(Minghui.org) The Chinese Communist regime started the persecution of Falun Gong in July 1999, and many practitioners have since been tortured and mistreated in Funing County, Yancheng City, Jiangsu Province. Ms. Si Yun and Ms. Hong Youfeng are still being detained, Ms. Yang Yaping is under residential surveillance, Ms. Miao Ping is on the wanted list, and Ms. Cao Xiuying has been forced to stay away from home. Below are details of 15 Funing practitioners who have been severely persecuted.
1. Ms. Miao Ping, nearly 70 years old, the Funing Second Construction Company Treasurer
Ms. Miao Ping was a representative to the People’s Congress at Yancheng City. Before she began practicing Falun Gong in 1996, she had numerous health problems, including arthritis, a gastric ulcer, a slipped disc, and gallbladder obstruction. They all disappeared after she began practicing.
As general treasurer of the Second Construction Company, she was often offered bribes and gifts. After she read Zhuan Falun, she came to understand that one should not accept material gains without paying for them, so she stopped accepting the gifts. Her supervisor and coworkers were very impressed by her high ethical standards.
After the persecution of Falun Gong started in 1999, officers from the Funing Domestic Security Division talked with her many times, attempting to force her to abandon her belief. Tian Zhengwu and Wang Hua from the Funing Police Department arrested her in March 2001, and held her in the detention center for a month. They also ransacked her home and confiscated her Falun Gong books.
Ms. Miao was threatened several times by officials from the Funing Police Department, the Procuratorate, the 610 Office, and the Political and Legal Affairs Committee. They said they would release her only if she gave up her belief and persuaded others to do the same; otherwise, she would be sent to a forced labor camp or imprisoned.
Imprisoned and Severely Abused
In June 2005, agents from the local 610 Office and Domestic Security Division arrested Ms. Miao again and ransacked her home. After taking her to Yancheng Military Hotel, agent Wang Hua from the Funing Domestic Security Division put her in solitary confinement and assigned 16 people to torture her.
She was deprived of sleep for four days and physically abused for 13 days before being sent to the Yancheng Detention Center. Because the Yancheng Procuratorate illegally sentenced her to three and a half years, Ms. Miao appealed to the Yancheng Intermediate Court, which upheld the original verdict, yet the paperwork with the court decision was dated earlier than her appeal date. Ms. Miao was transferred to Nantong Women’s Prison in late 2005 and detained in Division 2.
A team to “transform” Ms. Miao was created in June 2008, led by political officer Qu Weiying and guard Zhou Dongyun. They took turns talking to her every day, and forced her to watch videos that slandered Falun Gong and its founder. Seeing that mental abuse could not "transform" her, the guards intensified the physical abuse, including forcing Ms. Miao do slave labor, making her stand upright without moving for long periods of time, and shocking her with electric batons. They also swore at her and denied her access to a toilet. Guards also ordered inmates to participate and Qu Weiying gave orders that no one was allowed to talk to her.
Qu Weiying once forced Ms. Miao to stand upright for 23 days and refused to let her talk with anyone for one year. One day, Zhou Dongyun took her to the office to check her blood pressure. Ms. Miao said, “Why do you treat me like this even though I'm not sick? Over 300 people are detained here, and I am the only one whose blood pressure is checked.” Furious, Zhou shocked her body and face with an electric baton. Ms. Miao was abused both mentally and physically for three and a half years.
Funing 610 Office agent Ye Bing and other officers went to Ms. Miao’s home in late 2011, attempting to arrest her and take her to the brainwashing center. After being forced to stay away from home, Ms. Miao was listed as "wanted" by the Funing Domestic Security Division and 610 Office.
2. Ms. Si Yun Incarcerated in a Brainwashing Center Twice and Illegally Sentenced to Seven Years in Prison
Ms. Si Yun, in her fifties, was detained twice in early 2000 for a total of 45 days after she went to appeal for justice for Falun Gong. After her release, officials twice sent her to the Funing Brainwashing Center.
Ms. Si was sent to the Yancheng Brainwashing Center in September 2006. She returned home after displaying severe illness symptoms. Agents from the Funing Domestic Security Division arrested her in 2007 and ransacked her home. They took her personal belongings, including Falun Gong books and a printer. Ms. Si was kept in various detention centers for nearly a year.
