Harbin Woman Dies 11 Months After Serving 5 Years in Prison for Her Faith

(Minghui.org)

Name: Zhang ChunyuChinese Name: 张春郁Gender: FemaleAge: 69City: HarbinProvince: HeilongjiangOccupation: Business ownerDate of Death: January 31, 2023Date of Most Recent Arrest: February 15, 2017Most Recent Place of Detention: Heilongjiang Province Women’s Prison

A Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province resident was sentenced to five years for practicing Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999. By the time Ms. Zhang Chunyu was released from Heilongjiang Province Women’s Prison on February 24, 2022, she had been reduced to just skin and bones, and almost all her teeth had fallen out.

Several months later, however, the local police and community administration kept harassing her, forcing her to live away from home to avoid further persecution.

Ms. Zhang died on January 31, 2023, at age 69. She was predeceased by her husband and their son, who both developed heart diseases after being traumatized by her repeated harassment, arrest, and detention. Her son died on September 24, 2014, and her husband passed away on February 16, 2017.

A Trustworthy Businesswoman

Ms. Zhang began practicing Falun Gong on June 21, 1996, and she became more considerate of others as she strove to live by Falun Gong’s principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.

As a businesswoman, she was able to handle business transactions with honesty and integrity. Instead of fighting with others for profit, she treated others well, and her colleagues were impressed by the positive changes in her. They said Falun Gong turned Ms. Zhang into a much better person.

Ms. Zhang also experienced significant health improvements. Two weeks after she began to practice Falun Gong, several illnesses that bothered her for years disappeared. They included gynecological diseases, skin diseases, twisted veins, bronchitis, hemorrhoids, and swollen lymph nodes, which were all cured. She became agile and energetic.

Five Years of Imprisonment

Ms. Zhang was arrested for her faith on February 25, 2017 and later sentenced to five years in prison. She was admitted to the Heilongjiang Province Women’s Prison on April 18, 2018.

To force her to give up her belief, the guards incentivized inmates with term reductions to abuse Ms. Zhang and watch her around the clock, including when she ate, slept, or used the restroom.

When her family visited her on September 2, 2018, they cried upon seeing her because she didn’t look like the once healthy and upbeat person they knew. They learned later that four inmates, including Yang Xu, Bao Jie, Hao Liqun, and Yu Li, had beaten her savagely and slapped her in the face. As a result, her teeth became loose and her gums were injured.

To make things worse, the guards moved her to another ward every now and then, where she would suffer additional rounds of torture. This caused her constant stress, both physical and mental. Upon her release on February 24, 2022, she was emaciated and her teeth were nearly all gone.

Continued Harassment and Untimely Death

The director of Heping Community Residents’ Committee called Ms. Zhang in late July 2022 and asked her to fill in some social insurance paperwork. Afraid this might be a trap to frame her, Ms. Zhang said no.

Several days later, several officers showed up at her door, including Guan (director of Heping Police Station in Acheng District) and the director of the Heping Community Residents’ Committee. They knocked on the door and called her on the phone. She refused to open the door.

To escape the continued harassment, Ms. Zhang was forced to stay away from home. She died in misery at age 69 on January 31, 2023.

Two Terms of Forced Labor and Left Eye Blinded

After the persecution of Falun Gong began in July 1999, Ms. Zhang was detained several times for upholding her faith. She was given one year of forced labor at Wanjia Labor Camp on March 5, 2001. She was beaten, hung by her handcuffed wrists, and forced to stand for long hours. She was once held in solitary confinement for over 20 days. Due to dampness in the solitary confinement cell, she contracted scabies, which were itchy and painful. She did not fully recover until six months after being released from the labor camp.

Torture illustration: Various forms of “hanging up” torture

To prevent family visits, the labor camp required family members to swear at Falun Gong’s founder, step on his portrait, and sign paperwork to denounce Falun Gong before being granted visitation with detained practitioners. As a result, many family members who supported Falun Gong were unable to meet with their loved ones. Many crimes in the labor camp were thus not exposed in time.

