The Persecution of Falun Gong Practitioners Ms. Zhu Xiumei and Ms. Ma Zhichai

On February 25th, 2012, police from Liaocheng City, Shandong Province arrested Falun Gong practitioners Ms. Zhu Xiumei and Ms. Ma Zhichai and locked them in the Jiyuan City Detention Centre. In a closed hearing, Ms. Zhu and Ms. Ma were sentenced to five years and four and a half years, respectively. Zhao Nianbo, Secretary of the Political and Legislative Affairs Committee (PLAC), was in charge of their cases. The two women are filing an appeal.

Persecuted in 2010

Ms. Zhu and Ms. Ma were previously imprisoned and tortured by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for their belief in Falun Gong. On the evening of September 10th, 2010, the two practitioners went to Jiyuan City to tell people about the persecution of Falun Gong. A policeman followed them. Eventually, he called the Shuangqiao Police Station and arrested the two practitioners. They were incarcerated in the Jiyuan City Detention Centre, where they were shackled, force-fed, and made to perform heavy labour. When they became emaciated and were on the brink of death, the authorities released them so they wouldn't die in the detention centre.

After leaving the police station, officers Miao Dongming and Xie Hongwu squeezed Ms. Zhu and Ms. Ma into a car. When Ms. Zhu asked where they were taking her, Miao didn't bother to answer and kicked her. When they arrived at the detention centre, the officers interrogated the two woman many times. Before they were tried in court, the practitioners had never seen nor signed any legal documents charging them with a crime. Miao and Xie were supposed to be the witnesses in court but they did not show up for the hearing; neither did the agents from the 610 Office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong) or members of the PLAC.

Officers Miao and Xie have been ruthless in arresting and persecuting Falun Gong practitioners. So far they have arrested over 100 practitioners, who were either put in forced labour camps or sentenced to prison.

Wang Lixin, deputy chief of the Jiyuan City Public Security Bureau, was in charge of the detention center during the time that Ms. Zhu and Ms. Ma were incarcerated there. There were surveillance cameras recording the practitioners around the clock, including their activities in the toilet. Every guard had to report to his superior what they had observed of the two practitioners before they could go home.

Zhao, Wang, and the guards treated the practitioners like common prisoners. They had to wear the prison uniform and do hard labour. Ms. Zhu and Ms. Ma refused to cooperate and told the guards, “We did not commit any crime and we are not prisoners.” One guard said, “If you are not prisoners, what are you doing here?” The practitioners replied, “We will not cooperate with the persecution and whoever persecutes us is committing a crime.” The director of the detention centre, Deng (first name unknown), became angry and ordered the two practitioners to be shackled. In protest, the practitioners still refused to cooperate.

On October 28th, Ms. Zhu and Ms. Ma went on a hunger strike. The next day, an inmate threatened to force-feed them by inserting a tube into their stomachs. A guard brought them some eggs but they still refused to eat. The guard then brought in Liu Hongjin, the leader of the prisoners, two female prisoners, and four male prisoners. Under orders from the guards, the prisoners held the practitioners down, pried open their mouths with metal spoons and force-fed them three times a day. Many of Ms. Zhu's teeth were broken in the process, her stomach was injured, and she continually had diarrhea. Ms. Ma's tongue and the inside of her mouth were injured. The prisoners however, continued to force-feed them. A few days later, Liu made a big tub of starchy paste and fed it to the practitioners. The guards and the prisoners often chose the most painful way to insert the feeding tubes in order to force the women to renounce their belief.

The guards also made female prisoners work hard. Each person had to make 52 boxes of trumpets (200 in each box). The practitioners had to get up early in the morning and get ready for work. If they moved too slowly, they didn't have time to eat before they began working. They went to bed at 10 p.m. and were awakened to work for two hours each night.

After three months in the detention centre, Ms. Zhu and Ms. Ma had each lost over 40 lbs. Ms. Ma vomited every time she was force-fed. Her stomach was so damaged that she began vomiting blood. Since she could not keep any food down, she stopped urinating and having bowel movements. Even so, Zhao and Wang kept her in prison. They made fun of her, saying that she was the “backbone” of Falun Gong.

The two practitioners became severely underweight and were clearly dying. The authorities released the women only because they didn't want to be held responsible for their deaths.

Through practising Falun Gong after they returned home, Ms. Zhu and Ms. Ma recovered. To avoid further persecution, however, they left Henan and went to work in Shandong Province. After they left, the authorities looked for them and harassed their families, children, relatives, and friends.

Zhao Nianbo, Secretary of the Political and Legislative Affairs Committee: +86-391-6633611, 391-6633610 (O).

Staff of the court: +89-13838906969