79-Year-Old Woman Dies Just Months after Lengthy Imprisonment

Ms. Yang Suolin, a 79-year-old Falun Gong practitioner from Anshan City, Liaoning Province, died on April 22nd, 2015. Years of brutal treatment had left her paralyzed from the waist down.

She spent 3 years in a forced labour camp and 7 years in prison for her belief in Falun Gong, enduring torture and humiliation. After her release from prison, a Party official continued to harass her until the day she died.

Ms. Yang was an official at the Anshan Blower Factory. After she started to practise Falun Gong in 1997, she conducted herself according to the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. She always looked at things from the other person's point of view. Her ailments disappeared and she became very healthy.

After the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) started to persecute Falun Gong in 1999, Ms. Yang was arrested in Beijing for speaking out about the injustice. She was taken back to Anshan City and detained at the Anshan City Detention Centre for 15 days.

She was then held in the Anshan Forced Labour Camp for 3 years.

In 2008, Ms. Yang was arrested at home. The police ransacked her home and confiscated a laptop computer, a DVD recorder, Falun Gong books, DVDs, and informational materials about the persecution of Falun Gong.

She was then incarcerated in the No. 2 Ward of the Liaoning Province Women’s Prison for seven years. She was deprived of sleep for 15 days and given very little to eat. In cold weather, she was not allowed to wear more than a thin layer of clothes. During the day she was brainwashed and was then forced to stand throughout the night. She was not allowed to sleep or talk. The guards routinely beat and cursed her.

When Ms. Yang could no longer endure the prolonged torture, she wrote a statement denouncing Falun Gong against her conscience. She regretted it and later wrote a solemn declaration voiding the statement. She posted the declaration on the ward’s walls, infuriating the guards and inmates, who violently assaulted her. After the beating, her eyes swelled shut. Her face, chest, and back were covered with bruises.

She was taken to a hospital for treatment. Even the hospital director could not bear looking at her injuries. The inmates told her not to tell who beat her, threatening they would kill her if she did.

Ms. Yang was not only forced to work during the day but also at night for the husband of inmate head Li Guilan. The husband was an official at the Huludao Police Department.

The prolonged and inhuman treatment rendered Ms. Yang paralyzed from the waist down. She was released on August 13th, 2014.

Despite her deteriorating condition and advanced age, a judicial officer would not stop harassing her. He called her every week, threatening and demanding that her children prevent her from contacting other practitioners.

Summary of Key Persecution Facts:

Name: Yang Suolin (杨所林)
Gender: Female
Age: 79
Address: Anshan, Liaoning Province
Date of Death: April 22nd, 2015
Date of Most Recent Arrest: 2008
Most Recent Place of Detention: Liaoning Province Women’s Prison (辽宁女子监狱)
City: Anshan
Province: Liaoning