Ms. Wu Meiyan Dies After Nine Years of Brutal Treatment in Heilongjiang Province

On August 19th, 2008, Ms. Wu Meiyan died after nine years of severe persecution. Her 76-year-old mother is still detained for practising Falun Gong, and her husband, also a practitioner, has been locked up in Jiamusi City Prison for nearly seven years, and is still not aware of the death of his wife.

Ms. Wu Meiyan before the persecution	Ms. Wu Meiyan after torture in prison

Ms. Wu Meiyan was employed by the Archive Department at the Hegang City No. Thirteen (Military) Factory. In 1994, she was diagnosed with oral cancer. Ms Wu then started reading a Falun Gong book, and before she finished reading the book, her cancer had disappeared. From then on, she continued to elevate her mind and body by practising Falun Gong. On July 20th, 1999, the Communist Party started its vicious persecution of Falun Gong. Ms. Wu Meiyan was arrested and detained in Hegang City's First Detention Centre from February 5th to September 11th, 2000.

On April 21st, 2002, she was arrested again, and detained at Hegang City Second Detention Centre. In May 2002, guards (all male) shackled 50 female practitioners' ankles and wrists together with 2.5-foot long metal bars. They couldn't stand up or lie down because of this. They were not allowed to close their eyes, otherwise the prisoners who were assigned to watch them would hit them with shoe soles, clubs, or pour cold water on them. All 50 practitioners, including Ms. Wu, were subjected to this torture even while eating. They had to eat on the floor with both of their legs spread apart. When they had to relieve themselves, three prisoners would lift their bodies up to allow them to go on the floor, and remove the excrement afterwards, without actually cleaning the floor. Many ladies' buttocks became covered with festering sores. When Ms. Wu Meiyan was released from this torture, her mind was no longer clear, and her buttocks still had scars up until the day she passed away.

In 2002, Ms. Wu's husband was sentenced to nine years in prison, and charged with the "crime" of tapping into the TV system to broadcast the truth about Falun Gong. Ms. Wu was also sentenced to three years in prison. Her husband has been jailed in Jiamusi City Prison, and she was jailed in Heilongjiang Province Women's Prison in Harbin City. She was subjected to unimaginable tortures during those three years.

In September 2003, while Ms. Wu was detained in the Eighth Ward, the practitioners had group Falun Gong exercises to protest the persecution. For this they were tied with ropes to the head of their beds, and made to sit on the floor. Warden Zhang Chunhua kicked them in their faces, all over their bodies, and stomped on their feet while wearing high heels. Prisoners were encouraged to brutally punch and kick practitioners. After torturing them like this for two whole days, on September 8th, 2003, the prison director organized more than 40 guards and officers from all offices join in the tortures together. They first tricked practitioners into going to an empty piece of ground in front of the male prison cells, and then forced the practitioners to run in a circle. More than 40 officers and guards standing outside the circle held batons, electric batons, cuffs, sticks, bamboo sticks, white plastic tubes, and half-filled water bottles. They hit practitioners as they ran by them. If a practitioners ran slower, she would be hit more. Regardless of age, old or young, sick or well, all were forced to run. If any practitioners passed out or collapsed, a clinic employee would force-feed her with drugs on the spot until the practitioner regained consciousness, then force her to run again. Those who could no longer run were forced to squat holding their heads, or "riding an airplane"¹ while being shocked with electric batons. After such a day, practitioners were deprived of drinking water, and they still had to face a horrifying night - prisoners call it "demon pass." Some prisoners were incited to make sure practitioners didn't go to sleep, they would pry open their eye lids with toothpicks, and shoot water into their eyes, or poke a needle into their feet or toes, and use wooden boards hit them in the face or mouth. Prisoners used a six-foot-long bamboo stick to beat whoever dared to go to sleep. After 11 days of such inhuman torture, Ms. Wu Meiyan and some other practitioners' minds had become foggy.

On March 10th, 2004, more than twenty practitioners protested being locked in a small cell² by refusing to wear the prison uniforms. Guard Zhang Chunhua took more than twenty prisoners, stripped practitioners in the cell, humiliating Ms. Wu Meiyan and others.

Ms. Wu Meiyan's stomach was bleeding due to brutal force-feeding. She also coughed up blood, and was very emaciated. She weighed 140 pounds before entering prison, and less than 100 pounds at the time of her release. She had difficulty breathing. Doctors found that she only had one working lung, with two holes on the remaining lung. The prison didn't allow her to be treated at all during the three-year term. Many hospitals refused to accept her for treatment, because her condition was incurable.

Ms. Wu's home no longer existed after these three years in prison. Her husband was still in prison, her 16-year-old child was living at a relatives' home, all her family belongings had been stolen, and her house was sold at a very low price. Her younger sister came from a far away city to take her to her home, and she said, "My sister's oral cancer was cured by practising Falun Gong. She can recover again." After eight months in her sister's home, Ms. Wu Meiyan truly recovered, and her weight increased to 110 pounds, and her energy came back, so she returned to Hegang City.

The police in Hegang City began a new round of persecution using the Olympics as an excuse. They repeatedly harassed, threatened, and arrested all practitioners that they knew of. Ms. Wu Meiyan's 76-year-old mother was arrested at home, and the police stole all of their belongings, no matter whether they were related to Falun Gong or not.The police said they would not release her mother because she had Falun Gong books in her home, and she declared that she is still practising Falun Gong, which is "against the law." Although there is no such law, they said, "Upper levels don't allow anyone to practise, so whoever dares to practise is violating the law."

After being threatened and harassed, Ms. Wu Meiyan almost mentally collapsed. She begged to be allowed to see her husband once more, but Jiamusi Prison authorities refused her request, using the excuse of "Olympic security." Ms. Wu had no resources to live on. Her husband has been in prison for such a long time, her mother had also been arrested, and the police stole almost all their possessions. Under such pressure of financial, spiritual, and mental persecution, Ms. Wu's health was in crisis. She died on August 19th, 2008.

Hegang City Police Department operator: 86-468-3345377, or 86-468-3340600
Xingshan District Police Department: 86-468-3524110
Lingnan Police Station director Yang Feng (male): 86-13394685000 (mobile), 86-468-6691668
Hedong Police Station officer Yuan Jun (male)
Xingan District Chief Liu Chunbo (male)
Xinjian Street Police Station director Li Daoxiang (male): 86-13304686667(mobile),
Xingan Street Police Station director Duan Jingyi (male): 86-13359979177(mobile),

Note

1. Riding an airplane - In this torture, the head is bent down until it cannot go down any further, while the hands are pulled up and held up to the highest point. One is forced to keep this position unchanged for a long time. The body in this position looks like the shape of an airplane, which is what this torture is named after. See illustration on http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2004/9/29/52921.html.

2. Small cell - The detainee is locked up in a very small cell individually. The guards handcuff practitioners hand behind their backs in a fixed position, in which the practitioners can neither move nor lie down. The small cell is very damp with no sunlight. Detainees have to urinate and defecate in the cell. Only half of a regular meal is served to detainees locked up in a small cell during the daytime. During the night, rats often scurry about the cell. The stench in the small cell is so bad that it is difficult to breathe.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2008/8/24/184650.html