Retired Teacher from Yilan County Sent to Forced Labour Camp Three Times

Name: Ning Shuxian
Gender: Female
Age: 55
Address: Dalianhe Town, Yilan County, Heilongjiang Province
Occupation: Retired Teacher

Date of Most Recent Arrest: May 26th, 2008
Most Recent Place of Detention: Harbin Qianjin Forced Labour Camp
City: Harbin City
Province: Heilongjiang Province
Persecution Suffered: Detention, extortion, beatings, force-feedings, brainwashing, torture, hung up, electric shock, forced labour

Ms. Ning Shuxian was detained twice at the Wanjia Women's Forced Labour Camp in Harbin, and once at Qianjin Women's Forced Labour Camp because she did not give up her Falun Gong practice. Ms. Ning was brutally persecuted for the past ten years.

Ning Shuxian had several illnesses prior to practising Falun Gong, including bone necrosis and sequelae of traumatic brain injury. Since practising Falun Gong, all of her illnesses were eliminated, and she became physically and mentally healthy. After Jiang Jemin's regime began persecuting Falun Gong, Ms. Ning went to Beijing in February 2000 to appeal for the right to practise Falun Gong. As a result, she was arrested by Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials and held at the Yilan Detention Centre for 18 days. After her release in February, she joined a practice group and was subsequently arrested and detained for over one month. During that time, she went on a hunger-strike for seven days. Later, officials released her after extorting 2,000 yuan¹ from her. Years later, Ms. Ning was sent to forced labour camps three times.

I. Detained at the Wanjia Women's Forced Labour Camp

1. Brutal Beatings and Savage Force-feeding at the Detention Centre

One day in June 2006, officers from the Dongcheng Police Station of Yilan County broke into Ning Shuxian's home while she was away. The officers confiscated Falun Gong items. They went to her home again the next morning and interrogated Ms. Ning regarding where she obtained new Falun Gong articles. She refused to answer, so the police took her to the Yilan County Detention Centre.

At the detention centre, Ms. Ning and other practitioners began reciting Falun Gong teachings. Zheng Jun, the detention centre director, dragged them outside and made them stand in a row under the hot sun. Ms. Ning and the other practitioners continued reciting. Zheng Jun punched Ning Shuxian in the chest until he was exhausted, leaving her in pain for many days.

The detention centre officials knew that Ms. Ning and other practitioners had Falun Gong books, and planned to search the centre. Ms. Ning hid her Falun Gong books on her body. When they searched the detention centre, guard Gu Hairong couldn't find anything. At that time, Lin Zhong, the assistant director of the detention centre, focused on Ms. Ning, while other practitioners worked together to protect her. Then, guards Zheng Jun, Guo Ying, Shang Dezhong, the driver of the detention centre and others began to beat the practitioners. They pulled their hair and slapped their faces, then handcuffed Ms. Ning to a metal chair. They used scissors to cut away the Falun Gong books wrapped around her waist. All the practitioners began hunger strikes to protest their treatment, and requested to have their Falun Gong books returned. The hunger strikes lasted seven days. Several guards led by Zheng Jun and Lin Zhong savagely force-fed the practitioners. However, they did not return the Falun Gong books.

2. Sent for One Year of Forced Labour

On July 24th, Ning Shuxian and other practitioners were sent for one year of forced labour and subsequently detained at the Harbin Women's Forced Labour Camp. While at the Wanjia Women's Forced Labour Camp, guards took turns forcing the "transformation" [forcibly renounce Falun Gong] of Ms. Ning and other practitioners. The guards forced them to watch videos slandering Falun Gong, and to write guarantee statements to renounce practising Falun Gong. Ning Shuxian and several other practitioners from Yilan County did not cooperate. One night, Ms. Ning and several other practitioners did the exercises. Captain Zhang Po forced all the practitioners to squat on the floor with their hands cuffed from the back to a heating pipe.

Later, Ms. Ning was tortured when guards placed mites on her body, which caused a contagious skin disease covering her entire body. Officials sent Ms. Ning to the Wanjia Hospital, where she was given an unknown drug. Ms. Ning did not cooperate, pulled out the needle and broke the medicine bottle. Hospital director Song pulled Ms. Ning's hair, slapped her face, and punched her in the chest. Ning Shuxian was badly beaten.

Later, Ms. Ning's family posted bail for her release and medical treatment. She was detained in the forced labour camp for eight months.

II. Sentenced to Forced Labour at Wanjia Women's Forced Labour Camp

In May 2002, Yilan County police officers ransacked Ning Shuxian's home and confiscated a Falun Gong book. They saw a sitting pad on the floor, and accused Ms. Ning of doing the Falun Gong exercises. They arrested her and took her to the detention centre, where she was detained for over two months. Later, she was given a three-year forced labour camp sentence, and detained at the Wanjia Women's Forced Labour Camp. Wanjia Women's Forced Labour Camp officials refused to accept her, because they were afraid that Falun Gong practitioners from Yilan County held too firm a belief in their practice. Therefore, officers took Ms. Ning and several other practitioners from Yilan County back to the Yilan Detention Centre. After a while, they took Ms. Ning and the other practitioners back to the Wanjia Women's Forced Labour Camp.

