Ms. Zhou Dongying Repeatedly Arrested and Tortured

Ms. Zhou Dongying, fifty-three years old, is a Falun Gong practitioner in Yueyang. She began to practise Falun Gong at the end of 1997. After Jiang Zemin, [former leader of China and instigator of the persecution] ordered the government to persecute Falun Gong in July 1999, Chinese Communist Party personnel have persecuted her many times.

In August 2000, Ms. Zhou and some fellow practitioners went to the Beijing Appeals Office to inform people about the persecution of Falun Gong and dispel the state propaganda attacking the practice. However, the people in the Appeals Office did not listen to their report, or give them any forms to fill out, either. They said, "Do not talk to us about Falun Gong." The practitioners were sent to the Ministry of Public Security. When they went into the duty office, the police only let them say, "We are Falun Gong practitioners," and told them to face the wall and squat on the ground. A police officer wearing heavy leather shoes kicked Ms. Zhou's right thigh, leaving a large black and blue bruise on her leg. Later on, the practitioners were asked where they came from. When they said they came from Yueyang, the police told the people from the Yueyang Liaison Office in Beijing to take them to the liaison office. They were imprisoned in the guest room for two nights and several people who monitored them also stayed in the guest room. After that, the practitioners were taken back by Xie Pinjiu (Chief of Hunan Administrative Bureau) from their company and Huang Chunxia (the manager of Luwei Company in Xinzhou). They were taken to the Yueyang County Lockup and detained for one month by the National Security Team of the Yueyang County Police Station. Zhou Dongying was imprisoned for twelve days. Her husband had to pay 4,000 yuan¹ (the police said this was a fine, but did not give him a receipt) and another 2,400 yuan for meals, which were lower quality than pig's food.

In late December, 2000, Ms. Zhou went with fellow practitioners to Tiananmen Square in Beijing to appeal against the persecution. She called out, "Falun Gong is good!" twice before she was grabbed by the hair and dragged into a police car by officers who kicked her in the stomach twice. Later, the practitioners were imprisoned in the Shunyi Lock-up for more than ten days. Because they refused to tell the police their addresses, they were released instead of transferred to another detention centre.

On September 5th, 2001, Ms. Zhou went to Xushi Town, Junshan District, Yueyang City, to tell people, "Falun Gong is a righteous way and the persecution is wrong." She posted banners and distributed letters of appeal. Later, she was found by officers from the Xushi Police Station who arrested her and sent her to Junshan Police Station. She was beaten until she was bruised and bloody by officers Yu Zhihe, Zhao Wenhua and Li Qiliang. Her bangs where matted down with hardened blood; there was a one-inch-long wound between her left index and middle fingers; her left arm was injured so badly she could not move it. She requested to be taken to a hospital for treatment, but they did not comply and hung her from a crossbeam by her hands for more than an hour. Zhao Wenhua used a cigarette to burn her right hip in twelve or fourteen places. Ms. Zhou was beaten until she collapsed on the ground, then they trampled her back with their heavy shoes. They tortured her from 12:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m. These three people took turns beating Ms. Zhou. She was imprisoned in the municipal lockup (the first time) for forty-eight days. Later on, they planned to send her to a forced labour camp for one and a half years. Because of her weakened condition, the labour camp did not accept Ms. Zhou. Yu Zhihe and others extorted 3,000 yuan from her, and only then was she released. They did not give her a receipt for the money, but they claimed it would be returned to her after one year. Since then, Ms. Zhou has asked for the money twice, but they did not give it to her, saying they never received any money from her.

In July 2002, after a local person saw that practitioners distributed leaflets exposing the persecution of Falun Gong at their company, he claimed that Zhou Dongying had gone to the place where the materials came from. At 5:00 p.m. the next day, she was arrested at her home on false charges by officers from Xianshuishang Police Station and the County National Security Team. She was imprisoned at the Yueyang County Detention Centre and Xiangyin Lock-up for almost four months. An instructor surnamed Peng and a secretary surnamed Liu beat Ms. Zhou fiercely. They intentionally beat her vital places, especially her head. They struck her head several dozen times with their fists and a rubber slipper. A man surnamed Liu, who was the deputy chief, grabbed her hair and slammed her head into the wall. People from the County National Security Team also beat Ms. Zhou. Through all this she never gave in to their attempts to make her renounce her faith. She went on a hunger strike to protest the mistreatment and was subsequently sent home.

In November 2005, the Hubin Detention Centre in Yueyang City held a brainwashing session. Ms. Zhou was taken there and persecuted for a month by Fan Yuehua from Yueguan District (director of the 610 Office²), Xiao Xuejun, Huang Chunxia and more than ten others. She stayed a room with two personal monitors, who watched her day and night. They did not allow her to go out the door and even watched when she took a shower. She went on hunger strike to resist the persecution, and developed intestinal bleeding. They sent her to the First Municipal Hospital and forcefully injected her with unknown drugs to further persecute her. Ms. Zhou resisted the treatment, and was beaten. She demanded to go home, but they refused to release her. They sent her to the municipal mental hospital for more persecution. The people from the brainwashing centre told the doctor that she had a mental illness, that she had gone crazy, so however they treated her was okay as long as they did not kill her. They incited a doctor to tie Ms. Zhou to the bed and give her an injection; the same medicine used to treat mental illness. They also used electro-shock therapy. Finally Ms. Zhou began to go into convulsions. She could not eat and became critically ill. They finally released her without addressing her critical condition. Moreover, they forced her husband to pay 700 yuan for the medical expenses.

In December 2006, Ms. Zhou left Yueyang for home on foot. She was seen by Xiao Xuejun, Yuan Wubo, and Fang Zhenxiang who were in a rental car. They got out and stole her bag. The bag had a 2007 calendar in it. They also called Fan Yuehua and several other people to come. They forced Ms. Zhou into the car and drove to Yueguan District. Then they called people from the Shuishang Police Station to come and take Ms. Zhou to the County Public Security Team. She was imprisoned in the County Lock-up for two months where she went on hunger strike to resist the persecution. In the lock-up, deputy chief Peng Hezhang beat her fiercely. Because she refused to wear the prison uniform, he used a two-inch wide bamboo stick to beat her from her shoulders down to her thighs. Ms. Zhou was black and blue with bruises and terribly swollen. Later, she was sent to a forced labour camp for one year. However, because she failed the physical, she was released.

In October 2007, when Ms. Zhou Dongying went to Xue City to distribute leaflets exposing the persecution of Falun Gong, she was falsely accused by a man in Jinpen surnamed Wang. She was persecuted by Xue City and Junshan Police officers. They handcuffed her hands and feet, causing her hands to bleed. Ms. Zhou was detained in the Hubin Detention Centre for ten days.

Note

1. "Yuan" is the Chinese currency; 500 yuan is equal to the average monthly income of an urban worker in China.

2. "The 610 office" is an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other political and judiciary systems.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.org/mh/articles/2008/10/7/187270.html