(Minghui.org) Since July 1999 when the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) illegal persecution of Falun Gong began, practitioners in Qiyuan, a medium sized city in Henan Province, have been subjected to many different forms of torture and persecution.
As of the end of 2013, four practitioners--Duan Changfu, Yuan Shengjun, Zhai Jiazhong, and Ma Zhichai--had been tortured to death. Ms. Dong Yulan and Ms. Li Yuping’s husbands both died from the long-term stress and anxiety over the wellbeing of their loved ones and pressure from government officials. Nine practitioners were given prison terms, and about 200 have been detained. Ninety practitioners have been sentenced to forced labor. Twelve practitioners were paralyzed as a result of being tortured in custody. Some had their arms and ribs broken, and others were tortured so severely that they could no longer stand straight. Several practitioners’ teeth were all knocked out, and some became mentally disoriented. Over 600 practitioners have been forced to attend brainwashing sessions sponsored by the city and county governments. Countless numbers of practitioners’ residences have been ransacked, and their personal belongings taken.
In addition, the authorities have extorted funds from practitioners and their families. Wang Mingli, the head of Qiyuan City Domestic Security Division, and Wang Guoyou, the head of the same division, extorted about 204,400 yuan from 84 practitioners. If the practitioners or their families did not pay up, the practitioners would be sentenced to forced labor.
Falun Gong Practitioners Who Have Been Illegally Sentenced
NameSexAgeSentence TermPlace of incarcerationPang LiangmaleIn his 40s3 yearsXinmin Prison in Zhengzhou City, Henan ProvinceHu RongyinfemaleIn her 60s4 yearsUnknown
Li Yupingfemale54 years old4 yearsUnknown
Qin Xiaominfemaleunknown3 yearsUnknownWang Ruifemaleunknown3 years, on 4 years probation
Liu Fazhimaleunknown4 yearsUnknown
Li Zongrumaleunknown3 years, on 3 and half years of probation
Cheng Xiaomeifemaleunknown5 yearsXinxiang City Women’s Prison in Henan ProvinceZhou PeilanfemaleunknownunknownXinxiang City Women’s Prison in Henan Province
Selected Cases of Persecution of Falun Gong Practitioners in Qiyuan
1. In 2008, Ms. Chang Yuying was detained and sentenced to a year and a half of forced labor. She was incarcerated in Shibalihe Forced Labor Camp in Henan Province. Camp officials forced her to watch and listen to fabricated reports that slandered Falun Gong. They forced her to sing songs to praise the CCP and made her to do hard labor.
Ms. Chang was previously arrested and locked up several times. She was held in an underground cage in 2000 after going to Beijing to clarify the facts to people. The guards took all her money and clothes.
In November 2002, Ms. Chang was forced to become destitute to avoid further persecution. In 2003, personnel from the Qiyuan City 610 Office and Domestic Security Division locked her up for ten days in the Beihai Police Station. They accused her of killing her husband who had died from a heart attack.
Beihai Police Station officers hung her up in a cage. They struck and kicked her and deprived her of sleep. She was put in handcuffs and shackles and was only given diluted soup mixed with maggots and sand to eat.
Torture re-enactment: Hung up in the air
The long-term torture traumatized Ms. Chang physically and mentally, and as a result of long-term stress, she developed a tumor. However, her request for medical treatment was completely ignored. After suffering from brutal torture for 11 months, she was diagnosed with uterine cancer. To avoid having her die under their supervision, the detention center authorities released her.
1. Mr. Pang Long, the former director of the Qiyuan City Fire Department, was sentenced to three years of forced labor in October 2002 for going to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong. The guards broke his arm while torturing him. He was later transferred to the Xuchang Forced Labor Camp in Henan Province, where he suffered brutal torture for four years. He was dishonorably discharged by the fire department and his proof of citizenship was illegally voided.
Torture re-enactment: Hands tied behind the back with nylon string
Mr. Pang’s term was extended for four extra months because he shouted “Falun Dafa is good!” The guards tied his hands behind his back with strings several times for about an hour each time. The string was so tight that it cut into his flesh. He then was forced to squat with his lower legs positioned vertical to the ground. The guards inserted wooden sticks below his upper arms, causing excruciating pain.