Funing Court officials sentenced Ms. Si to a seven-year term in 2008 and sent her to Nanjing Women’s Prison, where she remains. Her physical condition deteriorated because she was not allowed to read Falun Gong books or do the exercises. Her mother-in-law, already in her nineties, misses her very much and hopes she can return home soon.
3. Teacher Ms. Cao Xiuying and Her Entire Family Persecuted for Their Beliefs--She Stays Away from Home to Avoid the Persecution
Ms. Cao Xiuying was a late-stage gastric cancer patient, but her illnesses were miraculously cured after she began practicing Falun Gong. After her entire family began practicing, they experienced great improvements in both their minds and bodies.
Ms. Cao’s husband previously worked for the Fucheng Town government, and her daughter was also a government officer. After practicing Falun Gong, they returned bribes they had accepted in the past, and even gave the house purchased at a discounted price back to the government. However, they became victims of the persecution and have suffered tremendously over the past several years.
After she returned the bribes, Ms. Cao’s elder daughter was wanted by the CCP and she had to flee overseas. Agents from the Funing Domestic Security Division and the 610 Office often came to their home to harass them and threaten to arrest Ms. Cao. Her husband was forced to give up practicing Falun Gong. Burdened and suffering from both physical and mental stress, he became ill and bedridden, and died two years ago.
Ms. Cao has been forced to stay away from home ever since the Yancheng 610 Office attempted to arrest her on September 23, 2009.
4. Ms. Si Xia Illegally Detained, Incarcerated in Brainwashing Center Many Times, and Subjected to Forced Labor
When Ms. Si went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong in late 1999, officials arrested her and took her to the Funing Detention Center. After she went to appeal in early 2000, Ms. Si was kept in the Xiangshui Detention Center, Funing Detention Center, and then the Funing Brainwashing Center.
When she tried to escape at night by climbing over a wall, she suffered a comminuted vertebral fracture. When they saw her poor condition at the hospital, the police did not do anything and left.
After Ms. Si began to recover her health at home, agents from the Funing Police Department sent her to the Dafeng Detention Center, the Xiangshui Detention Center, the Funing Brainwashing Center, and Funing Security Company.
While she was still recovering from a car accident in 2006, Funing 610 Office agents took Ms. Si to the Yancheng Brainwashing Center. But her condition was very fragile, and officials had to release her.
When the CCP began stepping up the persecution of practitioners prior to the 2008 Olympic Games, she was arrested again and taken to a brainwashing center.
Someone reported Ms. Si to the police when she clarified the truth in June 2012. She was sent to a forced labor camp for a one-year term. Her mother was already over 80, and she suffered both mentally and physically because of her daughter’s detention.
5. Ms. Chen Xiuzhen Illegally Sentenced to Three Years of Forced Labor and Three Years in Prison
Ms. Chen Xiuzhen, in her fifties, was severely persecuted for her belief after the persecution started in July 1999.
Officers took Ms. Chen to a police station for interrogation on July 24, 1999, and ransacked her home. They found and confiscated many Falun Gong informational materials. When she went to Beijing to appeal in February 2000, officials kept her in Chengxi Police Station for one day, and in a detention center for 24 days. They also extorted 1,000 yuan from her. Local 610 Office agents detained her in Cuiwan Village Brainwashing Center in May 2000.
Funing Police Department Deputy Chief Tian and other agents went to Ms. Chen’s home on January 13, 2001. They ransacked it and took her to the Shuishang Police Station, Chengxi Police Station, and a detention center. After detaining her for 30 days, officials took her to the Cultural Hotel. After extorting 4,000 yuan from her, they released her on bail due to her poor health.
Tian and Wang Hua took Ms. Chen to Binhai for a physical examination in March 2001. They then took her to the Judong Women’s Forced Labor Camp for a term of three years.
Funing police climbed into Ms. Chen’s home through a balcony at 10:00 p.m. on September 14, 2007. They ransacked her home and took Falun Gong informational materials. After being taken to the Dongfeng Police Station at 2:00 a.m., Ms. Chen was taken to the Xijiao Hotel. Funing Police Department Deputy Chief Cao Zhiqiang beat her and kicked her hard. Due to the beating Ms. Chen had a lump on her forehead.
