Ms. Yang Fenglan, 69, from Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Died Due to Persecution

Summary of Key Persecution Facts:

Name: Yang Fenglan
Gender: Female
Age: 69
Address: Unknown
Occupation: Retired teacher, Dongshun Primary School, Tongliao, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region
Date of Death: June 19th, 2013
Date of Most Recent Arrest: May 2008
Most Recent Place of Detention: Hohhot Women's Prison in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region
City: Tongliao
Province: Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region
Persecution Suffered: Brainwashing, imprisonment, solitary confinement, torture, home ransacked, detention

Ms. Yang Fenglan was arrested four times for her belief in Falun Gong. She was sentenced to three years in prison in 2009. Ms. Yang became severely ill during her imprisonment in the Hohhot Women's Prison in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. She was eventually released for medical attention, but passed away on June 19th, 2013 after two years of unsuccessful medical treatment.

Ms. Yang was diagnosed with myocardial infarction in her younger years and was unable to live a quality life. In 1997, she started to practise Falun Gong and lived up to Falun Gong's standards of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. This practice of body and mind helped her regain her health.

The Chinese government started to persecute Falun Gong in July 1999. Ms. Yang suffered endless harassment under the persecution. During the time that she lived alone, local police went to her home often to intimidate her and try to force her to stop practising Falun Gong. On one occasion, group leader Wang Bo from the Domestic Security Division of the Ke District Police Department and several policemen broke into Ms. Yang's home and ransacked it while she was out, confiscating many of her personal belongings.

In May 2008, Ms. Yang was arrested by officers from the Domestic Security Division from the Tongliao Police Department. Already in her sixties, she was sentenced to three years in prison and sent to the Hohhot Women's Prison in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in January 2009.

In an attempt to force Ms. Yang to renounce her belief, the prison tried to brainwash her with fabricated, slanderous information. Ms. Yang was locked in a small room and monitored by criminal inmates around the clock. She was not allowed to stand near any door or window, nor allowed to talk to anyone. She was not to leave the room at all. Prison guards and inmates verbally and physically abused her. She was not allowed to exchange letters with anyone, and no phone calls or family visits were permitted.

Ms. Yang became severely ill in October 2009. She had edema and breathing difficulty, coughed and felt like she was suffocating. The prison sent her to the Second Hospital of Hohhot for medical treatment, but her condition did not improve. The prison gave Ms. Yang a medical parole permission form, but the official at the Qingzhen Police Station in the Ke District did not approve it, and refused to sign the form. Thus, Ms. Yang had to remain in prison.

Ms. Yang finally went home on January 20th, 2011, and her family took her to the hospital. Even though she was very ill, Ms. Yang still could not escape unwelcome visits and harassment from officers from the Qingzhen Police Station. In the ongoing climate of persecution, Ms. Yang could not regain her health, and passed away at home on June 19th, 2013.

Ms. Yang was in very good health prior to her arrest in May 2008