04 Jan 2010
New York—A middle-aged doctor detained in Tianjin during the
Olympics died on December 4, only 22 days after her release from
Banqiao “Re-education through labor” (RTL) camp. Ms. Gong Hui (宫辉),
had been detained by police on August 13, 2008 and then sentenced
by fiat to the camp, where she was beaten, tortured, and kept in
solitary confinement. She was 57 years old when she died.
Gong was one of 15 Tianjin adherents whose sentencing to Banqiao
RTL and risk of torture at the camp the Falun Dafa Information
Center reported on last February (news). She is also
among over 80 Falun Gong practitioners whose deaths the Center
documented during 2009. In the run-up to and during the Olympics,
over 8,000 Falun Gong practitioners were detained by the
authorities, many of whom have since been sentenced to RTL or
prison camps.
“This woman’s tragic death once again highlights the very real
danger to life and limb facing every Falun Gong practitioner pulled
off the street and sentenced to one of China’s 300 plus gulags,"
said Falun Dafa Information Center spokesperson Gail Rachlin.
Local police and security bureau officers detained Gong without a
warrant on August 13, 2008, during the period of the Beijing
Olympics. She was initially held at Nankai District Detention
Center for 35 days, located in a portion of the city not far from
Tianjin's Olympics Stadium. She was then taken to Banqiao RTL Camp
in the more suburban Dagang District on September 17, 2008.
In an effort to force her to renounce her faith in Falun Gong,
guards at the camp placed Gong in solitary confinement for extended
periods of time, deprived her of food and sleep, and forced her to
stand for hours at a time. The guards also instigated
non-practitioner inmates to beat her.
On November 9, 2008, Gong was reportedly subjected to a
particularly harsh session of torture, lasting from 9:00am until
11:00pm and resulting in her near physical collapse. Within three
months of being detained at the camp, Ms. Gong had become
emaciated, sickly, and had difficulty speaking.
Such violence against Falun Gong practitioners is commonplace in
the RTL system, where adherents comprise a significant percentage
of detainees. Following his visit to China in 2005, the United
Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture reported on the use of
solitary confinement on Falun Gong practitioners at Beijing Women’s
RTL camp.
“The ‘Intensive Training’ section … houses 10 small solitary
confinement cells. Detainees stated that Falun Gong practitioners
who had not renounced their beliefs after six months in detention
were placed in the Intensive Training section until they were
‘reformed,’” says the report (link). “Falun Gong
practitioners formerly detained at this facility mentioned that
they would refer to this section as the ‘Intensive Torture
Section’.”
A February 2009 study by the group Chinese Human Rights Defenders
found: “More than half of our 13 interviewees [all petitioners]
remarked on the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in RTL
camps. They said Falun Gong practitioners make up one of the
largest groups of detainees in the camp, and that they are often
persecuted because of their faith.” (link)
Despite calls for Gong’s release by family members, the camp
continued to detain her despite her deteriorating condition. She
was finally allowed to return home after completing the 15-month
sentence she had originally been given. Unable to recover from the
torture suffered in custody, Gong died on December 4, 2009,
slightly more than three weeks after her release.
The Falun Dafa Information Center urges human rights groups and
foreign media in China to investigate the full circumstances
surrounding Gong’s death.
A selection of relevant phone numbers at Banqiao RTL Camp:
Hao Demin, director: 86-22-63252201, 86-22-63252203 (Office),
86-13803060179 (Cell)
Liu Yuxia, head of the Supervision Section: 86-22-63251069
Liu Jinying and Xiao Chunli, heads of Second Ward: 86-22-63251423
(Office)
Zhang, head of Second Section: 86-22-63251410, 86-22-63251415
Category: Accounts of Persecution
