(Minghui.org) A woman suffered unspeakable torture while held in a forced labor camp and prison for a total of 11 years, all because she refused to renounce her belief in Falun Gong.
Ms. Wang Huizhen, 63, worked in the advertising division of Xinhua News in Kunming City, Yunnan Province. She took up Falun Gong, a meditation practice based on the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, a few months before the Chinese Communist Party launched a nationwide campaign against the practice in July 1999.
Because she upheld her faith, she was given a two-year labor camp term in 2001, and three prison terms: 4 years in 2003, 4 years in 2008, and 5 years in 2012. She was released early during most of her terms, and served a total of 11 years behind bars.
After she finished serving her latest five-year term, the police called and harassed her many times. She was arrested again in 2019 and detained briefly.
The following is a detailed account of her last imprisonment in 2012, and latest detention in 2019.
Home-ransacking and Sentencing
An officer broke into Ms. Wang’s home when she opened the door for another practitioner, Ms. Cai Wenhui, on the morning on May 5, 2012. The officer called in another eight officers, and without identifying themselves, they ransacked Ms. Wang’s home.
Both practitioners’ arrests came only about one year after Ms. Cai and Ms. Wang were released in February and June 2011 after serving a three and four-year terms for their faith, respectively.
The officers confiscated many of the office supplies Ms. Wang used to print Falun Gong informational materials at home, including her computers, printers, DVD burners, paper cutter, laminator, and her cellphone. The seized items filled up a police car, and the value was estimated at 28,000 yuan. The police also took more than 20,000 copies of fliers she made. One officer threatened her, “You will be given five years and be 60 years old when you get out!”
Ms. Wang was chained to a metal chair and interrogated in the Xishan District Domestic Security Brigade. That night she had a physical in a hospital and was incarcerated in Xishan Detention Center.
Ms. Wang had to package paper napkins from 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. If she wasn’t working, she had to sit still on a small stool all day.
A prosecutor from the Kunming City Procuratorate indicted Ms. Wang on September 29, 2012. The Kunming Intermediate Court appointed a lawyer to represent her and enter a guilty plea for her. She was sentenced to five years on December 28. Ms. Cai, who was arrested along with Ms. Wang, was given another three years.
Ms. Wang appealed her verdict, but the appeal was rejected by the Yunnan Province Higher People’s Court on April 3, 2013.
Prison Torture
Two prisoners were assigned to watch Ms. Wang around the clock when she was sent to Yunnan 2nd Women’s Prison on May 20, 2013. They recorded her every move and word every day on a notebook provided by the guards and reported to the guards periodically.
Ms. Wang was placed under strict management and had to sit still on a small stool from 7:00 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. The position put much strain on her body and stress on her buttocks. Her legs became swollen and her buttocks inflamed. She also developed hypertension.
The guards did not allow Ms. Wang to talk to anyone. Her other daily activities were also restricted. Each week the prison gave her a bucket of cold water and a bottle of hot water for drinking and wash-ups. She could only use the toilet at specified times and had to take turns washing her clothes. No shower was allowed.
Before purchasing any food items, she had to fill out an application form and state that she had committed the crime of “sabotaging law enforcement using a cult organization.” This rule only applied to the imprisoned Falun Gong practitioners and not other prisoners.
After she was moved out of the strict management in September 2013, she was placed under a big tent in the 7th Ward with 320 other prisoners. Inside the tent it was steaming hot in summer and freezing cold in winter. There was no table, and everyone had to eat on the ground.
Latest Arrest
On September 25, 2019, two years after Ms. Wang was released, an officer broke into her home while she was studying Falun Gong teachings with five other practitioners. The officer photographed the practitioners and wrote down their ID numbers. He called in more help and confiscated nearly 100 Falun Gong books and pictures from Ms. Wang. The police arrested all six practitioners, who were between 62 and 82 years old.
The police interrogated the practitioners at Donglu Police Station. Ms. Wang had severe buildup of fluid in the abdomen (ascites) at the time and could barely walk. The police took her to St. Johns Hospital for a health exam to prepare her for the detention. It was 2:00 a.m. when she returned to the police station. The police still had all the other practitioners in custody, none of whom had been given anything to eat the whole time. Ms. Wang was later transferred to Taiping Detention Center in Anning City.
As soon as a guard in Taiping Detention Center saw Ms. Wang’s swollen abdomen and dire physical condition, he refused to take her. Although Ms. Wang returned home around 5:40 a.m. the next day, she was taken back to the detention center to finish some paperwork at around noon.
Related report:
Yunnan Woman Incarcerated Nearly 11 Years for Her Faith in Falun Gong
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