Ms. Chen Wenbei Sent to Forced Labour Camp Prior to the Olympics

Beijing resident Ms. Chen Wenbei was arrested by police officers on the evening of May 17th, 2008, at her home. She was sentenced to forced labour and taken to Inner Mongolia prior to the Olympics. On August 9th, 2008, she turned 42 years old in Tumuji Forced Labour Camp in Zhalaite Prefecture, Xing'an Meng, Inner Mongolia.

Ms. Chen is from the West Balizhuang Area of the Haidian District. She often helped others to overcome their difficulties. When she was taken away, seminars that she was to attend with personnel from different hospitals and that were planned in advance using sophisticated techniques had to be cancelled. Her husband is unable to make a living and lives at home with their 16-year-old child on borrowed money.

During the Beijing Olympics, forced labour camps and prisons were strictly controlled. The families of inmates were not allowed to visit or even talk on the phone.

On the evening of May 17th, 2008, two police officers from the National Security Division, Dongcheng District Department, Qiao Junling and Liu Yingjun (male), and another person who was not a police officer went to Ms. Chen's home. They ransacked her home, took personal items, and arrested her.

Ms. Chen was taken to the Dongcheng District Detention Centre located in Dougezhuang Community, Shahe Town, Changping District, in Beijing. Her family was not allowed to visit her and were prohibited from giving her any personal items. They were allowed to send her cash to buy items inside. According to the guards at the gate of the detention centre, mailing money was allowed. However, it would take a long time for those in charge to get to the post office to retrieve the money. Many times the prisoners would have already been transferred and would not receive the money. According to the prisoners in the detention centre at the same time as Ms. Chen, more than ten people were placed in a single cell. The majority of the food consisted of steamed buns and cabbage soup. Ms. Chen was transferred to the detention centre one month after she was arrested. Reportedly, she was locked in the cell all day and was not allowed out for a walk in the yard.

On July 8th, 2008, she was sentenced to two years of forced labour. She was taken to the Beijing Forced Labour Dispatch Ward in Tuanhe Town in the Daxing District of Beijing. On July 16th, 2008, she was taken to Tumuji Forced Labour Camp in the Zhalaite Prefecture, Xing'an Meng, Inner Mongolia.

Because Ms. Chen practises Falun Gong and believes in Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, all of her chronic diseases have disappeared. She has improved her temper and gets along well with her mother-in-law. Her father, who is almost 80 years old, has cardiovascular disease and diabetes. When he learned that his daughter was sentenced to forced labour, his systolic blood pressure increased to over 200 mm Hg.

Tumuji Forced Labour Camp:

Sun Baohui (male), director

Ma Lizi (male), political head
Deputy director: 86-482-6710005; Fax: 86-482-6710376

Chinese version available at http://minghui.org/mh/articles/2008/8/26/184778.html