Qin Rongqian Tortured for Seeking Justice for Her Parents and Younger Sister

On February 26th, 2010, Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Qin Yueming from Jinshantun, Yichun City, Heilongjiang Province, was tortured to death in Jiamusi Prison. Ms. Wang Xiuqing, Qin Yueming's wife, and their two daughters endured many difficulties going to many different government offices to appeal for her husband, but no one would accept her case. On November 13th, 2011, Ms. Wang and her younger daughter, Qin Hailong, were arrested again and sent to Qianjin Forced Labour Camp. Her elder daughter, Ms. Qin Rongqian, had to spend her days going to the courthouse, labour camp, detention centre, and the Public Security Bureau, seeking justice for her parents and younger sister.

Recently, Qin Rongqian suffered unreasonable hostile treatment several times at the hands of the police at the Qianjin Forced Labour Camp for requesting an administrative reconsideration for her mother and younger sister's forced labour camp sentence. Police at the forced labour camp would not allow Wang Qiuqing or Qin Hailong to sign their names on the paperwork of reconsideration. They would also not allow Qin Rongqian to visit her mother and younger sister. They even arrested Qin Rongqian and sent her to the Harbin City Police Station, and then interrogated and tortured her on a “tiger bench”¹ for eight hours.

Qianjin Forced Labour Camp Prevented Attorney from Upholding Justice

On December 26th, 2011, Ms. Qin Rongqian, accompanied by a lawyer from Beijing, went to Qianjin Forced Labour Camp. When she asked to see her younger sister, Qin Hailong, Wang Yaluo and Ye Yun, the director and the assistant director of the camp, tried their best to prevent the lawyer from meeting with the parties. When they noticed that the Beijing lawyer bravely fought for human rights and justice for Falun Gong, Wang Yaluo even threatened the lawyer, saying that what the lawyer was doing was “anti-Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and anti-government.” They ordered the lawyer to show his ID and secretly recorded the lawyer's personal information.

After the attorney and Ms. Qin Rongqian left, the labor camp officials contacted the Beijing Bureau of Justice and framed the Beijing lawyer. Wang Yaluo, the director of the forced labour camp, called Beijing himself and said, “On behalf of Zhou Yongkang, on behalf of the CCP's Central Committee and Political and Legal Committee, I am ordering you to severely punish and suppress your lawyer. You should not allow your lawyers to be involved in this case.” Wang Yaluo also urged the Beijing Justice Law Office to make things difficult for the lawyer to keep him from being involved in the case, which put great pressure on the lawyer.

On visiting day each month, the guards who worked at the reception desk at the Qianjin Forced Labour Camp asked any visitor that they suspected might be a practitioner whether he or she practised Falun Gong. If the answer was yes, they would not allow the visitors to stay in the reception room. Otherwise, they would call police. When it was time to meet, the guards would tell the family members that they had to slander Falun Gong and its founder, Mr. Li Hongzhi, or else they would not be allowed to see the practitioner.

Qin Rongqian Interrogated and Tortured with the Tiger Bench at Harbin Police Station

December 31st was Qin Rongqian and her mother Wang Xiuqing's birthdays (mother and daughter share the same birth date). Taking into account that her mother and younger sister's forced labour term review period was 60 days, Qin Rongqian got the reconsideration paperwork ready and also bought some daily supplies for them. Right after she arrived at the forced labour camp, she saw Yang Guohong, the female police officer who would not allow Qin Rongqian to come to the forced labour camp again when she saw her the last time. Qin Rongqian handed the personal items over Yang Guohong for her to deliver to her mother and younger sister. Then she told Yang Guohong that she wanted to appeal for her mother and her younger sister's forced labour term for re-consideration. She hoped that her mother and her younger sister could sign the paperwork. At that time, Yang Guohong said that she could not make a decision and that she had to ask for approval from the camp committee. Then Yang Guohong left and went to the director's office. Yang called Harbin City Police Station and plotted to persecute Qin Rongqian.

Qin Rongqian went to the 3rd floor and looked for the director, Wang Yaluo (a member of the labour camp committee) and told him her reason for visiting him. Wang said he did not agree with the reconsideration and so he would not allow Qin's mother and younger sister to sign the paperwork. It was written clearly on the notice of their forced labour camp term that Wang Xiuqing and Qin Hailong could request a reconsideration within 60 days. Ms. Qin Rongqian asked him why he did not agree. Wang Yaluo threatened, “Don't you know why your mother and your younger sister were sentenced to stay at the forced labour camp? It was because of your father's case. If you persist, you will be sent to prison, too.” Ms. Qin Rongqian told him, “My father was persecuted to death by the prison. My mother and my younger sister are my only family members left. No matter what, I will try to fight for it.” Wang Yaluo did not say a word. After a short while, Ms. Qin Rongqian asked, “Then why can't I visit my mother and my younger sister?” Wang Yaluo said, “I know about your family very well. You also practise Falun Gong. That is why you are not allowed to see them.” Ms. Qin Rongqian raised the reconsideration issue again, and Wang Yaluo insisted that he would not allow them to sign and said that Falun Gong cases would not be allowed to be reconsidered.

