After Being Incarcerated for Six Years and Subjected to Brutal Torture, Guangdong Woman Arrested Again for Practicing Falun Gong

(Minghui.org) Ms. Yu Mei, 58, from Zhanjiang City, Guangdong Province, is facing prosecution for practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

Ms. Yu Mei

Ms. Yu was arrested on September 16, 2024 while walking on the street. The police snatched her keys and raided her home. Her Falun Gong books and other personal items were confiscated. She has been held at the Zhanjiang City Detention Center since then. Minghui.org confirmed in late January 2025 that the police submitted her case to the Chikan District Procuratorate and she is now facing indictment.

Past Persecution

Prior to her latest persecution, Ms. Yu was arrested multiple times and held at various facilities. She was brutally tortured while serving a two-year labor camp term and another four-year prison term.

Targeted for Appealing for Falun Gong

Shortly after the persecution started in July 1999, Ms. Yu did the Falun Gong exercises at a stadium and was arrested. She was held at the Huguang Detention Center for 15 days.

Ms. Yu went to Beijing to appeal for the right to practice Falun Gong in November 1999. She was again arrested and detained at the Xinhua Police Station, where 100 other Falun Gong practitioners from around the country were also held. Those who refused to reveal their names and addresses were beaten and shocked with electric batons. The eyeball of a male practitioner in his 20s even popped out due to the torture.

Ms. Yu was transferred to the Guangdong Province Liaison Office in Beijing the next day. She was made to sleep on the bare concrete ground and was not given any food. The police also repeatedly beat her.

A week later, Ms. Yu was escorted back to Zhanjiang and held at the Zhanjiang City Second Detention Center for over 50 days. The guards handcuffed her with six other inmates. She was unable to use the restroom and had to relieve herself in her pants.

Force-fed for 18 Days

Ms. Yu was arrested again in June 2001 after being reported for talking to people about Falun Gong. The police beat her and dragged her into a restroom. She wasn’t allowed to come out until a day later. After she was taken to the Dongpoling Drug Rehab Center the next day, she held a hunger strike to protest the persecution and was force-fed. The rehab center director said, “Let her die! We’ll just report that she committed a suicide and it may cost 30 yuan to cremate her.”

Ms. Yu was force-fed and tortured for 18 days. She was emaciated and on the verge of death. Only then did the guards release her.

Forced to Live Away from Home

Before Ms. Yu recovered, Huang Zuhua, the head of Chikan District 610 Office, and officers of the Cunjin Police Station attempted to arrest her again. Her husband stopped them and she managed to escape.

A few days later, Huang found Ms. Yu was staying at a relative’s home. He and more than ten officers surrounded the place to arrest her. She jumped from the third floor and escaped.

Ms. Yu left home to hide from the police. Unable to find her, the police frequently harassed her husband and young daughter. The little girl often burst into tears due to fear. At night, they hesitated to turn on the light, fearing that the police would come and harass them again. For a period of time, they had to stay at Ms. Yu’s sister’s home and were unable to live one day in peace.

Serving a Two-Year Labor Camp Term

Ms. Yu was arrested on June 15, 2004. After more than twenty days at the Xiashan Port Authority Detention Center, she was given a two-year labor camp term and was transferred to the Sanshui Forced Labor Camp in early July 2004.

Because Ms. Yu refused to renounce Falun Gong, she was held in solitary confinement and forced to stand for long hours without being allowed to sleep. She was exhausted and collapsed on the ground. Yet the guards accused her of faking and forced her to continue standing. They also beat her and hit her head against the wall whenever she closed her eyes.

Later on, the labor camp arranged six guards and two inmates to monitor Ms. Yu around the clock. They didn’t allow her to use the restroom or take showers. When she was forced to relieve herself in her pants, they accused her of neglecting her personal hygiene. They also stuffed a photo of the founder of Falun Gong into her underwear and made her sit on it or made her step on his photo.

Ms. Yu was also forced to sit on a small plastic stool and watch videos that smeared Falun Gong around the clock. When she refused to write statements to renounce Falun Gong, the guards again made her stand for days and she was not allowed to sleep. Her feet became severely swollen. Her head and face were covered in bruises after she was beaten by the guards when she closed her eyes.

Ms. Yu was later transferred to the fifth team and ordered to do hard labor. She still hadn’t recovered from the injuries and couldn’t work, so she was transferred back to the third team and held in isolation. The guards continued to force her to sit on a small stool and watch propaganda videos. When she still refused to renounce Falun Gong, they made her squat for hours. When she couldn’t squat anymore and sat on the ground, the guards tortured her. As a result of the long term torture, her weight quickly dropped from 60 kg to 35 kg.

