Ms. Chu Xiuhe Tortured and Poisoned with Unknown Drugs at the Heilongjiang Women's Prison

Name: Chu Xiuhe
Gender: Female
Age: Unknown
Address: Nangang District, Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province
Occupation: Unknown
Date of Most Recent Arrest: April 26th, 2007
Most Recent Place of Detention: Heilongjiang Women's Prison
City: Harbin
Province: Heilongjiang
Persecution Suffered: Brainwashing, home ransacked, detention, drug poisoning, physical and verbal abuse

Practitioner Ms. Chu Xiuhe lives in the Nangang District, Harbin City. She had suffered from several illnesses such as epilepsy, heart problems, and femoral head necrosis, but her health became better after practising Falun Gong. She has been arrested twice for practising Falun Gong and was sentenced to a total of seven years in prison. She was subjected to physical abuse and torture in the Heilongjiang Women's Prison between January 2004 and November 2006, and again between April 2007 and October 2008. Prison guards instructed prisoners to inject Ms. Chu with unknown substances and to lace her food with poisonous drugs, causing her to be in a confused state of mind. She was weak and unable to walk on her own. She could not take care of herself.

The following is Ms. Chu's account of the persecution she experienced:

A group of officers from the Liming Police Station, headed by Zhao Jun, broke into my home on the morning of January 9th, 2004. They confiscated all of my Falun Gong books and leaflets exposing the persecution of Falun Gong. They also stole 13,700 yuan¹ in cash (all of my savings), a tape recorder and other personal property. I was taken to the Yaziquan Detention Centre, where I was held for seven months before I was sentenced to seven years in prison. I was sent to the Heilongjiang Women's Prison.

Physical examination at the Harbin Medical University No. 2 Hospital in August 2006 found that my previous three illnesses had worsened. My legs were so painful that I was unable to walk. My family had 5,000 yuan extorted from them before they could take me home.

Heilongjiang Women's Prison officials deceived me and took me back to the prison on April 26th, 2007. I was held in Team No. 13 on the third floor of the prison building. They attempted to force me to “reform” [forcibly renounce Falun Gong]. Team head Wang Li pretended to be kind to me and brought me porridge because I was unable to walk. However, she secretly put drugs in my food. The prison officials instigated criminal Xu Zhen and others to persecute me. Every day, from 5:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., they played DVDs that slandered Falun Gong, and had some former practitioners who have been “transformed” say things against Falun Gong practitioners. I had a severe headache and stomach ache. Because of the unbearable pain, I was unable to fall asleep at night. Sometimes, my head and heart felt like they were splitting open. I felt terrible. Xu Zhen tried to force me to take some unknown drugs, but I refused. They then secretly put drugs in my food.

Shortly after I finished each meal, I could not stand up or lie in bed comfortably. My internal organs felt terrible, and I felt like I couldn't breathe. Xu Zhen told the inmates who monitored me to take me to Team No. 9, where she was held, so that she could torture me. Thus, I was held at Team No. 9 in the daytime, and at Team No. 10 during the night. They continuously laced my food with unknown drugs and injected me with drugs against my will. Xu Zhen said the prison officials ordered her to do so.

More than 20 days before the 2008 Chinese New Year, I wrote Falun Gong related words on my blanket. Xu Zhen gathered a group of criminals, and physically and verbally abused me. When I shouted “Falun Gong is good,” they took me to a separate cell, where they injected me with an unknown drug while I was asleep. The needle for whatever they injected me with was very small and the task was done quickly. Small red spots from the needle could be seen on my head, shoulder and hands.

Physical abuse, torture, and drug poisoning caused my legs to become so painful that I was unable to walk. Moreover, my mind was not clear during this period of time, and I was unable to sleep at night. The bones and flesh of my legs were in excruciating pain. When I walked, I was bent over and needed another inmate to support me. I had to place most of my weight on the inmate and be pulled along before I could move. Due to the extreme physical torture and mental torment, I temporarily became confused, and wrote a statement against my will and said things that disrespected Falun Gong. I was in agony after realising what I had done.

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/2011/2/11/236132.html