Having Survived Nine Years of Torture in Prison, Beijing Woman Faces Prosecution Again for Her Faith
(Minghui.org) A Beijing resident is facing trial for her faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline also known as Falun Dafa that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Yang Jinxiang and her husband, Mr. Han Shimin, who also practices Falun Gong, were arrested on June 27, 2021, by officers of the Yongning Police Station. Ms. Yang was held at the Changping Detention Center and Mr. Han at the Yanqing Detention Center. The Yanqing District Procuratorate indicted her around mid-November, with the charge of “illegal gathering” and possessing banknotes printed with information about Falun Gong.
Due to strict information censorship in China, many Falun Gong practitioners are using creative ways to raise awareness about the persecution, including printing messages on banknotes.
Mr. Han is also facing prosecution after his arrest that was approved by the procuratorate.
Ms. Yang Jinxiang
Chronic Illnesses Cured in a Week
Ms. Yang, 57, lives in Yongning Town in the Yanqing District in Beijing. According to Ms. Yang, she regained her health in one week after practicing Falun Gong.
“I used to suffer from tuberculosis, sinus infections, kidney and skin disease, menstrual cramps, chronic fatigue, and anxiety. My abdomen was so swollen from tuberculosis that I looked like I was seven months pregnant. My sinus infection was so bad that the mucus oozed from my eyes,” she said.
“I began the practice of Falun Gong in 1996, and all my ailments were gone in a week. My complexion glowed and I was full of energy. My father said that I had become a completely different person. I thank Teacher Li Hongzhi, the founder of Falun Gong, for transforming my life.”
After the Chinese Communist Party started the persecution of Falun Gong in July 1999, Ms. Yang was targeted for telling people her personal experience in practicing Falun Gong. She served nine years in prison and was subjected to various torture that almost killed her.
Brutally Beaten
Shortly after the persecution began in July 1999, Ms. Yang was arrested and her home was ransacked for appealing for the right to practice Falun Gong. Officers from the Yuegezhuang Police Station took away 3,000 yuan in cash, as well as her Falun Gong books and photo of Falun Gong’s founder.
In 2000, Ms. Yang’s home was ransacked again and police officers confiscated over 40,000 yuan from her. They interrogated her, punched and kicked her. They also shocked her with electric batons. They attempted to force Ms. Yang to admit that the cash they confiscated was a profit from selling Falun Gong books (when in fact it was actually her savings). They didn’t stop until an electric baton suddenly leaked out the current in an opposite direction and shocked a police officer himself. They were stunned and released her.
Torture reenactment: Shocking with an electric baton
Tortured in Yuegezhuang Police Station
Ms. Yang was arrested again in 2001. Police officers dragged her by her hair to the third floor. She described below how they tortured her:
“They closed the curtain, stripped me naked, and shocked me all over, including my nipples, with electric batons. The room smelled of burning flesh. They stepped on my crotch and whipped my lower body with a belt. They stuck burning cigarettes into my nostrils and used them to scorch my feet until they blistered. They placed a piece of wood on my legs and stood on it until I passed out due to the excruciating pain.”
Torture illustration: Sexual abuse of women
“They poured cold water on me to revive me and covered my head with a metal bucket. They then struck the bucket with wooden batons for an hour. For a long time after that I had trouble walking, and, to this day, I can’t hear well.”
Torture illustration: Stuffing burning cigarettes into nostrils
Nine Years of Torture in Beijing Women’s Prison
Ms. Yang took a taxi to the nearby Langfang City, Hebei Province in September 2002. She was reported for talking to the taxi driver about Falun Gong and arrested. She was later sentenced to nine years in prison, which she described as the darkest time in hell.
“During the nine years I was incarcerated, I was deprived of sleep, was doused with cold water in the winter, had my eyelashes and pubic hair plucked out, and was smacked in the face with shoes. Once I was tied down on a bed for a month straight, until blood came out of my mouth,” she recalled.
Torture illustration: Dousing with ice water
Torture reenactment: Tied on a bed for long periods
“I went on a hunger strike to protest the inhumane treatment. The guards had prisoners pry my mouth open and force-feed me. Several of my teeth were knocked out, and the food went down my throat with blood and pus from my mouth. When I got weaker, they took me to a hospital. I refused to let them inject me with anything and fought back. They forcibly jabbed me and the blood was everywhere.”
“After I was taken back to prison, I was denied use of the toilet and was forced to soil my pants. The guards would parade me in front of other prisoners to humiliate me. In the winter, the guards put me in a room full of chemical waste which smelled terribly. There was no heat or light. I was deprived of sleep and not allowed to wear a winter jacket. I was forced to sit on a small stool all day long. My heels had frostbite and my legs and feet were swollen. My periods also became irregular.”
Torture tool: Small stool Falun Gong practitioners were forced to sit on
“In all those nine years, I wasn’t allowed any call or visits. My 80-year-old mother died while I was in prison.”
Face Burned by Unknown Substance
Ms. Yang was arrested again on May 30, 2016. She was handcuffed behind her back at the Yongning Police Station. She repeatedly shouted, “Falun Dafa is good.” Police officers restrained her in an iron chair, handcuffed her, and put a hat soaked with an unknown chemical on her head. The substance dripped down on her face and she couldn’t breathe or keep her eyes open. They also hit her against the table, choked her, and strangled her with a cloth strip.
Torture reenactment: Iron chair
Ms. Yang continued shouting, “Falun Dafa is good.” The police officers then took her outside, kicked and beat her for another two hours, until she lost consciousness.
Torture illustration: Beating
Bruises on Ms. Yang’s face
The officers tried to admit Ms. Yang to the local detention center, which refused to accept her because of her injuries. Ms. Yang was thus released. Yet the police continued to monitor her life.
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Beijing Falun Gong Practitioner Ms. Yang Jinxiang Beaten by Police Officers