Three Sisters Persecuted, Family Torn Apart

The Cai family has five siblings, three sisters and two brothers. The 66-year-old eldest sister, Ms. Cai Guiqin, is a retired worker from Jiamusi First Plastic Plant. The 62-year-old second oldest sister, Ms. Cai Guifang, is a retired laboratory technician from Jiamusi Motor Factory. The 60-year-old youngest sister, Ms. Cai Guirong, is a former nurse at Jiamusi Paper Mill Kindergarten. After practising Falun Gong, they all experienced great improvements in body and mind.

After the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) began to persecute Falun Gong, these sisters were arrested several times and subjected to all kinds of mistreatment. At one point they were all detained in the same prison at the same time. The elder brother, crushed by his sisters' plight, had a heart attack and was on the verge of death several times. When he went to Harbin Prison in September 2009 to visit his sisters, he suffered another heart attack on the way to the railway station and died at the age of 52.

When Ms. Cai Guirong's daughter-in-law delivered a baby, there was not enough support to take care of her. The baby boy died soon after being born in November 2008. Ms. Cai Guirong's elderly mother-in-law, greatly upset by everything that had happened, died in November 2009.

1. Three sisters arrested and imprisoned at the same time

These three sisters and several other elderly practitioners went to the Jiangchuan Farm on July 19th, 2008 to put up “Falun Gong is good” banners. Someone reported them to the police. Agents from Hongxinglong Police Department arrested them and kept them at the Hongxinglong Detention Centre.

Hongxinglong Court held a trial for the three sisters, the driver, Ms. Liu Jingyan (70 years old), and two other practitioners. On December 4th, Hongxinglong Court sentenced Ms. Cai Guiqin to four years, Ms. Cai Guifang to three and a half years, Ms. Cai Guirong to four years, the driver to six years, and Ms. Liu Jingyan to four years.

These three sisters were then sent to the Harbin Women's Prison. During their detention, Xiangyang Court in Jiamusi forced Ms. Cai Guifang to get a divorce, and Ms. Cai Guirong was physically abused to the point where she was in mortal danger.

2. Persecution of Ms. Cai Guirong's family

Ms. Cai Guirong was born in November 1954 and once had a prolapsed lumbar disc, periarthritis, arthritis, and other illnesses. As a result, she could not take care of herself in her 30s and retired due to illness. After starting to practise Falun Gong in 1996, Ms. Cai Guirong was gradually able to do household chores, and her entire family was thrilled by the return of her health. One winter, her neighbour's bathroom pipe was blocked. Water mixed with faeces overflowed to the shared stairs and froze, making it difficult for people to walk. Ms. Cai Guirong saw this and quietly worked on it. Although it was difficult and she became covered with the dirty water, she finally cleaned it up. The neighbours were very thankful and saw the greatness of Falun Gong from her.

This is a family photo taken when Ms. Cai Guirong's son was married. After she was imprisoned, however, the people in the photo experienced great difficulty in their lives.

Ms. Cai Guirong's husband lived by himself when she was imprisoned. When he traveled to another city on September 10th, 2008 to visit his son, the bus was in an accident. Neck injury led to paralysis in his upper body and he was unable to take care of himself.

When Ms. Cai Guirong's husband was in the hospital, his son came to take care of him. At that time, her daughter-in-law was expecting a baby. Without sufficient care, the newborn baby boy died in November 2008.

After Cai Guirong's husband's accident, he was bedridden. His mother—already in her 70s—had to take care of him. She was very sad and was often in tears. She later became sick and died in November 2009.

Financial persecution

After the persecution started on July 20th, 1999, Changsheng Police Station agent He Wenge and local security officers took turns to harass Ms. Cai Guirong, trying to force her to give up her belief. She had no choice but to stay away from her home. The paper mill, her workplace, stopped her pension, which was about 200 yuan per month. Her husband and brother went many times to request it. Paper mill officials said, “She will not receive a salary unless she writes a statement to give up practising Falun Gong.”

During those days, paper mill security officer Zhang Liansheng talked with Ms. Cai Guirong's husband many times, telling him to “transform” [forcibly renounce Falun Gong] her. Her brother worked in another paper mill, and CCP party head Zhu Yulong often asked him about her whereabouts. Police officer He Wenge came with other agents several times, attempting to arrest her. When they were unable to find her, they ransacked her home.

The paper mills then laid off her husband and brother, making it difficult for the family to survive. Ms. Cai Guirong's son was studying in a two-year college and sometimes could only afford one meal per day. Ms. Cai Guirong's mother-in-law had to use her low pension to support her grandson's studies.

After Ms. Cai Guirong's husband was laid off, the police continued to harass and threaten him. He had no choice but to go with her to the remote countryside. They worked on some temporary jobs, collecting food and vegetables from the garbage to survive.

After Ms. Cai Guirong's son graduated from college in 2001, he went to the countryside to visit his parents and was in tears seeing their miserable life. Although he was less than 20 years old, he decided to find a job and give most of his income to his parents.

Arrested at brother's place and sent to labour camp

In order to make a living, Ms. Cai Guirong returned to the city in the summer of 2004 and did some sewing work at her brother's place. One day, about four agents from Jiadong Police Station came at noon time. They ransacked the home and confiscated Falun Gong books and a mobile phone. Ms. Cai Guirong was taken to the police station and sent to the Jiamusi Detention Centre at 5 p.m. Officials then detained her at the Jiamusi Labour Camp with a term of one year.

