Jilin Woman’s Uphill Battle Seeking Justice for Her Sister
(Minghui.org) A 53-year-old former college lecturer in Jilin City, Jilin Province, was force-fed wasabi oil through her nose, had lit cigarettes inserted into her nose, and sexually assaulted by a torture expert, simply because she refused to renounce her faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Jiang Yongqin remains incarcerated at the Jilin City Detention Center, four months into her arrest in mid-June 2022. Her 86-year-old mother, who lived with her, was so terrified by the police violence during the home raid that she has become delirious and is unable to take care of herself.
Ms. Jiang’s older sister, Mr. Jiang Yonghua, has mailed several complaint letters to various government agencies in Jilin Province. Although the older sister is being given run-arounds and also facing harassment herself, she said she will not stop her efforts in seeking justice for her younger sister.
Ms. Jiang Yongqin
Mr. Jiang Yonghua’s Arduous Efforts to Seek Justice
Three staff members, all women, from the Longtan District Procuratorate, and one man who claimed to be a delegate to the National People’s Congress, knocked on Ms. Jiang Yonghua’s door on September 9, 2022. Concerned that her mother, who moved in with her after her sister’s arrest, might be scared by uninvited visitors again, Ms. Jiang didn’t allow the four people to come in, but asked to talk to them outside her apartment building.
After they went downstairs, Ms. Jiang said she was happy to see them and that she wanted to know how they planned to handle her complaints against the perpetrators involved in her sister’s persecution.
“We’d like to hear what’s your demand.” a person from the Procuratorate said.
“My sister has suffered severe torture and sexual assault. I would like to meet with her and have her released on bail. Our mother needs care and I won’t be able to handle everything by myself.”
“Your sister practices Falun Gong and she has violated the law.”
Ms. Jiang refuted, “What evidence do you have when you claimed that my sister has violated the law?”
“She is involved in… We are still investigating it.”
“If you are still investigating it, then it means you don’t have evidence yet. Is my sister guilty just because you say so?”
They remained silent.
Ms. Jiang continued, “Let me ask you, does sexual assault violate the law?”
“Yes.”
“Is it legal to torture my sister?”
They again remained silent. Ms. Jiang turned around to the three female staff members from the Procuratorate, “If you are sexually assaulted by someone, would you feel comfortable telling others? I can see how hard it is for sexual assault victims to speak out about their suffering. My sister revealed her traumatizing experience because it was so horrific that she just could not keep it to herself.”
One of the women argued, “Who tortured or assaulted your sister? If it happened, there must be some external [injury] marks on her body. And there was a surveillance camera [and I doubt that anyone would torture her under surveillance].”
Ms. Jiang was angry to hear that. “Do you think there would be any marks left when you spray wasabi oil into someone’s eyes? When you insert a lit cigarette into someone’s nose and she coughs it out later on, would there be any marks? And where would be the injury mark if you strip someone naked? Speaking of surveillance video, can you show me the entire surveillance video of my sister from her arrest to now?” Those people remained silent.
Ms. Jiang also questioned them, “Why didn’t you allow my sister’s lawyer to visiter her in the detention center? I don’t know how she is doing inside the detention center now.”
“Don’t worry.”
“How can I not worry about her? I don’t know if she is still being tortured or not. I’m worried about her every minute.”
“We can help you to ask about it. It will take seven business days.”
“If you don’t address my requests, I will continue to file complaints. This is the information era. You can control things in Jilin City or Jilin Province, but you can’t control the whole world. My brother-in-law is living abroad. We will work together to get the message out to the entire world.”
After seven business days, Ms. Jiang followed up with prosecutor Li from Longtan District Procuratorate, who directed her to the Xin’an Police Station, the agency responsible for her sister’s arrest.
When Ms. Jiang went there, a police officer said that in order for the lawyer to visit her sister, the lawyer must show the proof that he doesn’t practice Falun Gong himself (The authorities in Jilin have been using this arbitrary demand to block legal representation of Falun Gong practitioners).
“If we provide the letter, will you approve the visit?”
“Not necessarily.”
With no other option, Ms. Jiang and the lawyer visited several government agencies to seek justice, including the Longtan District Procuratorate, the Jilin Municipal Supervision Commission, and the Jilin City Women’s Federation, but to no avail.
Ms. Jiang then went to the Jilin City Procuratorate to inquire about the status of her complaint. The receptionist denied having ever received the complaint, even after she showed a text message from the Jilin Province Procuratorate, which said that they had forwarded it to the lower-level institution.
Ms. Jiang returned to the Jilin City Procuratorate the next day. After ten minutes of waiting at the front desk, the security personnel said the prosecutor would have a meeting until 10 p.m. that day and couldn’t meet with them.
Ms. Jiang and the lawyer visited several government agencies in Changchun, the capital city of Jilin Province, on the third day. As soon as she returned home, several staff members from the residential committee came to question her, asking where else she would be visiting. She suspected that she was being followed by the authorities.
Ms. Jiang said that although she hasn’t yet made any progress, she would still be trying her best to seek justice for her sister.
Related reports:
Former College Lecturer Sexually Assaulted by a Torture Expert
After Her Third Arrest, University Teacher Jiang Yongqin’s Whereabouts Unknown
Teacher Jiang Yongqin of Zhejiang Sci-Tech University Sentenced to Prison