Older Practitioner Ms. Wang Quanhua Subjected to Three Years of Forced Labour

Name: Wang Quanhua
Gender: Female
Age: 66
Address: Unknown
Occupation: Retired
Date of Most Recent Arrest: September 3rd, 2004
Most recent place of detention: Guizhou Province Women's Forced Labour Camp
City:
Province: Guizhou
Persecution and Gross Abuse Suffered: Detention, home ransacked, extortion, solitary confinement, beatings, sleep deprivation, brainwashing, surveillance

Local police and guards at Guizhou Province Women's Forced Labour Camp have mentally tormented and physically harmed Ms. Wang Quanhua, a retiree of the Xingan Machine Factory in Anshun City, for three years.

The Domestic Security Division of the Xixiu District Police Department in Anshun City is made up of a team that has been heavily involved in persecuting Falun Gong practitioners. Personnel from this division, led by deputy chief Li Lin and Lu Yongmei (a female police officer), broke into Ms. Wang's home on April 23rd, 2001 and conducted a search. They confiscated Falun Gong books and exercise tapes, and held Ms. Wang at the West Street Administration Detention Centre. Fifteen days after the arrest, they transferred her to the First Detention Centre and released her following another 13 days of incarceration at that facility. Her family was ordered to pay three thousand yuan¹ for her release. They were not issued a receipt.

In the same year, in July 2001, Ms. Wang returned to the First Division and demanded that the officials return to her the three statements² they had forced her to write against her will. She declared that everything she had said and done under force were null and void. This led to yet another arrest and 15 days of detention.

Three years later, in September, the police again arrested Ms. Wang as she distributed Falun Gong materials in the countryside and someone reported her. Domestic Security Division leader Lo Hua and other police officials from that division were involved in this arrest. After 26 days of detention at the Second Forced Labour Camp, they sentenced her to three years of forced labour. A physical exam at Guizhou Province Women's Forced Labour Camp showed her heart rate to be over 140 beats per minute, making her ineligible for forced labour, but chief Lo Hua did something to convince the camp to accept her.

Guizhou Province Women's Forced Labour Camp is a hell on earth. Upon her arrival, Ms. Wang was forced to stand for an entire afternoon without a bit of movement. She was then ordered to take her clothes off to be body-searched, and the blanket and clothing she brought with her were thoroughly searched. She was then placed in a single, windowless, dark cell and guarded by a dozen drug offenders who took turns monitoring her around the clock.

Ms. Wang was forced to stand straight and still at all times. A tiny movement would result in her being beaten and kicked. She had to maintain the same position, except for a few minutes at lunchtime and the few hours she was allowed to sleep.

Ms. Wang developed swollen legs from standing so long, as well as a tremor, and her heart rate went over 160 beats per minute. She had to have an assistant help her for a time. Her poor health did not convince the camp officials to release her. Instead, she was forced to participate in all kinds of physical activities. She has experienced numbness in her feet for five years.

Camp drug offenders, at the urging of camp guard Gu Xinying and others, frequently beat and verbally abuse practitioners. They are then rewarded with a reduction of their terms. The guards at the same time try to to meet their "reform [forcibly renounce Falun Gong]" quota so that they can be either promoted or rewarded. To gain these advantages, the camp guards and drug offenders torture practitioners by forbidding them restroom breaks. When practitioners have to relieve themselves into their clothing, they are not allowed to take a bath or wash their clothes. Sometimes practitioners had permission to use the toilet but were under the surveillance by drug offenders and they were prohibited from meeting with or speaking with each other.

Practitioners who refused to give up their beliefs experienced escalations in gross abuse and mistreatment. They were constantly beaten. Some had swollen faces and broken arms, and some even developed mental disorders.

The mental torment was combined with physical abuse. Practitioners were forced to watch slanderous videos every day, and were forced to write a report of their understanding after watching. The guards forced them to re-write their reports if they did not meet with their approval or serve the purpose of completely destroying the practitioner's firm believe in Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.

While Ms. Wang was serving her three-year forced labour term, her retirement benefits were stopped. She currently receives only 800 yuan per month and is still under surveillance after her release, and subjected to harassment. She is unable to lead a normal life.

Note

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

2. "Three Statements": Practitioners are coerced under brainwashing and torture to write "Repentance Statement," "Guarantee Statement" or 'Dissociation Statement" as proof that they have given up their belief. In the statement, the practitioner is forced to admit remorse for practising Falun Gong, promise to give up Falun Gong, and never again associate with other practitioners or go to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2009/12/19/214672.html