Ms. Zhang returned home in October 2001.

When having a reunion with former classmates in February 2002, Ms. Zhang was arrested by four police officers from Shengli Police Station in front of her classmates.

The police cuffed her hands to a heating pipe at the police station for an entire night. They gave her no food and did allow her to sleep. They also denied her restroom use.

The next morning, they finally allowed her to use the restroom. She managed to escape but was soon captured not far from the police station. They then took her to the Acheng Second Detention Center. Xi Jinglong, an officer from the Acheng Police Department, soon ordered to serve three years of forced labor. She was sent to Wanjia Labor Camp on March 8, 2002.

As soon as she was taken to the labor camp, she was ordered to remove all clothes in front of male guards, for so-called inspection.

Because of refusing to renounce her belief, Ms. Zhang was tortured many times including being hung up high by her wrists handcuffed behind her back.

Hanging up high in the back torture

Two guards (Liu Baibing and Qiu Yang) and their supervisor (Guo Qiuli) once hung Ms. Zhang up high in the back for several hours, barefooted, on the coldest days in the winter. Another time, she was handcuffed to a metal chair with her arms forced upward to the extreme behind her back. Guards also took turns (30 minutes per shift) watching her to prevent her from closing her eyes; otherwise, she would be violently beaten. Guards also restricted her access to the toilet for seven days.

Ms. Zhang refused to recite the labor camp rules which included smearing Falun Gong. The guards forced her to squat on a brick for three to seven hours every night for several consecutive days.

Twice she said she would never renounce Falun Gong and was beaten by 5-6 guards simultaneously. She passed out twice during the beatings. They hang up her up high while she was unconscious.

Several female guards took Ms. Zhang to their dorm and hung up her high one day at midnight. Whenever she moved a little, they beat her. Liu Baibing grabbed Ms. Zhang’s hair and knocked her head onto a metal case, then punched her hard on the back. Ms. Zhang was knocked unconscious with bleeding from her mouth and nose. Guard Qiu Yang scratched her face. Because of these injuries, Ms. Zhang’s eyes were severely swollen and could not open. But the guards still hung her up high for a night. As a result, she lost feeling in her shoulder.

To cover up the abuse, the guards hid Ms. Zhang in a storage room for two weeks until her facial injuries healed. She was then sent to an “intensive training section” where male guards tortured practitioners at will. Two guards, Zhao Yuqing and Yao Fuchang, once shocked Ms. Zhang all over with electrical batons. They then hung her up high and continued shocking her with electric batons.

This torture continued every day. Guards Zhao and Yao later ordered Ms. Zhang to remove her clothes, with only her undergarments left on. They shocked her entire back inch by inch. One day, Zhao slapped Ms. Zhang hard in the face. Her eyes were swollen for a long time and her left eye went blind. They next subjected her to the hanging up high torture for seven days and seven nights.

Because she was deprived of sleep for days on end, Ms. Zhang fainted and collapsed to the ground. Her handcuff broke as a result. Even so, she was restrained in a chair for a night, during which time she was not allowed to use the restroom. The inmate assigned to watch her used a plastic bag to catch her urine. In order to not bother the inmate or cause her trouble, Ms. Zhang stopped eating or drinking for a while. She had so many bruises on her body that the inmate didn’t dare to look at her.

A Family of Three Was Gone

The numerous arrests, including two labor camp detentions, and Ms. Zhang’s blindness, caused endless pain to her family. Because of fear and worries, both her husband and son developed heart disease. Her son died on September 24, 2014. Her husband died on February 16, 2017.

While Ms. Zhang was still mourning her husband’s death, the police arrested her again on February 25, 2017. She was later sentenced to five years in prison.

Related Report:

Blinded by Abuse in Labor Camp, Former Businesswoman Suffering More Abuse in Prison for Her Faith