(Minghui.org) A 70-year-old resident of Changping District, Beijing, was released in April 2024, after serving a 1.5-year prison term for her faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.
Ms. Yang Jinju’s imprisonment stemmed from her arrest in October 2022. She was doing Falun Gong exercises outside her house when her neighbor saw her and reported her to the police, who soon arrived and took her to the Changping District Detention Center.
A local court sentenced Ms. Yang to one and a half years. She appealed, but the Beijing First Intermediate Court ruled against her. It is unclear where she served her prison term.
This was not the first time that Ms. Yang had been targeted for her faith. She previously served three forced labor terms totaling 6.5 years. Her husband passed away while she was serving her third forced labor term.
Life Transformed By Falun Gong
Ms. Yang took up Falun Gong in the second half of 1998, when she was at the lowest point in her life. She had lost her mother to an illness previously. Her husband had recently developed a mental disorder after he was laid off from his job and was unable to cope. She struggled to care for their middle-school-son on top of suffering from numerous chronic diseases, including cervical spondylosis, stomach problems, trachoma, rhinitis, skin diseases, tracheitis, headaches, back pain, leg pain, numbness in her hands and feet, insomnia, and cold intolerance.
Ms. Yang was most tormented by her stubborn insomnia. Some nights she was so sleepy yet couldn’t fall sleep and she even hit her head against the wall. Miraculously, three days into her Falun Gong practice, she was able to sleep soundly for the first time in decades. Her headaches disappeared in one week. Her other symptoms were completely gone one month later. She was no longer irritable thanks to her restored health.
Ms. Yang also learned to be a more considerate person by following Falun Gong’s principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.
Because of her first-hand experience with Falun Gong, Ms. Yang never wavered in her faith after the communist regime began to persecute the peaceful practice in July 1999. She was repeatedly targeted in the years that followed.
First Two Forced Labor Terms
Ms. Yang was given one year of forced labor on October 2000. Two months later she was taken to a dispatch center waiting to be assigned to a labor camp. The day she was brought to the dispatch center, she was forced to squat with her hands over her head for almost nine hours before being allowed to stand up.
The local police station and the street committee deceived Ms. Yang into stepping out of her home at the end of 2002. She refused to get into their car when told they were taking her to a brainwashing center. The police then twisted her hands behind her back and pressed her down on the ground. They next bent her legs before lifting her up and stuffing her into their car. She had bruises on her lower back and legs as a result, and the pain persisted for more than a month.
The brainwashing center staff deprived her of sleep in an attempt to make her renounce Falun Gong. When she still held firm to her faith, they gave her two and a half years of forced labor.
Third Forced Labor Term
Ms. Yang was arrested again around August 2008 during the Summer Olympics. She was soon given three years of forced labor and taken to the Daxing District Women’s Labor Camp. Captain Li Ziping of Team Two instructed several drug addicts and prostitutes to beat Ms. Yang savagely. They also forced her to stand for long hours without any sleep. Her legs became extremely swollen as a result.
The inmates also did not allow Ms. Yang to use the restroom and she wet her pants as a result. Yet they barred her from changing clothes and blamed her for causing a foul smell in the cell. They beat her and verbally abused her as punishment. One drug addict punched her in the chest and she immediately saw stars. She experienced pain for many years after that.
Ms. Yang dared not drink much water to avoid having to urinate. She also tried to hold urine for as long as she could since the inmates still restricted her restroom use. Before long, she struggled to pass urine and became constipated. There were 28 days straight when she was unable to have any bowel movements. Her belly hurt like crazy due to the extreme constipation. The inmates, however, grabbed her hair and yanked her up from the toilet. They took her back to the cell and slapped her in the face more than 20 times until they became exhausted themselves. They also kneaded her toes with the heels of their shoes, causing excruciating pain. Her toe nails fell off as a result and would not grow back until more than six months later.
Ms. Yang was also subjected to other forms of abuse. She was forced to sit on a small stool or a bar stool for long hours. Her buttocks festered as a result and oozed out pus, which stuck to her pants. Yet she was not allowed to change clothes or clean herself. One drug addict even stuffed a dirty rag into her mouth, knocking out one of her teeth. Her clothes were stained with blood. Her other teeth also became loose and later fell out.
Captain Zhu once picked Ms. Yang up by her collar and pushed her down to the ground. It took her a long time to get up. She felt pain all over, yet Zhu and another team head surnamed Xiong gave her a long “lecture” on how she should be loyal to the communist regime. By the time she was allowed to return to her cell, it was already midnight. She couldn’t fall asleep due to the pain and was soon ordered to get up to face another day of torture.
After three long years of torture, Ms. Yang was emaciated, disoriented, and head-heavy. Her hair also turned completely gray. Upon her release, she was heartbroken to learn that her husband had passed away due to the mental pressure of her detention. Their son still lived in fear every day.
Years later, Ms. Yang still suffered poor health as a result of the torture she endured in the labor camp. She had headaches, back pain, and chest pain. She often woke up from nightmares. Her feet remained swollen and she had to wear shoes two sizes bigger.
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