He could not breathe, and his right elbow was dislocated. However, the guards still forced him to do forced labor. If he could not finish his quota by the end of the day, he had to continue working without sleep. The extreme torture and forced labor caused him to faint several times. He was covered in cuts and wounds, and several parts of his joints were dislocated, so he was unable to move around. Since the physical torture failed to make him denounce his faith in Falun Gong, the labor camp authorities mixed drugs into his food that damaged his central nervous system. The drugs caused him to become mentally disoriented for a long period of time.
Previous report: Court Hides Verdict in Secret Trial of a Veteran Officer
1. Ms. Dong Yulan was detained in October 2010 in a brainwashing center for a month. A month before that, when she was arrested, her blood pressure measured over 200 and she had symptoms of a heart problem. The detention center refused to admit her because of her poor condition, so policeman Miao Dongming forced Ms. Dong’s daughter to write a statement for her mother that denounced Falun Gong and then let Ms. Dong go home.
Ms. Dong was arrested several times before. In December 2000, police went to her home and ransacked it. She was locked up in a small dark cell for 17 days with her hands cuffed to a pipe.
In November 2007 while she was incarcerated, Miao Dongming beat her brutally, and Ms. Dong almost lost her hearing. She was sentenced to one and a half years of forced labor and incarcerated in Shibalihe Forced Labor Camp in Zhengzhou City, Henan Province. She was released in 2009, but Miao Dongming and others never stopped monitoring her whereabouts.
1. Ms. Li Yuping was arrested in March 2004 by the Qiyuan City 610 Office, and was sentenced to two and a half years of forced labor. She was incarcerated in Shibalihe Women’s Forced Labor Camp and forced to do hard labor for more than 10 hours a day. She was restrained on a stool and was only permitted to use the toilet at designated times. Practitioners were given little food to eat, and in winter, they got nothing but unwashed turnips. Their mouths were filled with sand and mud when they ate the turnips, which made it impossible to swallow anything.
When Ms. Li was released in 2006, her employer refused to allow her to return to work. She was forced to retire early but was only given about 400 yuan a month. When she reached official retirement age, she was told that the two years of forced labor would be subtracted from her total number of years of work experience, and now she only receives 570 yuan each month.
1. Ms. Chang Lihua was arrested on February 28, 2014 and is still detained.
Previous report: Ms. Chang Lihua Forced to Leave Home for More Than Three Years, Her Family Harassed More Than One Hundred Times
1. Ms. Sun Xiuying was arrested by Qiyuan City Domestic Security Division in April 2004, and was incarcerated in the Qiyuan City Detention Center. The Domestic Division officials told Ms. Sun’s family to give them 3000 yuan, but her family could not afford it. When they failed to get money out of her family, they sentenced Ms. Sun to one year of forced labor. Ms. Sun’s blood pressure read at 300 at the initial check-up, so the labor camp refused to admit her. However, the officials from the Domestic Division simply left her at the labor camp.
1. Mr. Zhang Gaixin was arrested in November 2009 and detained for over six months. He was arrested several times between July 1999 and September 2009. The constant threat of being re-arrested caused him to eventually leave his family and become destitute to avoid further persecution.
Qiyuan Detention Center officials forced Mr. Zhang to do hard labor from 6:00 a.m. until late at night. He was given a five-minute break to eat. While the detainees were asleep, he was forced to stand up for two hours, and sometimes for four hours, but he had to work again early the next morning. When it snowed, the guards forced him to crawl in the snow and scrape it. He was given little to eat. Mr. Zhang was starving all the time. The guards also pressured him to curse Falun Gong and its founder.
1. Ms. Hu Rongyin’s residence was broken into on October 18, 2004, by armed police under orders from the Qiyuan 610 Office and Domestic Division. Since Ms. Hu was not home at that time, on October 20, several dozen anti-terrorist police arrested her. To protest the persecution, she went on a hunger strike. Eight days later, when she was very frail, Li Guozhan, a director in the armed police, and others took her to the brainwashing center, which refused to admit her for fear of her dying under their supervision.
Previous report: Ms. Hu Rongying Appeals Unlawful Verdict, Court Interrupts Defense
1. Ms. Zhu Xiumei and Ms. Ma Zhicha were both arrested on September 11, 2010, and detained in the Qiyuan City Detention Center for more than four months. They were both put in foot shackles because they refused to wear the prison uniforms. They were also force-fed for conducting hunger strikes to protest the persecution.
