Ms. Chen Shulan Jailed for Eight Years, Daughter Still Missing

Officers from Huailai County and Changping District in Beijing arrested Ms. Chen from Changping District, Beijing, on September 16th, 2002. She was transferred to the No. 7 Division of the Beijing Police Department, sentenced to seven and a half years in prison and detained in the Beijing Women's Prison, where she was badly mistreated. She was released on March 17th, 2010, after serving her full term. That same day, however, she was arrested again and taken to the Changping District Brainwashing Centre where she was subjected to 70 days of brainwashing before finally being released at the end of May 2010.

Officials from the Changping District 610 Office [an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong] told Ms. Chen that her daughter was waiting for her at her parents' home in Hebei Province. She went to their house, located in Canfangying Village, Beixinbao Township, Huailai County, Hebei Province, but did not see her daughter. Instead, she found out that her parents had died while she was in detention.

Ms. Chen looked for her daughter throughout the entire village but could not find her. Her daughter is still missing.

Ms. Chen's family was destroyed due to the persecution. Her husband succumbed to the pressure of the persecution and divorced her after she was sent to prison. She currently has no shelter or money.

10-Year-Old Daughter Left All Alone Due to the Persecution

When Ms. Chen was arrested by police officers from Changping District on September 16th, 2002, her 10-year-old daughter, Li Ying, became homeless. Li Ying was taken to a nursing home by officials from the Changping 610 office and had to stay there from January 9th, 2003, to February 4th, 2005. She had little freedom besides going to the Changping North- End Sixth Street Elementary School. The nursing home is in a remote location, at the base of a mountain and about 3 kilometres from the school.

In an interview with a Clearwisdom correspondent in early 2005, Li Ying said: “I walk to school every day. I get very scared, especially during the winter when it's already dark by the time I come back from school. There is not a single street light. ... The area is sparsely populated. ... I have repeatedly told Ling Guojun, the deputy head of the nursing home, and Kang Li, the deputy head of the 610 office, that I am very scared. I told them that I wanted to ride a bike or take the bus to school. They did not agree and ignored me. Because nobody cares about me except my Mum ... Having no choice, I have to walk in fear on that horrifying road every day. Every winter evening after school I have an indescribable fear. I don't know how long I'll have to walk on that road.”

Family Broken Apart Due to the Persecution

The plight of the Chen Shulan family over the past 10 years is typical of Falun Gong practitioners brutally persecuted by the Chinese communist regime.

Ms. Chen's parents and three siblings all benefited both physically and mentally from practising Falun Gong. Her father, Chen Yunchuan, started practising in July 1997 and soon his lower back pain that had been bothering him for years disappeared. The Chen family lived a good and peaceful life, but this changed after July 20th, 1999, when the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) under the leadership of Jiang Zemin began to persecute Falun Gong practitioners.

Chen Jiang, the deputy head of the County Police Department, along with policewoman Xin Fang, resident doctor Zhao Yang, a female officer from the Politics and Law Committee, five armed police officers and 15 communist agents from the township and police station surrounded the Chen family house at around 9:00 a.m. on November 28th, 2000. The armed police officers broke into the house by climbing over the walls and shouting that they would take the family members to forced labour camps.

Ms. Chen brother Chen Aizhong was tortured to death at the Hehuakeng Forced Labour Camp in Tangshan City on September 20th, 2001. After Ms. Chen's brother Chen Aizhong was tortured to death, communist agents in Hebei Province colluded with officials in Beijing to force Ms. Chen to sign his death certificate. They also threatened her that she would be detained if she leaked the news of her brother's death to Clearwisdom or anyone else. Ms. Chen did not succumb to their threats.

Ms. Chen's sister, Chen Hongping, was taken to a forced labour camp; both of her legs were broken by communist officials and she was tortured to death at the Gaoyang Forced Labour Camp on March 5th, 2003. Ms. Chen's other brother Chen Aili was in critical condition after being tortured in the Yidong Prison of Fengnan County in Tangshan City; he died on November 5th, 2004.

Ms. Chen's parents were displaced from their home. Her mother, Wang Lianrong, subsequently died on August 4th, 2006. Her father went to the Beijing Women's Prison in 2007 to visit his daughter, whom he had not seen for many years. The prison guards denied him visitation, supposedly because he didn't have his identification card with him. He was not even allowed to leave his daughter any clothes or money. He later died in a car accident without getting the chance to see his daughter for many years.

Family Persecuted for a Decade

Not long ago, Clearwisdom reporters went to Canfangying Village, Beixinbao Township, Huailai County, Hebei Province. The Chen family's house was locked and in ruins. It looked like it had been ransacked several times, with broken glass and half-hung curtains. The reporters found out the following information from the locals:

Ms. Chen's father had been offered a large sum of money and property by the local authorities in their quest to get him to agree to something illegal. However, he did not agree. He was killed by an unknown vehicle in January 2009 and the suspect escaped. The specifics are still a mystery.

A distant relative held a funeral for him, as all of his immediate family members were either dead or imprisoned. Chen Zhende, not a family member, from the village arrived during the funeral, threatened the relative and claimed the Chen family's property.

According to the locals, someone went to the Beijing Women's Prison to tell Ms. Chen about her father's funeral and clarify issues pertaining to the family's property, but Li Yingchun, the head of Section No. 8, did not allow them to see her. Since prison officials prevented Ms. Chen from exercising her right to take ownership of her inherited property, her real estate and orchards were stolen by Chen Zhende.

With the help of official Dong Jianxin and other communist agents in the village, Chen locked Chen family's house and took over their orchards, reaping thousands of yuan in profit from selling fruit grown on the land. Ms. Chen's father owned three houses, one of which is now occupied by Wang Shuping for business use and the other two are being locked up by Chen Zhende.

Chen Zhende tried to extort 100,000 yuan¹ from Ms. Chen, saying that he would give her the keys to one of the houses if she pays this sum. However, she does not have any money and remains homeless.

For details about the persecution of the Chen family, please read: "Long-Term, Bloody Persecution Reduces a Seven-Member Family to Two" at http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2009/6/9/108135.html

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/2011/1/7/234619.html