At the forced labour camp, guards tried to force practitioners to write the "guarantee statements." Ms. Ning refused, so the guards forced her to maintain a squatting position from 5 a.m. to midnight. Ms. Ning suffered from bone necrosis, so she had great difficulty in the squatting position. She was sweating all over her body and developed an elevated heartbeat. Section leader Zhao Yuqing claimed that Ms. Ning had a heart attack, and ordered inmate Bai Xuelian to give her a pill to treat her condition. Ning Shuxian was forced to squat day and night. Guards would not allow her to sleep or to move at all. When Ms. Ning moved, Bai Xuelian kicked her. On the fourth day, the guards noticed that Ms. Ning could not maintain the squatting position anymore. The guards demanded that she write the "guarantee statements." She refused, so Yao Fuchang, the assistant section leader, tortured Ms. Ning, having her hung by her hands for over thirty minutes. The pain she suffered was tremendous.

In the training team, Yao Fuchang forced all of the Falun Gong practitioners to sing the team song that slandered Falun Gong each morning. Squad leaders Li Xianmei and Liu Hongyu monitored and reported practitioners who did not participate. Li Xianmei observed that Ms. Ning did not sing the song and reported her to Yao Fuchang. Yao dragged Ms. Ning and another practitioner away and punished them with the squatting position. When guard Zhao Yuqing arrived at work, he asked Ms. Ning why she was squatting. Yao explained what she had done, and then Zhao Yuqing handcuffed her to a bed and slapped her face. After beating her, Zhao and Yao each took an electric baton and began shocking her. Her face was covered with black bruises due to the electric baton shocks. After that, guards stopped asking practitioners to sing that song again.

Falun Gong practitioners were forced to work for over twelve hours daily, watch videos slandering Falun Gong, and discuss or recite prison rules. Practitioners were beaten or given electric shocks if they didn't comply. They were given corn buns to eat, and there was no oil in the vegetable soup, which contained dirt and worms.

III. Returned to the Forced Labour Camp, Detained at Qianjin Women's Forced Labour Camp in Harbin

On May 26th, 2008, Ning Shuxian was reported to the police while distributing leaflets exposing the persecution and telling people the facts about Falun Gong, then arrested by officers from the national security team of Yilan County police station and taken to Yilan Detention Centre. Ms. Ning protested by going on a hunger-strike. On the fourth day, director Wang and Gu Hairong sent Ms. Ning to the county hospital. They inserted a tube into her nose and savagely force-fed her. After the force-feeding, they left the tube in, causing her to vomit continuously. Later, they gave her some unknown injections on a daily basis. After being detained for 17 days, Ning Shuxian was sentenced to one year and nine months at a forced labour camp. She was detained at the Qianjin Women's Forced Labour Camp in Harbin.

At the Qianjin Women's Forced Labour Camp, Ms. Ning was forced to work several different jobs each day, and recite prison rules and regulations. In March, members of the city women's association went to the forced labor camp. Yu Fangli, the guard on duty that day, inspected Ms. Ning and noticed that she did not wear an inmate badge. The guard asked why she would not wear it. Ms. Ning replied, "I am a Falun Gong practitioner. I do not belong to the group in forced labour." Yu Fangli pulled Ms. Ning by her hair and slapped her face. Then, she dragged her to the library and used a mop handle to hit her in the mouth. Ning Shuxian's mouth was cut and bleeding. At that moment, squad leader Sun Bo came over and beat Ms. Ning, pulled her hair, slapped her face and kicked her. When these guards left, captain Zhang Po came to work. Team leader Yang Yan reported Ning Shuxian's situation. Zhang Po had Ms. Ning brought to his office and demanded that she wear the badge. Ms. Ning refused, and Zhang began to punch her. After that, Zhou Muqi, a guard who monitored Ms. Ning, asked her why she would not cooperate. Ms. Ning replied, "I did not come here to accept forced labour education. I am a Falun Gong practitioner. I do not belong to the group of those accepting forced labour education." Then, Zhou Muqi also began to pull Ms. Ning by her hair and slapped her face. After that, they extended Ning Shuxian's term each month for an additional four months.

On April 20th, there were no jobs to do, so team leader Wang Min told Ms. Ning and other practitioners to go outside and sit under the sun. Practitioner Zhang Binfeng was deaf and couldn't hear the order, and could only try to lip-read. Guard Zhang Yanli saw Zhang Binfeng looking at her. Zhang Yanli then swore at Zhang Binfeng. Team leader Wang Min then began to use profanities about Falun Gong. Ning Shuxian stood up and said Falun Gong is righteous. Wang pulled Ms. Ning's hair and hit her head against the wall. Ms. Ning had two big bruises and her chin turned black and blue.

Given a three-year forced labour camp term, Ning Shuxian actually endured six years of persecution in prison and experienced many instances of torture. The above are only a few examples.

In the past 11 years of the CCP's persecution of Falun Gong, Ning Shuxian's relatives also suffered greatly.

Note

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

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2010/8/4/227939.html