Wang Yaluo told Ms. Qin Rongqian to talk to the assistant director Ye Yun and said she might be able to explain it better. In fact they had already called the Harbin City Police Station and planned to persecute Qin Rongqian and were stalling for time. Ms. Qin Rongqian told Ye Yun her personal circumstances and also told her the purpose of meeting her. She also told Ye Yun about the hardships her family experienced during the past 12 years and the facts about her father being persecuted to death. She also showed Ye Yun the photos of her father after being killed. Ye Yun did not say a word the whole time. Ms. Qin Rongqian requested a reconsideration of her mother and younger sister's case. Ye Yun then told her that she would need to talk to the director and told Qin Rongqian to wait at the door. During that time, policeman Yang Guohong called and asked whether it was Wang Xiuqing's daughter. Yang asked how far away she had gone and said that she was looking for Ms. Qin Rongqian. Ye Yun told Yang that Qin Rongqian was on the 3rd floor in the Qianjin Forced Labour Camp. Yang Guohong told Ms. Qin Rongqian not to leave and wait there, as she was going to be there soon. After a while, Yang Guohong brought two plainclothes policemen and took Qin Rongqian and the 70-year-old lady who accompanied her into a minivan. Plainclothes policemen were waiting inside the van, which was actually not a police car, and drove them to the Harbin City Police Station.

After arriving at the city police station, Qin Rongqian and the old lady were interrogated separately. Police put Ms. Qin Rongqian inside the wooden “tiger bench” and locked it. It was very cold in the room. There were two officers from the Xiangfang District: one was Yang Dehui and the other was Xu Runan. First, they searched Ms. Qin's handbag several times. They copied all of the phone numbers from the four mobile phones. During that time, several people called in. They did not say a word when they answered those calls. They kept asking Ms. Qin why she went to the Qianjin Forced Labour Camp. They also asked how her she got to know that old lady, how they got in touch with each other, and what the old lady's name was. They also asked whether she practised Falun Gong. Finally, seeing that they could not get any answers, they called Jiang Lianshan, the local police officer in Qin Rongqian's hometown, Yichun, and asked him about Ms. Qin's family. They told Jiang Lianshan to go to her home to see if they could find any evidence and to strengthen their case. The local police officer said that Qin Yueming's whole family practised Falun Gong. However Qin's house had been demolished and nothing was left. Yang Dehui and Xu Runan then ordered Mr. Qin Rongqian to tell them their present address in Harbin.

Later on a male police officer glared at Ms. Qin Rongqian and asked, “Do you practise Falun Gong?” Ms. Qin said that she did not understand why they would all ask the same questions. He pressed the same question again. Ms. Qin turned her head away and did not talk to him anymore. He got very angry and left. Another police officer walked over to her and said, “Do you know who that man is? He is our director.” During the interrogation a man who was not wearing a police uniform secretly took some photos of Qin Rongqian from behind.

Although she was tied onto the “tiger bench,” Ms. Qin Rongqian was explaining the facts about Falun Gong to them the entire time. She also showed them her father's photo after he had been persecuted to death, telling them about the suffering that her whole family had been through. Her actions touched some of the police with a conscience. One officer took her photo and went outside to show other officers, and told them that she was Ms. Qin Rongqian and that she had been detained for one month when she was 13 years old. He also said that the local police in Yichun were very cruel and that Qin Rongqian was the same age as his daughter. Other police officers also told other people, “This child was really doing the right thing by taking care of her father and mother. She even tried to litigate for her father.”

The police did not allow Ms. Qin Rongqian to eat anything or drink a drop of water during the whole process. During that time, other Falun Gong practitioners were being arrested and sent there as well. The police would shout to find a room (interrogation room) and were looking for a “tiger bench” while saying they had arrested several Falun Gong practitioners. One person said the room was full of Falun Gong practitioners. It was full and there was no tiger bench left. Another police officer said that they got up at 5 a.m. in the morning and had been busy all day and that their main task was to arrest Falun Gong practitioners from Harbin. It was learned later on that on December 31st, about 30 practitioners were arrested. The arrests had long been planned by the CCP. They tracked and monitored them on the phone and Internet for a long time. The CCP labeled it a “Midnight Action,” which took place before midnight on January 1st, 2012. Police arrested all Falun Gong practitioners they had been monitoring in the areas. When they arrested the practitioners, they also arrested their family members to terrorize them.

