Ms. Qin Li Detained for Over 3 Months; Her Elderly Mother Pleads for Help to Rescue Her

Name: Qin Li
Gender: Female
Age: 49
Address: Jianbei District, Chongqing
Occupation: Former employee at the Jiangbei Casting Factory
Date of Most Recent Arrest: December 26th, 2011
Most Recent Place of Detention: Wangxiangtai Brainwashing Centre in the Yubei District
Province: Chongqing
Persecution Suffered: Detention, imprisonment, torture, sleep deprivation, forced labour, brainwashing, home ransacked

Ms. Qin Li is from Jiangbei District, Chongqing. On December 26th, 2011, she was tutoring students in her home when Liang Shibin, head of Jiangbei District Domestic Security Division, broke into her home and arrested her. Ms. Qin has been detained at the Wangxiangtai Brainwashing Centre in Yubei District, Chongqing, for over 3 months. Her 73-year-old mother has written a letter to urge people to pay attention to this case and help rescue her daughter.

The Wangxiangtai Brainwashing Centre is operated by the 610 office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong) and police department. Family visits are restricted. Ms. Qin Li's grandmother is 99 years old and her father is 80 years old. They are both sick and need her care.

Ms. Qin had hyperthyroidism, which caused severe health problems and suffering for her. After she started to practise Falun Gong in 1997, following the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance to be a good person, her illness disappeared without any treatment.

Previously, in 2003, Ms. Qin was sentenced to 8 years in prison for practising Falun Gong. By the time she was released in 2009, her husband had died.

Mother pleads for help to rescue her daughter from detention

Below is a plea from Ms. Qin's mother for people to pay attention to this case:

I live in Jiangbei District of Chongqing City. I'm 73 years old, and my daughter Qin Li is 49 years old. She was a worker at the Jiangbei Foundry in Chongqing. She has been jobless for many years since the factory went bankrupt. In order to support her family, she had to work day and night. She had a severe case of hyperthyroidism because of being overworked, and she couldn't afford to see a doctor.

My daughter started to practise Falun Gong in 1997. After beginning to practice, she experienced dramatic changes both physically and mentally. She was regarded as a good person by her neighbours, and within a few months, her hyperthyroidism was gone.

One day in February 2003, a group of officers forcibly took my daughter to the Jingkou Brainwashing Centre in Shapingba District. They did not allow her to sleep. Her hair turned completely white even though she was only 40. Because of her refusal to give up her belief in Falun Gong, she was then transferred to Chongqing City Detention Centre. After a few months, she was sentenced to 8 years in prison and detained at the Yongchuan Women's Prison.

During that period of time, when I was 68 years old, I was arrested too. I was sentenced to 4 years in prison and was detained at a women's prison.

My son-in-law had to work very hard. Long term stress and anxiety caused him to become sick. He was taken to a hospital and lost his voice. The doctors said he needed a surgery that would cost 20,000 yuan¹. This was an astronomical amount for a poor family like ours. My son-in-law died at the young age of 49. His daughter almost had a nervous breakdown.

The Yongchuan Prison didn't allow my daughter to return home to see her husband before he died. If it were not for the 5,000 yuan donation from kind people, my son-in-law couldn't even have been cremated.

Qin Li suffered in prison for more than 6 years. She was released in 2009. She and a relative rented an apartment together in Wulidian in Jiangbei District and she earned money by tutoring students.

On December 26th, 2011, Lian Shibin, head of Jiangbei District Domestic Security Division, broke into my daughter's apartment and forcibly took her to Wangxiangtai Brainwashing Centre in Yubei District. They also confiscated much of her personal belongings.

My daughter, Qin Li, has been brutally tortured in the brainwashing centre for 3 months.

Her 99-year-old grandmother, 80-year-old sick father and I are worried about her. We also need her to stay with us and take care of us. We hope my daughter can return home soon.

Qin Li's mother, Li Zhangqiong, and other family members

March 27th, 2012

Note

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