(Minghui.org)
Name: Yang GuizhiChinese Name: 杨桂芝Gender: FemaleAge: 77City: YinchuanProvince: NingxiaOccupation: N/ADate of Death: December 2024Date of Most Recent Arrest: February 20, 2011Most Recent Place of Detention: Yingu Road Police Station
It was recently confirmed by Minghui.org that a Yinchuan City, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region resident has passed away in December 2024, after enduring 25 years of detention and harassment for her faith in Falun Gong.
The harassment of Ms. Yang Guizhi intensified starting in the second half of 2020. In addition to pressuring her to give up practicing Falun Gong, the authorities also suspended her pension and pressured her son’s workplace to fire him. Due to the mental distress, Ms. Yang fell into a delirious state and became incontinent. She gradually became incapacitated as her condition kept deteriorating. She was hospitalized in March 2021, but didn’t see any improvement. She gradually lost contact with local Falun Gong practitioners and passed away in December 2024.
Ms. Yang grew up in the Cultural Revolution and her family was labeled as part of the “Five Black Categories” – the Communist Party’s political enemies including landlords, rich farmers, counter-revolutionaries, bad influences, and rightists. They were forced to move to a poor mountainous area and discriminated against in society. At a young age, she became very pessimistic with a very bad temper. She also developed many ailments, including hepatitis, cholecystitis, frozen shoulder, migraine, rhinitis, slow heartbeat, and seasonal allergies.
One day in early 1999, when Ms. Yang was 50 years old, her husband came home with a copy of Zhuan Falun, the main text of Falun Gong. She was drawn to the teachings and lived by the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance. She soon regained her health and her heart felt light.
Her happy life didn’t last for long. In July 1999, the Chinese Communist Party ordered the nationwide campaign, trying to eradicate Falun Gong. Ms. Yang was repeatedly arrested and held in detention centers and brainwashing centers. She also served two labor camp terms, for a total of four years.
Ms. Yang went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong on March 1, 2000 and was arrested the next day. She was first taken to the Qianmen Police Station and then transferred to the Yinchuan City Liaison Office in Beijing. Officer Li of her local Jiefangxijie Police Station forced her husband to travel to Beijing to take her home. The mental pressure took a toll on his health. Upon returning to Yinchuan, she was held at the Yinchuan City Lockup for an unknown amount of time.
Ms. Yang was arrested again one night in mid-June 2000, after she was reported for distributing informational materials about Falun Gong in a residential area. The police handcuffed her to the heating pipe overnight and then took her to the Yinchuan City Detention Center, where she was forced to work on recycling used tires without proper personal protective equipment. After 56 days, she was transferred to the Ningxia Women’s Forced Labor Camp to serve a one-year labor camp term. She was again forced to work without pay, including sorting activated carbon and other jobs. It was commonplace to work overtime when she couldn’t finish the daily quota. No hot shower was ever provided.
Not long after Ms. Yang was released, she met a local practitioner at a park. Just as they started to talk, four officers showed up out of nowhere and arrested her. She was interrogated at the Fenghuang Street Police Station and ordered not to go to Beijing to appeal. She was released in the evening.
Ms. Yang was arrested again in June 2002 while visiting a practitioner. After nearly a month at the Yinchuan City Detention Center, she was transferred to the Ningxia Women’s Forced Labor Camp to serve another three-year term. Upon arrival, the guards forced her to remove her underwear for a search. She held a hunger strike for five days to protest and the guards instigated the inmates to force-feed her on the sixth day. During the force feeding, some inmates held her head and some pinched her nose, while others pried open her mouth. Her cheeks hurt for several days.
In addition to doing unpaid labor, such as sorting dried cabbage, wool and beans, Ms. Yang was also forced to sit on a small stool for long hours, while watching or reading propaganda materials smearing Falun Gong. Two inmates were arranged to monitor her around the clock, including when she was eating, using the restroom or working. She was also denied visits with her family.
In protest, Ms. Yang held another hunger strike for a week. The guards still forced her to work. They later worked with the labor camp doctor to force-feed her. They chained her hands and feet to the two ends of a bed and repeatedly inserted the feeding tube into her nostrils. The pain was excruciating.
Nine days after Ms. Yang was released, she was taken to a brainwashing center by the residential committee director and officer Yang of the Yuhuangge North Street Police Station. Wang Man, the head of Ningxia 610 Office, gave “lectures” at the brainwashing center, trying to transform Falun Gong practitioners.
Ms. Yang was arrested another time on May 20, 2009 and interrogated overnight by Wang Man of the 610 Office, Wang Shiyuan of the Yinchuan City Domestic Security Division, an officer named Wang Fusheng and another one surnamed Li. They also raided her home without producing proper documents. Her Falun Gong books, photo of Falun Gong’s founder and an MP3 were confiscated. Wang Man attempted to force her to renounce Falun Gong by threatening to burn the photo of Falun Gong’s founder. Due to her high blood pressure, she was denied admission by the Yinchuan City Detention Center and then released.
Ms. Yang’s last documented arrest was on the afternoon of February 20, 2011, when she was distributing informational materials about Falun Gong at a wholesale market. Her three-year-old grandson, who went with her, was also taken to the Yingu Road Police Station. The little boy was terrified and kept shaking. He was picked up by his grandfather and returned home at around 4 p.m.
The officers kicked her legs and verbally abused her. The police raided her home at around 7 p.m.
On another occasion, three officers from the Yuhuangge Police Station harassed Ms. Yang at home and ordered her to sign a statement to renounce Falun Gong. She refused to comply and they left.
As a result of the constant arrests and harassment, Ms. Yang’s husband, son and grandson, who shared the residence with her, were deeply traumatized. Her grandson would panic and try to hide somewhere as soon as someone knocked on the door.
In August 2017, during the “Knocking on the Door” harassment campaign, the police and residential committee staffers harassed Ms. Yang again. When she refused to comply with them, they harassed her son and ordered him to take her photos and send them to the police.
The harassment continued in 2020 during the “Zero-Out” harassment campaign. Officer Hao of the Yuhuangge Police Station, Guan Libin of the Yuhuangge Community Office and residential committee staffer Ge Yanhong repeatedly called her or harassed her in person, ordering her to give up Falun Gong. Guan also pressured her son’s workplace and attempted to force them to fire him. They also worked with the social security bureau to suspend Ms. Yang’s pension from time to time. Under tremendous pressure, Ms. Yang’s son tried to persuade her to give up her faith.
As a result of the mental distress, Ms. Yang’s health declined quickly and she passed away in December 2024.