Ms. Zou Jiqin Dies as a Result of Persecution in Heilongjiang Province

Ms. Zou Jiqin lived in Jiamusi City, Heilongjiang Province. She began practising Falun Gong in June 1998, benefiting greatly from this wonderful practice. After the July 20th, 1999, government persecution began, she went to Beijing to appeal for justice for Falun Gong. In February 2000 she was detained in Jiamusi City Detention Centre for more than a month. Both her body and mind were severely harmed by the abuse she suffered in detention.

On May 11th, 2002, Ms. Zou was arrested again, and once more detained in Jiamusi City Detention Centre. She went on a hunger strike to protest the detention, only to be tortured by being force-fed while tied on the floor with her four limbs stretched apart. She almost died from this treatment. She was later taken to Jiamusi City Labour Camp to serve out her three-year term.

Ms. Zou never gave up her faith in the labour camp, so she was tortured many times. Four times she had her hands cuffed behind her back onto a metal bed frame. Five times she was tortured with the "Big Back Cuff¹," an excruciating torture. She was also subjected to many other tortures, including being forced to sit on a wire spool (a very rough surface), not allowed to use the toilet, subjected to long-term sleep deprivation, forced to do hard labour, and subjected to freezing temperatures.

In July 2002, Guard He Qiang (male) brutally beat Ms. Zou. He then cuffed both of her hands to a metal bed frame and forced her to sit on the cement floor for one week. She was not allowed to sleep, use the toilet, or eat for an entire week.

In September 2002, Ms. Zou decided that as she was innocent of any crime and that she should refuse to accept the designation of "criminal." She therefore refused to wear the labour camp uniform. Guard He Qiang turned the loudspeaker on very loud to cover their brutal act that was to follow. He and five to six guards went in and beat Ms. Zou until she was covered in bruises. They stripped her clothes off and then forced the uniform on her. Ms. Zou refused to cooperate and took the uniform off as soon as she could. The guards then handcuffed her arms behind her back to the metal bed frame, forcing her to sit on a wire spool with sharp grids. Her buttocks became swollen and bled and she was in extreme pain.

The guards continued to keep Ms. Zou in her cell until October 2002. The cell was very damp and dark. The guards did not allow her any warm clothes or anything warm to sit on. They deprived her of sleep and she was not allowed to use the toilet. They intentionally opened the window at night to make it even colder. When the guards saw that this brutal treatment still could not force Ms. Zou to accept their brainwashing, they decided to torture her with the "Big Back Cuff" for an entire afternoon. Ms. Zou's arms lost all feeling and swelled up as thick as loaves of bread. Her feet had frostbite and she began coughing. Her condition rapidly worsened.

Before the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) 16th Congress in 2002, the labour camp administration planned an ultimatum: all detained practitioners had to write the Four Statements² or else they would be tortured. Ms. Zou absolutely refused to cooperate with this demand. Guard Liu Yadong (male) tortured her with the "Big Back Cuff" yet again. Ms. Zou passed out due to the extreme pain. Liu put her down on the cement floor, then had the camp doctor look at her. The camp doctor said there was no danger that she could die. Liu then put her back in the "Big Back Cuff" position for the entire afternoon. He swung the handcuffs to aggravate the pain. They assigned a collaborator³ to continue trying to brainwash Ms. Zou. They tortured her the next day again with the "Big Back Cuff" and used electric batons to shock her. Guard Yu Wenbin (male) put slips of paper with words slandering Falun Gong on her body. After this torture session, Ms. Zou was unable to take care of herself for a long time.

In March 2003, Ms. Zou refused to write the "Four Statements." She was again tortured with the "Big Back Cuff," by guards Li Xiujin (female) and Li Yongbo (male). In the summer of 2003, Ms. Zou again refused to comply with the authorities' demands, so guards Liu Yadong and Li Xiujin forced her to sit on the wire spool again, with both hands on her knees. They didn't allow her to move one bit. If she did move, they punched and kicked her. Ms. Zou was forced to sit this way from 6:00 a.m to 8:00 p.m. for several days. Her buttocks bled, and her legs and feet swelled.

Ms. Zou was as thin as a skeleton. She could not sleep well and had difficulty breathing. She was still forced to do hard labour in this condition. The production materials that detainees had to work with contained toxic ingredients with a very strong odour. This caused Ms. Zou's health, already compromised, to deteriorate further.

Ms. Zou was in extremely poor health when she was finally released. Her family circumstances were very difficult life as a result of the persecution. Ms. Zou lost her job, and her husband was forced into early retirement. Their child needed to go to school and her parents were forced to leave home to avoid being arrested. Ms. Zou had to do odd jobs to make a living. She never recovered physically. On February 29th, 2008, Ms. Zou died at the age of 46.

Note

1. The Big Back Cuff: The practitioner's hands are tied behind his back with one hand over the shoulder and the other hand against the lower back. The guards then apply a great deal of force to pull th hands toward one another and handcuff them together. See illustration on http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2001/11/24/16156.html

2. "Four Statements": Practitioners are coerced under brainwashing and torture to write the "four statements" as proof that they have given up their belief. Created by the 610 Office, they consist of "a letter of repentance," "a guarantee" to never again practise Falun Gong, a "Dissociation Statement" to declare a dissociation with Falun Gong and promise not go to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong, and a list of names and addresses of all family members, friends and acquaintances who are practitioners.

3. "Collaborators": [former practitioners who have turned against Falun Gong under brainwashing and torture. They are then made to assist in brainwashing and torturing practitioners.]

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2008/3/12/174188.html