The Facts of the Persecution of Falun Gong --November 13, 2009

Issued by Clearwisdom Net

Content


  • Ms. Cao Shuanmei Beaten to Death in Shanxi Province Women's Prison
    • Ms. Cao dies in custody after beatings. Prison authorities claimed 'heart attack' as the cause of death and cancelled all visitation rightrs to the prison for a month.

    Ms. Cao Shuanmei Beaten to Death in Shanxi Province Women's Prison

    Name: Cao Shuangmei 
    Gender: Female
    Age: 52
    Address: Lingshi County, Shanxi Province
    Occupation: Unknown
    Date of Death: July 2009
    Date of Most Recent Arrest: January 2008
    Most Recent Place of Detention: Second Ward of Shanxi Province Women's Prison 
    City: Jinzhong
    Province: Shanxi
    Persecution Suffered: Forced labor, beatings, imprisonment, torture, forced-feedings, home ransacked, interrogation, detention

    When Ms. Cao Shuangmei went to Jiexiu City to pass out truth clarifying materials in the summer of 2003, she was arrested, her home was ransacked, and she was detained. After going on a hunger strike for seven days to protest her imprisonment, the police released her.

    One month later, the police arrested Ms. Cao again, without cause, and severely tortured her. To protest her imprisonment, she went on a hunger strike for more than twelve days. Fearing that Ms. Cao was on the verge of becoming critically ill, the police released her. Five to six months later, the police went to her home to arrest her once again, but she managed to escape.

    Around January 20, 2008, eighteen days before the 2008 Chinese New Year, a group of officers from Jirxiu County Police Department arrested Ms. Cao at her home. The police detained her for close to six months without informing her family.

    Lei Runxiang, warden of the 2nd Ward of Shanxi Province Women's Prison, encouraged inmates to brutally beat Ms. Cao in her cell, eventually causing her untimely death in July 2009. In order to cover up their crime, the prison authorities lied to her family, saying that she had died due to a sudden heart attack. In addition, they suspended all visitation rights to the prison for a month and interrogated all detained Falun Gong practitioners.