Name: Yang Xianfeng (杨先凤)
Gender: Female
Age: Unknown
Address: Shashi District, Jingzhou City, Hubei Province
Occupation: Unknown
Date of Death:April 3, 2008
Date of Most Recent Arrest: 20, 2008
Most Recent Place of Detention: Tangxunhu Brainwashing Center (武汉汤逊湖洗脑班 )
City: Jingzhou
Province: Hubei Province
Persecution Suffered: Detention, mouth pried open with screwdriver and pliers, force-feeding, and hung-up.
Key Persecutors: Agents from Division 1 of Shashi District Police Department (Hu Youcai, Liu Juhua) and neighborhood office (Zhang and Xi)
(Clearwisdom.net) I came to know Ms. Yang Xianfeng in 2007 at the Tangxunhu Brainwashing Center (also known as Hubei Province Law Education Center). Upon reading the news that she had died as a result of torture, I was in tears.
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials arrested me in 2007 and sent me to the Tangxunhu Brainwashing Center. Located inside the Hubei Police Academy, many practitioners have been persecuted inside this place. It was a three-story building, with double gates: one set was made of iron, with guards on duty 24 hours a day. Two people were assigned to monitor each practitioner. One “monitor” was local and one was a forced labor camp guard. Practitioners were isolated from each other and they were not allowed to speak.
I met Ms. Yang on the third floor. She was brought in by a female guard. She was tall and her back was a little curved. I was touched by her determination and perseverance. The person who watched me said that Ms. Yang was from the Shashi District. She was arrested while shopping and had been detained in a woman's prison prior to coming to the forced labor camp.
Guards held Ms. Yang on the first floor and monitored her 24 hours a day, even depriving her of the break time. She always opposed the mistreatment. For example, thugs Li Qixia and Zhang Fengqin forced us to sing songs defaming Dafa before each brainwashing session. Ms. Yang refused, and the guards could do nothing about it.
Not long before leaving the brainwashing center, I had a brief sharing with Ms. Yang. She said the attempt to “transform” practitioners would end up in vain. I still remember her words, “There is nothing to fear. By sending forth righteous thoughts and reciting the Fa, we will be able to keep up with cultivation. We must follow Master.”
Later I heard that Ms. Yang refused to tell the police her relatives' names in order to prevent them from being harassed.
I have not seen her since then. From reports on Clearwisdom I learned that Ms. Yang was severely tortured. Agents from Division 1 of Shashi District Police Department (Hu Youcai, Liu Juhua) and the neighborhood office (Zhang and Xi) arrested her in late February 2001. They ransacked her home and confiscated about 1000 yuan in cash. The agents then held her at a cottage inside Zhongshan Park, and tortured her.
While being subjected to force-feeding at the Jingzhou City Detention Center, guards broke three of her teeth with a utility screwdriver and forcibly removed the roots with pliers, causing her to bleed severely. Many inmates were terrified by the horrific scene, and cried. After being transferred to the Shashi Detention Center, the center's head surnamed Lu ordered guards to force-feed her. They intentionally pulled the tube back and forth, causing her mouth and nose to bleed. The blood poured down her face and drenched her clothes. Because of the torture Ms. Yang was emaciated. Her skin became blackened and stank. She was unable to stand or take care of herself. In spite of her poor condition, officials from Shashi District 610 Office and court sentenced her to four years of imprisonment and sent her to Wuhan Women's Prison. She was detained at Division 1, also known as “the madhouse” since it specifically held elderly and disabled detainees.
When Ms. Yang refused to write the three statements renouncing her belief, guards forced her to stand still for long periods of time, from late April till late June, day and night. She was not allowed to sleep or move. As a result, her legs and feet were severely swollen, her calves were as thick as her thighs. She became very dizzy and passed out, knocking her head against the iron door, making a hole on her head that bled severely. Head guard Fan then held Ms. Yang in the intensified unit, hung her up on an iron door with handcuffs, and ordered inmates to torture her. She was not allowed to use the toilet or wash herself and her body gave off a strong, bad smell. To aggravate her pain, inmates intentionally pushed the iron door back and forth, dragging Ms. Yang across the floor. The handcuffs cut through her wrists and the bones were exposed.
Seeing that Ms. Yang still refused to give up her spiritual belief, thug Peng Jinxiu took out a previously prepared statement, intending to force her to sign it. Six inmates grabbed Ms. Yang so tightly in order to get her signature, that her thumb was almost broken. Seeing that this did not work because of Ms. Yang's resistance, guard Ding ordered more than 10 inmates to surround her, some sat on her back, some sat on her shoulders, some pressed her head down, some twisted her arm, and some tied a pen to her hand with a thin cord for her signature.
When it was over, Ms. Yang dragged her severely wounded body to the office, declaring the signed statements were void since the signature was obtained through force and against her will. Furious at her words, officials put her back in the intensified unit for further persecution, which led to her memory loss for a period of time.
Reading about Ms. Yang's death, through my tears, it is as if I am seeing Ms. Yang again: her compassion, her endurance, and her determination to uphold the truth.
