Name: Zhao Yuhuan (赵玉环)
Gender: Female
Age: 40's
Occupation: Teacher of Chinese at Qinhuangdao No. 7 Middle School
Date of Most Recent Arrest: November 30, 2008
Most Recent Place of Detention: Shijiazhuang Women's Prison (石家庄女子监狱)
City: Shijiazhuang
Province: Hebei
Persecution Suffered: Detention, forced labor, sleep deprivation, beatings, electric shock, torture, forced feeding, physical restraint, solitary confinement, illegal sentencing, imprisonment.
(Minghui.org) Ms. Zhao Yuhuan from Qinhuangdao City was illegally detained in Shijiazhuang Women's Prison for over four years. Before the day of her release on November 28, 2012, she was tortured to the brink of death.
Ms. Zhao was an excellent teacher of Chinese at Qinhuangdao No. 7 Middle School in Hebei Province. She had an outstanding record of performance at the school and was very popular with the students. Her class was named the most outstanding class. She has great literary skills and many of her articles have been published in newspapers and magazines.
Ms. Zhao has benefited both mentally and physically since she started practicing Falun Gong after the April 25 incident in 1999. When the CCP started to persecute Falun Gong in July 1999, Ms. Zhao went to Beijing to appeal. In 2000, she was arrested by agents from the Qinhuangdao 610 Office and was sentenced to two years in Kaiping Forced Labor Camp in Tangshan City. She was arrested again in October, 2002 and was sentenced to two years in the same labor camp, where she was tortured in various ways, including being repeatedly handcuffed to metal rings fastened in the ground, shocked with electric batons, beaten, forced fed, put in solitary confinement, and other torture methods known as the “big hang up” and “dead man's bed.”
Officers from the Hepingjie Police Station in the Chaoyang District of Beijing arrested Ms. Zhao on November 30, 2008, when she was seen distributing truth clarification materials. She was sentenced to four years in prison. Mr. Li Heping, a well-known Beijing lawyer, pleaded not guilty for Ms. Zhao, and explained to the court how there was no evidence to prove that she had committed a crime. The presiding judge Sun Xiaojuan, an official from the Procuratorate Zhang Xin, and Sun Yang did not say anything in response. The trial ended hastily with the excuse that further discussions were needed among three public security departments.
Ms. Zhao was taken to Shijiazhuang Women's Prison in Hebei on August 7, 2009. She went on a hunger strike to protest the persecution, and was force-fed two times every day. Each time, four or five inmates dragged her down the stairs from the fourth floor to the prison hospital, and then dragged her back up to the fourth floor when they had finished. The inmates kicked her and swore at her as they dragged her to the prison hospital. She was then pinned down on the cold ground and force-fed. Her clothes were all torn and her legs, feet and back were covered in bruises.
When Ms. Zhao was dragged out to the yard one time, she shouted, “Falun Dafa is good!”, “Stop persecuting Falun Gong” and “Release innocent Falun Gong practitioners!” Four or five inmates and guards immediately set upon her and started beating and kicking her. They then stuffed a dirty rag into her mouth with such force that they injured her mouth.
After having been tortured continuously for more than half a month, Ms. Zhao's back and legs were severely injured. She couldn't stand up and had to lie on the cold ground every day. She also lost control of her bowel movements.
Four days before Ms. Zhao was due to be released, two inmates pinned her down in the prison hospital and forced her to have an IV infusion. Later, her heart wasn't functioning properly and it was difficult to find her pulse. She was left handcuffed to the corridor railings on the floor of the activity hall in front of the prison cells. She looked pale, her clothes were wet and her hands were ice-cold. She was not allowed to use the restroom or close her eyes. After having been continuously handcuffed for a week, Ms. Zhao was tortured until she fell unconscious.
Ms. Zhao was put on a wet blanket and all her clothes were stripped off her. She was so cold that she could not stop shivering. Inmate Zhang Jianhui and a guard used Ms. Zhao's prison card and spent over 2000 yuan of her money in just a few days. Many inmates shed tears when they saw Ms. Zhao being tortured to the brink of death with all her clothes stripped off.
In April, Ms. Zhao was beaten and kicked by guard Yang Yang, and was handcuffed for the whole afternoon. When she went on a hunger strike to protest the persecution she was force-fed, and later given an IV infusion. She lost a lot of weight and was very weak.
After Ms. Zhao was eventually released from prison, a car from the 610 Office was constantly parked in front of her apartment building. She couldn't even stand up by herself when she got home. Her husband requested that the 610 Office take her to the Public Security Bureau Hospital for a checkup. But staff at the 610 Office told him that they were only responsible for taking his wife back home.
Ms. Zhao's husband carried her upstairs and placed her on the bed. He brought her a medical urinal for her to use and took care of her. That evening, she didn't eat or drink. She is very thin and weak now and is in critical condition.
Related articles:
http://en.minghui.org/emh/articles/2008/12/27/103321.html
http://en.minghui.org/html/articles/2009/8/30/110422.html
