Zou Jiqin - 邹继芹
Ms. Zou Jiqin lived in Jiamusi City, Heilongjiang Province. On May 11, 2002, Ms. Zou was arrested again, and once more detained in Jiamusi City Detention Center. She went on a hunger strike to protest , only to be tortured by being force-fed while tied on the floor with her four limbs stretched apart. She almost died from this torture. She was later taken to Jiamusi City Labor Camp to serve out her three-year term. Four times her hands were cuffed behind her back onto a metal bed frame. Five times she was tortured with the "Big Back Cuff," an excruciating torture. She was also subjected to many other tortures, including being forced to sit on a wire spool (a very rough surface), not allowed to use the toilet, subjected to long-term sleep deprivation, forced to do hard labor, and subjected to freezing temperatures. The guards intentionally opened the window at night to make it even colder. When the guards saw that this brutal treatment still could not force Ms. Zou to accept their brainwashing, they decided to torture her with the "Big Back Cuff" for an entire afternoon. Ms. Zou's arms lost all feeling and swelled up as thick as loaves of bread. Her feet had frostbite and she began coughing. Ms. Zou passed out due to the extreme pain. Liu put her down on the cement floor, then had the camp doctor look at her. The camp doctor said there was no danger that she could die. Liu then put her back in the "Big Back Cuff" position for another entire afternoon. He swung the handcuffs to aggravate the pain. They assigned a collaborator to continue trying to brainwash Ms. Zou. They tortured her the next day again with the "Big Back Cuff" and used electric batons to shock her. After this torture session, Ms. Zou was unable to take care of herself for a long time.
In March 2003, Ms. Zou refused to write the "Four Statements." She was again tortured with the "Big Back Cuff," by guards Li Xiujin (female) and Li Yongbo (male). In the summer of 2003, Ms. Zou again refused to comply with the authorities' evil demands, so guards Liu Yadong and Li Xiujin forced her to sit on the wire spool again, with both hands on her knees. They didn't allow her to move one bit. If she did move, they punched and kicked her. Ms. Zou was forced to sit this way from 6:00 a.m to 8:00 p.m. for several days. Her buttocks bled, and her legs and feet swelled. Ms. Zou was as thin as a skeleton. She could not sleep well and had difficulty breathing. She was still forced to do hard labor in this condition. The production materials that detainees had to work with contained toxic ingredients with a very strong odor. This caused Ms. Zou's health, already compromised, to deteriorate further.
Ms. Zou was in extremely poor health when she was finally released. Her family circumstances were very difficult life as a result of the persecution. Ms. Zou lost her job, and her husband was forced into early retirement. Their child needed to go to school and her parents were forced to leave home to avoid being arrested. Ms. Zou had to do odd jobs to make a living. She never recovered physically. On February 29, 2008, Ms. Zou died at the age of 46.
