Ms. Dai Qiongxian's Account of Persecution in Yunnan No. 2 Women's Prison

Name: Dai Qiongxian
Gender: Female
Age: 65
Address: Thermal Power Company Dorm, Chuanfang District, Kunming City, Yunnan Province
Occupation: Retired
Date of Most Recent Arrest: August 26th, 2008
Most recent place of detention: Yunnan No. 2 Women's Prison
City: Kunming
Province:Yunnan
Persecution Suffered: Detention, extortion, forced labour, forced labour reform, interrogation, home ransacked, sentencing and imprisonment, torture, brainwashing

Ms. Dai Qiongxian from Kunming City, Yunnan Province, used to have many illnesses. When she started to practise Falun Gong, all of them disappeared. On August 26th, 2008, Ms. Dai was arrested by Chinese Communist Party (CCP) authorities while she was handing out Shen Yun performance DVDs that showed the beauty of traditional Chinese culture, which has been systematically destroyed by the ruling communist regime over the past 60 years. On March 4th, 2009, Ms. Dai was put on trial without her family being notified. She was sentenced to three years in prison. Since then, she has endured brutal persecution in the Ninth Prison District of Yunnan No. 2 Women's Prison. Prior to the 2008 arrest and subsequent sentencing, Ms. Dai was arrested in 2000 and sentenced to forced labour and was brutally treated in Yunnan Women's Forced Labour Camp.

Below is Ms. Dai Qiongxian's own account of her ordeal.

I am a retired worker from Yunnan Thermal Power Company. On August 26th, 2011, I was released from the Yunnan No. 2 Women's Prison after being tried and sentenced to a three-year term. I endured brutal persecution and became very weak and developed many physical problems as a result. After I returned home, the local police still constantly harassed me.

My registered residence was relocated to the Donglu Police Station. The team leader, Liu Minchang, ordered me to take notes for interrogation, forcibly took my fingerprints and palm prints, and drew blood from me. He also ordered me to report to him every three months. Later, officer Zhao came to my home and told me to also report to him every three months.

Practising Falun Gong, Many Illnesses Disappeared

I had to retire early due to numerous health problems. In July 1995, I was introduced to Falun Gong by a friend and started to practise. I followed Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance in order to be a good person. I let go of personal interests and attachment to reputation, I looked inward when conflicts arose, and I showed tolerance toward others. I truly understood the meaning of life. I had a healthy body and mind. My frozen shoulder, foot cysts, uterine fibroids, loose stools, and many other conditions that I had all disappeared without medical treatment.

To Beijing to Appeal, Detained and Subjected to Forced Labour

On July 20th, 1999, Jiang Zemin, [former leader of China and instigator of the persecution] regime started to brutally persecute Falun Gong practitioners on a massive scale. On October 10th, 2000, I went to Beijing with four other practitioners to appeal for Falun Gong. We wanted to tell the government that Falun Gong practitioners cultivate Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and are good people. Falun Gong is righteous and that we had personally benefited from Falun Gong.

On October 22nd, 2000, I was arrested by the police from Beijing while I was handing out leaflets exposing the persecution of Falun Gong at the underpass in Beijing. I was taken to an unknown place. Later I was transferred to a basement. Every day, someone gave us two buns and a little pickle. I was detained in the basement for four days. Later, I heard from my family that my workplace had extorted 900 yuan¹ from them to cover the cost of the four days' detention.

On October 26th, 2000, I was taken back to Kunming by officer Long Feihu from the police station at my workplace and an officer from Alaxiang Police Station. At Alaxiang, the police handcuffed me and forced me to sit there all night. The next day, I was taken to the Second Detention Centre in Kunming City and detained for 40 days. I slept on a mat that was padded with only a few pieces of cardboard. Three persons shared a very thin blanket. At around 6:00 a.m., I was forced to get up and start picking chilli until 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. I was not allowed to rest if I did not finish the assigned work. My fingers started to bleed and I had to wrap them with tape and had to keep working. I was not allowed to take a shower for 40 days. Due to the intensive hard labor for over ten hours a day with my head down all day, my hands, feet, face, and eyes all swelled up. My fingers bled, and I had to wrap them with tape.

