More Than a Decade of Persecution: Jiangxi Police Continue to Detain Falun Gong Practitioner for Her Belief

Over the course of the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) persecution of Falun Gong, many practitioners of the peaceful cultivation practice have been arrested and tortured multiple times. Even though the Chinese Constitution permits freedom of belief and no laws have been broken through the practice of Falun Gong, the country is run by a paranoid communist regime that somehow fears losing control when citizens live by the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance.

Chronicled below is the story of Ms. Ji Shujun, a Falun Gong practitioner who has endured more than a decade of persecution for her belief. Sadly, it is an example of what has become normal treatment of Falun Gong practitioners and other people in China who strive to be upstanding and considerate members of society.

2002

Ms. Ji Shujun, 50, is a Falun Gong practitioner from Hebei Province. She worked as an accountant for Chengde Tobacco Monopoly Bureau in Hebei Province. Ms. Ji was a diligent and hard worker, widely recognized as a kind person.

However, when the Chinese Communist Party started the persecution of Falun Gong in 1999, Ms. Ji was repeatedly arrested, detained and subjected to the regime's notorious “education through forced labour.” She was sentenced to three years in a labour camp in 2002 after she went to Beijing to appeal for justice for Falun Gong. In the Gaoyang Labour Camp, Ms. Ji was beaten with electric batons, forced to stand for prolonged periods and forced to stand outdoors in the bitter cold and snow. She staged several hunger strikes to protest the mistreatment.

When Ms. Ji returned home from the labour camp, her employer tried to force her to renounce her belief before she would be allowed to return to work. Ms. Ji had no choice but to leave home for Zhangjiakou City.

2009

Ms. Ji was arrested on September 1st, 2009 while she was talking to people about Falun Gong in Longmen Town, Chicheng County. She was handcuffed to a tiger bench¹ by the Interpol Team of the Police Department. She was then held in the Hebei Women's Forced Labour Camp for two years. She went on a hunger strike to protest the persecution, and was subjected to punitive forced-feeding.

Hao Mingming, a police doctor, hit Ms. Ji on the face with a shoe before proceeding with the forced-feeding. When Ms. Ji refused to open her mouth, they forced it open by using tweezers on her lips, or by grabbing her hair and pinching her nose. Sometimes they even stabbed her face. Because Ms. Ji refused to renounce her belief and refused to participate in the forced labour, her detention period in the labour camp was extended by 97 days.

2012

Ms. Ji was reported on June 25th, 2012 when she was talking to people about Falun Gong in Houcheng Town in Chicheng County. She was arrested again and detained in the Hebei Women's Labour Camp for one and a half years. She was subjected to forced feeding many times in the labour camp.

The labor camp started to release a large number of Falun Gong practitioners and other detainees in July 2012. There were only a dozen practitioners and less than half a dozen other detainees left in the Hebei Women's Labour Camp by the end of July.

Three male officers and four female officers arrived on July 25th, 2012 and took Ms. Ji to a room on the second floor. Two men twisted her arms to the back of a chair while two of the women grabbed her hair to force-feed her. They told her that they were “saving her life.”

Ms. Ji said to them, “If you really want to save my life, you should let me go home. You have released those who were thieves and prostitutes, but you continue to detain people like me who merely remain steadfast in our belief and follow the principle of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. You have violated the law and for sure, your bad deeds will be met with retribution.”

The officers were silent and took Ms. Ji back to her room on the first floor. She shouted on the way, “Falun Gong is great! I want to go home!” The labour camp informed Ms. Ji's family of her pending release on medical parole, but no official release document was issued.

2013

Ms. Ji went to visit friends in Jiangxi Province on December 2nd, 2013. Because she spoke to people about Falun Gong along the way, she was arrested by a policeman the day she arrived, and detained in the Jiujiang Lockup Centre.

Upon hearing the disturbing news, Ms. Luo Meiling and Ms. Ye Huifang, Ms. Ji's good friends and also Falun Gong practitioners, rushed to the Shahe District Police Department the same day. Ms. Luo and Ms. Ye kindly told the police that Ms. Ji didn't violate the law by telling people the facts about Falun Gong and that she should be released right away.

Wei Yong, the political instructor of the Shahe District Police Department, didn't have Ms. Ji released. Instead, he issued an order to detain Ms. Luo and Ms. Ye in the police station. He also ordered an officer from the Domestic Security Division of the JiuJiang County Police Department to take part in the persecution.

The police officers photographed Ms. Luo and Ms. Ye and forcibly took blood samples from them, under orders from Chen Xin, captain of the Domestic Security Division of the Jiujiang County Police Department; Hu Bazhi, political instructor of the Domestic Security Division with the Jiujiang County Police Department; and Wei Yong, political instructor of the Shahe District Police Department.

Ms. Luo's and Ms. Ye's families requested that they be released that evening. The Domestic Security Division of the Shahe District Police Department tried to force Ms. Luo and Ms. Ye to renounce their belief in writing, but the two practitioners refused to do so. The police finally had to release Ms. Luo and Ms. Ye later that evening due to intense condemnation and pressure from their families. However, Ms. Ji Shujun was taken to the Lockup Centre in Jiujiang City.

Ms. Ji insisted that her belief was guaranteed by the Constitution and started a hunger strike to protest the detention. The Jiujiang Lockup Centre was afraid of being held liable for her physical condition and asked the Domestic Security Division of the Shahe District Police Department to pick her up. Ms. Ji was taken from the Jiujiang Lockup Centre and brought to the Jiujiang County Detention Centre on December 6th, 2013, where she continues to be held to this day.

Parties involved in the persecution:
Liu Xunhua (刘浔华), Party secretary of the Jiujiang County Political and Legal Affairs Committee: +86-792-6816507 (Office), +86-13803555812 (Mobile)
Li Wanmu (李万木), deputy director of the Jiujiang County Police Department and director of 610 Office: +86-792-6812471, ext 3509 (Office), +86-792-6813132 (Home), +86-13907922226 (Mobile)
Chen Xin (陈新), captain of the Domestic Security Division, Jiujiang County Police Department: +86-792-6812471, ext 3516 (Office), +86-792-6816119 (Home), +86-13870286777 (Mobile)
Wang Yijin (王义金), deputy captain of the Domestic Security Division, Jiujiang County Police Department: +86-792-682082086 (Home), +86-13970256695(Mobile)
Hu Bazhi (胡捌枝), political instructor of the Domestic Security Division, Jiujiang County Police Department: +86-792-6812471, ext 3516 (Office), +86-792-6812712 (Home), +86-13507929771 (Mobile)
Zeng Hongjian (曾鸿剑), director of the Jiujiang County Detention Centre: +86-792-6812057 (Office), +86-792-6827505 (Home), +86-13970210255 (Mobile)
Wang Kai (王凯), director of the Shahe District Police Department: +86-792-6817300 (Office), +86-792-6819998 (Home), +86-13870200288 (Mobile)

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.