Practitioner Ms. Dong Hongju lives in Caizhuang Village, Bailou Township, Beishi District in Baoding City. She is currently detained at the Baoding Detention Centre. She has been on hunger strike to protest the persecution. Her current condition is concerning. This is her fifth time she has been detained.
The Most Recent Detention
On August 27th, 2007, at 11:00 p.m., eight officers from the Beishi District Police Department and from the Bailou Township Police Station arrived at Ms. Dong's home and arrested her. The police also ransacked her home and took a computer, a printer and some books.
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is staging a "house cleaning" one year before the Olympic Games, justifying their actions as "maintaining social stability." The result is that it stepped up the persecution of innocent people. After the international community condemned the CCP's notorious human rights record, the CCP could no longer hide its evil and violent nature. It forced the police, neighbourhood administration personnel, and business leaders to participate in the persecution. Their ill treatment of Falun Gong practitioners is especially harsh. Their violence is without reason or legal foundation. The CCP followers break into people's homes at will. They also routinely "visit" all who have appealed to the government for Falun Gong. They fill out forms to summarise each person's so-called current status. They can arrest and send any Falun Gong practitioner to a brainwashing centre or forced labour camp without cause. These tactics completely contradict the spirit of the Olympic Games.
Forced to Attend a Brainwashing Programme while Eight Months Pregnant
After being persecuted repeatedly before 2002, Dong Hongju's ordeal was not over. She was released in the summer of 2002 and went home. One day on her way home from work, someone from the township government staff arrested her and took her into the Zhuozhou Brainwashing Centre. Ms. Dong was two months pregnant at the time. She eventually escaped from the centre and went into hiding. She returned home prior to the 2003 Chinese New Year, one month before her due date. As the family prepared for the New Year celebration and for the reunion, Bailou Township police arrived at their house and demanded that she and her husband go to the township office to "complete some paperwork." Once at the township police station, the government staff sent Dong Hongju to Zhuozhou Brainwashing Centre. They completely ignored China's constitution and laws in the most shameful way by forcing Dong Hongju to denounce her belief. They did not even care that Dong was about to give birth.
Persecution by Association; Her Father-in-law Died as a Result of Pressure Due to Persecution
Dong Hongju's father-in-law was in his 60s and had always enjoyed good health. He worked diligently in his own vegetable garden every day. After the CCP seized his son and daughter-in-law before the 2003 Chinese New Year, he wondered where they were and what would happen to them? He went to the township the next day and was told that they were taken to the Zhuozhou Brainwashing Centre. Worried about his pregnant daughter-in-law, the older man went to the township every day to appeal for their release. But no one was there during the New Year break to answer his pleas. Worried and disappointed, the old man became sick on the second day of the Chinese New Year. Family members sent him to the hospital, but doctors could not find anything wrong. His condition worsened, and he asked to see his son and daughter-in-law. Family members informed the township government, but they did not even get an answer. The older man died on the fifth day of the New Year. Twenty days after their detention and after paying thousands of yuan1, Dong Hongju and her husband were released. By then, the older man had been dead for over a week.
The family is survived by Ms. Dong's mother-in-law, in her 60s, and two very young children. Ms. Dong's husband had to shoulder all the family responsibilities while his wife is detained.
Exercising Constitutional Rights; Beaten and Fined
Dong Hongju had suffered from TB since childhood and could not do hard labour. She also had a bad temper. After she had her first child her condition worsened. She could not even touch cold water, or she would suffer from stiff joints and trembling hands. She avoided going outside in cold weather or on windy days. Her annual medical bill amounted to at least 4,000 yuan. Most of the family savings were used for medical care. Her family lived in poverty. In 1998, she heard that Falun Gong had very good healing powers. She went to a practice site at Binhe in Baoding City. After only ten days, her stiff joints became normal. Two months later she could wash clothes in cold water without any pain. She felt energetic and began to do farm work. Falun Gong brought Dong Hongju physical and mental health. Her family life was full of joy and happiness.
On July 20th, 1999, in a jealous rage, Jiang Zemin initiated the persecution of Falun Gong. Ms. Dong Hongju went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong but was forcibly returned to her hometown. Her name was registered on a black list, and her life was turned upside down. CCP agents often went to her house to harass her. Everyone was scared. To protest the unjust treatment, she went to Beijing again and asked the government to make it possible for her to lead a normal life. The police arrested her again and tortured her badly. After much hardship they sent her to a brainwashing programme for further persecution. Once Ms. Dong commenced her hunger strike, her family members had 4,000 yuan extorted from them before the officials released her.
During the 2002 New Year, the police demanded that Ms. Dong write a guarantee statement not to practise Falun Gong. When she refused, the police arrested her again. She managed to escape and went into hiding. While in hiding, she did casual labour to make ends meet. With the constant police harassment, she and her family had to spend the holiday in fear, separated from each other.
Telephone numbers of relevant people:
Beishi District Office: 86-312-3103910
Beishi District Police Department: 86-312-2026641
Gu Yingtao, Beishi District Police Department Head: 86-13333123599
Gao Xuefei, Zhuozhou Brainwashing Base, 610 Office head: 86-13180226633
Baoding Detention Centre: 86-312-5028774, 86-312-5027134
Cui Jiming, Baoding Detention Centre Head: 86-13931223558
Address for Baoding Detention Centre: 328, July 1st East Road, Baoding City, 071000
Note
1. "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/2007/9/10/162411.html
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