Sentenced to Forced Labour

On December 5th, 2000, I was sentenced to forced labour for 1½ years and sent to the Yunnan Women's Forced Labour Camp in Dabanqiao, Kunming, by officer Chen Shaohua from the police station at my workplace. In the forced labour camp, I was forced to get up at 6:30 a.m., eat a quick breakfast, and then work at the biscuit production workshop until midnight. It was then required that the guards call each prisoner’s name. By the time I got back to my cell, it was almost 1:00 a.m. My hands were covered with sugar and flour, and there was no water to wash with. I could only use a cloth to wipe my face and then went to sleep. It was the same day after day. A month later, I was transferred to the First Team. Whenever anyone came to visit the prison, Falun Gong practitioners were told to dress cleanly and had to sing songs, wash clothes, or go outside to water the flowers. On September 26th, 2001, I was released and I returned home.

While I was in Beijing appealing for Falun Gong, the Yunnan Thermal Power Company police station forced my family members to hurry to the Changsha City Train Station in Hunan Province to try to stop me. It not only affected my family’s work, but also caused them financial burdens. They were also frequently called to the police station to listen to the police's exhortations to get them to make me stop practising Falun Gong, which caused them a lot of mental stress. When I was imprisoned at the forced labor camp, my workplace stopped paying my wages and medical insurance.

Secretly Sentenced to Three Years in Prison for Handing Out Shen Yun Performance DVDs

On August 26th, 2008, I gave a copy of a Shen Yun 2008 Chinese New Year Celebration DVD to an elderly person near the Hengxin Garden in Xiyuan Road. I was arrested by plainclothes police officers Zhao Junpeng and Xiao Chengbin, who had been squatting nearby monitoring the road. I was taken to the Donglu Police Station and interrogated by officers He Yong and Chen Mingliang from the Xishan District Domestic Security Team. They forcibly took my fingerprints, palm prints, and photo. I did not give them any information. Chen Mingliang twisted my arms to force my fingerprints on the paper. My hands were bruised and turned blue and purple. At around 10:00 p.m., He Yong and Chen Mingliang ransacked my home and took away my Falun Gong books and DVDs, Falun Gong amulets² and E-books. The next day, I was taken to the Xishan District Detention Centre, where I was detained for almost nine months.

On March 4th, 2009, the Kunming City Middle Court held a trial in order to sentence me. I was handed a three-year prison term on March 31st.

Before the trial, my husband went to the court and asked acting judge Yang Jie to notify him of the trial date so that my family could attend. On March 3rd, my husband went to the court and again asked Yang Jie notify him of the trial date. Yang Jie told him that they would notify him. On March 5th, my husband called Yang Jie again, but Yang Jie told him that the trial had been held the previous day. The court clearly did not intend to notify my family of my trial date. Although I had a court-appointed lawyer defending me, the lawyer was just going through the motions and totally followed the court's orders, which was to sentence me to forced labour.

Brutal Persecution in the Ninth Prison District, Yunnan No. 2 Women's Prison

On May 15th, 2009, I was handcuffed and shackled by officers at the Xishan District Detention Centre and taken to the Ninth Prison District in Yunnan No. 2 Women's Prison, where I was brutally persecution. Two felons, Long Yuelin and Li Yanping, were ordered to monitor me 24 hours a day. For the first few days, the prison did not give me a mosquito net, and if I covered my face with a pillow case, they pulled it away. I was also forced to sit on a small, hard bench for 15 hours a day without moving. My buttocks blistered and it was very painful. Every day at 6:30 a.m., I was woken up and forced to read books that slandered Falun Gong. I had to get permission even to wash my dishes and go to the restroom. I was forced to sit on the small, hard bench until 10:30 p.m. before I was allowed to lie down and go to sleep. Three single beds were pushed together and the two felons slept on either side of me.

