Chinese name:
张秀春
Gender:
Female
Age:
60
City:
Qiqihar
Province:
Heilongjiang
Occupation:
Date of Death:
2009-12-26
Date of Most Recent Arrest:
2006-08-04
Most recent place of detention:
Qiqihar Forced Labor Camp
Case Description:

Ms. Zhang Xiuchun, who had been ill for many years, became healthy again after practicing Falun Gong. On the morning of August 4, 2006, she was seized from her home by people from the Tuqiang Police Department and 610 Office. Her home was ransacked during the process. Those who participated in the arrest and ransacking included Zhao Min from the 610 Office, deputy police chief Dong Guisen, and policemen Guo Sihong, Sun Linfeng, Hu Ruimin, and Gao Guoyou.

Ms. Zhang was sentenced to two years of forced labor at the Qiqihar Forced Labor Camp. Other practitioners who were illegally detained and sentenced to forced labor include Meng Fanguang, Zhang Huimin, and Bo Zhijuan.

Ms. Zhang was not allowed to use the toilet at the forced labor camp, and she was left sitting in her own excrement because she refused to give up her belief. The long-term, high-pressure forced labor led to diabetes, loss of bladder control, and bad eyesight.

When the forced labor camp authorities asked the local police to arrange for Ms. Zhang's hospitalization, the local police refused, citing security for the Olympics as an excuse. They even added a month to her detention term. At the time, Ms. Zhang was dangerously emaciated and taken home by her family. Her health deteriorated, and she was treated in the hospital for a month. She remained in a coma during the hospitalization. Ms. Zhang died at noon on December 26, 2009.