Two weeks later, she was transferred to the Yancheng Detention Center where she was detained for seven months.
Ms. Chen was taken to the Nanjing Women’s Prison on April 25, 2008, for a term of three years.
6. Ms. Chen Yumei Subjected to Severe Physical Abuse and Mental Torment in Judong Women's Forced Labor Camp
When Ms. Chen Yumei went to Beijing on October 5, 1999, she was arrested, and detained at the Chaoyang Police Station and Funing Liaison Office in Beijing. When she went to Beijing to appeal in November 1999, she was taken to the Changping Detention Center. Guards forced her to stand still in a martial arts position, and dragged her across the ground while she was handcuffed.
The practitioners detained there were allowed very little sleep and were only given two corn buns to eat each day. Guards forced each of them to pay 200 yuan for clothing and a quilt (other practitioners would be charged if someone had no money). Funing police detained Ms. Chen twice for a total of ten days.
Officials took Ms. Chen to the CCP School Brainwashing Center in August 2000 and then held her at the Binhai Detention Center for one month. Funing police extorted 2,000 yuan from her husband before releasing her. In the summer of 2001, officr Shi Zhishun took Ms. Chen to Funing Police Department to verify her handwriting. Officials also pressured her family members and ransacked their homes.
More than ten police agents went to Ms. Chen’s home on the evening of January 15, 2002. They took her to the Funing Detention Center to interrogate her while depriving her of sleep. Guards took turns torturing her.
Ms. Chen's head was bleeding from the torture, and she fainted. She was forced to sign labor camp paperwork 38 days later, and without notifying her family, the officials sent her to the Judong Women’s Forced Labor Camp, where she was tortured mentally and physically.
Funing police arrested Ms. Chen again at 3:00 p.m. on September 14, 2007. They took her to the Xinqu Police Station and Chengbei Police Station. She was sent to the Chengxi Hotel for interrogation in the evening, where she was deprived of sleep and denied access to water to wash herself. The guards also handcuffed her to the wall to torture her.
Ms. Chen was later sentenced to four years of imprisonment. In addition to making her do slave labor, guards also ordered the inmates in her cell to torture her and deprive her of sleep. They also forced her to watch videos that slandered Falun Gong. Guard Meng Tianshu beat her. Even when Ms. Chen's detention term expired, guards ordered her to write a guarantee statement, promising to give up practicing and to denounce Falun Gong.
7. Ms. Cai Shouren Forced to Undergo Brainwashing
Ms. Cai Shouren is in her sixties. When she went to Beijing to appeal in February 2000, the police arrested her and held her in the Funing Detention Center. Agents from the local Domestic Security and 610 Office often harassed her after she returned home.
Funing 610 Office agents and local police took Ms. Cai to the Xinghua Brainwashing Center in April 2012. She was forced to watch videos that slandered Falun Gong and its founder every day from 6:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. Even though she was in great pain, the guards relentlessly and continuously tormented her. This went on for three months. Ms. Cai was forced to put her fingerprints on a statement promising to give up her belief and was then released.
8. Ms. Cai Shoujun Arrested and Detained for Appealing for Justice for Falun Gong
Ms. Cai Shoujun, who is in her seventies, is Ms. Cai Shouren’s elder sister. She used to have many illnesses, including heart disease, high blood pressure, and high blood lipids. As a result, she often needed to go to the hospital for emergency treatment. She recovered from all her illnesses after she began practicing Falun Gong. She became very healthy and no longer needed to go to the hospital.
When Ms. Cai went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong in October 1999, the police detained her after she returned. When she went to Beijing again to appeal in February 2000, the police in Beijing arrested her and returned her to her hometown. Several agents from the Funing Domestic Security Division—including Lu Xiangsheng, Zhou Gubo, and Shi Zhishun—shackled her feet and took her to a detention center.
9. Mr. Li Qing Subjected to Forced Labor and Four Years of Imprisonment
Mr. Li Qing, 61, lives in Guangming Community on Guangming Road in Fucheng Town. He had suffered from many illnesses, but in 1997, about twenty days after starting to practice Falun Gong, his illnesses greatly improved and he regained his health.
