Persecution Causes Tissue Necrosis of Older Falun Gong Practitioner Ms. Song Huilan's Legs and Feet, Exposing the Bones

Name: Song Huilan
Gender: Female
Age: 60
Address: Xinhua Farm, Hegang City, Heilongjiang Province
Date of Most Recent Arrest: December 13th, 2010
Most Recent Place of Detention: Tangyuan Detention Centre
City: Tangyuan County
Province: Heilongjiang
Persecution Suffered: Forced injections/drug administration, imprisonment, torture, detention

Ms. Song Huilan was arrested for the fifth time by police from the Huachuan County Police Department and Hengshantou Police Station on December 13th, 2010. After being subjected to severe physical torture, she is now disabled. During her imprisonment at the Tangyuan Detention Centre, she was injected with an unknown drug and lost the ability to walk as a result. Prior to that, she was healthy and could walk freely. She also developed severe tissue necrosis on her right leg and foot that exposed the bones. In March 2011, her family went to the Tangyuang Detention Centre to find the responsible parties, but the guards denied all responsibility.

Ms. Song Huilan went to Hengtoushan and was arrested on December 13th, 2010. She was taken to the Tangyuan Detention Centre on December 31st. Director Yan Yong forced Ms. Song to sleep on the floor and gave her only a thin blanket to cover herself when it was -22 to -4 degrees Fahrenheit at night. Every night, she was so cold that her whole body trembled. As a result, she suffered from metroptosis that was very painful. Ms. Song went on hunger strike to protest the persecution. Yan Yong, guards Li, Jiang, Cai, another Li and Yang Li pinned Ms. Song to the floor and injected her with an unknown drug. Ms. Song was in such severe pain that she was rolling on the floor and couldn't speak. A guard still ridiculed her, “Don't worry, there is no side effect.” Director Qiao Yuntin also threatened her, “If it doesn’t work, lock her to the floor rings.”

After being injected with the drug, Ms. Song could no longer walk. In addition to the other tortures she was subjected to, this caused tissue necrosis of her right leg and foot, exposing the bones underneath.

The condition of Ms. Song's leg and foot is worsening—more skin continues to rot, exposing more bone. The pain is unbearable. Her family is also suffering; her daughter cries all day from the mental pressure she is under. The two large hospitals they went to refused to treat Ms. Song after seeing her condition. She was told to seek medical treatment elsewhere. Her condition is life-threatening and the cost for treatment would be several hundred thousand yuan¹.

Ms. Song is a kind woman from a rural area and her family is not wealthy. In addition, due to being persecuted for the past few years, her financial situation is already strained. So where can she get money for medical treatment? Feeling that she had no other options, Ms. Song's daughter, along with other family members, went to the Tangyuang Detention Centre and the police department again on April 15th.

When the family members got to the detention centre, the guards refused to let them in. They told the guard that they wanted to talk to Director Qiao. However, the guards claimed that he wasn't in that day. The family knew that Qiao was upstairs and began to walk inside the detention centre. Immediately, a guard told them to stop and that he would check for them. After a while, the guard returned and said that Qiao was in a meeting, so he wasn't there. Ms. Song’s daughter managed to get past the guards and went upstairs to Director Qiao’s office. However, the door was locked. Ms. Song's daughter requested that he open the door, but he refused.

The other family members waited at the gate. After a while, two guards approached them, pushed them outside of the gate and locked it. Then two police cars arrived at the detention centre and several police then threatened the family. By then, Ms. Song’s daughter had come out in tears. The guards only looked out of the windows. Feeling angry and frustrated, Ms. Song's family then went to the Tangyuan Police Department.

A guard at the entrance of the police department told the family that they couldn't go upstairs because the director was in a meeting. However, the family insisted that he was upstairs and told the guard that they would wait. The guard remained silent. Then, they took out pictures of Ms. Song and showed them to the guard. Other staff members who were also there saw the pictures and were shocked. One policewoman waved her hands incredulously as she walked upstairs in shock. The guard’s manner also relaxed. A while later, he said that two of the family members could go inside the station and wait. Ms. Song’s daughter asked the guard, “If a member of your family were like this, wouldn't you feel the same way?” He kept quiet.

They waited until after 11 a.m., but no one came to talk to them. Ms. Song’s daughter then went home.

Currently the authorities at both the Tangyuan Detention Centre and Tangyuan Police Department are avoiding making a statement regarding Ms. Song's situation. They are all avoiding responsibility.

We hope that people around the world and international organizations will pay close attention to Ms. Song's situation so that the persecutors will be brought to justice, human rights will be respected and the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners will end.

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/2011/5/15/240860.html