My Father Died of Persecution and Now My Mother Suffers in a Labour Camp

My name is Wang Boru. I am 20 years old. I live in Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province. It is the residence of the Hebei Province Post Office.

My mother Feng Xiaomei is a Falun Gong practitioner. On the morning of April 27th, 2009, mother was arrested by undercover police from her office at Hebei Sifang Communications Company. She was later sent to a forced labour camp. Now mother is suffering from rectal cancer, but Hebei Women's Labour Camp refuses to allow her a medical parole. I strongly demand that the labour camp allow my mother to seek medical treatment outside of the labour camp. She is my only surviving parent.

After 20 days of anxiety and fruitless appeal, on May 17th, 2009, we received a "Forced Labour Decision Statement" from the Gaocheng Police Department. Mother was given 18 months of forced labour, and she had been sent to Hebei Women's Labour Camp. This was a surprise to us, since before this, we had not heard anything. Now I am living with with my 70 year-old grandmother and a six-year-old cousin, Wang Tianxing.

Mother has been at the labour camp for more than six months now. My father was also a victim of forced labour because of his belief. After suffering two years of torture in Shijiazhuang Labour Camp, his health quickly deteriorated, eventually leading to his death. I will never forget my father's horrendous suffering while at the labour camp.

My father, Wang Hongbin, was an engineer at Hebei Telephone Equipment Company. He was sent to a labour camp for practising Falun Gong. While detained in the Second Team of Division Two, he was subjected to severe torture and mistreatment. Team leader Bian Shuqiang, guards Zhang Li and Dong Xin told some criminal inmates to torture my father. He was deprived of sleep for days. One day he could no longer stay awake and fell asleep. To wake him up, a criminal inmate burned his finger nails with a cigarette lighter. Another time, he was hung up and suspended above the ground, handcuffed by one arm high above his head for three days and three nights without any break. His feet could barely touch the ground during the entire time. The guards ordered some inmates to watch him, if he tried to rest his feet on the wall, the inmates would hit his ankles. The labour camp also forced him to work as a slave labourer for extended hours. He was barred from seeing his family for months. Physical and mental abuses were daily activities. The long term persecution caused father's physical and psychological health to decline. He suffered from severe coughing, sweating and insomnia; he became dangerously underweight. After he came home, his situation did not improve. Within one year, he passed away on October 9th, 2003. He was 39, I was only 13.

I am now very worried about mother. I know and understand her. She is righteous and compassionate; she is firm on principles; she will never compromise. Recently, I learned some of the details of the physical torture she is being subjected to and her suffering. The worst news is about her declining health. Mother is being detained in Team One. Of course she refused to sign the statements of compromise. Female guard Liu told criminal inmates Zhu Liying, Liu Zongzhen and Qi Xiaolu to force her to cross her legs into a double lotus position, and tied her legs in that position with ropes for six hours. The pain was hard to endure, finally mother cried aloud because of the pain. But female guard Gu Hong remained unmoved and indifferent to my mother's suffering. She even told the inmates to close the door, so she wouldn't be bothered by my mother's crying. After the cruel punishment, the guards refused to let her have any time to recover, and forced her to stand up for a long time. She was deprived of sleep and toilet breaks. Mother's legs remained swollen for several months; she could hardly walk. At the time, mother began to have bleeding in her bowel. This symptom continued for several months. The labour camp refused to send her to a hospital, and even family members were denied visits. She had to continue doing slave labour per the quota assigned to other people without any reduction.

After repeated requests, we finally met with her once. She was extremely weak and pale. Her bleeding had gone on for six months. The only treatment the labour camp gave her was some haemostatic pills and occasional blood pressure checks. They refused to allow any detailed check up and appropriate treatment. Some doctors told us it might be symptoms of rectal cancer. Our whole family is now extremely worried.

I was born into a happy family. But when I was 10 years old, on a dreadful summer morning, my parents were taken away and I was left home alone. That day was July 20th, 1999. Father was released after three months of being secretly detained. In the past ten years since that day, our family has never had one peaceful day. Three people have lost their lives.

My father Wang Hongbin passed away in 2003.

My second aunt, Feng Xiaomin, also a practitioner, was harassed and forced into hiding. She died in 2004 while trying to avoid police harassment. Her son, my cousin Wang Tianxing was only 22 months old when he became an orphan. My mother adopted him.

Local police officers and residential workers often came to harass us. We had no idea who would be arrested next. It felt like anything could happen to us at any moment. We had no feeling of safety or security at all. My grandfather would tremble terribly whenever he heard knocking on the door. Finally, he could no long endure the strain of living in such fear, and he passed away in 2005.

My uncle-in-law (Wang Tianxing's dad) is missing. Police still come to our house to look for him quite often. It is clear to me that if he returns home at any time, he will be arrested.

Mother is a competent chief engineer. She always received praise and positive support from her colleagues and management. She is diligent, talented, and has published some high quality papers. The products she designed made handsome profits for her company. But now, this talented woman has to perform slave labour in horrible conditions, and is even deprived of medical treatment.

With mother in jail, our family income has stopped. With a senior and a minor at home and without any money, I had to cut short my education and immediately find work. My grandmother is not well; she misses my mother, my aunt and my grandpa terribly, and often cries at home. My cousin is in second grade, and he really needs help on many things. I, a 20-year-old man, without a college degree, face steep competition in the job market. I am very concerned that I may not be able to adequately provide for my family's needs.

After losing my dear father, I cannot afford to lose my mum again. Grandma lost her husband, and she cannot lose her only surviving daughter! Cousin Wang Tianxing became an orphan at a tender age, and he cannot afford to lose his dear aunt who raised him like her own son for his entire life.

After being subjected to such long term ill treatment in the forced labour camp, my mother Feng Xiaomei, now suffers from poor health. I cannot bear to even think about what will happen next. All of our family members are very worried. I appeal to the government and the public, please allow my mother to seek treatment while on medical parole. Please help me to keep my mother.

Related article: "Elderly Parents Mourn Their Children's Death, Ms. Lu Shuqin Requests Her Daughter's Release" http://www.clearwisdom.net/html/articles/2010/1/23/114088.html

Chinese version available at http://minghui.org/mh/articles/2010/1/15/216310.html