65-Year-Old Lanzhou Falun Gong Practitioner Ms. Zhang Guilan Abused Numerous Times in Gongjiawan Brainwashing Centre

Name: Zhang Guilan
Gender: Female
Age: 65
Address: Chengguan District, Lanzhou, Gansu Province
Occupation: Former official of the Gansu Province Earthquake Research Institute
Date of Most Recent Arrest: August 18th, 2010
Most Recent Place of Detention: Gongjiawan Brainwashing Centre
City: Lanzhou
Province: Gansu
Persecution Suffered: Brainwashing, force-feedings, home ransacked, extortion, interrogation, detention

Ms. Zhang Guilan, a Falun Gong practitioner in Lanzhou City, was sent to Gongjiawan Brainwashing Centre three times by local 610 Office agents (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong). As a result, she was abused both physically and mentally in addition to having money extorted from her.

Ms. Zhang fell while riding a bike in 1976 and injured her right leg, which developed into a habitual dislocation of her right knee. It was very painful and she often could not even move. She visited many places throughout the country looking for a cure, and even tried acupuncture as well as various folk remedies. But nothing helped. Ms. Zhang also tried several qigong systems, but they either did not work or were too expensive.

After Ms. Zhang's child was born, she began to have autonomic dysfunction, insomnia, gastroptosis, and irregular heartbeat. She constantly suffered from these illnesses, causing her to retire four years early. The pain tormented her for more than 20 years, until November 23rd, 1998, when a co-worker said to her, “How about trying Falun Gong?” She went to see the founder of Falun Gong, Teacher Li Hongzhi's lecture video at a practitioner’s home. After returning home, Ms. Zhang began to truly practise and all her illnesses disappeared.

Seeing Ms. Zhang’s physical improvements, her husband was very happy and often told others, “Falun Gong is very good. She [Ms. Zhang] used to be the dictator in the family. Since she began to practise, she listens to my opinion. My family is very happy now.”

First Detention in Gongjiawan Brainwashing Centre

After the Communist regime began to persecute Falun Gong in July 1999, Ms. Zhang was detained three times in Gongjiawan Brainwashing Centre.

Wuquan Police Station agents arrested her as she distributed leaflets exposing the persecution of Falun Gong in the Chengguan District on October 23rd, 2004. After being detained in the police station for one day, Chen Zhikai and other agents from the Chengguan District Police Department transferred her to the Lanzhou City Domestic Security Division. Ms. Zhang was continually kept in handcuffs and later put in an iron chair. She was tortured for four days.

Chen Zhikai and other agents ransacked Ms. Zhang’s home and confiscated all Falun Gong books. This robbery so traumatized her husband, who was already sick, that he passed out. He vomited blood and had to be hospitalized. The agents would not stop harassing the couple and even went to the hospital to order her husband to tell them where the leaflets came from. Ms. Zhang’s husband was very upset. Five days later, Chen and other agents took Ms. Zhang to the Gongjiawan Brainwashing Centre.

Brainwashing center officials hired three people to take turns watching Falun Gong practitioners 24 hours a day. They did not allow practitioners to talk with each other or leave the cell, and even followed practitioners when they went to the toilet. They checked the practitioners’ activities once every five minutes and only allowed them to sit up straight. Practitioners who refused to give in were handcuffed and hung up. They also forced practitioners to watch videos that slandered Falun Gong.

Ms. Zhang was abused like this for six months. When she was released, Yun Yucheng and Yan Yongsheng from the brainwashing centre extorted 20,000 yuan¹ from her workplace. Yang Dongchen and other agents from the Qilihe Police Department extorted 10,000 yuan from her family.

Second Detention in Gongjiawan Brainwashing Centre

Four plainclothes police agents stopped Ms. Zhang on Gaolan Road at 9 p.m. on March 23rd, 2008. They searched her bag and found three copies of Falun Gong leaflets exposing the persecution. They took Ms. Zhang to the Gaolan Road Police Station and contacted the Chengguan District Domestic Security Division. Chen Zhikai and another agent immediately went to Ms. Zhang’s home to search it, but they did not find any “evidence.” The agents took Ms. Zhang to the Gongjiawan Brainwashing Centre and abused her for eight months. Guards exposed Ms. Zhang to the burning sun for three days, and handcuffed her to a heating pipe for 11 hours. They deprived her sleep and use of the toilet, and did not allow her anything to drink. As a result, Ms. Zhang’s face was severely swollen, and she could hardly open her eyes.

Guard Mu Jun exposed Ms. Zhang under the burning sun four times. The longest time was four hours.

When Ms. Zhang was reading Teacher Li's articles one day, guard Yang Wentai saw it and handcuffed her to an electric pole for four hours. Finally, Yun Yucheng and Qi Ruixin extorted 12,000 yuan from her son, and Yang Dongchen confiscated 3,000 yuan before releasing Ms. Zhang

Third Detention in Gongjiawan Brainwashing Centre

Gao Lina, the Chenguan District 610 Office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong) director, ordered her staff to open Ms. Zhang’s door at 3 p.m. on August 18th, 2010. They pretended they needed to check her residence registry and deceived her into opening the door. Gao came and told Ms. Zhang, “We have received an order that every Falun Gong practitioner has to give up practising.” Ms. Zhang refused. Chen Zhikai and other agents took her to the Gongjiawan Brainwashing Centre for the third time.

Ms. Zhang held hunger strikes in the brainwashing centre in protest. The first hunger strike lasted five days and she was sent to a hospital for emergency treatment. The second time, they began to force-feed her after five days and took her to the hospital for an IV on the seventh day. By then, Ms. Zhang's condition was life-threatening. To avoid being held responsible for her death, the brainwashing centre officials released her.

Yan Yongsheng from the brainwashing centre again extorted 6,000 yuan from Ms. Zhang’s workplace.

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/2011/3/3/237103.html