The political director of Qiyuan City 610 Office ordered the force- feeding of Ms. Ma and Ms. Zhu. Deputy head of the detention center Wang Lixin monitored the force-feeding personally. Female guard Zhao Na force-fed both practitioners. Ms. Zhu’s upper and lower incisors were knocked out, and Ms. Ma’s mouth bled. In winter, Zhao Na force-fed them with cold porridge diluted with tap water. After being force-fed, Ms. Ma vomited, but the guards then force-fed Ms. Zhu her vomit.
Torture re-enactment: Barbaric force feeding
Both Ms. Ma and Ms. Zhu lost a tremendous amount of weight due to the tortures in the detention center. However, officials still planned to try them both. Their families had to sign off on the bail, since they were too frail to stand for trial. After they were released, the local police continued harassing them, which forced them to leave home and become destitute.
Prior to this, Ms. Zhu was arrested in the winter of 2000 and held in the Qiyuan City Detention Center for over six months. She was put in handcuffs and shackles and tortured. In May 2001 and November 2002, Qiyuan City 610 Office and Police Department set up brainwashing sessions, and she was incarcerated in the centers both times.
Previous reports: The Persecution of Falun Gong Practitioners Ms. Zhu Xiumei and Ms. Ma ZhichaiMs. Ma Zhichai Dies in Police Custody under Suspicious Circumstances
1. Ms. Zhao Lingzhi was arrested in April 2006, and Qiyuan City Police Department took all her Dafa books. She was later sentenced to one year of forced labor and was incarcerated in Shibalihe Forced Labor Camp.
1. Ms. Zhou Yurong and Ms. Wang Cuiyu were both for distributing Falun Gong materials on June 13, 2007. They were incarcerated in Peibin Detention Center.
2. Ms. Cheng Xiaomei was arrested on November 28, 2007, but her family did not know where she was until July 2008. She was sentenced to five years and incarcerated in Xinxiang Women’s Prison.
1. Mr. Zhao Qiangjun and his wife Xiaoling’s home was ransacked on August 15, 2009. The Qiyuan City Political and Legal Affairs Committee director, the 610 Office director, police chief Li Gang, and several police officers raided their home. They took their computer, printer, copy machine, and over 10,000 yuan in cash. They arrested the couple and left their under-age son home alone.
1. Miao Dongming and a dozen other officers from Qiyuan City Police Department raided Ms. Wang Yingxian’s home on August 26, 2010. Her computer, laptop, printer, two MP3 players, and over 300 yuan in cash were taken along with her Falun Gong materials and books. They also attempted to arrest Ms. Wang, but she was not home that day. Afterwards, police officers often went to her home and harassed her family. To avoid further persecution, Ms. Wang left home and became destitute. The police tapped her phone and continued to harass her family in her absence.
1. In May 2011, Ms. Zhou Peilan was incarcerated in the brainwashing center and was sentenced without due process. She was incarcerated in Xinxiang Women’s Prison.
The Following Practitioners Have Also Been Persecuted, Including Being Incarcerated and Tortured:
Ms. Liu Xiaoman, Ms. Wu Chunxian, Ms. Xu Suping, Mr. Wang Xiaofeng, Ms. Wang Xiuzhen, Ms. Wang Xiuzhi, Zhao Jiyi, Ms. Li Xiaozhi, Ms. Xing Qingfang, Kong Xiaoming, Ms. Lan Ying, Ms. Xiao Su, Liu Dongqing, Ms. Xu Larong, Ms. Zhang Suhua, Mr. Guo Zhansheng, Ms. Liu Congzhi, Ms. Yan Peiyu, Ms. Qi Ye, Ms. Zhang Xiaoniu, Ms. Niu Baozhi, Ms. Zhao Xiaomian, Ms. Ren Zhumei, Ms. Wang Xiapan, Ms. Xu Yanxia, Mr. Yao Yonghe, Ms. Feng Xiaoling, and Mr. Zhao Dading.
Other persecution accounts:The Persecution of Practitioner Han Xiaorui in Jiyuan City, Henan ProvinceWu Suqin from Jiyuan City, Henan Province Tortured in Detention Center
