A Tribute to the Memory of Falun Dafa Practitioner Ms. Jia Cuiying from Hunan Province

This article is not just to honour the memory of Ms. Jia Cuiying. I wrote this article because there still are more than 100 practitioners imprisoned in the Hunan Provincial Women's Prison. They are being brutally persecuted for persisting in their righteous faith and are suffering tremendous trauma. The prison authorities restrict the flow of information to the outside as they continue to ruthlessly persecute these women. Moreover, the prison police, headed by Deputy Chief Zhao Lan, utilize the ""reform results" from such savage torture on their list of achievements for promotion. Li Chunhui, the chief police guard of the "Reform Team" (the brainwashing team), was promoted to Deputy Section Chief of the Education Section and the head of the "Reform Team," giving him more power to do evil. Most of the criminal inmates selected to assist in the persecution of practitioners were given credit that reduced their terms. The highest credit scored is 40, which equals half a year's reduction in term. This scheme has enabled the prisoners to secure earlier release.

Prison should be a place to punish wrongdoings and to promote goodness; it must not become a paradise for doing wrong! We are calling on kindhearted people around the world to pay attention to the ruthless persecution against Falun Gong practitioners in the Hunan Provincial Women's Prison, to help international organizations investigate the malicious deeds of people such as Zhao Lan, and to quickly bring them to justice!

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When I heard the news of Falun Dafa practitioner Ms. Jia Cuiying's death from lung cancer on October 20, 2004, as a result of the persecution in the Hunan Provincial Women's Prison, I was upset for a long time. In grief and indignation, I reflected on the knowledge that the healthy and optimistic Ms. Jia would never have died so prematurely if it weren't for the persecution against Falun Gong practitioners perpetrated by Jiang Zemin and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). If the Hunan Provincial Women's Prison authorities hadn't tormented her physically and mentally, she would still be alive.

When she was illegally sentenced, Ms. Jia Cuiying was 58 years old. Faced with the imposed tribulation, she did not regret her practice of Dafa nor her telling people the truth about Falun Dafa. Instead, she continued to appeal for Dafa openly and nobly, no matter where she was.

In the second half of 2001, Ms. Jia was sent to the Hunan Provincial Women's Prison in Changsha City by CCP personnel. She was imprisoned in Uniform Team Four, the "Reform Team" (the brainwashing team designated for Falun Dafa practitioners), the Changfeng Team Five, and in the Senior and Handicapped Team. Ms. Jia realized that practitioners aren't criminals, so she refused to wear the prison uniform and refused to have her photo taken. To force her to wear the prison uniform, the police guards took away her own clothes.

In September 2002, Ms. Jia was detained in the Changfeng Team Five, a team mainly responsible for bookbinding. The books were pirated versions. The prison authorities turned a blind eye to this violation of copyright laws in order to create revenue. Because of the intense and long hours of labour, the inmates referred this team as the "Devil Team." Ms. Jia suffered all kinds of inhuman maltreatment in this team.

As soon as she arrived at the Changfeng Team Five, Jia Cuiying protested her illegal detention. She refused to squat and count off when work started and stopped. The prison police specifically arranged for several strong inmates to watch her. They forced her into a squat every time they started and stopped work. The police guards watching the door would intentionally hold the door closed and delay everyone's passing through so as to provoke the inmates' anger towards her. Faced with that situation, Ms. Jia had to squat down, but she would never "count off."

The prison authorities organized everyone to watch videos defaming Falun Gong several times. Ms. Jia spoke out each time and resisted resolutely. Fearing that Ms. Jia would again defend Dafa, Tang Jun, the chief police guard of the Changfeng Team Five, once arranged for several inmates, prepared with handkerchiefs and tissue to cover her mouth in case she spoke out again, to sit next to Ms. Jia and watch her. Even so, Ms. Jia still managed to cry out from the bottom of her heart, "Long live my Teacher!"

All the detainees in the Changfeng Team Five spent the winter of 2002 in the new dormitory building. The new building was damp and cold. Except for Ms. Jia, all the inmates slept with one quilt underneath them and two quilts on top to keep themselves warm. Ms. Jia had only one thin quilt. It was said that her quilts "were lost in the Reform Team." Almost 60 years old, Ms. Jia had to sleep in the lower bunkbed in the middle of the room, with the whistling north wind leaking through the window. "Helper" inmate Wang Wei even kept the north window open all the time so that the wind blew toward Ms. Jia's bed. One night, when it was extremely cold, Ms. Jia wanted to close the window, but Wang Wei stopped her with the excuse of air-drying her clothes. Wang taunted her, "You're a practitioner of Falun Gong. You shouldn't fear cold."

Supported by the police guards, the "helper" inmates were aggressive in persecuting Ms. Jia. Once, when Ms. Jia was reading Teacher's articles in the toilet, Wang Wei discovered it. She and another "helper" inmate threw themselves on Ms. Jia. One grabbed her by the neck and the other pried her hand open. They snatched the article away and handed it in for a reward.

In March 2003, Ms. Jia Cuiying was moved to the Senior and Handicapped Team. This team is the repository for all the elderly, weak, sick and disabled inmates, many of whom do not have relatives to visit them, have no source of income, and are referred to as the "Three nothing detainees." The police guards turn a blind eye to these people's situation. Ms. Jia often gave away her personal necessities to those inmates who were having difficulties. In the eyes of the guards, however, her kindness toward others was interpreted as "winning over inmates with petty favours." They took away her cash card (a kind of coupon purchased with cash to buy things in a designated area, such as the prison store, prison cafeteria, etc.) and kept her from buying necessities.

Even in such harsh circumstances as the Senior and Handicapped Team, Ms. Jia still persisted in telling people the truth about Falun Dafa and teaching the Dafa exercises to those who were interested, but she was kept in close confinement for nine days for doing this.

Long-term imprisonment severely devastated Ms. Jia Cuiying's mind and body. By May 2004 she had lost a significant amount of weight and could not walk normally. The hospital diagnosed her with lung cancer. The prison authorities feared being held responsible and quickly released her on a "medical parole." Ms. Jia's family members took her home in June 2004.

Within four months, on October 20, 2004, Ms. Jia Cuiying had passed away, leaving her family members in deep sorrow.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.org/mh/articles/2005/6/8/103575.html