Name: Gao Yinglian (高迎莲)
Gender: Female
Age: 56
Address: Lingqiu County, No.1 High School Family Compound,
Datong City, Shanxi
Occupation: Employee at Lingqiu County Hospital
Date of Most Recent Arrest: November 4, 2005
Most Recent Place of Detention: Xindian Women's Forced Labor
Camp in Shanxi (山西新店女子劳教所)
City: Datong
Province: Shanxi
Persecution Suffered: Home ransacked, detention, forced
labor, sleep deprivation, torture
(Clearwisdom.net) Ms. Gao was physically weak and had suffered from illnesses since she was young. She often came down with a flu throughout the year and the doctor said her lungs looked like those of an old woman. She started to practice Falun Gong in the spring of 1997, and her illnesses soon disappeared.
When Ms. Gao went to appeal for Falun Gong in Beijing on November 25, 1999, she was arrested by officers from the Lingqiu County Police Department and was incarcerated for a month. She was detained for another two months when she was seen doing the exercises in a park on June 19, 2000. Her employer, the Lingqiu County Hospital, fired her and she has had no regular income for more than ten years.
On November 4, 2005, more than ten officers, led by deputy head of the Lingqiu County Police Department Wang Yinglong, head of the Domestic Security Division Zhang Xingming, and Cao Lihong arrested Ms. Gao. They also arrested Ms. Liu Ping, who was visiting her at the time. They were taken to the local police department. The police also confiscated two computers, several tape recorders, MP3 players, a piece of precious jewelry, and several thousand yuan in cash.
While in the Lingqiu County Detention Center, Ms. Gao was handcuffed. Ten months later, in the autumn of 2006, she was taken to Xindian Women's Forced Labor Camp.
During a physical examination Ms. Gao was found to have high blood pressure, diabetes, gallstones, heart problems, and other illnesses. Camp officials not only refused to release her, they used a number of means to physically abuse and torture her. She was forced to perform hard labor during the day, stand in strenuous positions for long periods of time, and watch TV programs that slandered Falun Gong. She was forbidden to sleep at times or was only allowed minimal sleep at night.
Torture reenactment: Propping open a practitioner's eyelids to deprive her of sleep
When Ms. Gao refused to write a guarantee statement to stop practicing Falun Gong, the guards left her outside, exposing her to the burning sun, and made her run for long periods of time. She lost consciousness twice.
Division head Lei Hongzhen ordered guards to deprive Ms. Gao of sleep for a month in the autumn of 2007. She was also made to do hard labor and was exposed to the scorching sun for long periods of time.
Two years of physical abuse and torture left her a physical wreck. Her neighbors could barely recognize her when she was allowed to return home.
