Hubei Woman Incarcerated for a Total of 10.5 Years for Her Faith

(Minghui.org) A resident of Wuhan City, Hubei Province, was released from prison in April 2021 after serving a two-year term for telling people about Falun Gong, a spiritual and meditation practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

Ms. Qian Youyun’s latest prison term for upholding her faith in Falun Gong was preceded by a three-year prison term given in 2000, a one-and-a-half-year labor camp term in 2003, and a four-year prison term given in 2004.

Ms. Qian was repeatedly tortured during her incarceration. She was handcuffed and hung up for over a month, put into solitary confinement for over two weeks, forced to stand for long periods of time, deprived of food and sleep, and not allowed to use the toilet. The mental and physical torture made her emaciated and mentally disorientated at times.

In addition to the prison terms, Ms. Qian has been held in detention centers, forced labor camps, and brainwashing centers, sometimes shortly after being released from prison. The following is some of the persecution she has suffered.

1999: Detained for 15 Days for Appealing for Falun Gong in Beijing

With the onset of the persecution of Falun Gong in July 1999, Ms. Qian went to the provincial government office in Wuhan to speak up for Falun Gong. The police collected her personal information and have since frequently harassed her. They sometimes threaten, “If you keep practicing Falun Gong, the country would be destroyed,” and “if you are against the government and the Communist Party, you will be sentenced to prison.”

Ms. Qian and several practitioners in her area went to Beijing in December 1999 to appeal for the right to practice Falun Gong. They were taken back to her hometown to Wuhan No.1 Detention Center. She was released 15 days later after paying 300 yuan. During that period, she and other female practitioners were forced to stand on icy concrete with their bare feet and only light clothes for over an hour.

2000: Sentenced to Three Years

Ms. Qian again went to Beijing after the Chinese New Year in early 2000. This time she was taken back and detained at Wuhan No. 1 Detention Center for six months. Police instigated Ms. Qian’s family to pressure her into renouncing Falun Gong. In particular, her husband threatened her with divorce. But Ms. Qian was unwavering in her belief. She was sentenced to three years as a result.

2000: Tortured in Prison and Taken to Brainwashing Center after Returning Home

While incarcerated at Wuhan Women’s Prison, Ms. Qian was brutally tortured for refusing to give up her belief. The guards also intensified the abuse to advance their own careers. She was handcuffed and hung up for weeks and then forced to stand for long hours every day, sometimes with the window open when it was freezing cold. Her legs were severely swollen. Her face was disfigured and unrecognizable. She was often disorientated.

Torture demonstration: handcuffed and hung up

In April 2003 after returning home, Ms. Qian was taken to Wulijie Brainwashing Center. When she tried to resist being carried into the police vehicle, the police put her in a chokehold.

While at the brainwashing center, Ms. Qian refused to be “transformed” (made to renounce her faith). She was forced to stand for long hours every day for half a month. One time, a group of thugs surrounded her and beat her. A female police officer worried that Ms. Qian would die from the beating and asked them to stop.

Ms. Qian escaped from the brainwashing center one night when most guards were away during a holiday. She walked all night and was bitten by a dog. When she arrived home the next day, her body was covered with bruises. After packing some clothes and daily necessities, she lived away from home for some time to avoid further persecution.

2003: Given 1.5-Year Forced Labor Camp Term

Months later, Ms. Qian was again arrested in December 2003 while en route to visit her mother. Police arrested her for handing out Falun Gong materials. She was taken to Hewan Forced Labor Camp to serve a 1.5-year term.

She was locked in a room with no furniture, and the walls were covered with articles that slandered Falun Gong. She was beaten, verbally abused, and not allowed to use the restroom for three days. Seeing that she didn’t appear to be exhausted after the torture, the guards first handcuffed her to the window frame and then hung her up by her wrists in order to force her to write a guarantee statement renouncing her faith.

While she endured the low temperature, guards verbally abused her. She wasn’t released to use the restroom either and was forced to relieve herself in her pants. Days later, Ms. Qian’s hands turned gray and she passed out. An inmate secretly fed her some food behind the guards’ back, and that kept her alive.

