(Minghui.org) Ms. Song Chunyuan and her daughter Ms. Wu Dan, who live in Tahe County, Heilongjiang Province, were arrested on March 25, 2019, for passing out informational materials about Falun Gong. Ms. Song Chunyuan was sentenced to four years and fined 20,000 yuan, and her daughter, Ms. Wu Dan, was sentenced to one year and fined 10,000 yuan. Both of them were tortured in Heilongjiang Women’s Prison.
After Ms. Song was forced to divorce her husband and lost her source of income due to the persecution, her sisters paid her and her daughter’s living expenses while they were imprisoned. They couldn’t, however, afford to pay the fines, so Ms. Wu had to borrow money, and repay them after she was released in 2020.
Ms. Wu left town to find work, only to be arrested on September 21, 2021. She was accused of putting up information about Falun Gong. She was held at the Tahe County Detention Center for a week and released when the authorities didn’t have enough evidence to charge her.
After Ms. Song was released in March 2023, her entire body was in constant pain. She was out of breath just walking and could not do any work. Her pension was also suspended, and now her relatives have to support her.
This is not the first time Ms. Song’s pension was suspended. She was previously persecuted financially. In July 2000, she was detained and fined 4,000 yuan. The secretary at her workplace deceived her into paying 5,000 yuan in 2001. She had 2,000 yuan extorted from her in January 2010 and she was fined 20,000 yuan in April 2010, when she was sentenced to four years. In July 2020, she was detained and fined 4,000 yuan.
Targeted for Her Faith That Renewed Her Life
Ms. Song Chunyuan
Ms. Song, 65, is a retired railroad worker. She was in a serious car accident in 1975 when she was only 17. She suffered a severe brain injury and her bones, joints, and kidneys were injured. Complications included incontinence, which developed into uremia, and she was told that she only had two months to live.
After the accident, Ms. Song searched desperately for a treatment that could alleviate her suffering. She ended up spending more than 100,000 yuan, which put a huge financial burden on her family and her employer.
In 1998, Ms. Song was introduced to Falun Gong and the ailments she suffered from for years—including stomach problems, cholecystitis, cervical spondylosis, arthritis, and uremia—all disappeared. She could take care of her family and go to work, and even helped others. Many people who knew her said it was a miracle.
After the persecution of Falun Gong started in 1999, Ms. Song was arrested five times, given three years of forced labor in 2003, and sentenced to four years in 2011. Ms. Wu was also detained many times before being sentenced to one year in 2019.
Below is an account of how she and her daughter were tortured during their latest incarcerations.
Forced to Sit on Small Stools
Ms. Song and Ms. Wu were taken to the 8th Ward of Heilongjiang Women’s Prison, where Ms. Wu was put in the 17th team and Ms. Song was put in the 11th team, which specializes in persecuting Falun Gong practitioners.
Like many other practitioners who refuse to give up their belief, Ms. Song was forced to sit on a small stool for six days, from 4 a.m. to 11 p.m. The inmates took turns attacking her verbally and forcing her to watch videos slandering Falun Gong.
Torture illustration: Sitting for a long time
The captain arranged certain inmates to monitor both women. They were watched around the clock and the inmates ate and slept with them, and accompanied them when they used the restroom.
The inmates also forbade Falun Gong practitioners from talking to each other. If they did, the inmates who monitored them verbally abused them, beat them, deducted their points, or forced them to sit on small stools. Sometimes the inmates who monitored them would also be punished if the guards found out they did not strictly watch practitioners, which prompted the inmates to treat the practitioners even worse.
The stools that the practitioners were forced to sit on are very small and specifically used as instruments of torture. Some stools had one leg removed to increase the suffering of the sitter. One stool was so small that it could be held in one’s palm. In January 2022, more than 20 small stools measuring 16 cm (about 6 inches) wide and 19 cm (about 7 inches) tall with uneven surfaces were prepared to torture 20 practitioners.
When sitting on the stool, practitioners have to sit upright and look forward with their knees together and their hands on their knees. No gap is allowed between the fingers and no mat could be used to pad the seat. Practitioners have to sit like this for over 10 hours a day and are prohibited from moving, except to eat or use the restroom.
Screams of pain from the practitioners and verbal abuse from the inmates can be heard throughout the restroom, warehouse, and wherever else they are tortured. The inmates who aren’t involved in torturing the practitioners aren’t allowed to see what is going on.
After sitting for hours, practitioners’ buttocks fester and the blood dries on their underwear. Despite this, they are still forced to sit on the stools. During the summer, practitioners sitting on the stools have shortness of breadth and perspire a lot because the warehouse is hot and stuffy.
After being tortured in the prison, many practitioners became pale and limp when they walk. Some are so weak they can no longer take care of themselves. Some have passed away due to the torture.
Brainwashing Sessions
Practitioners are also subjected to intensified brainwashing that includes being forced to watch propaganda videos that smear Falun Gong, read books that slander Falun Gong, and sing songs that praise the communist regime.
Since 2022, all practitioners were forced to watch the videos in the lobby with two inmates following each practitioner closely. They weren’t allowed to look at each other and have to sit upright on the stool with their hands on their knees.
Three inmates, including Yuan Jingfang, Wang Min, and Sun Jing, were mainly in charge of brainwashing. If they saw any practitioner looking down or not paying attention during the brainwashing session, they reported the practitioner to the captain and the inmates monitoring the practitioners, resulting in the practitioner being punished.
Practitioners were forced to watch the videos, sit on small stools, and be monitored by inmates every day. If they refused to write a guarantee statement, they were tortured in a small room located far from the inmates.
Forced Labor
Picking coffee stirrers is a job done by those incarcerated in the 8th Ward. The coffee sticks were in a large fiberglass bag about a meter and a half (5 feet) high. Once the goods arrive at the prison area, each prison cell receives 50 or 60 bags. The team leader then distributes about four or five bags to each individual.
The practitioners also had to unload heavy bags of coffee stirrers and carry them to their cells on the fourth floor. While carrying the bags, no one can see who was in front of them, just the person’s feet. If someone fell, the person behind would walk over them. No one was able to help the person who fell due to the heavy load. Everyone had to wake up early and work until midnight to finish their load. Because she was young Ms. Wu had to do more than the others.
The process of dividing the stirrers is very strict, separating the first grade stirrers from the second grade. Once the work is completed, the detainees have to carry them downstairs and load them into cars. If anyone needs to use the restroom, they have to run to save time. They eat without washing their hands. If someone did not finish her work, no one in the team was allowed to eat; they had to continue working through the night without sleep.
Although the prison rules say that those over 65 aren’t required to work, Ms. Song still had to work from morning to night.
After they were transferred to a new prison building on November 24, 2021, the inmates started working on making fake eyelashes in 2022 in the workshop. Once, an inmate cursed and hit an elderly practitioner, and another practitioner tried to intervene. After the incident, both practitioners and those in other teams were verbally abused for days.
Related report:
Mother and Daughter Jailed in Notorious Prison for Distributing Materials about Dafa
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