Name: Yan Chunling (闫春玲)
Gender: Female
Age: 48
Address: Dazhi Street, Nangang District, Harbin City
Occupation: Former employee of Harbin Steel Mill, persecuted and fired from her job for her belief in Falun Dafa
Date of Most Recent Arrest: May 19, 2003
Most Recent Place of Detention: Heilongjiang Women’s Prison (黑龙江女子监狱)
City: Harbin
Province: Heilongjiang
Torment Suffered: Illegal sentencing, beatings, imprisonment, solitary confinement, torture, sexual assault, fired from work, physical restraint
(Clearwisdom.net) Harbin Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Yan Chunling was sentenced to nine years in prison by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 2003, and was sent to Heilongjiang Women’s Prison. She persisted in following her belief and refused to acknowledge that she was a prisoner. For this she spent a long time in a small cell. What follows is what she endured.
More information about Ms. Yan Chunling can be found at http://www.clearwisdom.net/html/articles/2010/8/1/118990.html
Heilongjiang Women’s Prison in Harbin City
My name is Yan Chunling. Because I am a Falun Gong practitioner, I was sent to the No. 2 Prison District of Heilongjiang Women’s Prison by agents of the CCP.
On March 11, 2011, Bao Rui, the prison warden; Dong Yan, deputy chief of No. 2 Prison District; and two policewomen came to my cell while I was sitting in meditation on my bed. When they came in I did not say anything or move. Dong Yan said, “Come on, Yan Chunling, feet on the floor.” I did not move. She said, “Look, the warden is here. You should be polite and stand up.” I replied, “I respect every one of you. If you were guests in my home I would entertain you. In here, the real criminals stand up as soon as they see you. I won't do that because I am a Dafa practitioner, I did not break any law, nor am I a criminal.” One police officer laughed and tugged on warden Bao's sleeve. They soon left.
About ten minutes later one of the inmates called my name and said that chief Chen Dongyue wanted to see me. So I went to her office and sat on a sofa near the entrance. I saw four police officers in the room: Dong Yan, Chen Dongyue, Hu Yunan, and Zhang Xuan. Chen Dongyue shouted at me, “Stand up! We are all standing, but you are sitting down?” I answered, “Don't treat me like that. I did not break the law, I am not a criminal, and I have done nothing wrong by believing in Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.”
Dong Yan shouted, “You ask if it enough to lock you up in a small cell today!” I replied, “I have told you, my behavior is not aimed at you, I am resisting the persecution of Falun Gong. I didn't violate any law. You can't treat me like a criminal.” Three people then shouted at me in unison, “We just look at the verdict!” I said, “You shall not talk to me like this. Please respect others and leave a way out for yourselves.” Chen Dongyue yelled, “I like to speak loudly like this, I talk loudly!” She shook her head and sat on the edge of a table. The three then said, “Send her to a small cell.” Zhang Xuan did not say anything.
Three police officers entered the room, two males (names unknown) and policewoman Zhao Lisha. Zhao Lisha said, “What's the matter?” A policeman seized my collar to restrain me. I said, “Don't act like this. I respect every one of you.” Policeman Zhao said, “It's all right, it's all right,” and waved her hands at Chen Dongyue and the others. Three of them turned around and walked out of the room. Dong Yan and Zhang Xuan also left. I said a few words to Chen Dongyue and Hu Yunan while I was standing and then sat down.
Chen Dongyue said, “What? They left, and you sit down again? Do you think that the two of us can't pull you up?” I said, “No, I know you have many people, but do not treat us like this at any time. Treat Dafa practitioners kindly. We hope you have good future.” Chen Dongyue said, “You go back to your cell.”
About ten minutes after returning to the cell, Chen Dongyue arrived with four prisoners, including Wang Fengchuan and Jiao Yanxia. Chen Dongyue asked, “Do we force you, or will you get down from the bed yourself?” I did not move. Wang Fengchuan then pulled me to the ground and dragged me out of the cell. In the corridor I began shouting, “Falun Dafa is good!” I kept shouting until we arrived at the small confinement cell.
