Ms. Mao Kun on Hunger Strike to Protest Extended Sentence in Chengdu City

Name:Mao Kun
Gender: Female
Age: Unknown
Address: Wulitun, Jinniu District, Chengdu City
Occupation: Chartered accountant

Date of Most Recent Arrest: September, 2007
Most recent place of detention: Sichuan Women’s Prison
City: Jianyang
Province: Sichuan
Persecution endured: Brainwashing, detention, imprisonment, hung up while handcuffed, sleep deprivation, forced labour, solitary confinement, force-feeding, prolonged exposure to heat, denial of shower and laundry, electric shocks, ongoing torture

Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Mao Cui was arrested by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) authorities in 2007. She was sentenced to five and a half years in prison in 2008. She has held strong to her belief in Falun Gong at the Sichuan Women’s Prison. The prison officers threatened that if she did not give up her belief, she would not be released even when her term was up. Since this threat, she has been on a hunger strike to protest the persecution. He has been on a hunger strike for over two months, and her family members are very worried about her physical condition.

Sentencing Raises Attention at Home and Abroad

Before her arrest, Ms. Mao was a highly regarded accountant working in Chengdu City. She worked very diligently and was deemed a highly competent employee. Her great personality earned her trust and popularity from her bosses and colleagues.

Between August and September 2007, more than 30 Falun Gong practitioners were arrested either at home or at work. All were detained at the Chengdu City Detention Centre. This detention centre is known for cruel torture inflicted on Falun Gong practitioners. Practitioner Ms. Zhou Huimin was tortured to death at this detention centre.

In September 2007, Ms. Mao was arrested at work by police officers from the Domestic Security Division in Jinniu District and taken to the Jinniu District Brainwashing Centre to be “transformed” [forcibly renounce Falun Gong]. Two months later, she was transferred to the Chengdu City Detention Centre.

On October 10th, 2008, officers from Wuhou District Court brought Ms. Mao and 12 other practitioners to trial. There were eight lawyers from Beijing and Chengdu City defending them. Lawyers pointed out that the informational materials about Falun Gong, as well Falun Gong practitioners' right to gather together, are protected under the Chinese Constitution, and that practitioners' acts complied with the law. The lawyers also pointed out that police officers had used cruel torture against these practitioners in the attempt to force them to give up their belief, which painted a clear picture of the police violating people's human rights.

In order to discredit the lawyers, officials from Wuhou Court argued against the order of the court and would not allow practitioners' family members or ordinary citizens to sit in the courtroom. When the lawyers were defending the practitioners, Judge Shui Changbin and the public prosecutors stopped them from talking and would not allow them to present the evidence for the case. The lawyers were also not allowed to refer to the Chinese Constitution in the court.

After Ms. Mao was sentenced, she and other practitioners appealed to the higher-level court. In this court, 15 lawyers defended the practitioners. The mainstream media outside of China, such as FOA (Freedom of Asia) radio station, gave a lot of attention to their cases. In the 2009 U.S. Congress Human Rights Annual Report, this case was referred to as the case where "the trial towards Falun Gong practitioners appeared to carry an injustice in the juridical process created by the Court Officers and Judge who directly disobeyed the juridical procedure, thereby overthrowing normal legal protection."

Ms. Mao Tortured; On Hunger Strike to Protest the Persecution

After she was detained at the Sichuan Women's Prison, Ms. Mao insisted that she would never give up her belief in Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance (the three main principles of Falun Gong), and that she was not guilty of any crime. As a result, she has been subjected to cruel torture. An insider revealed that she had been handcuffed to a clothes-drying rack outside for many days and nights.

In December 2011, officers from the prison said that if she did not give up her belief in Falun Gong when her term was up, she would not be released, and that they would transfer her to a so-called "Law-enforcement Class" run by the 610 Office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong), meaning that her term would be extended indefinitely.

In order to regain her freedom, Ms. Mao has refused to take any food or drink from the prison, other than water and some soy milk to stay alive. She has been on a hunger strike for more than two months, and her physical condition has deteriorated. When her family members came to visit her, they saw that she had difficulty walking, and she needed two people to support her.

Prior to this incarceration Ms. Mao had been sentenced to forced labour twice. At the detention centre and the forced labour camps, she had been deprived of sleep for seven consecutive days and nights, forced to do intensive hard labour, handcuffed from behind, and locked in solitary confinement for a long period of time. She was also forced-fed. In the summer time, she was not allowed to take a shower or wash her clothes for more than a month, was made to stand under the scorching sun for prolonged period of time, and was forced to squat 1,000 times. Ms. Mao was also shocked with electric batons all over her body, face, hands, and mouth, which burnt off pieces of her skin. At one point, she was tortured so badly that her life was in grave danger.

Sichuan Women’s Prison:

Address: Yangma Town Women's Prison, Jianyang City, Sichuan Province, China
Postal code: 641402
Telephone of the prison: +86-832-7722652, +86-832-7722930
Head of the prison: Female with surname Guo
Deputy Head of the prison: Last name Zhu
Secretary of the CCP Committee: Last name Duan
Deputy Secretary of the CCP Committee: Last name Luo
Person in charge of the No.1 Ward: Last name Luo
Person in charge of the No.4 Ward: Last name Luo
People in charge of the No.5 Ward: Team Leader Yuan Chang: +86-832-7722951 (Office), Team Leader Fang Rong: +86-832-7722951 (Office)
People in charge of the No.6 Ward: Team Leader Xiong Chuanyan: +86-13508043519 (Mobile), Team Leader Chen Jiahong: +86-13568552581 (Mobile).
No.7 Ward: Guards Yu Zhifang, Huang Yunhui
The Jinniu District 610 Office, Chengdu City: Deputy Secretary Li Yong: +86-13668292609 (Mobile), +86-28-87526973 (Home), +86-28-87705681 (Office)

Related article:

The Persecution of Ms. Mao Kun in Chengdu City

http://www.clearwisdom.net/html/articles/2009/3/8/105384.html

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2012/2/19/253269.html