Hotel Manager Ms. Sun Shufen Persecuted to Death

Name: Sun Shufen
Gender: Female
Age: 45
Address: Jilin City, Jilin Province
Date of Death:September 13th, 2009
Date of Most Recent Arrest: October, 2003
Most recent place of detention: Heizuizi Forced Labour Camp in Changchun
City: Changchun
Province: Jilin
Persecution Suffered: Detention, forced labour, brainwashing, sleep deprivation, electric shock, beatings, long-term standing, home ransacked, extortion

Ms. Sun Shufen, a former manager of a hotel in Jilin, used to have a bad temper and several health problems before she started practising Falun Gong in 1998. After she began the practice, her physical and mental health improved significantly.

When the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) launched the persecution in July 1999, the local 610 Office agents (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong) and staff from the neighbourhood committees frequently harassed Ms. Sun because of her spiritual belief.

Ms. Sun went to Beijing to appeal for justice for Falun Gong in December 2000, but was arrested for holding a “Falun Gong Is Good” banner in Tiananmen Square. After being detained at the Xicheng Police Station for four days, the Jilin Office in Beijing informed the Kaoshan Police Station in Jilin and Ms. Sun's family of her arrest. Subsequently, Kaoshan Police Station Director Jiang Ping and a member from a local neighbourhood committee with the surname Wang came to Beijing to take Ms. Sun to the No. 3 Detention Centre of Jilin. She was detained there for 50 days and then sentenced to two years of forced labour.

Ms. Sun was subjected to brainwashing at the Third Subgroup of Group No. 7 at the Heizuizi Forced Labour Camp in Changchun. The CCP agents tried to force her to write the three statements to denounce Falun Gong. Because she refused to write such statements, she was shocked by the guards with electric batons. On one night, guard Hou Zhihong shocked her on the neck for three hours. Inmate Liu Dongjiao was instructed to deprive Ms. Sun of sleep by forcing her to stand still with her head bent downward. The inmate punched her if she moved even a little bit. Ms. Sun's feet became swollen, she felt dizzy and had difficulty breathing as a result of this torture. Ms. Sun asked the perpetrators to inform the head guard Wang Lihua that she did not want to be “transformed” [forcibly renounce Falun Gong]. Then Hong Zhihong and Wang Lihua tortured her with electric batons for three hours, until her neck, armpits, back, and other parts of the body were covered with bruises. Ms. Sun was also forced to do hard labour and work on craft products.

Ms. Sun was released from the Heizuizi Forced Labour Camp in late 2002. In October 2003, she was arrested again by agents from the Jilin 610 Office and the Kaoshan Police Station, including Jiang Ping and an officer with the surname Chen. Her home was ransacked, and her personal belongings were confiscated by the police. She was sentenced to two years of imprisonment and sent back to the Heizuizi Forced Labour Camp again. She was forced to work for extended periods of time and was severely tortured, after which she developed uterine fibroids and suffered serious blood loss. The labour camp extorted 3,000 yuan¹ from Ms. Sun's family before taking her to a hospital.

In August 2006, officers from the Kaoshan Police Station harassed Ms. Sun and intended to arrest her. In order to avoid another arrest, Ms. Sun left her home and became homeless.

Ms. Sun's health deteriorated due to constant bleeding that had started at the forced labour camp. She passed away on September 13th, 2009.

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://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2010/12/29/234224.html