Retired Schoolteacher Ms. Chen Guiqin Dies From Torture--Nine Family Members Persecuted

Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Chen Guiqin was arrested and sentenced to two years at the Harbin Drug Rehab Re-education Centre in Yichun City, Heilongjiang Province. Due to torture, her health deteriorated, and she died on January, 6th, 2004, after being released. Nine family members, including her four children and her husband, were also subjected to severe torture and harassment.

1. Ms. Chen Guiqin, 58 years old, was a teacher in Tangwang First Elementary School in Yichun City, Heilongjiang Province. She began practising Falun Gong in 1996. Within a short time her illnesses disappeared and she became healthy. When the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) started persecuting Falun Gong in July 20th, 1999, she was constantly harassed by employees from local government agencies, including the Public Service Bureau and state security team, as well as local organizations and the city detention centre.

In December, 1999, Ms. Chen and another practitioner went to the Beijing Women's Federation to petition for justice for Falun Gong. They were arrested by plain clothes police from Heilongjiang Province and she was taken to the Heilongjiang Beijing Office. Police officers from her area, Yang Xuejian (male), Jing Xiangguang (male) and others then took her back to Heilongjiang Province. Officer Yang extorted 1,000 yuan¹ from her, and she was detained in the Tangwang River Detention Centre for fifteen days. Without cause, Principal Lang Zhanjun from the First Primary School deducted 1,800 yuan from her retirement pension account. Thereafter, he deducted 100 yuan monthly, totalling 900 yuan, claiming it was a bond. Later, her family recovered the money.

In 2000, three days before the Chinese New Year, police officers Jiang Wei, Feng Yuan and a dozen others broke into and ransacked her home. She was arrested and detained for fifteen days. In December 2000, while Ms. Chen and other practitioners were on their way to Beijing to petition for justice for Falun Gong, the police arrested her. She was detained at the Tangwang River Detention Centre and then transferred to the Xinging Detention Centre. During the summer, police discovered a banner with the words "Falun Gong is Good" in the Tangwang River area. They couldn't find the person who hung it up, so Deputy Director Jiang Wei and other officers tried to force Ms. Chen to admit that she had hung the banner. Officer Jiang also claimed that a handwriting expert from Yichun alleged that it was her handwriting.

The police interrogated Ms Chen through the night and the next day. Female officer Wen Xiaohui then attacked her and threw her to the ground. She pulled her up by her hair, and forced her to stand facing the wall with her head bowed and body bent for a long time. She had to hold up a thermos bottle filled with water with hands stretched straight, but was not allowed to eat or drink water. Wen beat Ms. Chen until that afternoon, causing Wen to suffer a severe headache. A female prison guard, named Huang Yan said to her, "It doesn't matter if you acknowledge it or not, we will charge you with hanging the banner. Why don't you just admit it!" She was forced into admitting that she did it. The police immediately went to her home and raided the residence. They confiscated her children's water colour pens, and claimed them to be the "evidence of the crime." They then sentenced her to two years of forced labour to be served at the Heilongjiang Reeducation Drug Rehab Centre. After being released from prison, her health gradually deteriorated. She died on January 6th, 2004.

2. Ms. Chen's husband, Ho Dehou is 62 years old. After July 20th, 1999 he was harassed by local government agency employees, including the Public Service Bureau, state security team, local organizations and staff from the city detention centre, and they ransacked his home. Three nights before the Chinese New Year in 2000, he was arrested at home by police officers Jiang Wei and Jing Xiangguang. He was detained at the Xinging District Detention Centre for fifteen days, and extorted of 5,000 yuan.

In December 2000, he visited relatives in Shandong Province. Because his family had been arrested on their way to Beijing to petition, the Yichun City police faxed a notice that he was a Falun Gong practitioner to the Shandong police station. He was arrested and detained at the Xian Detention Centre for seven days. In the detention centre, he was beaten, and inmates extorted money from him. Police officers Zhang Xiaozhe and Jing Xianjjuang took him to the Public Security Bureau, and they extorted 900 yuan. Mr. Ho was detained for four months, and forced to sit on an iron chair for three days and nights. Again, the police extorted 2,500 yuan from him.

3. Ms. Chen's daughter, 35 year-old Ho Chunliu, was arrested at home by police officers Zhang Xiaozhe and Jing Xianjjuang three nights before the Chinese New Year in 2000. She was detained for fifteen days at the Tangwang River Police Station, and the police extorted 1,000 yuan from her. In December 2000, Ms. Ho went with other practitioners to Beijing to petition for justice for Falun Gong. She was arrested and taken back to the Tangwang River Station. She, other practitioners and criminals were put on public display and paraded around. During the public trial, she shouted "Falun Gong is Good!" For this she was attacked by police and thrown to the ground. They took her coat off, tied her hands behind her back and forced her to stand in the bitter cold weather of minus 40 Celsius (-40F), only wearing a sweater and without a hat for over thirty minutes. Police officer Zhang ordered others to chain her to an iron gate for a day and a night. She was then sentenced to one year of forced labour at the Harbin Drug Rehabilitation Centre.

4. Ms. Chen's son, 32 year-old Ho Chunlei, was arrested at home by police officers Zhang Xiaozhe and Jing Xianjjuang three nights before the Chinese New Year in 2000. He was detained for fifteen days in the Tangwang River Police Station and released after they extorted 1,000 yuan from him. In December 2000, Mr. Ho went with other practitioners to Beijing to petition for justice for Falun Gong. He was arrested by police, taken back and detained at the Tangwang River Station. He was tortured on the "iron chair²" for three days and nights. In the police station, he was brutally beaten by officer Hao Chunxiao, and handcuffed and hung on the iron gate overnight. He was then put on public display and paraded with criminals. They sentenced him to a one-year term at the Yichun Reeducation Labour Camp.