Dong Yan, Hu Yunan, chief of the small cells Zhang Chunhua, and two police officers were already there. They watched four prisoners pull off my clothes. Jiao Yanxia said, “Sister Yan, do not be stubborn.” I was wearing only my underpants. A police officer said, “Pull down the underpants.” I made an effort to keep my underwear on, and they did not continue to try to take them off. They began to put a prison uniform on me. I struggled and refused to wear it. I shouted, “Falun Dafa is good!” Wang Fengchuan hit me, pinched me many times, and smashed my head against the wall. I asked, “Who encouraged you to do this? You are committing a crime!” No one said anything. Zhang Chunhua touched my face with an electric baton and said, “You need to behave well.” I said, “I sternly warn you that you are not enforcing the law—you are breaking the law yourself.” She quietly put the electric baton down.
Torture re-enactment: Hitting a person's head against the wall by grabbing her hair
In the narrow, small space, they cuffed my hands to rings anchored in the ground. I wasn't allowed to sleep until 10 p.m.; whereupon I lay down on an icy cold plank with both hands still cuffed. I could not wash or clean my teeth for 15 days, and there was no water.
Torture re-enactment: Locked to a ground ring
The smell in the small room was so irritating that my eyes watered. A window was opened and, because I had to sit or lie on a wet, wooden plank, I felt the icy coldness penetrate to my heart. My feet were covered with a pair of socks and plastic slippers and I was not allowed to wear real shoes. Dong Yan came to talk to me on March 21. She asked if I would put on the prison uniform, so I would be allowed to sit on a stool. I said, “I can't.” I asked her for some cotton pads and trousers. I told her that I had started menstruating and she agreed to send the items that night. However, all of the clothes I received had the word “prisoner” printed on them, so I wore them inside out.
On March 24, Dong Yan and Chen Dongyue came again. My eyes were so swollen they would not open, and my legs shook terribly when I stood up. Chen asked about my legs. I said they were not functioning well. Chen Dongyue said, “We ask only this: wear the prison uniform and stand up in the presence of the guards. Will you obey?” I shook my head, “No.”
She said, “Look at you. Nobody looks like you, showing off, and singing to the warden (on February 24, Bao Rui, Tao Shuping, and Cui Hongmei entered my cell and searched through my stuff. I told them not to persecute us. I said, “Let me sing a song for you.” I sang, “Be Saved.” They said, “OK you sing, you sing,” and then left my cell). Chen said, “You tell me that you have not lost much? You lost those you cherished. What do you mean by shaking your head? Will you not obey management?” I said I could not. They said, “Only you do not wear the uniform. We have our ways. If you insist on acting like this, you will remain in the small cell.”
On March 26, Dong Yan brought four prisoners along, but left them outside the room. She asked, “Do you know why you are here? I came to take you out. But you must show manners.” I answered, “You did not ask my permission before you put me in here. You simply forced me in, and now are asking me when I will leave?” She said, “You know you will come here again if you keep acting this way.” Then she ordered the four prisoners to come in and put a uniform on me. I didn't have the strength to struggle against them. Dong Yan then had criminal Sun Xiufang put a prison uniform on me and told them to force me to sit on the stool at will.
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After the evening of March 25, Ms. Yan Chunling's feet were unbearably sore from the torture and cold, and she didn't dare to stand up. She often woke up from the pain during the night. Everybody suggested that she sue Dong Yan, Chen Dongyue, and Hu Yunan for making prisoner Wang Fengchun torture her. Ms. Yan's face was still very swollen 20 days after the beating, and she wondered what she would look like when she healed. After she was let out of the small cell, she could not sleep due to the pain in her feet and legs, and often woke up with nightmares. Dong Yan ordered two prisoners to force her to sit on a small stool during the day and to wear the prison garb.
Actually, Ms. Yan was sent to the small cell under orders from chief Wang Yali of the No. 2 Prison District.
