Mr. Zhou Xiangyang Not Allowed to Visit His Falun Gong Practitioner Wife in Forced Labour Camp

On visitors' day at Hebei Province Women's Forced Labour Camp, Mr. Zhou Xiangyang and his father-in-law went to visit Mr. Zhou's wife, Ms. Li Shanshan, who is detained there, but the camp officials refused to let them see her. They also threatened to extend her term.

At 8:00 a.m. on July 12th, 2012 (the same day), many detainees' family members were waiting outside the gate to visit their loved ones. When the door was opened, only two families were allowed to go in at a time. When it was Mr. Zhou Xiangyang and his father-in-law's turn, camp guard Zhang (given name unknown) did not allow them to go in. When her father-in-law tried to walk in, Zhang violently gripped his clothes. Two more police officers came out to help, blocking him and pushing him back.

Mr. Zhou Xiangyang tried to stop the two labour camp officials from blocking his father-in-law. But they rushed forward him and blocked him outside the gate.

Ms. Li Shanshan's hometown is in the Fengrun area, Tangshan City, Hebei Province. She graduated from the Hebei Province Normal University Foreign Language Department. Her husband, Mr. Zhou Xiangyang, was an engineer of the Tianjin Third Exploration and Design Institute. In May 2003, Mr. Zhou was arrested and sentenced to nine years in prison. He was imprisoned in the Tianjin Gangbei Prison. In prison, he was shocked with electric batons all over his body and deprived of sleep for 13 continuous days and nights. He had been confined in solitary cells several times and locked to the ground. The last confinement and torture lasted for more than four months. He fasted on nothing but water for more than a year. In April and May of 2009, he was sent to hospitals twice. On July 28th, 2009, he was released on medical parole due to his weak condition. During Mr. Zhou's detention period, Ms. Li was detained for 15 months because she appealed for him. Mr. Zhou was arrested less than a year after their wedding. Ms. Li collected more than 2,000 signatures when she tried to save her husband.

On October 29th, 2011, the police from the Tangshan City Police Department Domestic Security Division arrested Ms. Li Shanshan because she tried to rescue Mr. Zhou, who was in Tianjin Gangbei Prison and near death after a long-term hunger strike. Ms. Li was detained in the Hebei Province First Detention Centre and later transferred to the Hebei Province Women's Forced Labor Camp.

On July 12th, 2012, Ms. Li's father—but not her husband—finally was allowed to see her. Ms. Li told him that she was forced to do hard labour. Since she refused to renounce Falun Gong, the labour camp officials threatened to extend her term.