Once, the guards forced Ms. Yu to stand barefoot on the concrete floor for ten days. After she fainted due to fatigue and the cold, they whipped her eyes with wet napkins and took her for a cold shower. She was freezing cold. Later, the guards instigated seven inmates to beat her and slam her against the floor. One inmate sat on her stomach and she was unable to breathe. Another inmate grabbed a hard object and inserted it into her private part. After she fainted due to the torture, they force-fed her some medicine. Several of her teeth were knocked out and her mouth kept bleeding.

Not long after, Ms. Yu was transferred to the second team. She was forced to work during the day and then watch brainwashing materials at night. She held a hunger strike to protest and was force-fed. Her nose bled profusely after the guard pulled the feeding tube in her nose back and forth.

In April 2005, Chen Jun, the head of Zhanjiang City 610 Office, and Huang of the Chikan District 610 Office, took Ms. Yu to the Zhanjiang City Brainwashing Center for 15 days. She was then taken back to the labor camp and finally released on May 31, 2006.

Two More Brainwashing Center Detentions

Huang of the Chikan District 610 Office and officers of the Cunjin Police Station broke into Ms. Yu’s home on September 19, 2008 and took her to a brainwashing center. During the more than two months she was detained there, she was frequently beaten and unable to stand for a few days. Huang pretended to care for her and urged her to write a statement to renounce Falun Gong, so she could be released sooner. She didn’t comply.

Huang broke into Ms. Yu’s home again on April 24, 2010 and detained her for eight days.

Huang arrested Ms. Yu again on March 9, 2012 and held her at a brainwashing center for more than four months. This time, she was forced to sit in the lotus position for extended periods of time. When her legs were in excruciating pain, two staffers forced her to kneel and then stood on her legs. She was shaking in pain. They finally released her after her condition deteriorated and became serious.

Torture reenactment: being stepped on

Sentenced to Four Years

For sending text messages with information about Falun Gong, Ms. Yu was arrested again on August 31, 2016. After she was beaten and interrogated overnight at the local police station, she was transferred to the Zhanjiang City First Detention Center the next day. She held a hunger strike and was force-fed. The Chikan District Court sentenced her to four years on December 12, 2017.

Ms. Yu was admitted to the Guangdong Province Women’s Prison on May 18, 2018. She was again forced to stand or squat for long hours for not renouncing Falun Gong. The inmates beat her when she couldn’t stand or squat anymore. The months-long torture caused her feet to be extremely swollen. Because she refused to renounce Falun Gong, the inmates stabbed her private parts and the soles of her feet with ink pens, hit her head, and chest, pulled her hair and hit her head against the wall.

Torture reenactment: forced to do horse stance for long hours

One night, the guards instigated three inmates to drag Ms. Yu to a dark corner to beat her. She fainted as a result. When she came to, they pulled her nipples, causing them to bleed. By dawn, the inmates were exhausted from torturing Ms. Yu and sent her back to her cell.

Since that day on, Ms. Yu was forced to clean the cell every day. The inmates watched her and beat her when she slowed down. In the evening, they again forced her to watch videos smearing Falun Gong or write statements to denounce Falun Gong. If she refused to comply, they beat her or didn’t allow her to eat.

Ms. Yu coughed once and the guards force-fed her unknown medicine, with the excuse that she was sick. Some liquid got into her trachea and she couldn’t stop coughing. Shortly after the force-feeding, she began to feel uncomfortable all over. She felt nauseous and dizzy. She vomited and saw stars. The guards also blamed her for not cooperating with them during the force feeding and soiled her clothes. They took her to the bathroom and forced her to take a cold shower.

As a result of the drug administration, Ms. Yu began to experience intermittent headaches, loss of memory, whole body itchiness, and feeling cold, hot, nauseous, and restless.

Finger Slashed and Sexually Abused

Ms. Yu was arrested again on May 14, 2023 after she was reported by a college student for talking to her about the persecution. She was body searched at the Cunjin Police Station. As she struggled when the police tried to photograph her and collect her fingerprints, several strong officers held her down and cut one of her fingers with a sharp blade. They then smeared her blood on their interrogation records.

The police took Ms. Yu to the Chikan District Hospital the next day at around 6 p.m. for a physical exam. She refused to have her blood pressure measured or have her blood drawn. Two officers held her shoulders tight, and a third officer pulled her arm for the nurse to draw her blood.

Next up was an electrocardiogram, and the police carried her to the exam table and ripped open her shirt and skirt for the male doctors to examine her against her will. After that, two officers forcibly took her to have an X-ray. She was taken straight to the Zhanjiang City Lockup for 15 days after the physical examinations.

A guard at the lockup ordered Ms. Yu to squat upon arrival. She refused and two strong men kneed her down. She couldn’t breathe, and struggled with all her might. Several guards next dragged her to a locker room and ordered her to change into the inmate’s uniform. She refused, and two guards stripped her to her underwear. They then cuffed her hands behind her back. A female guard pulled Ms. Yu’s underwear loose, and told the male guards present to look into her underwear.

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