The Persecution of Ms. Huang Liling and Her Family

Name: Huang Liling
Gender: Female
Age: 34
Address: Living Quarters of the Guangdong Province Environmental Protection School in Guangzhou City
Occupation: Staff member of the Guangdong Province Environmental Protection School
Date of Most Recent Arrest: Early 2005
Most recent place of detention: Guangzhou City Brainwashing Centre
City: Guangzhou
Province: Guangdong
Persecution Suffered: Sleep Deprivation, Brainwashing, Unjust Sentencing, Beating, Imprisonment, Solitary Confinement, Home Ransacked, Interrogation
Key Persecutors: Xu Qingsong, Lai Renxin, Chen Xianzhu

Ms. Huang Liling, 34, began to practise Falun Gong in 1996 while she was a student at the Guangdong Province Environmental Protection School. After graduation, she became a staff member of the school's Academic Affairs Office. She and her family have been persecuted for the past several years. Ms. Huang was once detained at the Tianhe District Brainwashing Centre. She was also forced to leave home and become homeless. Ms. Huang's husband, Mr. Tan Weichang, was secretly sentenced to a three-year term and is being held in Sihui Prison. Ms. Huang's mother, aunt, sister, and cousin have all endured persecution.

At approximately 11:00 p.m. on July 9th, 2009, Xu Qingsong from the Tianhe District 610 Office¹ and seven other officers from the Yuancun Police Station arrested Ms. Huang's sister, Ms. Huang Xiaoyu, and took her to the Guangdong Province Environmental Protection School. Accompanied by Lai Renxin, chief of the security section at the school, the officers broke into Ms. Huang's home located in the employees' living quarter and ransacked it for three hours. Each room, including all the closets, suitcases, and shoe boxes, were searched. The officers confiscated the family's computer, a DVD recorder, a printer, mobile phones, and other personal items. The family was also questioned about the whereabouts of Ms. Huang and her mother.

Xu Qingsong grabbed Ms. Huang's cousin, who was spending the night at her home, by her hair and tried to drag her out of the house. She was frightened and began to scream. Fearing that they might wake up the neighbours, the officers let her go.

No one is living in Ms. Huang's home now. Security guards question anyone who comes to visit the family. Ms. Huang's father occasionally goes back, and the security guard records every single visit.

1. The persecution of Ms. Huang Liling

At approximately 12:00 a.m. on April 19th, 2004, Xu Qingsong and Lu Hai from the Tianhe District 610 Office, along with more than a dozen officers from the Guangdong Province 610 Office, Engping City 610 Office, and the Yuancun Police Station, forced Lu Xiaoming, the current school principal; Yang Dewei, chief of the Administrative Office of the school Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Committee; and Lai Renxin to cut off the power to the lights on the school campus and accompany them to Ms. Huang's home. The officers came in three cars and surrounded the campus. Outside the campus, a police van and two motorcycles were patrolling the street. At least 20 officers were involved in the arrest.

Xu Qingsong kicked open the door, went inside the house, and hit Ms. Huang on the back of the head. She fell on the couch. Ms. Huang's sister yelled at Xu, "My sister has severe eye problems! You are cold blooded bandits!" Xu did not stop and ordered the family to not move, talk, or use their mobile phones. The officers took pictures of the family and each room of the house. They ransacked the home until dawn. Then they went to Ms. Huang's office, pried open her desk drawers, and confiscated her address book, Falun Gong books, and informational materials about Falun Gong. Ms. Huang told the officers that those things were her personal property and they had no right to confiscate them. She refused to sign the receipt. Xu said, "We can confiscate them without your signature. The principal at your school, Lu Xiaoming, will sign for you." She was forced to sign the list of confiscated items and gave it back to Xu. The officers did not provide any documentation for the search of Ms. Huang's home, her arrest, or the confiscation of her property.

