Seven Practitioners Held in the Shenyang City Detention Centre

Since October 1999, Falun Gong practitioners have been detained at the Shenyang City Detention Centre in Liaoning Province. The top officials of the detention centre, including Director Li Shaode (transferred), Deputy Director Guo Bao'an, Party Secretary He Dongning, and Third Division Chiefs Wang Shuangyuan and Xu Yan, often instigated the criminal inmates to torture practitioners. The torture methods included beatings, forced-feedings of concentrated salt water, forcing practitioners to sit on the tiger bench¹, injecting them with drugs, and extorting money from them. In August 2006, practitioner Ms. Wen Yingxin, 34, was tortured to death after nine days in the detention centre (see http://www.clearharmony.net/articles/200608/35138.html). Currently, there are still several female practitioners detained there.

1. Ms. Wu Yefeng, 44, lived in the Zhengyi Residential Area in Shenhe District, Shenyang City. After Ms. Wu started practising Falun Gong, she benefited both physically and mentally. She became a kind and unselfish person. However, she was repeatedly persecuted since she refused to give up Falun Gong.

In 1999, she was detained in Longshan Forced Labour Camp. On one occasion she was held down on the ground with her stomach down. One guard sat on her back while another shocked her head with an electric baton. When her father was dying, he wanted to see his daughter for the last time but the labour camp officials rejected his plea. His last wish was not granted and he died in sorrow.

To avoid persecution, Ms. Wu was forced to leave her home for a couple of years. On June 15th, 2008, she was arrested again. She had been on a hunger strike to protest the persecution and was brutally force fed. Her situation was critical then, but her condition during the past six months is unknown.

2. Ms. Yang Shuqing, 68, has been an English educator her entire adult life. She taught in the Shenyang Fifth Middle School, the Shenyang 105th Middle Schools, and the Shenyang 38th Middle School. She was patient and attentive in her teaching and was loved by her students and honoured as a "prominent teacher." Due to long-term hard work at the school and at home, Ms. Yang suffered from many chronic illnesses. After she started practising Falun Gong in 1996, she recovered magically. On June 24th, 2008, Ms. Yang and her daughter, Ms. Li Fangfang, were sent to the Shenyang City Detention Centre.

3. Ms. Li Fangfang graduated from the Department of Foreign Languages at Shenyang University. She is an intelligent and capable lady. Ms. Li worked as the business manager for the MacDonald Corporation in the North east region. She began practising Falun Gong in 2004 and her gastric disease quickly disappeared. She became kinder and more enthusiastic. Ms. Li and her mother, Ms. Yang, often used their own money to help their friends who had difficulties. People who knew them well said that they were both warm hearted and selfless.

4. Ms. Wang Shuxian, 47, was an employee of the Shenyang Railroad Sub-Bureau Huangkutun Vehicles Major Repair Plant. Since she began practising Falun Gong in 1997, she has conducted herself according to the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, and she resolved some accumulated grievances. Ms. Wang often went to her in-law's home to help with the household work. She also helped her brother-in-law to buy a home with her savings. One rainy day in 2005, a taxi hit her while she was riding a bicycle home from work. She hit the ground hard. The taxi driver was so frightened that his legs were shaking. After Ms. Wang slowly sat up, the first few words she said to the driver was to comfort him. "You don't need to be nervous or frightened, I am all right. I won't ask you for any money." The driver and people nearby watching were all startled. Ms. Wang explained, "I am a Falun Gong practitioner. Falun Gong requires practitioners to be good people and follow the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. Please don't believe the slanderous propaganda on the television." The driver said so that everyone could hear, "Other people have told me that Falun Gong is good. Today I have seen it!" The driver drove her home. It was a bad fall and a miracle that she could go up the stairs by herself just several minutes after the accident. When he was about to leave, the driver said excitedly, "I really ran into a good person today! I will tell this story to everyone I know and let them know that Falun Gong is good!"

On the afternoon of September 23rd, 2008, while Ms. Wang was telling others about the persecution of Falun Gong in the Zanglinzi area in the Dongling District of Shenyang City, she was reported to the authorities. Officers from the Dongling District Police Department arrested her. Her home was later ransacked.

While she was detained in the Nanta Police Station, she was beaten. On the same night of her arrest, officers from the Dongling District Police Department took her to the Shenyang City Detention Centre.

5. Ms. Zhang Qinghua, 52, suffered from encephaloma and several other illnesses and experienced memory loss. After she started practising Falun Gong, she magically recovered and became full of enthusiasm. She often helps others. One time an electrical fuse in her apartment building shorted out, and she helped to have it fixed. Another time, her downstairs neighbour's water pipe broke. She gave her spare one to them. She lived a simple life but unselfishly helped other people and friends with difficulties.

Around August 12th, 2008, officers from the Chang'an Police Station arrested Ms. Zhang at her apartment and took her to the Shenyang City Detention Centre. They also ransacked her home and threatened her family not to tell others about her arrest.

6. At around 8:00 p.m. on August 10th, 2008, officers from the Chang'an Police Station arrested Ms. Wu Naiying at her apartment. They covered her head with a black cloth and handcuffed her behind her back. At least four officers ransacked her home. She was taken to the Zhangshi Brainwashing Centre, then transferred to the the Shenyang Detention Centre. Later, she was sentenced to four years in prison. She requested an appeal. Ms. Wu has been taking care of her 86-year-old mother who suffers from heart disease. Since her arrest, her elderly mother has been on her own.

7. On September 16th, 2008, officers from the Xinxing Police Station arrested Ms. Gu Chunying, who is 32 years old. They took her to Shenyang Detention Centre. After practising Falun Gong, Ms. Gu had become a better person. Her husband, Mr. Guo Jianyin, is being detained at the Heping Detention Centre, because he practices Falun Gong. Their nine-year-old daughter is living with her elderly grandmother.

Shenyang City Detention Centre
Address: Gaoli Village, Zaohua Town, Yuhong District, Shenyang City, 110148
Phone: 86-24-89241894, 86-24-89248084
Director Guo Bao'an
Party secretary He Dongning
Chiefs of the Third Division Wang Shuangyuan and Xu Yan (in charge of persecuting Falun Gong practitioners)

Note

1. "Tiger Bench": Prisoners are forced to sit on a small iron bench that is approximately 20 cm (6 inches) tall with their knees tied together. With their hands tied behind their backs or sometimes placed on their knees, they are forced to sit straight up and look straight ahead without movement for long periods of time.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2008/12/9/191283.htm