(Minghui.org)

Name: Ran YuexiaChinese Name: 冉月霞Gender: FemaleAge: 77City: BeijingProvince: N/AOccupation: Office workerDate of Death: December 4, 2023Date of Most Recent Arrest: May 8, 2018Most Recent Place of Detention: Fengtai District Police Department

A Fengtai District, Beijing resident died on December 4, 2023, one month after she turned 77. Ms. Ran Yuexia’s passing was a tragic end to her years of persecution for her faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.

Ms. Ran suffered numerous diseases, including lower back pain, rheumatism, stomach problems, insomnia, and rhinitis, before she took up Falun Gong in August 1994. She was also a Hepatitis B virus carrier. She was always fatigued and struggled to do her full-time job. To her surprise, all of her symptoms disappeared three months into her practice of Falun Gong and she became energetic again. Falun Gong’s principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance also taught her to be a more considerate person.

Because of her positive experience with Falun Gong, Ms. Ran never wavered in her faith after the persecution began. On July 20, 1999, the very day when the communist regime openly launched a nationwide campaign against Falun Gong, Ms. Ran went to the national appeals office to speak up for Falun Gong. She was arrested and detained for three days.

Ms. Ran went to Tiananmen Square to appeal for Falun Gong in January 2000 and was detained for more than ten days. Nine months later, she returned to Tiananmen Square to appeal again, only to be arrested a third time and detained for more than three weeks. Her fourth arrest took place in January 2001, with her being detained for more than one month. Not long after, her employer, the Beijing Urban Construction Design & Development Group Co., fired her for upholding her faith.

Ms. Ran was arrested in July 2001 and held at a brainwashing center for at least one month.

The police arrested Ms. Ran in March 2008 and held her at a different brainwashing center for another month. In July of that year, they arrested her at her daughter’s home and gave her one year and seven months of forced labor.

In March 2014, Ms. Ran was arrested for distributing Falun Gong informational materials and detained for more than 30 days.

Ms. Ran was arrested on April 24, 2015 and taken to a brainwashing center located in a hotel in Fengtai District. Prior to that, the police had harassed her family members numerous times for several months. She was arrested again on August 12, 2015 and released weeks later on September 6. She was again arrested on October 20, 2015 and taken to the same hotel-based brainwashing center. Three days later, she was moved to the Changping District Brainwashing Center.

Around 30 plainclothes officers from the Majiabao Police Station broke into practitioner Ms. Sun Zhongfang’s home on May 8, 2018 and arrested her and her six guests, including Ms. Ran. All seven of them were taken to the Fengtai District Detention Center, but released hours later.

In addition to the numerous arrests, Ms. Ran also saw her home raided many times over the years. Her family lived in fear every day. In her complaint against former Chinese dictator Jiang Zemin filed in 2015, she accused Jiang of launching the persecution that resulted in irreparable damage to her and her family, especially her husband and father. The endless persecution also took a toll on her health, which declined over the years and led to her passing in December 2023.