Ms. Ye Wei from Shenzhen--Ten Years of Persecution Continues

Name: Ye Wei
Gender: Female
Age: 42
Address: Nanshan District, Shenzhen
Occupation: Company secretary

Date of Most Recent Arrest: December 24th, 2004
Most recent place of detention: Sanshui Women's Forced Labour Camp in Guangdong Province
City: Foshan City
Province: Guangdong Province
Persecution Suffered: Detention, home ransacked, interrogation, re-education through labour, brainwashing, solitary confinement, beatings, sleep deprivation

During the past ten years of persecution, Ye Wei has been subjected to physical and mental torture many times. While her physical body has suffered much, her faith in Falun Gong remains strong, a common testament of practitioners withstanding years of torture. Families of persecuted practitioners also suffer, and Ye Wei's family is no exception. The persecution extends to these families as they worry about their loved ones and worry about their own safety under threats from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Ms. Ye Wei, from Nanshan District in Shenzhen City, was born in 1967, and was a clerk for a company. She started practising Falun Gong in 1997. Before that, her body was weak and she had many illnesses. She suffered from stomach aches, headaches, and pain in her eyes. Her work caused her eyes to hurt even more. As her health issues became worse, she also began suffering from insomnia, and her spirits were low. This seriously affected her work and her life in general. Her doctor told her that her blood pressure was high, and could result in blindness in the future. After practising Falun Gong, her illnesses disappeared, and her health became very good. From then on, she believed firmly in Falun Gong and told others of the goodness of Falun Gong.

Below is how Ye Wei suffered during the past ten years.

On the evening of July 20th, 1999, police from Shekou Police Station arrived at Ms. Ye Wei's home and attempted to confiscate her Falun Gong books, demanding that she quit practising Falun Gong. She refused. The police subsequently harassed her at home many times.

On April 24th, 2000, she was arrested in Shenzhen Airport, and was arrested and sent to the Shekou Police Station, where she was detained for 15 days. On the evening of June 30th, she was arrested at home and sent to the police station. On that same night she was transferred to Shekou Detention Centre. She was detained there for over 40 days.

Before May 2001, police harassed her at home many times, demanding that she give up Falun Gong, and also threatened her with additional detention. Then in early May, she became homeless. During that time, agents from the 610 Office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong) asked her family members about her situation many times, threatening to issue a countrywide arrest order if she didn't return. Her family members lived in fear.

On December 28th, 2004, she was arrested by a group of plainclothes police officers while she was working in her office building. At the same time, a different group of police broke into her home and ransacked it, confiscating several Falun Gong books and some disks. Her husband was recovering from heart surgery at the time and her being arrested again caused him to have additional pain and feel very worried.

Ye Wei was again sent to the Shekou Detention Centre. During her detention there, agents from the 610 Office in Nanshan interrogated her and ordered her to reveal her situation when she was homeless. She refused. Eventually, the Nanshan Police Branch sentenced her to a forced labour camp for three years with no oral confession. She was transferred to Sanshui Women's Forced Labour Camp in Guangdong Province, where her persecution continued.

During the three years in Shanshui Forced Labour Camp, Ye Wei was subjected to all kinds of torture, including being isolated in a small cell. She was also cheated out of money, kicked and insulted, physically attacked, and threatened. She was tortured with noise, forced to watch TV and read books which defamed Falun Gong, and forced to stand for long periods of time. In addition, she was not allowed to do the Falun Gong exercises, sleep, close her eyes, use the toilet, or take a shower, and even the letters from her son were withheld. Some of the police and drug addict criminals took turns torturing practitioners mentally and physically. At some point, the persecution led to Ye Wei having high blood pressure, swollen feet, and light-headedness. Her weight was less than 50 kg (110 lb) even though she is 1.69 metres (5 ft.-7 in.) tall.

Since she refused to "transform," [forcibly renounce Falun Gong] the forced labour camp detained her until March 2008, but did not notify her family members to pick her up. Late in September 2008, the 610 Office arranged for her to be sent to the Xili Brainwashing Centre in Shenzhen.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2009/11/12/212470.html