Ms. Cai Guirong's husband had to borrow money from everywhere and was able to gather 11,000 yuan¹. Two 610 Office officials (Chen Wanyou and Chen Yongde) extorted the money through police officer Wei Xiyuan. Ms. Cai returned home after being detained for 20 days.

Life-threatening condition at Harbin Women's Prison

At Harbin Women's Prison, guards ordered inmates to monitor, beat, and swear at practitioners in order to “transform” them. In the first six months, practitioners were forced to sit on a small stool from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m., without moving or speaking. They were forced to watch brainwashing videos that defamed Falun Gong. After watching the videos, they had to write statements to slander Falun Gong. Otherwise, they would be punished, either being detained in solitary confinement or through brutal torture.

Six months later, practitioners were made to do slave labor. They had to finish certain assignments every day, ranging from packing toothpicks or cotton swabs to pasting paper bags or boxes. Ms. Cai Guirong was often dizzy and forgetful, with a blood pressure of more than 200Hg. She had facial nerve palsy and twitches, making it hard for her to open her mouth and eat. It was not until she was emaciated that the officials sent her to the prison hospital. She returned home in October 2011, after a detention period of three years and three months.

Daughter-in-law's household registration denied

Ms. Cai Guirong's son returned from southern China for his wedding in 2006. He then wanted to move his wife's household registration to Jiamusi City. Agents from Changsheng Police Station said, “Your mother is a Falun Gong practitioner. The household registration will be denied unless she comes here.” Ms. Cai Guirong's son had no choice but to return his wife's household registration back to the south.

3. Second sister Ms. Cai Guifang sent to forced labour, imprisoned, and forced to divorce

Ms. Cai Guifang used to have neurasthenia and was unable to sleep. At one point she could not sleep for three consecutive months. Not long after she began practising Falun Gong, she was able to sleep well. She kept doing the exercises every day and her family was happy and supportive.

When Ms. Cai Guifang distributed Falun Gong DVDs exposing the persecution in a residential area in Shenzhen City, police arrested her. The agents kept her for one day at the police station, where she was handcuffed to a chair and was unable to move. The next day, officials sent her to the Futian District Detention Centre. Five days later, she was notified with a labour camp detention of one year.

When officials attempted to send her to the forced labour camp, Ms. Cai Guifang was suddenly unable to move and vomited blood. Police sent her to a hospital and locked her to the bed with a 25-kilogram chain. She was unable to turn over in the bed or use the bathroom. In addition, Ms. Cai Guifang was forcibly given IV injections. She was in a life-threatening condition after being detained at the hospital for 15 days. Police released her after extorting 6,000 yuan from her family.

In 2008, Ms. Cai Guifang was arrested and kept at Hongxinglong Detention Centre for 6 months. The soup had sand, dead flies, and even cigarette butts in it. She was forced to sit still for more than 10 hours during the day and take turns to be on duty at night.

In 2009, Ms. Cai Guifang was imprisoned in the Harbin Women's Prison. Her husband Dong Guoqing paid money to divorce her in the prison. Xiangyang District Court's judge Guo Jingrong and clerk Li Jing came to the prison. After Ms. Cai Guifang refused to divorce, Guo Jingrong and Li Jing did not come again.

Due to torture at the prison, Ms. Cai Guifang's blood pressure reached more than 200Hg and she had heart problems. Her brother had paid money for her to be released several months earlier for medical treatment. Right before she left the prison, guards gave her a divorce verdict, as her divorce had been decreed without her consent.

4. Eldest sister Ms. Cai Guiqin sent to labour camp and imprisoned

Ms. Cai Guiqin used to have gastric antrum and early-stage stomach cancer. She recovered after practising Falun Gong.

When Ms. Cai Guiqin was arrested for the third time, she was imprisoned at the Harbin Women's Prison.

After the persecution started in 1999, police often came to her house to harass them. Her family dared not turn on lights in the evening and had to cover the windows with quilts. The police often came and pounded on the door, and her family dared not open the door. To avoid the harassment, Ms. Cai Guiqin had to stay at her sister Ms. Cai Guifang's place for several days. One day, police told her husband that they just wanted to see her and nothing else would happen. When Ms. Cai Guiqin's husband led them to her, police agents immediately took her to the Jiadong Police Station and then sent her to a detention center. After her family rescued her, Ms. Cai Guiqin returned home after 16 days.

Ms. Cai Guiqin and several practitioners went to Songjiang Town to distribute Falun Gong materials on January 18th, 2008. Agents from the Songjiang Police Station arrested her and sent her to a labour camp with a term of one year. Because her family rescued her, Ms. Cai Guiqin returned home after being detained at the Xigemu Labour Camp in Jiamusi City for 18 days. During these two arrests, her family had to pay money to get her back, and it cost more than 10,000 yuan in total.

In addition, Ms. Cai Guiqin's family's homes was ransacked twice. One time, because her family refused to open the door, police took a handsaw and cut a big hole on the anti-theft door with a diameter of 50 cm (about 20 inches) to get in.

Note

1. "Yuan" is the Chinese currency; 500 yuan is equal to the average monthly income of an urban worker in China.