Between mid April and June 2004, Ms. Huang was held at the Tianhe District Brainwashing Centre located near the Tangxia Nitrogen Fertilizer Plant. When she first arrived there, she was stripped for a body search. Because she refused to cooperate, she was held in solitary confinement. She was placed under extremely bright fluorescent lights day and night, deprived of sleep and the use of a toilet, and was forced to stand or sit in the lotus position throughout the night as torture. Four officers from Beijing--Xu Raoqi, Tian Ping (female), and Zhang Lifang and her husband--were in charge of carrying out the torture, and twice, Ms. Huang was tortured until she lost consciousness. Her hands and feet were swollen and bruised, and she could not walk or eat.

Ms. Huang suffered from myopia and a detached retina. The persecution had aggravated the conditions, and she was nearly blind. However, the brainwashing centre paid no attention to her health and continued to detain and interrogate her. When Lu Xiaoming and Yang Dewei went to the brainwashing centre to visit Ms. Huang, they were turned away.

Ms. Huang's family looked for her everywhere. The Yuancun Police Station and the Residential Committee, along with the local 610 Office, not only refused to reveal her whereabouts, but they also threatened to put her sister in prison for eight to ten years.

After being held at the brainwashing centre for more than 40 days, Ms. Huang was transferred to the Tianhe District Detention Centre. Her eyesight had deteriorated to point that she could not walk on her own. The detention centre refused to accept her and issued her a "guarantor pending trial" release. Ms. Wu Enna from Jieyang City and Ms. Xuan E'ping from Engping City, who were arrested from home at the same time as Ms. Huang, were sentenced to eight years and10 years respectively and are being held at the Guangdong Province Women's Prison.

The persecution of Ms. Huang did not stop. She was suspended from work without pay and her personal freedom was limited. She was not allowed to leave her home at night. Her school was forced to set up a 610 Office headed by Chen Xianzhu. The school 610 Office threatened to fire her and send her to a brainwashing center. In addition, they threatened to force her to write CCP-praising articles every month. She was told to make herself available wherever and whenever they wanted to "check her thoughts."

The school 610 Office also used the policy of "guilt-by-association" to persecute Ms. Huang. This included things such as withholding employees' bonuses, discharging the school principal from the post, or expelling students from school in an attempt to force more than 1,000 students, faculty, and staff members to publicly denounce Falun Gong. This was to draw a clear distinction between Ms. Huang and others.

Ms. Huang and her family were discriminated against and placed under surveillance. A camera was installed over their door, a security checkpoint was set up in their neighbourhood, and three security guards were specifically assigned by the school 610 Office to constantly watch the school entrance. The Tianhe District 610 Office sentenced Ms. Huang to two years of forced labour under the charge of "disturbing the social order." This sentence was to be served outside of the forced labour camp. Chen Xianzhu offered Ms. Huang an "ideological education." To avoid being dismissed from work and pass job probation, she was ordered to report other practitioners to the authorities, sweep and weed the campus, write CCP-praising articles, and apply to join the CCP. She was also expected to thank the 610 Office for not sending the visually-impaired , such as herself, to a forced labour camp. She was to thank the work unit for the lenient punishment of job probation for humanitarian reasons.

Ms. Huang wrote down the details of the tortures she had endured in the Tianhe District Brainwashing Centre and submitted the paperwork to her workplace with the hope that the school would help her and that they could resist the persecution together. Instead, she was arrested and subjected to brainwashing again.

Right before the Chinese New Year in 2005, Chen Xianzhu, Chief Chen of the brainwashing center, and six others from the residential committee went to Ms. Huang's home and took her to the Guangzhou City Brainwashing Centre, where she was detained for more than three months. The school also paid more than 10,000 yuan² in fees to the brainwashing centre.

In April 2006, Chen Xianzhu fired Ms. Huang on the grounds of "continuing to practise Falun Gong and trying to persuade Liu Xiaoping, a middle-ranking school official, to quit the CCP." (Liu was the chief of the Academic Affairs Section who had actively participated in the persecution of Ms. Huang. He is now the assistant principal in charge of academic affairs.) However, the school did not stop monitoring Ms. Huang even after she was fired. Security guards often harassed Ms. Huang's friends and relatives who went to her home to visit her and her family. They also harassed Ms. Huang and her family by phone or in person.

