Falun Gong Practitioners Persecuted in Gejiu City, Yunnan Province

Since the persecution began on July 20th, 1999, officials from the Honghe Prefecture, Yunnan Province, Yunnan Tin Group (Holding) Co. Ltd and the Chinese Communist Party of Gejiu City have been persecuting Falun Gong practitioners. Nearly 100 practitioners have been sent to brainwashing centres, and up to 40 practitioners have been arrested and sentenced to forced labour or imprisonment. Three of them, including Ms. Zhang Xiuying and Ms. Yang Sufen, died as a result of the persecution, and two were permanently disabled. One of the practitioners at the Yunnan No. 2 Women's Prison was given injections that damaged her central nervous system. Several others had to leave home to avoid being persecuted further.

The following are some accounts of the persecution.

Ms. Jiang Yanhua, 51, and Ms. Chen Xiangzheng, 71, are both from Datun Township, Gejiu City. They were arrested by special agents from the State Security Ministry, who were disguised as farmers working in the fields. While these ladies were talking to people about the persecution of Falun Gong on November 3rd, 2009, police officers forced them into a police car. These two practitioners were locked up at the Datun Township Detention Centre. Detention centre authorities did not allow their families to visit them or bring them their winter clothes. They had previously been arrested in 2005 and sent to the Yunnan No. 2 Women's Prison in 2006. As a result of this persecution, Ms. Chen Xiangzheng was unable to straighten her back, and after being released she had difficulty moving around.

Ms. Su Qingbo, who is in her forties, was an employee at the Gejiu City's Industrial and Commercial Bank. She was arrested by officers from the Gejiu City 610 Office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong) and the National Security Division, and was detained at the Datun Township Detention Centre. Officials of the detention centre did not inform her family. On June 19th, the Honghe Prefecture Court secretly sentenced her to eight years in prison. She had previously been sentenced to two years of forced labour for posting a banner that read, "Falun Gong is Good." Her home was ransacked and her Falun Gong books and the Falun Gong materials were confiscated.

Mr. Dong Mingzu, 46, was a worker at the Jijie Smelting Factory in Gejiu City. He was arrested on January 11th, 2008, and sentenced to seven years in prison. Officials from the 610 Office collaborated with officials from the Provincial No. 1 Prison and prohibited his family from visiting him. They coerced them by saying that if they want to visit him, they must first get permission from the 610 Office. Mr. Dong was arrested by officials from the Gejiu City 610 Office and officers from the city's National Security Division in April 2004 simply because he persisted in following the principles of "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance." His home was ransacked, and he was released after being detained at the Gejiu City Detention Centre for one month.

Ms. Yang Sufen, 52, is a retired employee from the Jijie Railway Station, Gejiu City. On March 21st, 2005, she was arrested by officers from the Jijie Police Sub-department while distributing Falun Gong materials in the countryside of Sandaogou, Jijie Township. She was then sentenced to two and a half years of forced labour by the Gejiu City 610 Office and the police department. During her detention at the Yunnan Provincial Women's Forced Labour Camp, she was gravely harmed both physically and mentally. When she was released in June 2007, she was extremely weak, and passed away on November 11th.

Ms. Wang Yuzhong, 46, was a worker at the Wujiao Chemical Plant in Gejiu City. She was arrested on January 8th, 2008 and held at the Datun Detention Centre in Gejiu City. The detention centre did not inform her family. A court secretly sentenced her to seven years in jail. Officials of the 610 Office collaborated with the No. 2 Women's Prison to persecute her. They did not allow her family to visit, saying that if they wanted to visit, they must get permission from the 610 Office. During her detention, officials from the 610 Office forced her husband to divorce her. Ms. Wang had been arrested in May 2002 for posting banners bearing the words, "Falun Gong is Good." Her home was ransacked, and Falun Gong books were confiscated. She was released 30 days later. On November 1st, 2009 Ms. Wang was sent to the Chashanguozhan Brainwashing Centre in Gejiu City.

Ms. Wan Qiaoying, about 59 years old, is a resident of Datun Township, Gejiu City. She was detained twice for practising Falun Gong. In January 2004, she was held at Gejiu Detention Centre, and was released after nearly ten months. At around noon on August 18th, 2005, Ms. Wan was arrested for a second time. At the time, Kong Fayun, deputy head of Datun Police Sub-department, in collaboration with officers from Gejiu City Police Department, forcibly took Ms. Wan to the Gejiu City Detention Centre. In 2006, the Honghe Prefecture Intermediate Court sentenced Ms. Wan to five years of imprisonment. She is being held at the Kunming No. 2 Women's Prison.

During her detention in the prison Ms. Wan was monitored by four drug offenders who had either been sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve or life imprisonment. She was forced to stand still for a long time and locked up in a small cell. She was tied spread-eagle to a bed, and the the officers then gave her unknown drugs. They also added drugs to her meals and ordered other inmates to pry open her mouth and pour the drugs down. In February 2007, six months after her arrest, the 610 Office notified her family to visit her at Kunming No. 2 Prison. Her family found her to be extremely weak. She had to be supported by two inmates, and she was unable to talk. A prison guard tried to force Ms. Wan to fingerprint a piece of paper, but she pushed away the paper. The guard then told Ms. Wan's son and daughter-in-law that if they could get her fingerprint on the paper, she could be released on bail for medical treatment. However, she was not released until May 24, 2007, when the prison authorities notified her family to pick her up. After returning home, Ms. Wan could barely walk, could not stand up straight. Her eyes stared blankly and her hands and legs were very stiff. Whether she was standing or lying in bed, she was always ramrod straight. Her mind was clear one moment and cloudy the next, and she behaved abnormally.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2010/3/16/219889.html