Ms. Gao Guofeng in Critical Condition from Abuse, Authorities Deny Family's Requests to Take Her to a Hospital

Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Gao Guofeng in Heilongjiang Province was tortured at the Qianjin Forced Labour Camp in Harbin City. She was beaten black and blue, and also experienced symptoms of dizziness, high systolic blood pressure of 180, loss of consciousness and weakness. She also became unable to speak in clear sentences. The guards' severe beatings of her head affected her central nervous system. She felt numbness in her legs and was able to walk only with assistance.

On the evening of September 5th, 2008, the camp officials notified her family that Ms. Gao was critically ill. The next morning the camp officials called the family and told them that Ms. Gao was getting better, and they didn't need to come. The family was confused.

When the family arrived at the camp, the guards first had the family promise to take her for outside treatment before they would allow them to see her. The family was shocked when they saw Ms. Gao. She was almost unrecognisable. In less than a year at the camp, a normally healthy person had to depend on others for assistance and was in a state of paralysis.

When the family questioned numerous prison guards about how she was beaten and who was responsible for this, Ms. Gao said while shaking, "In addition to frequent beatings and verbal abuse, they tortured me using a method called the "big hang up"¹ that made me lose consciousness several times. Now I am unable to walk. Just a couple of days ago, one of the guards beat me on the head. You can see the marks now. The next day I felt numbness and weakness in my legs while I washed my face. I had no coordination in my legs and I lost my ability to walk." Ms. Gao continued, "I practise Falun Gong to be a better person. I did not commit any crime. I want to go home with you. I don't want to stay here any longer and suffer from this inhuman torturing!"

The relatives returned to the camp the next day and prepared to take Ms. Gao to a hospital for treatment, but the camp officials changed their mind, saying Ms. Gao could receive better care at the camp clinic. The relatives asked to talk to the top camp officials. Guard Huo Shuping and another division head refused and claimed that Ms. Gao's health was back to normal. The relatives queried how a person in critical condition yesterday could be recovered within one day? Who could believe such a thing? The family asked for some kind of documentation stating that Ms. Gao was normal. Guard Huo didn't provide documentation and added, "Even though we don't have a document of approval, we can't let you to see her." Huo Shuping also denied beating Ms. Gao. Finally, the family was forcibly taken out the camp.

The family was worried about Ms. Gao's health and appealed her situation to officials at the City Judicial Bureau. The bureau official contacted the forced labour camp. On September 9th, 2008, the family went to the camp again and asked to visit and seek outside medical care for Ms. Gao. The camp director insisted that no visitation was allowed and also tried to falsely assure the family by saying, "Ms. Gao is back to normal now. She will become emotional if she sees family, which may cause the recurrence of her old illness. If this is the case, the family will be held responsible."

The following is background information for this practitioner:

Ms. Gao Guofeng, 53, lives in Shuangcheng City and makes sticky bean buns for a living. Because she once wore a jacket with the wording "Falun Gong is good! The world needs Truth-Compassion-Forbearance!" Dongfang Police officials arrested and held her at the City Detention Centre for two weeks and then transferred her to the Qianjin Forced Labour Camp to serve a two-year forced labour term. She is now in the second unit.

Second Division leader Huo Shuping (female, in her 40s, ID# 2341136, mobile phone: 86-13936202056) is personally involved in Ms. Gao's abuse and mistreatment. Guard Huo mercilessly tortured many practitioners using various methods. She previously worked at the Wanjia Forced Labour Camp and was involved there in torturing practitioners. Over there, practitioners were beaten, shocked with electric batons and also tortured using the "big hang up" method, and the tiger bench². Practitioners were deprived of sleep and forced to work long hours. The evil crimes committed at Wanjia Forced Labour Camp have been exposed to the world via the Internet. To cover their tracks, Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials transferred all Wanjia Forced Labour Camp guards to the Qianjin Forced Labour Camp, a new facility a few miles away from Wanjia. Of them, guard Huo was the leader of this progression of atrocities.

When Ms. Gao shouted "Falun Gong is good" at the camp, guards Huo Shuping and Sui Xuemei verbally abused her, beat her, and grabbed her by the hair and banged her head against a wall. Ms. Gao's face was badly battered. They locked her in a cage in a position where she couldn't stand straight nor squat completely. They tortured her further with the "big hang up" for thirteen days. Her only daily food was a bowl of rice porridge. Ms. Gao went on a persecution protest hunger strike. She was force-fed, which resulted in her vomiting blood, almost suffocated her and endangered her life. Guard Huo and others deprived Ms. Gao of sleep. When she began to fall asleep, they used a water gun, electric shocks and a used-needle piercing her eyelids, along with beatings to wake her up. They also provided very little food for her for a long time.