In September 2007, Ms. Huang's husband, Mr. Tan Weichang, was arrested again, and their home was searched. As a result, Ms. Huang was forced to leave home and become homeless.

2. Husband Secretly Sentenced

Mr. Tan Weichang, 37, began to practise Falun Gong in 1994 while he was attending Zhongshan University. After graduation he went to work for P&G Guangzhou and was selected as the outstanding employee many times. In the Spring of 1999, at an awards ceremony, the company asked all of the employees to "learn from Mr. Tan Weichang."

In June 2000, Mr. Tan went to the Guangzhou Martyr's Cemetery to practise Falun Gong and was fined 200 yuan. In August 2000, Mr. Tan was taken from his job in handcuffs for sending materials explaining the facts about Falun Gong over the Internet. He was sentenced to three years in a forced labour camp and his household registration was cancelled.

On September 23rd, 2007, Mr. Tan was arrested again while repairing a friend's computer. Their home was searched that evening, and the police confiscated his computer, a mobile hard drive, an MP3 player, a flash memory stick, Falun Gong books, and audio and video products as well as materials about Falun Gong. Mr. Tan was initially detained at a detention centre and later secretly sentenced to a three-year term. He is being held in Sihui Prison. His elderly, ailing mother has no one to care for her.

3. Sister's Whereabouts Unknown

Ms. Huang Liling's sister, Ms. Huang Xiaoyu, 26, graduated from China University in Politics and Law and is employed by the Huaxun Ornaments Group Company. She is a supervisor at the Human Resources Centre of the Office of the General Manager.

On July 9th, 2009, Ms. Xiaoyu went to the home of another practitioner, Zhang Yuanbo, after work. Xu Qingsong broke into Zhang's home and arrested Ms. Xiaoyu. She was taken to the Tianhe District Detention Centre. One month later she was told that she had been sentenced to 18 months of forced labour. She is being held at the Guangzhou City Women's Forced Labour Camp. Her father was summoned to the Yuancun Police Station three times by unidentified personnel for interrogation. The station police showed him 16 pictures of the computer, the printer, the DVD recorder, and the Falun Gong books they had taken away from Ms. Huang's home and asked if he recognized them. Ms. Huang's father acknowledged that he did recognize the items. He was then told to put his signature on the photos. The pictures were later used as evidence to persecute Ms. Xiaoyu. Her whereabouts remain unknown.

4. Mother Forced to Leave Home

Ms. Huang Liling's mother, Ms. Huang Wenzhen, 62, began to practise Falun Gong in 1996. After learning the practice, her heart and kidney diseases that had bothered her for several decades disappeared. That impressed many of her relatives and friends.

On December 30th, 2000, Ms. Wenzhen went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong. She was brutally beaten and arrested at Tiananmen Square. Her money and all other personal items were confiscated. She was held at the Tiananmen Police Station and the Mentougou Police Station for more than 10 days without any food. She was later taken back to her hometown by Su Liqin, an officer at the Yuhu Police Station in Jieyang City, Guangdong Province, and held at the Jiedong County Detention Centre. There she was beaten and verbally insulted by a female officer, whose last name was Cai, for refusing to admit that she was an inmate.

During her detention, the police harassed the families of her elder sister and three younger brothers. As a result, the family did not contact Ms. Wenzhen for several years. After Ms. Wenzhen was detained for three months, Su Liqin extorted 5,000 yuan from her family before she was released. She was threatened by the police, who told her that she would need to stay in Guangzhou permanently to avoid constant harassment and possible arrest by the local 610 Office.

