Mrs. Xu Hongmei, Separated From Her Baby Girl, Detained In Qiqihar City Labour Camp Beyond Term

Tiantian has spent her childhood missing her parents. Her mother, Mrs. Xu Hongmei, was once again sent to a forced labour camp for a three-year term in April of 2002. She has served her term, but is still being illegally detained in Qiqihar City Forced Labour Camp in Heilongjiang Province. Soon after, her father Sun Weimin was arrested and detained in Tailai Prison in Qiqihar City.

On July 20th, 1999, when the news that Falun Gong was to be outlawed in China Mrs. Xu Hongmei went with other Falun Dafa practitioners to Qiqihar City Hall to let the government know how they benefited from practising Falun Gong. Twenty minutes later, they were all in police vans. The practitioners were then taken to different primary schools and detained. Mrs. Xu later went to the appeals office in Beijing to tell them how she and others benefited from the practice. Minutes after she arrived at the appeals office, she was taken away by officials from her home province stationed in Beijing.

They escorted Mrs. Xu back home to be detained at the No. 2 Custody Centre. Mrs. Xu was then sent to Shuanghe Forced Labour Camp of Qiqihar City (now called Qiqihar City Forced Labour Camp), without proper charges, for one and a half years. Her daughter Tiantian was eight months old at the time.

In order to pressure Mrs. Xu into giving up Falun Dafa, the authorities used deceptive measures. They brought her mother and her daughter Tiantian to the camp. They dressed Tiantian in rugs and exhorted Mrs. Xu to change her mind. Mrs. Xu wanted to hold her daughter, but policewomen Wang Mei and Wang Yan took the baby away. Mrs. Xu was told that if she wanted to hold her daughter, she would have to follow their instructions and sign papers stating that she would give up Falun Gong.

Mrs. Xu Hongmei's parents cried and tried to persuade her to agree. They were deceived by the lies of the communist regime. She told her parents through her tears, "I hope you can understand me. I am learning to be a better person, not to curse back when cursed or fight back when being beaten. I have done nothing wrong." She also seriously told the policewomen, "Don't you take advantage of the kindness of my parents. Neither my parents nor I will give in. You cannot possibly make me renounce Falun Dafa."

Policewoman Wang Mei took Xu Hongmei back to the cell. Her parents and daughter were not allowed to see her any more. The rules in the forced labour camp stated that families were not allowed to visit those who do not agree to give up Falun Dafa.

At the forced labour camp, Mrs. Xu was subjected to inhuman tortures. She was detained in a small confinement cell, forced to sit on an iron chair for long periods of time, and made to wear heavy shackles and other such devices to make her suffer. In 2001, officials of the provincial forced labour camp administration office went to the labour camp to see how many practitioners had been "transformed" into renouncing Falun Gong. They put the practitioners together and slandered Falun Dafa and its founder. Mrs. Xu and several other practitioners shouted, "Practitioners, please awaken. Falun Dafa is wonderful!" They were dragged out of the room and severely tortured. Later, they were sent to the No. 2 Custody Centre in Qiqihar City to await sentencing.

In the custody centre, Mrs. Xu followed the requirements of Falun Dafa. All the inmates in the cell were moved by her words and behaviour. Through her, they saw the beauty of Falun Dafa. The inmates said that practitioners were all very good people. They truly experienced the wonder of Falun Dafa.

Xu Hongmei was detained in the No. 2 Custody Centre for nearly four months before she was transferred to the Qiqihar No. 1 Custody Centre. During her detention, people from the Procuratorate interrogated her to collect evidence of her "crime" in order to sentence Mrs. Xu and other practitioners. They failed because of the practitioners' strong righteous thoughts. The practitioners were released by the end of 2001. After two years, Mrs. Xu Hongmei finally saw her toddler daughter again.

In April 2002, the police departments and stations in Qiqihar City had orders to arrest practitioners and collect bonuses accordingly. The police from the Tienan Police Station in Mrs. Xu Hongmei's neighbourhood took her from her home and sent her to the Custody Centre to get their bonus.

Mrs. Xu was sent to serve three more years at Qiqihar City Forced Labour Camp. In May 2002, the labour camp started a new round of persecution. They forced practitioners to write the three statements to renounce Falun Dafa, to promise not to practise, and to express regret for practising. Practitioners who refused to write them were physically punished. Mrs. Xu was forced to sit on an iron chair for 15 days. She had trouble walking afterwards, but the head officer, Wang Mei, still tried to force her to write those three letters.

Mrs. Xu Hongmei's mother tried to visit her when she learnt where she was. The head of the labour camp would not allow her to see Mrs. Xu and said a lot of bad things. In order to see her daughter, Mrs. Xu's mother turned to some relatives for help, and she finally got a chance to see her daughter. Mrs. Xu had much difficulty walking. Two police officers made sure that they did not get close to each other. They feared she would tell her parents about the torture. The meeting was no more than twenty minutes long. Mrs. Xu Hongmei is still being detained although her term has expired.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.org/mh/articles/2005/7/11/105925.html