Name: Song Yanqun (宋彦群)
Gender: Female
Age: 41
Address: Shulan City
Occupation: English Teacher at the Harbin Dade Japanese School
Date of Most Recent Arrest: November 27, 2003
Most Recent Place of Detention: Changchun Women's Prison (长春女子监狱)
City: Changchun
Province: Jilin
Persecution Suffered: Sleep deprivation, illegal sentencing, forced injections/drug administration, beatings, hung up, imprisonment, solitary confinement, torture, force-feedings, interrogation

(Minghui.org) Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Song Yanqun from Shulan City, Jilin Province has been severely persecuted at Changchun Women's Prison. As a result, she now appears to be disoriented with dull eyes and disheveled hair, nothing but skin and bones.

Ms. Song Yanqun

It is reported that Ms. Song's wrongful prison term has recently ended. The guards of the Education Division have attempted to force her to write the “Five Statements” (similar to the Three Statements). They threatened to not release her if she refuses and also placed her in the disciplinary unit for further persecution. Ms. Song went on a hunger strike in an effort to resist the persecution. Sha, the female disciplinary instructor, tried to give her an injection. Ms. Song refused to cooperate and pulled out the needle. The guards tortured and force-fed her with food and salt water.

Ms. Song's younger sister, Song Bing, was also persecuted and suffered tremendously both mentally and physically. She became homeless to avoid further persecution and passed away on July 30, 2009. Ms. Song and her younger sister were arrested at the same time. When Song Bing was on the verge of death at the Shulan City Detention Center, her parents went to appeal to the Shulan City Political and Judiciary Committee. The committee secretary, Zhao Wei, told them not to talk about the law with him and that he doesn't act in accordance with the law. The director of the Police Department, Xin He, said that if Song Bing was released then he would be fired from his job.

Ms. Song Yanqun, 41, graduated from Changchun College of Commerce, Department of International Trade and was an English teacher at the Harbin Dade Japanese School. On November 27, 2003, police officers from the Shulan City Police Department led by officer Guo Wei broke into her home and arrested her and her younger sister Song Bing. The director of the Shulan City Police Department, Xin He, and guards including Li Zhuo, Li Yaochen, Li Jiazhe, and Wang Tingbai interrogated and tortured Ms. Song and her sister at the Shulan Nanshan Detention Center. They tied them onto a “Tiger Bench,” used slender sharp-pointed objects to prick their ears and eyes, and force-fed them with horseradish extract. Ms. Song was illegally sentenced to 12 years in prison.

At the Jilin Province Changchun Women's Prison, Ms. Song remained steadfast, continued to practice Falun Dafa and refused to write the “Five Statements.” She was subjected to torture methods such as the “Big Hang Up” and solitary confinement for long periods of time. As a result, Ms. Song coughed up blood from her lungs. The disciplinary instructor assigned four inmates to closely monitor her 24 hours a day. She was not allowed to sleep and was often beaten and verbally abused. Ms. Song had been confined to a small dark room on the fifth floor and tied up to a bed with her limbs suspended in the air about 20 centimeters (approximately 8 inches) above the bed. She had to urinate and defecate in the bed. Guard Liu Chunyang even put a comforter on top of Ms. Song's stomach.

Torture re-enactment: Stretching Bed

At the Jilin Changchun Women's Prison, the most vicious method used to persecute Falun Gong practitioners is called “Stretching Bed.” The practitioner would first be stripped naked, then tied up to a bed by her limbs fixed with a thin cord. As the limbs are stretched by the guards, the practitioner's body is pulled up away from the bed with the entire body's weight carried only by the limbs. This is extremely painful. If left in this position for a long period of time, one would be maimed permanently. In May 2005, authorities of Changchun Women's Prison began to implement another round of “transformation” towards the illegally detained practitioners. Ms. Song was transferred from the hospital to the Education Division, where she was under siege of violent attempts to force her to “transform.” Because Ms. Song refused to cooperate, the prison guards tied her tightly onto a Death Bed with a rope, and her limbs were stretched like “Five Horses Splitting a Body.” Nobody was to take care of her when she urinated or defecated.

As a result of the torture method “Stretching Bed,” Ms. Song lost all sensation in her legs and they are always cold with no blood passing through. The bones in her right arm ache. Her hand shakes uncontrollably and she cannot write. She has become mentally unresponsive. Her ribs on both sides and her lungs ache and the condition of tuberculosis has worsened rapidly. Even now, the scars near her ankles are still visible. Among the prison guards that had participated in persecuting Ms. Song are Cao Hong, disciplinary instructor Hu (has been transferred away), and Liu Chunyang.

On April 12, 2012, Ms. Song told her mother during a visit that on the night before, four inmates instigated by the disciplinary instructor had stripped her clothes and brutally beaten her. They also stomped violently on her torso, legs, and feet. She was left covered with wounds and bruises. One inmate also slaps her in the face every day.

Ms. Song is currently in a very difficult situation. We call on people of the world and international human rights organizations to support and pay close attention to Ms. Song's case.

Changchun (Heizuizi) Women's Prison, Education Division: +86-431-85375089