On April 18th, 2004, Ms. Wenzhen was arrested at Ms. Huang Liling's home and taken to the Yuhu Police Station. That evening, she was taken to a brainwashing centre run by the border control authority in Xichang Town. On April 29th, 2009, she was taken to the Guangdong Province Brainwashing Centre. After she was released she went to Ms. Huang Liling's home in mid August. The residential committee and the local 610 Office as well as the school officials went to Ms. Huang's home and harassed the family. Ms. Wenzhen was not allowed to stay with her daughter.

On every holiday and special occasion when the family gathered together, Lai Renxin, the school security chief, and other security guards would go harass the family. On July 9th, 2009, Ms. Huang Liling's home was searched again, however, Ms. Wenzhen managed to escape. She has been forced to leave her daughter's residence.

5. Cousin Persecuted

Ms. Huang Liling's cousin, Ms. Huang Qixuan, was reported when she mailed materials about Falun Gong. In the afternoon on October 31st, 2002, five male officers from the Tangkeng Town Public Security Department in Fengshun County, Guangdong Province, went to search her home. The officers ransacked the four-story home and damaged packaging materials for medical goods stored in the warehouse. The police confiscated all the informational materials as well as Falun Gong books. Afterwards, they took Ms. Qixuan to the Fengshun County Detention Centre where she was held for 22 days. She was released after 4,000 yuan was extorted from her parents. On every so-called "sensitive day" the police would harass Ms. Qixuan's family over the phone or in person.

When the police searched Ms. Huang Liling's home on July 8th, 2009, Ms. Qixuan happened to have stayed there overnight. Officer Xu Qingsong grabbed her by her hair and tried to drag her out of the house. She was so frightened that she screamed and cried and left Ms. Huang's home early the next morning. On July 11th, 2009, the police interrogated Ms. Qixuan. Ms. Qizuan's child was still young enough to be breast-feeding.

6. Aunt Persecuted to Mental Disorder by Brainwashing Centre

In the summer of 2006, Mr. Tan's aunt, Ms. Lu Qin, was arrested while she was distributing materials about Falun Gong one evening. She remained missing for several days until her family eventually found out that she was being held at the Guangzhou City Brainwashing Centre. Her family went to visit her but they were turned away. When Ms. Lu was released four months later, all her front teeth were missing, and she could not talk clearly. She would often talk to herself, her eyes staring off into space, and as soon as she heard someone knock on the door, she became so frightened that she would try to hide in a dark place or under the bed. Her husband had to take a leave of absence from work to take care of her.

Ms. Lu disappeared several times. Her husband would call the police to report her missing. The police would not help look for her and they even claimed that she was pretending to be insane to escape the police surveillance. The last time Ms. Lu vanished, her husband did not find her until a month later, and she was barely recognizable. She was admitted to the Fang Village Mental Hospital for treatment, but she has not recovered. Mr. Tan's grandparents, who are in their 90s, have no one to care for them.

The police would search the homes of Ms. Huang Liling and her family members at night. A group of plain clothes officers would arrive in unmarked cars. The authorities tried hard to make sure no one knew about the searches. A few of the neighbours that lived in the same building knew about the police conduct. Ms. Huang's relatives and friends were threatened by the authorities, so they did not speak out to expose the persecution online. Under pressure of police harassment, Ms. Lu's family refused to get in touch with other practitioners. Practitioners were turned away when they tried to visit Ms. Lu, so more details are yet to be disclosed.

Contact information of those involved in the persecution:

Xu Qingsong and Lu Hai from the Tianhe Distrcit 610 Office
Chatou Women's Forced Labor Camp in Guangzhou City
The Third Section specialized in the persecution of Falun Gong: 86-20-81730790, ext. 8856
Yuan Ling, Fan Lijuan, Chen Zhangfeng, Zhou Huajuan, Lu Chunlin, Zuo Xiuling, Liao Rongrong, Xie Xuanxin, He Guoling: officers in the Third Section
Yuancun Police Station
Guangdong Province Environmental Protection School
Lu Xiaoming, principal: 86-20-85524365 (Office)

Note

1. "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.

2. "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.ca/mh/articles/2009/9/20/208653.html