Ms. Gao has been detained for about a year, and she is in critical condition from gross abuse. Guard Huo attempted to deny any wrongdoing. She even challenged Ms. Gao's relatives to provide evidence that Ms. Gao was beaten.

We strongly appeal the human rights organizations to investigate these gross human rights abuses and bring guard Huo to justice.

The following is a letter from Ms. Gao's son who describes his mother's condition and asks for help to secure his mother's release:

"I just graduated from college. We used to have a happy family. My family makes and sells sticky bean buns for a living and to support three children and their education. Our family doesn't have a lot of money but we were happy together. My mother Gao Guofeng practised Falun Gong to gain better health. She is very kind and treats everyone with compassion and forbearance. My mother was at the early market of Shuangcheng sports stadium on September 11th, 2007, selling sticky bean buns. Two Dongfen Police Station agents arrested her because she wore a jacket with the words 'The World Needs Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance,' and 'Falun Gong is Good' on it. National Security Team agent Dong Huiqun held my mother at the Shuangcheng Detention Centre. Several days later the persecutors sentenced her to two years of forced labour, to be served at the Qianjin Forced Labour Camp. From that moment on, my family lived with nightmares.

"During the year of detention, my mother was subjected to inhuman mistreatment. She committed no crimes, and whenever she proclaimed her innocence, she was subjected to severe physical abuse, including savage beatings. The guards deprived her of sleep and used various torture methods to keep her awake (e.g., using needles to poke her eyelids). They further abused her by making her sit on a small stool in one position for a long time, and used a method called the "big hang up" (hanging her up for a long time and beating her until she lost consciousness). The guards also incited criminal inmates to beat her and practically starved her by proving her with only a half-bun per meal. Guards Huo Shuping, Wang Min, Wang Xiaowei, and Zhang Aihui were personally involved in the abuse.

"On September 6th, 2008, camp officials notified us that my mother was ill, had lost feeling in her right leg and was experiencing severe headaches, with high blood pressure of 180. I rushed to the camp to visit her. My heart was broken when I first saw her. In less than a year, her hair had turned grey, and she looked skeleton-like, Her appearance had completely changed to that of a person in great agony. Her facial expression was dull and her reactions slow. It took her a while to recognize me. She cried and told me with a trembling and shaky voice,

'My son, this is not an illness. It is a result of beatings from them. I was beaten into unconsciousness several times. But I don't hate them because they do not understand the truth.'

"My mother could treat the evildoers with such compassion and tolerance, and always has a big heart, even when her life is in great danger. None of the guards at the scene said a word. The result of the beatings clearly showed on her hands. Her body was swollen. I queried the guards as to what had happened to my mother. They denied any wrongdoings and put the blame on each other. The camp officials didn't cooperate with us on my mother's treatment and forbade us from taking her to an outside hospital for treatment, saying that my mother would become too emotional if we took her for outside treatment. The camp officials made us go home.

"Attempting to get fair treatment for my mother I went to the camp on the following two days, but my requests for a visit were refused. The officials claimed that my mother was fully recovered and didn't need any treatment, which was hard to believe. How could be a person who had been in peril two days ago have recovered in 48 hours?

"I deeply believe that these perpetrators must be brought to justice. All those who have committed crimes in persecuting Falun Gong practitioners cannot escape from justice and will be held accountable for their evil acts. I hope that all conscientious people in the international community and those in China will be alerted to this outrage against human rights and about the complete lunacy of the persecution at the hands of the CCP. I want justice for my mother.

"Mum, I love you. I hope you come home soon."

Note

1. "Big hang up": There are two forms in this torture: (1) With both hands cuffed behind the back and only the toes touching the ground, one is hung by a rope that is tied to the metal window frames. (2) One hand of a practitioner is cuffed to one bunk bed and the other hand to another bed, and the two beds are pulled in the opposite directions. One feels extreme pain as the body is pulled.

2. "Tiger Bench": Prisoners are forced to sit on a small iron bench that is approximately 20 cm (6 inches) tall with their knees tied together. With their hands tied behind their backs or sometimes placed on their knees, they are forced to sit straight up and look straight ahead without movement for long periods of time.

Related articles: http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2008/4/26/96753.html

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2008/9/12/185737.html