Practitioner Kept in Solitary Confinement for Half Her Term at Heilongjiang Women's Prison

Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Hu Aiyun has been imprisoned and persecuted in Heilongjiang Province Women's Prison for two and half years. She was imprisoned in solitary confinement many times, totalling more than a year. While imprisoned, she protested by going on hunger strikes many times. She is force-fed twice a day and suffers greatly.

Hu Aiyun was arrested with other three practitioners near Jiaohua Square, Nangang District, Harbin City around 10:00 on June, 20th, 2003, by the Criminal Detection Division 1, Harbin City Public Security Bureau. Black hoods were thrown over their heads. They were taken to the second floor of an unidentified building in Daoli District and tortured.

Zhao Guang and others from the National Security Section of Harbin City initially forced Hu Aiyun to sit on an iron chair¹. They suspended and beat her, and fed her with pepper water. They connected electrical prods to the toes of both feet and shocked her with an electric baton. They tortured her from about 2:00 in the afternoon until past midnight. Her terrible screams could be heard in other rooms.

Later, Hu Aiyun was imprisoned at the Seventh Division of the Public Security Bureau. On September 21st, Hu Aiyun shouted "Falun Dafa is Good" in seven places and viciously beaten by policemen Zhao Fengxia and Sheng. The marks left on her body from the beating were apparent a month later.

On April 12th, 2004, Hu Aiyun was moved to Heilongjiang Province Women's Prison. She was imprisoned in solitary confinement on May 12th because she would not wear a prison uniform. The solitary confinement cell was cold and wet and she was not allowed any bedclothes. Her hands were locked to a "ground ring" and she could only sit. She could not lie down and she was often cruelly beaten by other inmates. She was released from solitary confinement on October 10th.

On January 13th, 2005, Hu Aiyun was sent to solitary confinement again. She went on a hunger strike for over one month to protest her treatment. She was released from solitary confinement and placed in a "concentrated training group." She practised the Falun Gong exercises so she was again thrown into solitary confinement. After going on a hunger strike for over two months, she was released from solitary confinement on July 12th.

On September 27th, 2005, Hu Aiyun was imprisoned in the 11th ward. The 11th ward is specifically set up to persecute and transform² Falun Gong practitioners. Nine criminal inmates watch a single Falun Gong practitioner. Newspaper covers all the windows and doors. They isolate the practitioners, preventing them from seeing or talking with each other. They force the practitioners to sit on a small bench in the middle of the room and watch videos that slander Falun Gong until 2:AM. The other inmates take turns watching each practitioner not allowing him/her to sleep. It's common practice for them to beat practitioners.

On December 27th, 2006, Hu Aiyun was transferred to the 1st ward. She was tied up with a "tightening band" for three days. Many criminals guarded her. They closely followed her every single movement, and restricted her freedom.

Hu Aiyun was imprisoned for over two years and locked in solitary confinement for over one year. The rest of time, she was persecuted in isolation. On July 6th, 2007, she started a hunger strike to protest the persecution. It continues today; she is force-fed twice every day and she is suffering a lot.

We call on all people to pay attention to the persecution the Falun Gong practitioners are suffering in Heilongjiang Provincial Female Prison, to stop this crime.

Note

1. Iron Chair: The "Iron chair" is made of iron pipes. Victims are restrained on the iron chairs with both arms and legs tied for a long period of time, see illustration at http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2002/1/9/17577.html

2. "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")

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2007/11/5/165977.html