Xiang Xiaobo Becomes Mentally Disoriented after Being Tortured, Her Family Ordered to Pay Her Medical Treatment in the Labor Camp

(Minghui.org)

Summary of Key Persecution Facts:
Name: Ms. Xiang Xiaobo (项晓波)
Age: 52
Address: Jiamusi City, Heilongjiang Province (佳木斯, 黑龙江省)
Occupation: Technician
Date of Most Recent Arrest: September 10, 2012
Most Recent Place of Detention: Harbin Drug Rehabilitation Center and Forced Labor Camp in Heilongjiang Province (黑龙江省戒毒劳教所)
City: Jiamusi
Province: Heilongjiang
Persecution Suffered: Illegal sentencing, lock-up in solitary confinement, forced sitting upright on small stools for long periods of time, sleep deprivation, beatings, extortion.

Ms. Xiang Xiaobo, a Falun Gong practitioner from Jiamusi City, Heilongjiang Province, has been incarcerated at Harbin City Drug Rehabilitation Center (a forced labor camp) in Heilongjiang Province for more than seven months. During this time, she has been subjected to tortures, including being locked up in a solitary confinement cell, forced to sit upright on small stools for long periods of time, and deprived of sleep. These tortures caused severe pain in her stomach, and she has lost an abnormally large amount of weight. She is now mentally disoriented. Sometimes she screams in the evenings uncontrollably, and is thus unable to fall asleep. The head of the labor camp has ordered her family to pay for her medical treatment.

Ms. Xiang Xiaobo

Ms. Xiang became very healthy both physically and mentally after she began practicing Falun Gong. What has caused her to become mentally disoriented after she was locked up in a labor camp? Ms. Xiang’s mother is allowed to visit her, but the labor camp’s unreasonable request made the situation more complicated.

Seven Guards Forcibly Pushed Relatives Out of the Labor Camp--What Were They Covering Up?

Ms. Xiang was visiting a friend on the evening of September 10, 2012, but some Jiamusi City police broke into her friend’s residence by prying open the door and illegally arrested her and the other practitioners. Thirty days later, on the morning of October 11, practitioners Xiang Xiaobo, Ren Shuxian, Liu Lijie, Zhao Juan, Zhang Shuying, Wang Yingxia, and Cun Xiuyun were secretly sentenced to two years of forced labor, and escorted to Harbin Drug Rehabilitation Center in Heilongjiang Province.

Ms. Xiang’s mother is seventy-nine years old, and her father is eighty-six. Being the only child in the family, she is very close to her parents, and they depend on one another. Now that she has been wrongfully sentenced and incarcerated, the elderly couple has cried so much that they ran out of tears. Along with some relatives, her mother has managed to make the trip to the labor camp every month to see her.

After an over-night train ride and changing two long-distance buses, on May 10, 2013, Ms. Xiang’s mother and three relatives finally arrived at the labor camp. However, female division head, Liu Wei, along with another female guard, dashed toward them yelling at the three relatives to find out if they were also Falun Gong practitioners. They threatened to expel the relatives from the labor camp. Very soon, Guo Tongxu, head of the administration office, charged at them, and furiously yelled and threatened that if they did not leave right away, he would call the local police station to arrest them. While yelling, Guo pushed them. Meanwhile, four male officers helped Guo get them out.

The three relatives tried very hard to explain that Xiang’s mother was elderly and could not make the trip all the way there by herself. However, Guo Tongxu and Liu Wei became even more furious and vicious afterwards. Ignoring the terrified and crying old lady, Guo, along with other officers, pushed the three relatives out of the labor camp. It was raining at the time.

Why was it so important for the labor camp to go through such an effort to drive the relatives out? After the relatives were gone, the head of the labor camp talked to Ms. Xiang’s mother and said that Ms. Xiang had become mentally disoriented, but her mother must bring money to pay for the medical treatment.

It turned out that the labor camp had been torturing Ms. Xiang. She was forced to sit on small stools for long periods of time every day in one position, which caused a blood to clot on her bottom. The blood clots can also cause inflammation, or in more severe cases, those being forced to sit on the stools can become paralyzed from the lower back down. Every extra minute on the stools is extremely unbearable, but Ms. Xiang was made to sit on the small stools every day. In addition, the criminals constantly attacked her verbally and physically. Her physical condition deteriorated as a result, and her mental condition also deteriorated, which eventually caused her to become mentally disoriented. She now frequently screams in the evenings uncontrollably, and is unable to fall asleep. The labor camp authorities prohibit her relatives from seeing her because they dare not let people know what is happening to Ms. Xiang inside the labor camp. The authorities only allowed Ms. Xiang’s mother to see her so that they could extort money from her family.

Fourteen Years of Persecution Causes the Break Up of Her Family

Ms. Xiang, 52, was employed as a technician by Jiamusi City Pharmaceutical Plant. She had poor health when she was young, and had stomach disease, tonsillitis, and rhinitis. All of those illnesses were healed after she began practicing Falun Gong. Since she remained loyal to her faith after the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) began persecuting Falun Gong in 1999, and she has been continuously persecuted. When her daughter was six years old, her husband divorced her. He took her daughter away and would not let them be reunited. The Jiamusi City Pharmaceutical Plant dismissed her and she was stripped of her CCP membership. Police from Jiamusi City, as well as personnel from her neighborhood committee often persecuted her, thus she was forced to become homeless and destitute.

Ms. Xiang and several other practitioners were arrested at Jiamusi Center Hospital at around 2:00 p.m. on July 2, 2008, by officers from the police station, 610 Office, and the City Intermediate Court. Several undercover officers forcibly dragged her and the other practitioners into their vehicles. One officer fiercely hit practitioners on their heads. They were first taken to Qianjin Police Station where they were interrogated until 6:00 p.m. They were then escorted to Changhong Police Station where many other practitioners had already been detained. On July 24, 2008, Xiang Xiaobo, Cai Rong, Qu Yujie, Qiu Yufen, Zhao Wenji, and Tian Hongying were transferred from Jiamusi Detention Center to Jiamusi Forced Labor Camp. Some male practitioners were transferred to Cuihua Forced Labor Camp.

Additional detailed information about the persecution of Ms. Xiang Xiaobo: “Ms. Xiang Xiaobo Mentally Disoriented as a Result of Torture at Harbin Drug Rehabilitation Center” http://en.minghui.org/html/articles/2013/3/6/138383.html

Personnel of Harbin Drug Rehabilitation Center:

Zhang Hongyan, head: [phone], [phone] (Office)
Hou Xufeng, political head: [phone], [phone] (Office)
Liang Xuemei, head of Legal Office: [phone] (Office)
Guo Tongxu, head of Administration Office: [phone] (Office)
Liu Wei, division head: [phone] (Office)
Li Dongmei, Drug Rehabilitation Center Hospital: [phone] (Office)
(For more perpetrators' contact information, please refer to the original Chinese article)