Persecution of Ms. Cao Yankun from Zhaodong, Heilongjiang Province

Name: Cao Yankun
Gender: Female
Age: Unknown
Address: Zhaodong City, Heilongjiang Province
Occupation: Unknown
Date of Most Recent Arrest: 2004
Most recent place of detention: Zhaodong Detention Centre
City: Zhaodong
Province: Heilongjiang
Persecution Suffered: Detention, assault, surveillance, extortion, brainwashing, interrogation.

Over the past ten plus years, because she practises Falun Gong, Cao Yankun and her family have been harassed and persecuted many times by the local Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

In 2008, in the name of the security for the Olympic games, officer Wang Xin, from the Zhaodong Police Station, went to Ms. Cao’s workplace and ordered her to fill out a form, but she refused. They deadlocked until noon when Ms. Cao, who worried her child would be home soon for a meal after school, completed the form. She later found out that her mobile phone was being monitored.

As early as July 20th, 1999, Cao Yankun and several other Falun Gong practitioners were brought by police officer Wang Zhijiang (deceased) and Liu Hanjie (temporary employee, now unemployed) to the Shangjia Police Station in Zhaodong. In the station, the police forced them to watch programmes denouncing Falun Gong. Ms. Cao covered her ears with her hands and faced the wall while the police officers mocked her.

After a few days, the director of Shangjia Police Station and officers Wang Zhijiang, Liu Hanjie, and Tong Xiaofeng, brought Ms. Cao and twenty other Falun Gong practitioners to a meeting room in the Shangjia Town government office building. Director Fu Changcai, of the Zhaodong Public Security Bureau, who is now the deputy director of the Suihua Public Security Bureau, held a meeting to denounce Falun Gong practitioners. Cao Yankun was an assistant, and was forced to say something. Cao then told others that Falun Gong was good. Fu Changcai and the director of the police station said that Cao Yankun was very stubborn, and sent her to the police station intending to detain her. Her family subsequently utilised some personal connections to get her released.

Soon afterwards, officers Wang Zhijiang and Liu Hanjie, from the Shangjia Police Station, went to Ms. Cao's home and workplace many times to harass her and force her to write statements denouncing Falun Gong, and even forcibly take her fingerprints and other personal information. They also didn't allow her to leave her home freely. She was forced to ask for a leave at the police station whenever she left town, and also had to go to the police station whenever she was notified, even if she was called in at midnight. Ms. Cao was harassed by them countless times. Her husband and child lived in fear every day.

Officer Wang Zhijiang from the Shangjiang Police Station even went to her home at midnight to check up on her using various excuses. Sometimes he went to check up on Cao Yankun with the excuse of needing to borrow something. Officer Cong Lijun knocked on Ms. Cao's door while she and her daughter were taking a nap around noon. Mr. Cong went back to her home to check up on her and asked why she slept with her back door locked.

In 2000, Cao Yankun and other Falun Gong practitioners were told to go to the Shangjia Police Station for a meeting. During the meeting Ms. Cao told others that Falun Dafa was good and that she wanted to go to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong. Wang Zhijiang then handcuffed her to a heating pipe. Since Cao Yankun continued practising Falun Gong, she was detained in the Shangjia Police Station for four months and 23 days. Ms. Cao held a hunger strike and was then released. She was also fined over 1,000 yuan¹ for meals and another 2,000 yuan for a bail. She was forced to sign a guarantee statement promising that she would no longer practise Falun Gong, and was then video-recorded against her will by officer Ren Jiansheng, who is now director of the Zhaodong Detention Centre along with Liu Weizhong, who is now working at the Zhaodong Detention Centre. Afterwards Ms. Cao was released.

During her detention at the Zhaodong Detention Centre in 2000, Ms. Cao was given a small serving of undercooked cereal at 7:30 a.m., and another one at 3:30 p.m. It had mice stool in it and was full of sand and mud on the bottom. There were several raw leaves floating in it and it had no oil or salt. She was given only two buckets of water, for drinking, washing her face and clothes, as well as going to the toilet. The room she was detained in was about 15 square metres, however it was filled with 14 people, with sometimes even more criminals coming in. There was only a wooden bed except for a small space for walking and a cupboard. It was very crowded and the living conditions were terrible. While sleeping they had to put their own legs on others for lack of space, and when waking up in the morning, they would find each others feet at their mouths. After she was released, she was still often harassed.

Cao Yankun moved to Zhaodong in October 2000. Soon afterwards Song Bailin, from the Qianjin Police Station, now working in the 610 Office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong), went to harass Ms. Cao at work or at home. He forced Ms. Cao to sign a statement promising that she would not practise Falun Gong. He also demanded her photograph and even forced her to sign in every morning at the Qianjin Police Station.

In early 2001, the Qianjin Police Station colluded with a street committee to hold brainwashing sessions to persecute Falun Gong practitioners. When Ms. Cao was sent there for the first time, there had already been many Falun Gong practitioners and people from the police station there. When the brainwashing session was over, an officer from the street committee asked Ms. Cao to speak the next day. Ms. Cao did not say anything to denounce Falun Gong and instead wrote a letter of praise. Song Bailin said that it would not qualify. Ms. Cao was the brought to the Qianjin Police Station with four other police officers. Ms. Cao refused to write the statement they wanted. Liu Wensheng, from the Qianjin Police Station, then brought Ms. Cao a paper and pen for her to write things denouncing Falun Gong. He claimed, “It is hard to get you to write a letter promising not to practise Falun Gong, however, it is very easy to send you to prison. We will send you there first and then report your materials.” Ms. Cao's husband later went there too, and also asked her to write a letter denouncing Falun Gong. Ms. Cao’s other family members soon found their personal connections in the police station and Ms. Cao then no longer needed to write any statements.

Song Bailin frequently threatened Ms. Cao’s supervisor to watch over her or else he would be fired too. He secretly asked employees in Ms. Cao’s workplace to monitor her and said that she would be questioned even if she stayed in the toilet longer than normal. Cao’s ID and residency certificate were also confiscated and she wasn't able to leave town freely.

In 2004, Cao Yankun and another Falun Gong practitioner went to a village to distribute Falun Gong materials, but were reported and detained at the Shangjia Police Station. 610 Office directors Ren Jiansheng and Liu Weizhong went there to interrogate the two. Liu Weizhong took a picture of Ms. Cao and kicked her feet fiercely. Ren Jiansheng found articles revealing his evil deeds in the materials, then asked Ms. Cao why they were written there. Ms. Cao was later detained in the Qianjin Police Station for 71 days. Ms. Cao’s family members were fined over 10,000 yuan by the Zhaodong police. The Public Security Bureau also forced the director of Ms. Cao's department to pay 10,000 yuan in “service charges” for Ms. Cao's detentions.

The Shangjia Police Station once extorted 2,000 yuan in cash from Ms. Cao's husband. Her husband was even forced to invite them to their home for dinner once.

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/2011/2/18/236453.html