Falun Gong Practitioner Wang Meiling in Dire Situation at Yunnan Women's Prison

Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Wang Meiling is from Chuxiong City, Yunnan Province. She was sentenced to three years in prison and has been held in Yunnan No. 2 Women's Prison for over nine months. Her family is extremely concerned about her condition. She is very weak, has blurred vision, and has uncontrollable night terrors.

Ms. Wang Meiling is 58 years old, retired from the Chuxiong Pistons and Plungers Factory. On March 10th, 2011, while she was at Xishan Park distributing leaflets exposing the persecution and telling people the facts about Falun Gong, she was arrested by the Chuxiong Domestic Security police. Shortly after, she was sentenced to three years in prison in May of 2011 by the Chuxiong Intermediate Court. She is being held in the Ninth Division of Yunnan No.2 Women's Prison.

Ms. Wang Meiling firmly believes in Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, and has refused to be “transformed” [forcibly renounce Falun Gong]. She was forced to sit on a tiny bench from 6:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. She was forced to sit in one position with both hands on her knees without changing position. After she could not sit any more, she was forced to stand. She stood for over twenty days. Use of the toilet was strictly limited, and no one was allowed to talk to her.

This terrible abuse caused oedema in her legs to the point where she could no longer walk. The prison authorities only allowed her to buy 50 yuan worth of living essentials a month, but no food. They would not allow her to have the warm clothes sent in by her family, despite the frigid temperatures in winter. Her health has declined steadily. She developed blurred vision and now has trouble seeing.

On April 10th, 2012, after numerous setbacks, her daughter finally was able to visit Wang Meiling. The prison authorities warned her before the visit that if they discuss anything related to Falun Gong, they would stop the visit immediately. Shortly before the visit, the prison authorities set up videotape equipment to record the time they would be together.

Ms. Wang's daughter was able to visit her mother, through glass. Ms. Wang looked thin and haggard. Through the conversation, Ms. Wang's daughter learned that her mother was forced to sit and stand every day, and she was not allowed to buy daily living essentials or food. During the conversation, the daughter also noticed that her mother's mental state often changed and some of the conversation seemed incoherent. She also learned that her mother screamed during the night with night terrors, totally unaware of what was happening.

The Yunnan No. 2 Women's Prison has repeatedly ignored human rights in carrying out the persecution of Falun Gong. They have injected Falun Gong practitioners with drugs that destroy the central nervous system, and also instructed inmates to put drugs into Falun Gong practitioners' food. Those who were persecuted to death such as Shen Yueping from Yuxi City, Wang Lianzhi, Shi Xizhi from Kunming City, and Wan Xueying were all forcibly injected with a drug that destroys the central nervous system.

Ms. Wang Meiling's condition is a source of grave concern for her family, and her daughter suspects that the prison authorities were using some kind of drug on her mother.

Ms. Wang Meiling went to Beijing with her daughter to appeal for Falun Gong in 2000. They were arrested in Beijing and escorted back to Yunnan. They were then held in a detention centre for 58 days, and were closely monitored for 6 months at home. They refused to go to the brainwashing centre in 2001 and became homeless. On July 14th, 2002, they were arrested again when they sent out Falun Gong materials. They were then sentenced to three years in the Yunnan Women's Labour Camp, and their sentences were extended by 8 months.

We are appealing for justice from people abroad and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials of conscience. Please do what you can to help stop the persecution against Falun Gong practitioners!