(Minghui.org) Ms. Zhang Ziqin had her blood drawn punitively more than 40 times in prison during a 13-month period.
This torture was carried out because she went on a hunger strike to protest the illegal imprisonment and abuse of her for practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline being persecuted by the Chinese Communist regime.
The person in charge of drawing her blood said to her, “We'll stop drawing your blood if you agree to eat; otherwise, we'll keep drawing your blood.”
Already weakened by her long-term hunger strike, Ms. Zhang was subjected to daily force-feeding and frequent blood draws. By the time she was released on November 10, 2015 after four years in prison, she had lost half of her body weight.
Prior to Ms. Zhang's latest ordeal, the 60-year-old woman from Gulin County, Sichuan Province had been arrested many times for refusing to give up her belief in Falun Gong.
She and her husband, Mr. Luo Zhenggui, fled their home in early 2009 to avoid further arrests, only to be captured again in November 2011. At the time of writing, Mr. Luo, 78, is still incarcerated at Wumaping Prison in Leshan County.
Below is Ms. Zhang's personal account of what happened to her since her most recent arrest four years ago.
Blood Drawn Over 40 Times in 13 Months
I was on my second hunger strike in Longquan Prison for three months when I was sent to Jintang Hospital for force-feeding on September 16, 2014. I was already very weak because of an extended hunger strike. The hospital handcuffed me and forcibly drew my blood 12 times in that three-month period of detention.
Prison authorities never explicitly stated why they drew my blood, although the person in charge often threatened me with continued blood draws if I refused to eat, making it clear that it was a way to punish me for it.
Blood drawing sessions continued frequently after I was taken back to Longquan Prison on December 9, 2014. To make the force-feeding and blood drawing sessions easier, prison guards moved me to the prison-affiliated hospital on April 5, 2015.
Listed below, to my best memory, were the dates my blood was drawn between December 2014 and June 2015 at Longquan Prison Hospital: 12/29/14 (first blood draw), 01/20/15, 02/03/15, 02/09/15, 03/20/15, 04/14/15, 05/04/15, 05/25/15, 06/02/15, 06/08/15, and 06/23/15.
The frequency increased to weekly from June 23 through October 12, a month before my release. The blood drawing continued despite my declining health.
Latest Arrest and Four-Year Sentence
Since the persecution of Falun Gong began in 1999, my husband and I had been persecuted many times for our belief. We also lost three loved ones because of the persecution. In March 2009, we left home to avoid arrest. Two months later, my husband's pension was suspended, and our home was seized.
Our latest arrest occurred in the evening of November 10, 2011. I was first taken to Gulin Detention Center and then transferred to Naxi Detention Center at the end of the year. We were illegally tried on November 23, 2012 and sentenced to four years in prison on May 28, 2013.
First Hunger Strike Lasted Three Months
On November 20, 2013, I was taken to Longquan Women's Prison. When I entered the prison, inmates beat me. Guards ordered the beating because I refused to wear a prison uniform and have my hair cut short. I started a hunger strike ten days later on December 1 to protest the torture. The hunger strike lasted three months.
During this time, I was tied to a stretcher and carried by inmates to a hospital inside the prison for force-feeding every day. I was often pulled off the stretcher and dragged up and down the hard stairs.
On December 26, I was taken to the notorious Jintang Prison Hospital in Chengdu City, where some Falun Gong practitioners had been tortured to death. I was tied to the bed spread eagle and forced-fed every day.
I was not only beaten but also deprived of sleep and toilet use. When I was untied on February 20, 2014, almost two months later, I could not stand up and could hardly walk.
I was also tortured mentally. When I was tied up on a bed, the inmates, instigated by the guards, taped my mouth shut with pieces of paper with Master Li Hongzhi (the founder of Falun Gong)'s name on it. Some inmates even posted propaganda attacking Falun Gong on a toilet bowl and forced me to use it.
On February 27, 2014, I stopped the hunger strike after Jintang Hospital stopped forcing me to wear the prison uniform and inmate badges. Instead, I was brutally tortured another way—starvation.
Starvation
In Jintang Hospital on many occasions, the inmates would put food before me and not allow me to eat. While I was hungry and weak, two strong, healthy inmates would force me to run as they held my arms. I was also brutally beaten.
The starvation continued after I was sent back to Longquan Prison on March 6, 2014. In the following three months, I was given a meager amount of food every day. I was not allowed to buy any prison food. The prison guards deliberately starved me. They made the inmates cut my hair extremely short.
I went on a hunger strike again on June 6, 2014 to protest the torture and mistreatment. This hunger strike lasted 17 months, during which time I had my blood drawn.
Related reports:Ms. Zhang Ziqin's Family Suffers Persecution in Luzhou City and Cannot Return HomeEntire Family Devastated as Grandfather, Mr. Luo Zhenggui, is Tortured in Guangyuan PrisonMs. Zhang Ziqin from Gulin County, Sichuan Province, Recounts Her Suffering
