been catastrophic for both him and his family. He reportedly cannot construct logical sentences, or follow a conversation. He has a phobia of the national flag; on seeing a policeman he compulsively hands over his cigarettes; and he often stands facing the wall, sometimes for hours, without moving. He can manage to go to the toilet by himself, but needs help removing his clothing. The family’s only consolation is that he smiled when he came home.
Doctors in Hunan Xiangtan University Second Hospital did tests on Yu Dongyue after he was released, and judged his mental health as being severely affected.
“His reactions were slow; he could not talk in a logical sequence; could not keep to a topic of dialogue; could not answer the majority of questions; responded with un-related answers or remained silent; and could not complete any of the given tasks.”
An MRI test detected a shadow on part of his brain. Doctors suggested he needed intensive medical treatment and should stay in hospital. However, government officials still deny that Yu Dongyue has a mental illness, and he and his family receive no financial assistance, nor compensation. The family could not afford the medical fees for Yu to remain in hospital for treatment.
Yu’s situation affects the whole family, which is experiencing much financial difficulty. Yu’s brother supports Yu, three elderly members of the family and his own two daughters. Yu’s sister has health problems of her own and is already in debt after paying for two operations. Unless the family’s situation changes dramatically, it is unlikely that they will be able to obtain enough money for further medical treatment for Yu.
Amnesty International reiterates its call on the Chinese authorities to conduct a full, independent and impartial investigation into the events of 4 June 1989 with a view to bringing the perpetrators to justice and providing compensation to the victims or their families.