Older Practitioner Ms. Pei Yi Arrested and Persecuted Twice in Tianjin

Name: Pei Yi
Gender: Female
Age: 58
Address: Yueya Garden, Lingkou, Liqizhuang, Xiqing District, Tianjin
Occupation: Unknown

Date of Most Recent Arrest:November 30th, 2008
Most recent place of detention: Xiqing Detention Centre
City: Tianjin
Persecution Suffered: Detention, interrogation, home ransacked, extortion, torture, solitary confinement, beatings

In January 2008, Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Pei Yi was arrested by the police in Tianjin. She was detained in the Xiqing Detention Centre for a month and then sent to Banqiao Women's Forced Labour Camp. Ms. Pei protested by going on a hunger strike and was later released. In November 2008, she was arrested again and later released after going on a hunger strike.

At the end of 1998, Ms. Pei started practising Falun Gong. Her illnesses, such as heart disease, cervical vertebra hyperosteogeny, chronic colitis, and skin disease, went away.

Detained in Liqizhuang Police Station and Interrogated

On the afternoon of January 23rd, 2008, Ms. Pei talked to people about Falun Gong near the No. 12 Overpass of the Outer Ring. Five police officers took away her bag and tried to handcuff her. Her wrists were injured and bleeding during the struggle. Eventually they forced her into a police car and drove her to the Liqizhuang Police Station.

Upon arrival at the police station, the officers tried to put her into a black wooden cage. When she refused to co-operate, they took her to the interrogation room. They told her to sit on a specially designed metal chair, with handcuffs and shackles attached, but she refused. In the afternoon, Ms. Pei wanted to go to the toilet, but they refused to let her go. After a long while, six or seven regular and plainclothes policemen handcuffed her to the chair by force and took away her bag. They later released her handcuffs due to her strong protest. It was dark at that point, but they did not give her anything to eat. Later, several policemen took turns interrogating her. They continued until 3:30 a.m., but Ms. Pei did not give them any information. Two policeman stayed and watched her. Early in the next day, they took her to Xiqing Detention Centre. The police there knew her and sent people to harass her family. They took away her and her daughter's two computers and printers.

Held in Xiqing Detention Centre

One cell in Xiqing Detention Centre was for women. It was a small room, less than 20 square meters, but there were more than 20 women inside. There was a toilet and a wash basin in the same room. Prisoners held there received three meals a day, with steamed cornbread both for breakfast and dinner, and a steamed bun for lunch. For lunch and dinner, Chinese cabbage was the only additional food that was provided. The cabbage was boiled whole and not chopped.

Ms. Pei was detained for 33 days. During her term, the local police station, the 610 Office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong), the domestic security division, and Xiqing District Police Bureau took turns interrogating her. Her daughter hired a lawyer. However, police officer Tian in the domestic security division told her that she had to renounce Falun Gong in order to be allowed to have a lawyer. He also threatened, "If your lawyer dares to defend your innocence, we will cause him to lose his job!" Another policeman from the domestic security division with the last name Wang made her lawyer agree to their terms before meeting with her. Later, he was not allowed to see her because she refused to wear an inmate's uniform. In the end, the lawyer gave up her case.

Detained in the Banqiao Women's Forced Labour Camp

After 18 months of detention, the police sent Ms. Pei to the Banqiao Women's Forced Labour Camp. She was required to take a physical examination, but she refused. The two policemen who took her there and two other armed police officers carried her to the prison hospital by force, and her jacket was torn. She suffered such brutal torture that her health became grave. She suffered from myocardial ischemia and high blood pressure. Two times the labour camp refused to take her. The third time, they admitted her even though her blood pressure was 230/120 mmhg. After undergoing long-term torture, Ms. Pei felt that her head was very heavy, and she could not see clearly. Even so, the guards still forced her to sit on a small stool and face the wall from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m.

The police assigned a drug offender to watch her. The stool that she was forced to sit on was made from plastic and had bumps on it. Ms. Pei was required to sit upright and not allowed to close her eyes. As soon as she closed her eyes, the drug offender would poke her to prevent her from sleeping. When it was time to eat, she was not allowed to stand up. Other prisoners would bring food to her. When she needed to go to the toilet, the drug offender had to watch her. There were always inmates watching her around the clock. During the night, she woke up and tried to do the sitting meditation. Immediately, several inmates put a stop to it and called the guard. As soon as she got into any kind of meditation position, she was struck and stopped by the guards or inmates.

The next day, she went on hunger strike in protest. She was then sent to a single cell, with three inmates watching her. She was forced to get up at 5 a.m. and sit on the stool until 11 p.m. She was watched around the clock, including when she went to the toilet. Every day, two collaborators¹ came to try to brainwash her. On the fourth day of her hunger strike, the labour camp sent for her family. They asked her family to persuade her to stop her hunger strike, and asked them to sign an approval statement for forced feeding. When Ms. Pei's daughter saw her, she burst into tears. She demanded of the police, "How could you have tortured my mother like this?" She refused to sign the approval form. Ten days later, Ms. Pei was released and taken home by her family.

Arrested Again

On the evening of November 30th, 2008, Ms. Pei was arrested by officers from the Xiqing Domestic Security Division and Liqizhuang Police Station. They searched her home and took away her Falun Gong books, computer, printer, and some Falun Gong materials. When she was in the police station, she refused to answer the policemen's questions. They took her to Xiqing Detention Centre that very night. Although her blood pressure was as high as 170/110 mmhg, the detention centre accepted her. The next day, she was asked to have her picture taken, but she refused because she had done nothing wrong. The policeman in charge of taking photos punched her repeatedly.

Ms. Pei then started a hunger strike to protest. The director of the detention centre went to the women's ward and told the inmates that if she continued her hunger strike, he would not let the female inmates buy anything from the prison canteen, which turned the inmates against her. They limited the inmates' sleeping space, so that everyone had to lie on her side, squeezed by the others. Ms. Pei often felt out of breath. On the ninth day of her hunger strike, she was sent to the hospital. A medical check-up showed that the amount of urine acetone bodies was too high, and she was given an intravenous drip. When she protested, the police restrained her on the bed by force and stuffed a rag in her mouth to keep her from talking.

During her hunger strike, Ms. Pei became very feeble. The police did not want to be held responsible in case she died, so they decided to send her home. They asked her family for money, but the family refused to comply. On the tenth day, she was released and taken home.

Even after Ms. Pei was released, the police continued to harass her. Personnel from the Xiqing District Police Bureau, Xiqing Domestic Security Division, Liqizhuang Police Station, and Xiqing Procuratorate went to her home to harass her.

Note

1. "Collaborators": former practitioners who have turned against Falun Gong under brainwashing and torture. They are then made to assist in brainwashing and torturing practitioners.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2010/3/3/219168.html