Ms. Gong Qiumin Handcuffed to “Death Bed” in Baishan, Jilin Province

Name: Gong Qiumin
Gender: Female
Age: Unknown
Address: Jiangyuan District, Baishan City, Jilin Province
Occupation: Grocery store owner
Date of Most Recent Arrest: February 16th, 2012
Most Recent Place of Detention: Detention Centre in Jiangyuan District
City: Baishan
Province: Jilin
Persecution Suffered: Brainwashing, torture, force-feedings, extortion, physical restraint, detention

On February 16th, 2012, after visiting a supermarket on their way home by bus, Falun Gong practitioners Ms. Gong Qiumin and Ms. Xie Yuhong were arrested by Jiangyuan police and held at the Jiangyuan police station. Ms. Gong was chained to a death bed¹ and cruelly force-fed. She almost died. She has returned home, but police officers are continually harassing her.

Ms. Gong owns a family grocery store. In 1999, she began practising Falun Gong, and became healthy and friendly to others, which made her family happy. When Jiang Zemin, [former leader of China and instigator of the persecution] and his gang started persecuting Falun Gong in July 1999, Ms. Gong Qiumin and her husband Mr. Zhang Gongchang were arrested and detained many times because they refused to give up their faith.

On February 16th, 2012, after Ms. Gong and Ms. Xie were taken to the Jiangyuan police station, officers took their personal belongings, and Ms. Xie's home was ransacked. Her computer, books, and many other personal items were taken. The women were later detained at Jiangyuan District Detention Centre, where they were further persecuted.

In the detention centre, Ms. Gong went on a hunger strike to protest the abuse, which resulted in her being handcuffed and shackled to a death bed. In her weakened condition from not eating for several days, her continuous crying caused the other inmates to beg the guards to release her from the torture device.

Under these circumstances, the guards only removed one of the shackles, but continued force-feeding her. The following day, when someone noticed blood on the rubber feeding tube, she was so afraid that she stopped the force-feeding. Ms. Gong was so badly injured by the force-feeding that she promised to resume eating and asked to be released from the death bed.

Ms. Gong Qiumin's family asked around for help. On February 23rd, 2012, after prison guards extorted 10,000 yuan² from them, Ms. Gong was released on “medical parole.”

From 2001 to 2012, Ms. Gong Qiumin has been detained and sent to forced labour camps four times. She was persecuted and tortured in four different places: Jiangyuan District Detention Centre, Baishan City Detention Centre, Jiutai Forced Labour Camp in Jilin Province, and Heizuizi Forced Labour Camp in Changchun City. In each place she was either forced to work, handcuffed, or had her face slapped for different reasons. The maltreatment caused her to be physically weak and to suffer different illnesses. After returning home, she continued to cultivate Falun Gong and gradually resumed her normal life and physical health.

However, her latest arrest and persecution by police have caused chest pain and frequent vomiting of blood. The police keep harassing her at home and forced her family to monitor her activities; she has lost all freedom in her life.

The following people are responsible:

Wang Ying, chief of police: +86-13704493001
Wang Zhun, police station instructor: +86-13943998828
Zhang Congli, Jiangyuan District State Security Brigade captain: +86-13943925859
Xie Wenqing, deputy captain: +86-13514397178
Qui, Third Detention Centre chief: +86-13304495818, +86-13904495818
Centre Chief Zhang, in charge of logistics: +86-13843968407
Geng Lixin, police officer: +86-13943993766

Note

1. "Death Bed" torture: A practitioner is tied to a bed with his hands handcuffed above his head to the bed rails, and his legs tied with thin nylon ropes. The rope is then tightly wrapped around the practitioner's body and the bed, from his legs to his chest. The rope is wrapped so tightly that the practitioner has difficulty breathing and eventually loses consciousness.

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