Ms. Feng Guojun from Jixi City, Heilongjiang Province Imprisoned for Nine Years

Name: Feng Guojun
Gender: Female
Age: 52
Address: Donghai Coal Mine No. 8 Neighbourhood Committee, Chengzihe District, Jixi City, Heilongjiang Province
Occupation: Unemployed
Date of Most Recent Arrest: August 17th, 2002
Most Recent Place of Detention: Heilongjiang Province Women's Prison

City: Jixi
Province: Heilongjiang
Persecution Suffered: Imprisonment, home ransacking, interrogation, torture, detention, forced-feeding, brainwashing, sleep deprivation, forced labour

Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Feng Guojun from Jixi City, Heilongjiang Province was arrested on August 17th, 2002 by 610 Office agents (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong) and Chengzihe District Police Department personnel, and sentenced to eleven years of imprisonment. She has been imprisoned at Heilongjiang Province Women’s Prison since then.

Ms. Feng was distributing materials exposing the persecution of Falun Gong at night on July 19th, 2001. Donghai Coal Mine Police Station officers from the Chengzihe District arrested her. Police station head Bao Xiuli and officer Song Wenge pulled her hair and slammed her head against a wall, resulting in her losing a lot of hair. They also beat her, and the front of Ms. Feng’s legs were badly bruised. She was slapped in the face more than 20 times and her mouth was bleeding. That same night she escaped from the police station at around 2:00 a.m.

Ms. Feng rented living quarters in the Chengzihe District on August 17th, 2002 and shared the room with fellow practitioners Li Zhenying and Sun Shuying. That afternoon around 5:00 p.m. when Li Zhenying and Ms. Feng returned to the apartment, several police officers were waiting at their home and arrested both of them. Sun Shuying was arrested later in the day and tortured. She was handcuffed and shackled, and was forced to sit on a tiger bench¹. The police confiscated Ms. Feng’s personal belongings such as two copiers, one paper cutter, paper supplies, a three-wheeled vehicle for transporting materials, two mobile phones, three phone cards, and some other items, worth 30,000 yuan² in total. She was sent to the Jixi Detention Centre on August 18th, 2002.

Ms. Feng went on a hunger strike to protest the persecution on May 1st, 2003. On May 4th, prison doctor Wang, inmate Gao Ying, and detention centre guards force-fed her a large amount of milk powder and salt.

Chengzihe District Court officials sentenced Feng Guojun to eleven years of imprisonment around December 2003. On March 10, 2004 she was sent to Heilongjiang Province Women’s Prison to be “reformed” [forcibly renounce Falun Gong].

Ms. Feng was forced to sit on a tiny stool and remain motionless from March 10th to 16th, 2004. Her legs became swollen as a result of this torture. She was forbidden to leave her cell. Two monitors watched her, even when she went to the toilet.

Ms. Feng was pressured to be “reformed” in the 9th Ward of the prison on March 12th, 2007. Every morning she had to get up at 5:30 a.m. After washing up, she had to sit in the middle of the floor, staring at the camera lens in the front, without moving. Then, five to six people including guard Hu Shu, “helper” Ding Hui, and Jia Jie started to barrage her with brainwashing material until after midnight or even as late as 4:00 a.m. Her legs were swollen and her asthma returned. She was transferred to the 13th Ward on October 11th, 2007.

Ms. Feng was isolated for brainwashing again on August 28th, 2008. Collaborators³ Xu Yanghua, Wang Jingdong, and guard Chen Xianying forced her to watch videotapes slandering Falun Gong and its founder. Due to the long-term torture and brainwashing, Ms. Feng lost her will little by little. Desperate to be released, she compromised with them against her will.

Feng Guojun was then required to perform forced labour again. Since team leader Xu Yanglai came to the 13th Ward in December 2009, the perpetrators have extended inmate working hours and added to their workload. Ms. Feng has been working so hard that she cannot straighten her back. The head of the ward often forced the detainees to continue to work, even after they returned to the ward. They have to work until very late sometimes.

Note

1. "Tiger Bench": Prisoners are forced to sit on a small iron bench that is approximately 20 cm (6 inches) tall with their knees tied together. With their hands tied behind their backs or sometimes placed on their knees, they are forced to sit straight up and look straight ahead without movement for long periods of time.

2. "Yuan" is the Chinese currency; 500 yuan is equal to the average monthly income of an urban worker in China.

3. "Collaborators" (former practitioners, brainwashed against Falun Gong, made to assist in brainwashing and torturing practitioners)

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2011/4/17/239152.html