(Minghui.org) Ms. Cao Yingchun was arrested in March 2014 while distributing Shen Yun Performing Arts DVDs. An illegal trial was held at Dong'an District Court on May 11. The United Nations have been made aware of Ms. Cao's case for quite some time.
Ms. Cao recovered from a neuromuscular disorder called Myasthenia Gravis by practicing Falun Gong. However, after the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) started the persecution in 1999, she was sentenced to three years of forced labor, and later to a ten-year prison term. Her illness recurred as a result of the torture that she endured. She was released in 2012.
Eight Year Prison Term
In October 2004, Ms. Cao was taken to the Heilongjiang Provincial Women's Prison. She was locked in solitary confinement, with both hands cuffed behind her back. Her feet were shackled and locked to iron rings attached to the ground. Three days later, prison director Liu Zhiqiang unlocked one arm.
Torture illustration: Locked to rings on the ground
Ms. Cao was in critical condition after two months of torture. She was first taken to the special unit for sick inmates, and then transferred to the Harbin No.2 Hospital, where she was diagnosed with Myasthenia Gravis.
In 2006, inmates Li Huirong and others beat Ms. Cao, because she was caught reading Falun Gong articles. They stuffed a dirty rag into her mouth, sealed it with duct tape and locked her in solitary confinement.
Ms. Cao was held in the No.10 Prison District in May 2008. Guards and inmates sealed her mouth with duct tape on June 12. Inmates Li Dan and Li Huirong tied her left arm to a bed, injuring her arm. On June 16, 2008, they tied her left arm to the bedside ladder and her right leg to the other end of the bed frame.
Inmate Chen Xiaoxia slapped Ms. Cao in the face, pulled her hair and pushed her head against the metal bed frame on July 16, 2009, causing a big bump to appear on her head.
In 2010, inmates Liu Huiying, Gao Fuyan, Li Dan, Wang Xinhua and Chen Xiaoxia beat Ms. Cao.
The director of the prison hospital Zhao Huihua, and several guards ordered inmates to harass Ms. Cao on July 11, 2012. She was locked up on the third floor of the prison hospital.
Ms. Cao was released in 2012.
Tortured in Aimin Police Department
A dozen people, including Li Wei from the Yangming Police Station and policemen Chen Liang, Chen Xianrui and Yang Tao from the Aimin Police Department broke into Ms. Cao's home in early February 2002. They confiscated all her valuables, including a television and over 1,000 yuan. She was then tortured in the Aimin Police Department. They poured mustard oil into her nostrils and also pasted it on her eyelids, and then put a plastic bag over her head and held it tightly. She suffered extreme pain and almost suffocated before they removed the bag.
Torture illustration: Suffocation
The police took Ms. Cao to the local domestic security division, where she was tied to an iron chair. Her feet were shackled and her arms were cuffed behind the chair. She was surrounded by Chen Liang, Chen Xianrui, Yang Tao, a policeman with last name Cui, the head of Aimin Police Department Qiao Ping and his subordinates Shen Xiaojiang and Wang.
They strapped bricks to the handcuffs to weigh them down, pulling hard on her arms. After she lost consciousness they poured cold water on her face. This torture was repeated three times each afternoon for three consecutive days, resulting in her bones being fractured. Scars from this torture were visible for several years. She was released on an unknown date.
When Ms. Cao's physical condition showed signs of improvement, officer Chen Liang from the Aimin police arrested her in the middle of May and took her to the Mudanjiang City Detention Center. They tried to sentenced her to 10 years a few months later during a secret trial, and took her to the Heilongjiang Provincial Women's Prison in September 2002. However, prison officials refused to accept her because she failed the physical examination. She was then taken back to the detention center.
Incarcerated Since the Beginning of the Persecution
Ms. Cao used to be an accountant at the Yangming District Welfare Bureau in Mudanjiang. She retired in 1992 at the age of 37 due to severe health problems, but recovered completely after one year of practicing Falun Gong.
Since the onset of the persecution on July 20, 1999, Ms. Cao has been to Beijing eight times to appeal for the right to practice Falun Gong. She has been arrested and imprisoned many times. The guards only released her when she was in critical condition, as a result of going on hunger strikes during her imprisonment.
When Ms. Cao went to Beijing in October 1999 to appeal for Falun Gong, she was arrested and taken back to Mudanjiang. Four policemen were stationed near her home to monitor her around the clock. Officials from the Mudanjiang 610 Office and the Political and Legal Affairs Committee worked together with the Yangming District Court to sentence Ms. Cao to three years at the end of November 1999, and was taken to the Wanjia Forced Labor Camp in Harbin City.
At the camp, guard Yu Li and inmates Cui Fengying and Zhang Xiufeng beat Ms. Cao, and denied her family visits.
Torture re-enactment: Severe beatings
Guard Yu slapped Ms. Cao in the face because she was practicing the Falun Gong exercises, causing deafness in one ear. Yu also beat her with a wide bamboo board until she lost consciousness. The torture she endured was relentless, until she became bedridden. She was unable to eat for some time, vomited and became emaciated. Yet, she was not seen by a doctor. Guard Song Shaohui tried to force-feed her.
On July 19, 2001, guards ordered male inmates to drag Ms. Cao out of her cell. They then force-fed her and beat her.
Ms. Cao was also force-fed when she went on a hunger strike in August 2001 to protest the persecution. As her her health worsened the authorities at the camp released her on medical parole on August 21, 2001.
Parties involved in the persecution of Ms. Cao YingchunDong'an District Court in Mudanjiang City: +86-453-8926222, +86-453-6608099, +86-453-6680396
Earlier report:Ms. Cao Yingchun Imprisoned and Tortured after Recovering from Myasthenia Gravis
