The Persecution of Falun Gong Practitioner Ms. Dong Xiuqin, Elementary Schoolteacher from Lingyuan City, Liaoning Province

Name: Dong Xiuqin
Gender: Female
Age: 56
Address: Lingyuan City, Liaoning Province
Occupation: Teacher
Date of Most Recent Arrest: August, 2007
Most Recent Place of Detention: Dabei Jail, Shenyang City
City: Shenyang
Province: Liaoning
Persecution Suffered: Detention, forced labour reform, imprisonment, sleep deprivation, torture, solitary confinement, electric shock, brainwashing, forced labour, force-feedings, drug administration

Ms. Dong Xiuqin has been released from Dabei Jail in Shenyang. She is totally different from before her arrest. She used to be an open, warm, energetic, and healthy elementary teacher. But now, her eyes are dull, she is very thin, her hair is white, and her front teeth are missing. She looks like she is 70 years old. People cannot believe this is the same person.

Ms. Dong taught at Chaoyang Street Elementary School in Lingyuan City, Liaoning Province. She began practising Falun Gong in 1997. She was very kind, always looked to help others, and was very conscientious about her work. She was honoured as “Excellent Teacher” many times and was always praised by the school's administration and her peers.

After the persecution of Falun Gong began on July 20th, 1999, Ms. Dong would not give up the practice. She was arrested three times, sentenced to jail and forced labour camps, and removed from her teaching position.

Ms. Dong does not talk much anymore, but from the few things she has said, as well as her family's description, it is known that she was severely tortured in Dabei Jail. She was arrested in August 2007 and later sentenced and detained in Dabei Jail. A jail guard personally talked with her on the fourth day and told her to stop practising Falun Gong. Ms. Dong firmly said that she would not. From then on, she was not allowed to sleep and was tortured. She was forced to sit on small stool for extended periods, locked in a small cell, shocked with electric batons, etc. Two criminal prisoners followed her everywhere to monitor her—eating, sleeping, and using the toilet. They frequently said bad words to Ms. Dong about Falun Gong. During the day, Ms. Dong was forced to do an extreme amount of labour.

Ms. Dong resisted the persecution with hunger strikes and was tortured with force-feedings, during which her front teeth were knocked out. She later incurred severe diabetes in jail and could barely walk, crouching down as she moved. At times she could not even walk bent over and would sit on the ground and slowly slide forward. She became thinner and thinner and her health worsened daily. The jail sent Ms. Dong to the jail hospital. The hospital refused to admit her and only treated her by injecting her with unknown drugs that destroy the central nervous system. As her condition worsened, her mind wandered and her eyes were very dull. When her family visited her, she didn't know how to speak to them. She could not take care of herself. Her family requested a medical leave for her, but were refused. The family asked many times with no result.

Related article:

http://clearwisdom.net/html/articles/2005/9/30/65417.html

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2011/7/6/243492.html