Ms. Qin Rongqian was tied up on the tiger bench for nearly eight hours. She was not released until 6 p.m. The police threw at Ms. Qin the two bags that she had brought. It turned out that Yang Guohong did not deliver the personal items that Qin Rongqian had brought for her mother and younger sister. Instead she handed them over to the police at the city police station. Toilet paper, sanitary napkins, and soap had all been torn open. The police were trying to find some “evidence” and attempted to strengthen their case against Qin Rongqian. The officers told Ms. Qin to collect all of the things she'd brought and then leave. She asked what had happened to the old lady who had accompanied her to the forced labour camp. They told her to leave first. Ms. Qin waited outside until the old lady safely came out and then she left.

Wang Yaluo and Others Attempted to Arrest Qin Rongqian Again.

As Chinese New Year neared, Ms. Qin Rongqian went to Qianjin Forced Labour Camp several times but was not allowed to see her mother or younger sister, let alone get any news about them. She was very worried about them, so on January 13th, 2012, she went to the labour camp again to try to deliver the personal items that she'd tried to get to them during her last visit on December 31st, 2011. She also wanted to ask her mother and younger sister to sign the paperwork for an “administrative reconsideration for the forced labour camp term.”

Right after Ms. Qin Rongqian arrived at the reception office, she saw many family members waiting outside to register. Those who did not register were not allowed to go inside. She waited outside for a long time and still did not see anybody coming out. Then she walked over and knocked on the door. (Over 40 Falun Gong practitioners were detained there. They were divided into two groups. The forced labour camp used brutal torture to try to “transform” [forcibly renounce Falun Gong] these practitioners. It was reported that, on January 20th, 2012, another group of practitioners were also sent there.) An officer opened the door a crack and asked what Qin Rongqian was doing there. She replied that she wanted to give some money for her mother and younger sister. The police were surprised to see that it was Qin Rongqian. They thought that she must have been detained. They then told her to go inside the reception office, but they would now allow her to visit her mother or younger sister.

When the police told her that she could not send any personal items, Ms. Qin Rongqian saved up some money for her mother and younger sister. Qin Rongqian was very surprised and said, “I noticed that you sent out the notice yesterday about not allowing people to send personal items, but I brought some to my mother and younger sister on the 31st of last month. They should have been given to my mother and younger sister already. However, policeman Yang Guohong maliciously plotted to persecute me. I was tortured on a tiger bench for nearly eight hours at the city police station. They then released me after 6 p.m. At that time, Yang Guohong still lied to me and said they had delivered those items to my mother and my younger sister. I did not realize that those supplies were taken with me to the police station.” The police were very apprehensive and went inside the room to discuss things for quite some time. Then they came out and said they would allow her to leave the items for her mother and sister.

Once again, Ms. Qin Rongqian told the police officers details of how the last time she was arrested by Yang Guohong and others at the Harbin Police Station and suffered nearly 8 hours of interrogation and torture on a tiger bench. Yang Guohong secretly watched the entire process, but she dared not to look into Qin Rongqian's eyes, nor did she say a word.

After that, Ms. Qin Rongqian went to the 3rd floor and visited the director, Wang Yaluo. He asked her, “Why are you here again?” Ms. Qin said very sincerely, “Before getting any reply from you after I submitted the administrative reconsideration paperwork for my mother and sister, you guys reported me and then I was arrested.” Then she told him everything that had happened. He smirked and said, “Is that so? Are you sure it was me who reported you to the police?” Qin Rongqian said, “It was you guys. The police who arrested me told me that it was you who reported me.” After hearing that, he did not deny it. Qin Rongqian explained that there was nothing wrong with her sending some daily supplies to her mother and sister and submitting the administrative reconsideration paperwork. She said she could not understand why they would report her to the police and have her arrested. Wang Yaluo shamelessly claimed, “There is nothing wrong with you. It was because that old lady who came here with you last time practises Falun Gong. Isn't she your aunt or something? It was she who gave you those ideas. Therefore, you should not have contact with them (Falun Gong practitioners) again in the future....”

Qin Rongqian once again talked to him about the administrative reconsideration and getting her mother and sister's signatures. He said he did not agree to the administrative reconsideration and did not allow Wang Xiuqing and Qin Hailong to sign their names on the paperwork. He also told Qin Rongqian that if she insisted on going forward, she would need to go through some legal procedures in some departments that dealt with forced labor camp reconsideration. That would also work if she did not get signatures from Wang Xiuqing and Qin Hailong. Ms. Qin Rongqian insisted on asking her mother and younger sister to sign their names. She asked Wang Yaluo why they would not allow her to see them. Wang said, “It is not suitable for you to see them.” Qin Rongqian asked, “Who will be the right person to see them?” Wang said, “Just because you also practise Falun Gong, we will not allow you to see them.” Before she left Qin Rongqian told him, “I will go to visit the departments dealing with forced labour camp reconsideration and will come back to see you if they still want me to get signatures from my mother and my sister.” He got very angry and said, “This will be the last time I see you. You will not have another chance to come to my office in the future.”

The traditional Chinese New Year is a time of reunion for families. Instead, Qin Rongqian had to run around during cold winter days trying to rescue her mother and younger sister.

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.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2012/1/26/252382.html