Liao Yongyi - 廖永谊
On July 20, 1999, the Chinese Communist Party began slandering Falun Gong. Ms. Liao went to Beijing to appeal on behalf of Falun Gong in November 1999, but was arrested, taken back by local police, and detained for fifteen days in the Jiurucun Detention Center in Chengdu City. The cell was wet, dirty, crowded and without sunlight. Ms. Liao was beaten, cursed, hungry and cold, and she was forced to stand outside overnight in the freezing cold.
In order to help people learn the truth about the persecution of Falun Gong, Ms. Liao tirelessly spread the facts in all seasons. In March 2005, she was followed by two Domestic Security agents from Lanzhou City, Gansu Province, who were passing through Chengdu City. These two agents reported her to the local police, and they ransacked Ms. Liao's home after midnight. Although Ms. Liao's paralyzed husband begged them not to take her away, she was still arrested and detained for thirty days in the Chengdu City First Detention Center located in Pi County. Ms. Liao almost lost her eyesight, and developed a bad case of rash due to mistreatment during her thirty days of detention.
Even after Ms. Liao was released in 2005, the Xingrong Community Administration hired unemployed people to take turns watching her closely, not allowing her to leave the neighborhood gate, and not even allowing her to shop for her daily needs. Ms. Liao's children are all working and have young children, so the older couple lived a very hard life when her personal freedom was restricted.
In late February 2007, just after the Chinese New Year, Ms. Liao was again reported to the police while clarifying the truth to people. She was arrested and detained for 50 days in the Chengdu City First Detention Center in Pi County. This time she was tortured both mentally and physically. Her eyesight deteriorated, and she could not see people within a one-yard distance. Her hair turned white, and she became emaciated and had difficulty standing. The detention center administration was afraid of being held responsible for her condition and notified her family to pick her up.
Beginning in 2008, the Neighborhood Administration placed guards by her apartment door on a daily basis from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. They pounded on her door 3-6 times per day, loudly questioning her as to what was she doing, and threatened her. Ms. Liao was very weak, and under such harassment her weight dropped from 90 pounds to 50 pounds. She died in September 2008.