5. Ms. Chen's daughter, 27 year-old Ho Chunyuan, was illegally arrested at home by police officers Zhang Xiaozhe and Jing Xianjjuang three nights before the Chinese New Year in 2000. She was mentally tortured and brutally beaten by police officer Zhang Mingwen. She was handcuffed to an iron bed for a night and released on the second day. In December 2000, Ms. Ho Chunyuan went with other practitioners to Beijing to petition for justice for Falun Gong and was arrested. She was detained at the Xinging District Station for ten days and then transferred to the Tangwang River Station where she was detained for four months. In May 2002, Henan police extorted 1,000 yuan from her. The money was returned to her family at a later date.

6. Ms. Chen's younger son, 29 year-old Ho Chunxiu, was arrested at home by police officers Zhang Xiaozhe and Jing Xianjjuang three nights before the Chinese New Year in 2000. He was tortured with the iron chair torture method overnight and released the next day. In July 2000, he was again arrested and detained for twenty days. Officer Young Wenliang extorted 1000 yuan and claimed it was a bond. Mr. Cho was released and his family recovered the money. In December 2000, Ho Chunyuan went with other practitioners to Beijing to petition for justice for Falun Gong and was arrested. He was subjected to brutal beatings and was sentenced to one year in the Yichun Forced Labour Camp.

7. Ms. Chen's sister, 48 year-old Chen Guihua, is a retired third grade school teacher from the Tangwang River District. After July 20th, 1999, the school principal, Shao Libo (female) harassed her. Principal Shao closely followed the dictates of former president Jiang. Shao sent teachers to monitor Ms. Chen for several months. This violated Ms. Chen's personal freedom and interfered with her normal life. Later, Principal Shao collaborated with the local 610 Office³ and forced Ms. Chen to write a guarantee statement to renounce Falun Gong. In July 2000, Ms. Chen went back to Yichun City, Jinshan area to visit her mother. The Henan Police Station sent police officers Lee Yunfeng and Liu Deshun to arrest Ms. Chen's family members. They drove overnight to Jinshan Tun District, broke into her mother's home, arrested her, and took her to the Henan Police Station. Chief Zhang Mingwen, and police officers Lee and Liu extorted 500 yuan, claiming that it was for gasoline for their vehicle. They threatened to detain her if she didn't hand over the money. Although she protested, the three officers tortured her with the "iron chair" torture method. Ms. Chen's arms were bruised in resisting the torture. She was released after her family paid the 500 yuan.

8. Ms. Chen's younger sister and brother in-law, Chen Guicho and Yang Libin, are practitioners from the Jinshan Tun District, Yichun City. Ms. Chen Guicho was arrested and detained by police six times for a total of 300 days. The police also ransacked her home many times. In 2001, Deputy Secretary Sun Hongxi, legal committee member Huang Guoshun, 610 Office employee Men Xianhua and Deputy Secretary Cui Yuzhong from the Public Security Bureau planned and instigated the area police to force Ms. Chen and Yang Libin to sign a false statement defaming "Falun Gong." Ms. Chen wrote "Falun Gong Is Good." The police sentenced her to two years of forced labour at the Heilongjiang Reeducation Drug Rehab Centre. They charged her with disrupting the public order. In July 2000, Mr. Yang Libin was arrested and sentenced to one year of forced labour at the Yichun Forced Labour Camp for believing in Truthfulness-Benevolence-Forbearance, and for delivering Falun Dafa materials to other practitioners. He was arrested twice, detained for a few months, and then imprisoned. The detention centre refused to take him because of poor health. He was released after officials from the Public Security Bureau extorted 10,000 yuan from his family.

The couple returned home from a business trip and rented a house in the Bridge North, Jinshan District area. On November 8th, 2007, while Mr. Yang was cleaning the house, he was arrested by Jinshan police and detained at a detention centre. He fell ill when forced to take an unknown drug. He escaped from the detention center, and is now living a homeless life to avoid further persecution.

Ms. Chen was arrested while on her way to take care of some business. She is detained at the Jinshan Tun Detention Centre. Xiao Jingyu, director at the 610 Office, interrogated her. He demanded she tell who had given her money to pay the rent and the keys to the house. It turned out that the house had been lived in by a practitioner before and police secretly monitored the house with a video camera. Police officers in charge of the surveillance are Zhao Feng, captain of the Jinshan Police Station and an unnamed officer.

With Ms. Chen detained and Mr. Yang homeless, all four of their elderly parents and school-age children had no one to take care of them. Ms. Chen was scheduled to be released from the detention centre in November, 2008.

9. Ms. Chen Guiqin's brother, 50 year-old Chen Gin, is also a practitioner. He lives in the Jinshan Tun area. When the persecution started in July 20th, 1999, his home was ransacked and he was subjected to brainwashing. Just before the Chinese New Year in 2000, he was detained in a detention centre and then sentenced to one year of forced labour. He is now imprisoned at the Yichun Forced Labour Camp.

Note

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

2. Iron Chair: The "Iron chair" is made of iron pipes. Victims are restrained on the iron chairs with both arms and legs tied for a long period of time, see illustration at http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2002/1/9/17577.html

3. "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.ca/mh/articles/2008/11/26/190518.html