Two Practitioners Died as a Result of Persecution in Heilongjiang and Shaanxi Provinces

Ms. Tong Yuxia Died as a Result of Persecution in Heilongjiang Province

Ms. Tong Yuxia, 43, lived in Tieli City, Heilongjiang Province. During the 1990s, her family suffered a multitude of illnesses, and most of the family's income was spent on treating these illnesses. After Ms. Tong started practising Falun Gong in 1997, her family benefited through her practice and regained their health.

After the persecution began in 1999, the local community administration officials reported her to the police, and the city 610 Office¹ arrested and detained her. She went on hunger strike to protest the detention. She was then sentenced to two years of forced labour in Harbin Women's Forced Labour Camp. Her health was ruined in the camp, and she developed high blood pressure.

After being released from her forced labour term, she was arrested again on September 28th, 2005, while she was sharing experiences with other practitioners. She was detained in the Tieli City First Detention Centre, where she was forced to apply glue to four thousand matchboxes daily. Her health declined drastically because she had not recovered from the previous forced labour sentence, and she was doing this without proper nutrition.

In spite of her precarious health, she was still sentenced to two years in prison. When she was released in September 2007, she was very weak. She never recovered and died in August 2008.

Mr. Yao Jingming Died in Shaanxi Province from Forced Labour

Mr. Yao Jingming, in his 70s, was a retired worker of the Ninth Construction Company of the Metallurgy Ministry in Mian County, Shaanxi Province. In February 2003, Mian County 610 office personnel Hu Junjian, Gao Xiaobo, Jiang Baosheng, and Wang Xuecheng arrested him and five other practitioners, and took them to the Zaozihe Men's Forced Labour Camp in Fengxiang County.

Because Mr. Yao refused to give up his faith, the guards detained him in a small, dark cell with several drug addicts in the Zaozihe labour camp. He was subjected to sleep deprivation and forced to squat with only one foot touching the floor. His whole body became swollen, and his toenails all turned black. Only three months after entering the camp, his health deteriorated so badly that he was carried home on a stretcher. He died soon after.

Note

1. "The 610 office" is an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other political and judiciary systems.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2009/2/24/195999.html