Zhao Fenglian Persecuted to Skin and Bones in Lanzhou Women's Jail

Zhao Fenglian, a Falun Gong practitioner from Wuwei City, Gansu Province, is emaciated and on the verge of death as a result of torture in Lanzhou Women's Jail.

Ms. Zhao Fenglian, 54, started to practise Falun Gong in 1996. Although she is not literate, she actively spread Dafa. In 2001, she was sentenced to one year of forced labour because she was caught delivering leaflets exposing the persecution. In October 2003, she was arrested again by Jinchuan Police Substation and Jinchang City Police Department, and secretly sentenced to 4 years in prison by Jinchuan District Procuratorate.

From September 2005, when Ms. Zhao was detained in Lanzhou Women's Jail, her health quickly deteriorated and she suffered from gastritis. As a result, she was unable to eat anything and became emaciated. On September 19th, she was transferred from No. 2 prison area to the surveillance team for brainwashing. There she was ordered to write three statements¹, and take medicine. After the so-called "treatment," Ms. Zhao's health became worse and worse, and soon she was only skin and bones.

Yang Qingru, a former practitioner who had accepted the brainwashing and now helped the Chinese authorities to try to brainwash other practitioners, worked on Ms. Zhao Fenglian for three consecutive days. Besides this, Yang Qingru forced all newcomers to recite the jail regulations and tried to brainwash them. If she found anyone doing the Falun Gong exercises, she reported it to the jail guards. She also forced the Falun Gong practitioners to write the "four letters," and a "brainwashing report" every week.

Although Ms. Zhao was in such a fragile health state, she was still forced to watch television shows slandering Dafa. When she was too weak to handle it, the evil jail staff forced her to sit in the lobby and forbade her from having a break. Later she was taken to the hospital for treatment.

43 jail employees persecuted Falun Gong practitioners. These people were given the title of "Individual Reeducation Talents in Gansu Province" by Gansu Provincial Jail Administration Bureau, and rewarded a cash check of 300 yuan² each.

Note

1. "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.

2. "Yuan" is the Chinese currency; 500 yuan is equal to the average monthly income of an urban worker in China.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2005/11/30/115515.html