I was not allowed to take a shower. Every week I was given only one pot of hot water and half a bowl of cold water. I had to take off my clothes and clean myself in front of everyone in the cell. Later, the bowl I was using broke and the criminals used a dirty bowl and barrel that was used to clean the toilets to get water for me so that I could wash myself. The prison did not allow me to buy any food, only daily goods for which we had to apply in writing. Some Falun Gong practitioners had their menstrual periods. They were not provided with sanitary napkins. Even when they stained their trousers or bedding, they were not allowed to clean themselves in the toilet. They were only allowed to clean themselves in the cell with a minimum amount water, and had to put up with other prisoners' laughter and jeers. The practitioners were also forced to write reports every other day. Under torture and physical and mental pressure, some practitioners could not endure it and gave up their belief against their will. When they did, they were forced to speak at the prison meetings. The practitioners who would not give up their belief were also forced to attend the meetings and write their understandings after the meeting. During that period, the felon who was sent to watch me, yelled at me for no reason, and when I pointed it out to her, she got angry and tortured me.

Every morning, the felons who were watching me would drain away all the hot water that they had left over rather than give it to me to drink. I was only given a 1.25 litre bottle of water to drink each day. When the weather was really hot, I had to drink some cold water while washing the plates. The felons reported this to officer Liang Jie, who shouted at me, “Don't you know that you are not allowed to drink cold water?” At one point, the felons reported that I was coughing and got some medicine, which they forced me to take. I had to live under their threats and verbal abuse every moment of the day. They tried all sorts of ways to torture me in order to get their sentence terms reduced. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) had only one goal, which was to force me to give up my belief in Falun Gong.

At one point, the team leader, Liang Jie, of the “special team,” which specifically persecutes Falun Gong practitioners in the Ninth Prison District, sent me to the Worker's Hospital for an exam. She wanted to handcuff me. I said it was not necessary. She said, “I won't handcuff you if you give up your belief.”

On October 28th, 2009, I was transferred to the First Prison District. I was still being closely monitored by two prisoners 24 hours a day. I did not have any freedom. I was not even allowed to sit on my bed before going to sleep at night. They would immediately force me to lie down to sleep, fearing that I would practise the Falun Gong exercises.

I experienced many physical problems because I was forced to sit on a hard bench for long periods of time, not allowed to move or walk in the sunshine, forced to read in one position for a long time, and forced to write reports. The flesh on my buttocks festered, my feet and lower limbs became swollen, two toes became numb, there was insufficient blood supply to my brain, I experienced a heavy head, sharply declined vision with blurring and photophobia, and I experienced cervical degenerative changes pressing on the nerve, which caused pain and numbness in my right arm and finger joints.

The persecution I suffered in the prison and forced labor camp during those three years not only greatly harmed me physically and mentally, but also caused enormous difficulties for and stress on my family members. Our financial situation was also greatly affected. My husband was traumatized because of my arrest, which caused him to suffer from hypertension, cardiac insufficiency, and many other ailments. In addition, while I was in custody, police officer He Yong and another female officer from the Domestic Security Team in the Xishan District went to my home a few times to harass my husband and question him about the source of my Falun Gong materials. Due to the physical and mental persecution, my husband had to return to his hometown in order to avoid the harsh environment where we lived. My happy family was torn to pieces due to the CCP persecution.

Related article:
“Older Female Practitioner Detained for Six Months Without Visitation in Yunnan Province”
http://clearwisdom.net/html/articles/2009/2/24/105088.html

“No. 2 Women's Prison in Yunnan Province Denies Family Visits for Dai Qiongxian”
http://clearwisdom.net/html/articles/2010/9/8/119885.html

Note

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

2. Amulets – In China, practitioners sometimes "clarify the truth" by giving people something small to wear or cherish, bearing a few words reminding them of the goodness of Falun Gong.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2012/1/31/252554.html