Yan Guangbi

Ms. Yan Guangbi was a practitioner in Chongqing. Her husband is a practitioner employed by the Chongqing City 18^th Middle School, which includes both junior and senior high. They both firmly kept their faith after the persecution began on July 20, 1999, and were consequently arrested and detained many times. Ms. Yan was detained several times and was forced to go through brainwashing three times. She had to leave home for more than a year to avoid being arrested. Due to being brutally mistreated in brainwashing sessions in the Chongqing City Women's Forced Labor Camp, she lost sight in both eyes. Her husband, Mr. Chen Changjun, was sentenced to forced labor two different times. As a result of torture, he had to use crutches after he was released.

During the May 1, 2000, holiday season, Ms. Yan and her husband went to Beijing to appeal for the right to practice and were arrested and detained by the Beijing police. Mitingzi Elementary School where she worked deducted from her salary all expenses incurred as a result of sending people to pick her up. The Chongqing City 18^th Middle School Security Office chair, Zhang Zurong, spent nearly 3,000 yuan to pick up Mr. Chen, and the expense was also deducted from his pay. Ms. Yan left home for more than a year to avoid being arrested. Mr. Chen was detained in the Jiangbei District Detention Center. Ever since then, the 18^th Middle School Security Officers started closely monitoring all Falun Dafa practitioners that lived in family housing or worked in the school. These people would follow the practitioners wherever they went, especially on during "sensitive days."

Mr. Chen was sentenced to the Xishanping Forced Labor Camp, where he endured numerous tortures. At the beginning of May 2001, detained practitioners did group exercises while the administration gathered prisoners together. Guard Tian Xiaohai led more than a dozen guards to beat practitioners with police and electric batons. More than 30 practitioners were severely injured.

In February 2004, the 18^th Middle School administration found out Mr. Chen had copied five truth clarifying fliers. This was reported to the Jiangbei District Police Department. The police ransacked his home, arrested Mr. Chen, took him to the Guanyinqiao Community Police Station, and detained him for 15 days in the Jiangbei District Detention Center. On the 16^th day, the school forced Mr. Chen to attend the Chongqing City Jingkou Brainwashing Center for four months. The school paid 4,500 yuan each month to the brainwashing facility.

On March 15, 2005, Ms. Yan and her husband were explaining the facts about Falun Gong in the Gailan Brook Neighborhood. The 18^th Middle School CCP secretary, Xiong Kerong, and the principal, Ma Peigao, hired spies that gathered information and reported it to the police. The officers arrested the couple and held them in the Jiangbei District Detention Center for one month. More than a dozen officers ransacked their home. Ms. Yan was released on April 14, 2005, but Mr. Chen was secretly taken to Xishanping Forced Labor Camp for a two-year term. He was transferred to a strictly controlled ward in May 2005 and tortured until he could hardly walk or talk. He lost at least 11 pounds in the first month. One guard beat him with a metal stick in the middle of the night. Although he screamed, the guards on duty did not stop the brutality, but tried to stop Mr. Chen from screaming. Mr. Chen's stomach problems recurred, but he was not allowed to receive any treatment. He had to endure inhuman torture accompanied with severe stomach pain. In the Seventh Ward, Tian Xin in the Second Section, under the Seventh Ward leader, Lei Jinke, locked up Mr. Chen and other practitioners for a long term in a small cell. Other inmates watched them 24 hours a day and gave them very little food, just enough to keep them alive. They all became very thin.

On June 1, 2007, at around 8:30 a.m., Ms. Yan and her husband were walking near the Jianxin Train Station. Someone shouted, "Yan Guangbi!" Seven to eight officers descended upon the couple and arrested them, ransacked their home, but found nothing. They took Ms. Yan to the Lushan Village Brainwashing Center located in the Yubei District, and then transferred her to the Jiangbei District Detention Center on June 13, 2007. They took Mr. Chen into custody at the Jiangbei District Police Department but released him soon after.

On April 21, 2008, at 5:00 p.m., the police stormed into Ms. Yan's home, arrested her, and took her to a forced labor camp. She soon appeared to suffer uremia due to being brutally mistreated and was sent home. Blind in both eyes, she was closely watched at home.

On April 25, 2009, Ms. Yan went to Chengdu City with her husband to sit in on the trial of Mr. Chen's younger brother, Mr. Chen Changyuan, who was on trial for practicing Falun Gong. The next day, the 18^th Middle School CCP secretary, Xiong Kerong, deceived their daughter, Chen Yan, into going to her parents' home and opening the door. When they found the couple was gone, they ordered Ms. Chen to call all her relatives to inquire about the couple's whereabouts.

When the couple arrived at the Chengdu City High-tech Zone Court on April 29, 2009, the CCP was waiting,and surrounded them. They did not allow them to sit in on the trial and detained them in the Appeal's Office. They escorted the couple back to Chongqing City immediately after the trial ended.

Ms. Yan was sentenced to forced labor again and taken to Chongqing Shabao Women's Forced Labor Camp. She was released for medical treatment and was then rushed to the hospital for emergency care. The police were still closely monitoring her when she was in the hospital. She died on the morning of October 3, 2009, in Chongqing 324 Hospital. Her husband is still being closely watched 24 hours a day at home.