Ms. Li Huijuan Suffers Mental Collapse from Torture at Baimalong Women's Forced Labour Camp

Summary of Key Persecution Facts:
Name: Li Huijuan

Gender: Female

Age: 45

Address: Leiyang, Hunan province

Occupation : Bookshop Owner

Date of Most Recent Arrest: May 2009

Most Recent Place of Detention: Baimalong Women's Forced Labour Camp in Zhuzhou

City: Leiyang

Province: Hunan
Persecution Suffered : forced injections/drug administration, imprisonment, solitary confinement, extortion, detention

Ms. Li Huijuan is a Falun Gong practitioner from Leiyang, Hunan province. She became mentally disabled while she was imprisoned at the Baimalong Women's Forced Labour Camp three years ago, and she has not yet recovered.

In the past 14 years, the Chinese government has used various torture methods in an attempt to make Falun Gong practitioners give up their belief. One of the methods has been to add toxic chemicals to their food, causing many practitioners to become physically and mentally disabled, and some even died from the poisoning. Once a lively person, Ms. Li is one of the victims.

During Ms. Li's childhood amidst the Cultural Revolution, regime officials classified her family as "rightist," so they were looked down upon in society and encountered hardships. Ms. Li worked until exhaustion and fell ill just to make ends meet. She went through a divorce when her son was ten years old, and she went into depression and saw no hope in life.

Ms. Li started to practise Falun Gong in 2002. She quickly regained her health and realized the purpose of life: to “return to one's true self.” She lived her life according to the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. She was honest and compassionate, and her bookshop business was very good. She believed that she should share Falun Gong with others, and she told every customer in her store about Falun Gong.

Ms. Li soon became well known as a Falun Gong practitioner in the area and became a target for persecution by the local 610 Office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong). The office sent undercover policemen to Ms. Li's store to check on her on a regular bases. In 2005, the 610 Office threatened to arrest Ms. Li, and she left home for over ten days to avoid arrest.

On August 3rd, 2008, Ms. Li was arrested while passing out Falun Gong informational materials in the Hongwei district. The police detained her for two months, extorted 4,000 yuan¹ extorted from her, and closed down her bookstore. To make a living, Ms. Li sold books at flea markets. People from local government agencies often went to Ms. Li's stall to harass her.

On the evening of May 2009, Ms. Li was arrested by local police while passing out Falun Gong pamphlets in Leiyang. She was later sent to Baimalong Women's Forced Labour Camp in Zhuzhou for one year. While in the labour camp, she was tortured for refusing to renounce Falun Gong.

Ms. Li's family received a notice from the labor camp in March 2010, telling them to go to the Baimalong Women's Forced Labour Camp to take Ms. Li home. By that time, the once warm and cheerful Ms. Li had disappeared. Her face looked pale and had a blank stare, and she often acted irrational, as if she was suddenly frightened.

Her family learned later that during the 2010 Chinese New Year, Ms. Li shouted “Falun Gong is good,” and she was then locked in solitary confinement. She had a high fever while in the small cell, and prison guards fed her two glasses of “milk.” She felt dizzy immediately after drinking the “milk” and has been mentally disorientated ever since.

After Ms. Li went home, she would often run around on the street unkempt and would eat whatever she picked up off the ground. She was taken to the hospital for treatment twice without success. The local 610 Office agents attempted to blame Falun Gong for Ms. Li's condition, and they wanted her family to help them videotape her to use for their propaganda. Ms. Li's family refused their request, and pointed out that Ms. Li's condition was caused by the persecution she suffered in the labour camp.

Since Ms. Li is mentally disabled, her family had gone to the district management office to apply for living subsistence for her. However, the office refused to take her application. The reason is the Chinese government linked the salaries and bonuses of local officials with the persecution of Falun Gong. If a practitioner were discovered in a district, all the local officials in that area would lose their pay and bonuses. This incited the hatred of these officials toward Falun Gong practitioners.

Ms. Li's son, an outstanding student, could not afford to stay school after she was sent to the labour camp and barely had enough to eat with only a 300-yuan subsidised allowance.

Related agencies and individuals:

Laiyang Political and Legal Affairs Committee:
Telephone: 011-86-0734-4353891, 011-86-0734-4355206
Li Jianeng, clerk: 011-86-0734-4355208, 011-86-13575120288
Laiyang 610 Office:
Telephone: 011-86-0734-4346610
Zhang Weilu, chairman: 011-86-0734-4355206(O), 011-86-07344333641(H), 011-86-15607345538, 011-86-13574776663, 011-86-13007468558
Leiyang Police Department, Domestic Security Group:
Telephone: 011-86-0734-4358088, 011-86-0734-4358035
Li Xiaosheng, group leader: 011-86-13016188003, 011-86-13975450003, 011-86-0734-4358016(O), 011-86-0734-4358035(O), 011-86-0734-4389128(H)
Leiyang Caizhichi Police Station:
Telephone: 011-86-0734-4332268, 011-86-0734-4349098
Mao Xuan, station chief: 011-86-0734-4359908, 011-86-13786421616

Note

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