After the persecution started in July 1999, Mr. Li went to Beijing several times to appeal. The first time, in October 1999, he was detained for one month after he returned. The second time was in March 2000. After being arrested on Tiananmen Square, he was taken to a police station. Officials then took him to Chengxi Police Station and Funning Detention Center, where he was detained for 37 days.
Under instructions from Lu Xiangguo and the 610 Office, detention center guards chained Mr. Li's feet and tortured him in ways only used on death row prisoners. As a result, he was no longer able to walk with his back straight.
Mr. Li was then taken to a security company, where he was held for more than a month under surveillance. The food there was very poor, but he was forced to pay 40 yuan per day, or the money would be deducted from his salary. His family had no choice but to pay 2,000 yuan. When his family or friends came to visit him, they also had to pay the security company.
At the detention center, he had to do slave labor for 17 hours per day, and the police frequently pressured him to give up his belief. Funing police then sent him to the Fangqiang Forced Labor Camp in Dafeng. He had to attend mandatory military drills, and labor camp guards also pressured him to give up his belief. Guard Ji forced him to watch DVDs and read articles that slandered Falun Gong every day.
Subjected to Forced Labor and Torture
Mr. Li was made to do slave labor nearly 10 hours each day, which was increased to about 14 hours per day in the summer. Guards often shocked him with electric batons. Because Mr. Li persisted in his belief, guards removed his clothes and hung him by handcuffs high on an iron frame.
All three guards then shocked him simultaneously with electric batons. Guards ordered inmates to watch him around the clock. He was not allowed to talk with others or walk around. Seeing that he was not "transformed," officials extended his labor camp term by three months.
About two months after Mr. Li was released, two days before the 2003 Chinese New Year, at midnight, four police agents went to his home. They searched his home and took him to the Chengbei Police Station. Police deputy chief Tian and officer Wang Hua interrogated him. They did not allow him to eat, drink, or sit down.
Illegally Sentenced to Four Years in Prison, Where He was Physically Abused and Mentally Tormented
In the afternoon of the following day, Mr. Li was taken to the Funing Detention Center, where he was subsequently forced to work 20 hours per day. After Funing Court sentenced him to four years of imprisonment, he appealed to Yancheng Intermediate Court, but the original sentence was upheld.
Mr. Li was then admitted to Hongzehu Prison, where he was abused both physically and mentally. To step up the abuse, guards forced him to do military training and watch DVDs that slandered Falun Gong. Inmates watched him around the clock and he was forced to write a report about what he was thinking every other day. He was forced to do slave labor 14 hours per day, regardless of his physical condition, and sometimes it was even longer. He was also transferred to other units in the prison and mistreated there. Both Mr. Li and his family suffered tremendously during those years.
The harassment has not ended, and even now agents from the 610 Office and Domestic Security Division frequently go to his home to harass him. As a result, he has to stay away from home.
10. Ms. Yang Yaping Injected with Unknown Drugs in a Mental Hospital and Illegally Sentenced to Three Years in Prison
Ms. Yang Yaping, 47, started practicing Falun Gong in 1997. By following the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, she improved relations with her step-mother as well as her parents-in-law. Despite the fact that she has broken no laws and does good deeds, she was severely mistreated after the persecution started in July 1999.
Domestic Security Division chief Wang Hua arrested Ms. Yang and ransacked her home on January 16, 2001. After taking her to the Shuishang Detention Center, Shi Zhishun, Qiu Mingbiao, and other agents beat her hard for four days. In order to humiliate her, they removed her clothes, leaving her wearing only her underwear. Guards then made her stand barefooted in a martial arts position until 7:00 a.m. the next day.
Whenever she moved even slightly, the guards grabbed her hair, slapped her in the face, and twisted her arms. Because of the severity of the beatings, her mouth became misshapen.
Ms. Yang was then taken to the Jianhu Detention Center, and about 20 days later she fainted. Agents from Funing 610 Office and Domestic Security Division took her to a mental hospital, where she was in a coma for seven days. Officials from the Domestic Security Division and 610 Office left her unattended. Her family took her home and had to pay the “medical expense.”
