58-Year-Old Ms. Ji Fengqin Dies Shortly After Being Released from the Wanjia Forced Labour Camp

Ms. Ji Fengqin was a Falun Gong practitioner from Mulan County, Heilongjiang Province. After suffering prolonged, cruel torture in the Wanjia Forced Labour Camp, Ms. Ji passed away on August 30th 2005, three days after she returned home.

Ms. Ji Fengqin was unlawfully arrested in February 2004. On March 18th 2004, she was sent to the Wanjia Forced Labour Camp. She was 58 years old at the time. All practitioners sent to Wanjia were first locked up in an intensive training class to undergo forced "reformation."¹ During her week-long intensive training, Ms. Ji suffered tremendously harsh torture. I was an eyewitness.

The day she arrived in the intensive training class, the criminal inmates in the labour camp searched her and found some leaflets exposing the persecution. After they informed the police, the police came and verbally abused her. Because Ms. Ji refused to write the three statements², the police attempted to force her to squat on one square brick. When she refused to cooperate, policeman Zhao Yuqing, the training class head, in his 40s, handcuffed her arms to a bed rail.

In the following days, the police continuously abused Ms. Ji with verbal insults and electrically shocked her chin and neck. She was forced to stand 24 hours a day and not allowed to close her eyes. Whenever she was too sleepy and closed her eyes for a second, the inmates watching her would wake her up. She was allowed only three toilet breaks a day. Brainwashing class head Zhang Guiyun would bring her three meals a day. She was allowed to sit down to eat. Because she had been handcuffed for a long time, she lost the normal function in her hands, which always trembled. She even needed assistance to use the toilet. In this extreme agony, she was still forced to watch videotapes slandering Falun Gong every day. After three days of continuous torture she could not stand still any more. She always fell backwards. Her wrists were badly injured and had big purplish blisters. Her legs were swollen. Even in these painful circumstances, Ms. Ji did not stop explaining the truth of Falun Dafa with her own experience to the police. She told them how she became totally healthy after practising Falun Gong. But the police always got angry and yelled at her to stop her.

By March 24th 2005, Ms. Ji was completely exhausted. Her mind wasn't very clear, and she could hardly keep her eyes open or maintain the standing posture. But the police still attempted to force her to write the three statements. They knew that her hand injuries prevented her from writing, so they told her to just sign her name or put her fingerprints on prepared statements. But Ji Fengqin refused. Policeman Zhao Yuqing moved her to a small room next door and started to shock her and otherwise torture her. Eventually, when Ms. Ji was unconscious, Zhao had someone hold her hand and put her fingerprints on the three statements. They declared to others that Ji Fengqin had written the three statements. Ms. Ji was allowed to return to her room to sleep. A nurse from the labour camp also called in to give her intravenous injections.

After one week of torture, Ji Fengqin had changed into a quiet person. She hardly spoke unless someone talked to her first. After six months in the intensive training class she was transferred to Team Twelve. Every practitioner in Team Twelve went through a week long intensive training. Every day they were told to sit on plastic stools with their knees touching and their hands on their knees. They had to watch video programmes slandering Falun Gong. A few days later they were told to write a personal understanding report. If the police liked a report they would ask the author to read the report out loud in front of all the team members. After that, the person could return to regular forced labour activities; otherwise, they would force you to continue the "training."

After one week in this intensive training, Ms. Ji was forced to work more than ten hours a day at hard labour. Ms. Ji had suffered injuries to her hands and feet, so she was slow at her job and when walking. She could not complete her assignment on time. Due to her feeble condition, her voice was very low when she was told to shout slogans during the army-type training and this did not satisfy the police. She also refused to comply with the police on some demands, such as bad-mouthing Dafa. The police sent her back to the intensive training class several times for repeated brainwashing. In Team Twelve, Ms. Ji 's physical condition and mental health were not good. Her family members did not visit her. Fellow practitioners supported her with basic everyday items. She was deeply depressed and suffered from physical pain as a result of the tortures. But she did not want to tell the police about her physical discomfort. Sometimes she told fellow practitioners that her hands and feet felt numb and did not function normally. She also felt pains inside her body as well.

In August 2005, Ms. Ji was skin and bones and looked terrible. Some criminal inmates said sarcastically, "Your husband dumped you, and your son won't even visit you. You look terrible. Even if you go back home, you could no longer do any work. How could you survive on your own?" These words hurt Ms. Ji badly. From then on, her condition deteriorated rapidly, but she was still forced to work.

By mid-August, Ms. Ji could no longer walk. Two people had to assist her to the toilet. She was losing her mental clarity. The labour camp hospital could not figure out what was wrong. Doctors said she was not ill. Policeman Sha Yujin of Team Twelve said that she was "pretending." Even the criminal inmates assigned to care for her scolded her and said that she was faking her condition.

Around August 20th 2005, Ms. Ji was bedridden. She went into a coma, and her condition was very serious. After she was sent to a hospital she never returned to the forced labour camp. Her scheduled labour camp term was up on September 3rd but the labour camp officials feared that she might die in custody, so they processed an early discharge to avoid any liability. On August 27th or 28th Ms. Ji Fengqin was released and returned home. Several days later she died.

Note

1. "Reform or Transform" Implementation of brainwashing and torture in order to force a practitioner to renounce Falun Gong. (Variations: "reform", "transform", "reformed", "reforming", "transformed", "transforming", and "transformation")

2. "Three Statements": Practitioners are coerced under brainwashing and torture to write "Repentance Statement," "Guarantee Statement" or 'Dissociation Statement" as proof that they have given up their belief. In the statement, the practitioner is forced to admit remorse for practising Falun Gong, promise to give up Falun Gong, and never again associate with other practitioners or go to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.ca/mh/articles/2005/9/16/110542.html