2005: Released from Prison and Sent to a Brainwashing Center Again

After serving one and a half years in the labor camp, Ms. Qian was released in July 2005. But because she refused to renounce Falun Gong, the local 610 Office directly transferred her from the labor camp to the Yangyuan Brainwashing Center.

While at the brainwashing center, she was handcuffed to a metal bed frame and not allowed to sleep. Although the weather was over 100°F, she was locked in a room with no air conditioning or fan. At night, she was exposed to mosquito bites. For over a month, she was not allowed to take a bath or use the toilet. To prevent her from having bowel movements, the guards starved her. As she wasn’t allowed to use the restroom, she was forced to urinate in her pants. Both her legs swelled to twice their normal size, and she was emaciated.

Ms. Qian was transferred to another brainwashing center in Jiang’an District of Wuhan City. Although she suffered many forms of torture there, she was steadfast in her belief.

2013: Arrested for Attending Court Hearing of Another Falun Gong Practitioner

In September 2013, Ms. Qian went to a court hearing of another Falun Gong practitioner. She was arrested and beaten by the police. While half-conscious, she heard someone say, “That’s it, it’s shattered.” After she came to, her face and mouth were severely swollen.

The police left her in a basement with four air conditioners on full blast for 90 hours to freeze her. Later, Ms. Qian and other practitioners were given 15 days of detention.

Ms. Qian was taken to the Banqiao Brainwashing Center after 15 days. When she refused to cooperate with the guards, she was forced to stand for long hours every day for almost two months. For a few days, they starved her. Only when she almost fainted did they finally give her some food.

Several male guards took Ms. Qian to a room and slapped her in the face. She saw stars and her face became numb. Another female guard slapped her in the face with a shoe nearly twenty times, saying that Ms. Qian was confused and she was helping her become clearheaded.

When Ms. Qian refused to sign the statement they had prepared, they grabbed her hand by force and pressed her fingerprint on the statements. Satisfied that they had obtained her fingerprint, they released Ms. Qian. They also bragged about how they pitied Ms. Qian and released her on humanitarian grounds.

With no place to speak up for Falun Gong, Ms. Qian began to write “Falun Dafa is good” on paper currency. When she deposited such banknotes in August 2014, a bank employee reported her to the police. The police began to harass her again.

2015: Detained and Sentenced to 4 Years in Prison

In September 2014, a team of police officers stayed outside Ms. Qian’s apartment, waiting to arrest her when she came out. Trying to avoid being arrested again, Ms. Qian made a rope out a bed sheet and tried to escape. Unfortunately, the rope broke and she fell from the third floor. Although her uterus ruptured and she suffered massive bleeding, she still managed to escape.

A few weeks later in early November, around 30 police officers surrounded the apartment building she was living in. They forced Ms. Qian’s husband to open the door and arrested her.

Ms. Qian was taken to Wuhan No. 1 Detention Center. Several months later when her family visited her at the detention center, Ms. Qian told them that she had to wash clothes for others in exchange for few daily necessities. She said she still had vaginal bleeding all the time and that doing laundry by hand in cold water made her condition even worse.

Her family told her that they had deposited 800 yuan for her. Ms. Qian said, “I wasn’t given access to a penny of it. The money was kept by the detention center.”

Ms. Qian was given a four-year sentence. Her appeal was rejected.

2019: Arrested and Sentenced to 2 Years in Prison

Shortly after her release from prison, Ms. Qian and another practitioner were arrested on April 23, 2019, while talking to people about Falun Gong at Jiangxia District Stadium. They were taken to Dongxihu No.1 Women’s Detention Center. Ms. Qian was later sentenced to two years in prison and released in April 2021.

Background

Ms. Qian was born in Wuhan City on June 8, 1965. She used to be an employee of the Grain Bureau of Jiangxia District of Wuhan City. Before she started practicing Falun Gong, she suffered from asthma and some other illnesses. She was also a gambler who played mahjong all day long.

Ms. Qian was introduced to Falun Gong in 1998. She recovered from her illnesses and gave up many bad habits after she took up the practice. Her relationships with people got better and she was happy and in good spirits every day. She credits Falun Gong for turning her into a new person.

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