Several days later, Domestic Security Division agents Shi Zhishun and Xu Dengfeng went to her home. The agents took advantage of the fact that Ms. Yang was alone at home and took her to the Judong Forced Labor Camp to serve a three year term.
The labor camp officials did not accept her because of her poor health, and Funing Detention Center also refused to accept her. Nonetheless, 610 Office agents did not let up and detained her for three years.
Led by Funing 610 Office and Domestic Security chief Wang Hua, 16 agents from the Yancheng 610 Office and Dongfeng Police Station went to Ms. Yang’s home on September 14, 2007. She was taken to Dongfeng Police Station and interrogated for four of the five days that she was held there. Ms. Yang vomited and fainted during the ordeal.
Incarcerated and Tortured in a Mental Hospital
Officials sent Ms. Yang to the Funing Mental Hospital, where she remained in a coma for four days. She was then detained at the mental hospital for nearly two months, and her family did not know where she was. Police and prostitutes were ordered to watch her, and she was not allowed to talk to anyone or walk around. Officials from the 610 Office and Domestic Security Division ordered doctors to give her unknown drugs. It was said that the drugs would not trigger an immediate reaction, but could cause dizziness and vomiting two years later.
After two months in the mental hospital, Funing 610 Office and Domestic Security Division agents took Ms. Yang to Chengxi Hotel and interrogated her for three days. She was then sent to the Funing Detention Center, but detention center officials refused to accept her because of her poor health. She was thus transferred to the Dafeng Detention Center at Yancheng, where she fainted twice.
When Dafeng Detention Center refused to hold her any longer, Domestic Security Division chief Wang Hua sent her to the Funing Detention Center. She was in poor condition and she fainted. Ms. Yang lay motionless in bed.
After returning home, Ms. Yang’s mother-in-law, who is almost 80 years old, had to take care of her. Nonetheless, Funing Court sentenced her to three years of imprisonment in 2008 (the execution of the sentence is postponed for four years).
Funing 610 Office is currently still watching Ms. Yang. A security camera was installed in the hallway near her home in order to monitor anyone who visits her.
11. Mr. Zhou Fusheng
Mr. Zhou Fusheng, Ms. Chen Xiuzhen’s husband, was dismissed from his job for his beliefs, and lost his source of income. He was held in the Funing Detention Center in 2000 for over 30 days. Local 610 Office agents took him to the Cuiwan Brainwashing Center in May 2000 and ordered him to give up his belief. Mr. Zhou was detained again in May 2001 for 15 days, had 1000 yuan extorted from him, and was forced to pay a 2,000 yuan deposit.
12. Ms. Hong Youfeng
Ms. Hong Youfeng, Mr. Li Qing’s wife, went to Beijing to appeal after July 1999. She was detained twice after returning home. Although she did her work well, her employers deducted two years of her salary and paid her only 300 yuan per month. Agents from the Funing Domestic Security Division arrested her in January 2010 and ransacked her home. They confiscated a computer, a plastic sealer, and other personal belongings.
Funing Court sentenced her to three and a half years of imprisonment and deducted her pension. She is currently in the Nanjing Women’s Prison.
One staff member told her family that even before the court trial was held, the officials had already decided to sentence Ms. Hong to a three and a half-year term.
13. Ms. Liu Xiuyun
Ms. Liu Xiuyun, 66, went to Beijing to appeal after the persecution started. After being returned by Funing Police, Ms. Liu was detained twice and sent to a brainwashing center once.
14. Ms. Zhang Caiwen
Ms. Zhang Caiwen went to Bejing to appeal in 2000, but was detained for 17 days. After being arrested in 2001 and subjected to a home ransacking, Ms. Zhang Caiwen was detained 47 days. Guards at the Funing Detention Center ordered inmates to brutally beat Ms. Zhang. As a result of the torture, two of her front teeth were knocked out.
15. Ms. Zhu Hong
Ms. Zhu Hong was detained for two days in November 1999 and then 40 days in the spring of 2000. Officials extorted 4,000 yuan from her family, and her employer deducted 1,500 yuan from her salary. She was sent four times to a brainwashing center, in the summers of 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2003. She was also detained for more than 50 days in late 2000 and 7 days in summer 2005. One thousand yuan was deducted from her salary each month.
