A 35-year-old Woman in Precarious Health After Only Five Days in Detention

On July 19th, 2008 Li Guisheng of the Jing County Political Protection Department, Liu, and some officers from the Public Security Bureau arrested Ms. Cui Junfang, her daughter, and her mother because they practise Falun Gong. During the five days Ms. Cui was in detention, she lost a tremendous amount of weight. Only after her family paid the police 5000 yuan¹ was she released and allowed to return home on July 24th -- looking gaunt and skeletal after suffering so much abuse.

Ms. Cui Junfang, 35, a resident of Longhua village, Longhua Town, Jing County, Hengshui City, Hebei Province, started practising Falun Gong in 1998. Before practising Falun Gong she had been physically weak, had very low blood pressure, and was unable to work in the field. Since practising Falun Gong she became healthy and was able to take care of a ten-acre field by herself.

Her mother Guo Xiuju, 59, also benefited both physically and mentally, as her chronic back pain and winter coughing disappeared after she began practising Falun Gong.

On July 19th at around noon, a white vehicle drove toward Cui Junfang, Guo Xiuju, and Cui's daughter as they were sitting under a big tree. Two men got out of the car, and while one of said they were looking for someone, the other man tried to grab Junfang's bag. She screamed, "Help! Robbers!" so the other man grabbed her mother's bag, which contained a few copies of leaflets exposing the persecution of Falun Gong. "Why are you here?" Junfang asked. "Would we be here if you had not been reported?" one man answered.

Shortly after the two men made a few phone calls, ten people from the town government, Jing County, and the Public Security Bureau arrived. A man named Liu handcuffed Cui Junfang as her mother and daughter were pushed into a vehicle. The little girl disappeared from view. Cui Junfang appeared to be vomiting, and the older lady appeared to be suffering chest pain. They were taken to the Jing County Public Security Bureau, where they were not allowed to use the toilet. Thus, the little girl became upset and also began vomiting.

In the detention centre, the family refused to sign anything. Security guards signed for them and released the child. Cui Junfang was unable keep whatever she ate or drank down, as she would throw up repeatedly. On the next day, five more practitioners from Wenchen, Jing County were brought into the detention centre. By this time Cui Junfang seemed to be dehydrated, as she was too weak to even go to the toilet unless supported by two other people.

On July 24th, at 4:30 a.m., while Cui Junfang was heading for the toilet, she suddenly couldn't see anything and her chest felt tight, so she yelled for help. Others rushed over to help her back to her bed. Seeing this, her mother informed the officer on duty that her daughter needed medical attention. However, this person wouldn't listen. Although her mother demanded to see the top-level manager to get help for her daughter, her requests were ignored. She kept complaining until 8:00 a.m., when the morning shift took over. When personnel from the Public Security Bureau saw what Ms. Cui looked like, they became afraid that she would die and they would be held responsible. It was then that her family members were told that they could take her back home. Upon her release, Cui Junfang had to be carried out.

Right after they got home, an agent of the town government sent someone to tell the mother and daughter that they should not go to Beijing any more. The officials arranged for neighbours to monitor the women, checking two to three times a day to ensure that Cui Junfang did not leave her home and keeping police informed of the women's every move. The constant harassment frustrated the family members, who informed the monitors that what they were doing was wrong.

Back in 2007, the family was similarly harassed. On August 23rd, 2007 at about 6:00 p.m., while Cui Junfang was chatting with her neighbour, about ten police officers from various departments barged in, handcuffed her, and took her to Jing County Public Security Bureau. This group included Zuo Tiehan, the head of 610 Officein Hengshui City, Li Guisheng, Fang Chunsheng, Liu of the Jing County State Security Brigade, Sun Chunsheng of Longhua police station, and others.

In the Jing County Public Security Bureau, Cui Junfang asked the officers why she had been arrested. Instead of answering her question, they wanted her to show her ID card. In reply, she asked if she was supposed to carry her ID while chatting with her neighbours. When policeman Fang Chunsheng interrogated her, Ms. Cui wouldn't answer his questions, so Fang slapped her face several times and also hit her with a broomstick. Since she still refused to identify herself, they hit her with electric batons and tied her to a steam pipe overnight.

Officer Li Guisheng wanted to take Cui Junfang's picture, but she wouldn't let him. Li became angry and grabbed her hair, saying, "Your family called us, wondering where you are. If you don't identify yourself, I'll transfer you out of here and tell your family that we don't have you." The threat scared Cui Junfang, so she finally disclosed her name. Police recorded her oral statement and took her finger prints. Because she did not pass the physical exam, the detention centre refused to accept her at that time.

On the third day, policeman Fang Chunsheng took Cui Junfang to the Detention Centre, where, at the time of registration, the Centre Chief asked how she got the bruises around her eyes and on her body. Cui Hunfang said, "Officer Fang Chunsheng hit me." Policeman Li Guisheng said that she had actually injured herself, and Fang Chunsheng commented to Ms. Cui that he had been too lenient with her.

Cui Junfang was detained in the detention centre for five days, causing her weakened body to become even weaker. She had a high fever and diarrhoea for two days. Medication did not help her at all. She was finally released after her family paid 5000 yuan.

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.org/mh/articles/2008/9/22/186355.html