(Minghui.org) A woman in Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province, was released on August 8, 2025 after serving a 3.5-year term for practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.

Ms. Chen Yawen was arrested at home around 6 p.m. on February 10, 2022, by officers from the Zhanqian Police Station. The Dali District Court sentenced her at an unknown time and she was admitted to an unknown prison on March 30, 2023.

Following her arrest, Ms. Chen was held at the police station for two days before she was transferred to the Harbin City Administration Detention Center. The guards there removed her glasses which she needed for her astigmatism and myopia as soon as she arrived, they it was because, “The glasses had metal parts.”

Without her glasses Ms. Chen could not see clearly and had to rely on others for her daily activities, including eating, organizing her personal items, and reading. She appealed a few times but the guards refused to return her glasses. They said that she must write statements to renounce her faith before she could, “Earn the privilege to make any kind of requests.”

On March 15, 2022, Ms. Chen was transferred to the Harbin City Second Detention Center, where she was held until her prison transfer on March 30, 2023. The guards there forced her and other newly admitted inmates to sit still on a big bed for hours every day for more than one week. Their buttocks became swollen and bruised and were in excruciating pain. Falun Gong practitioners were also reprimanded from time to time.

Ms. Chen and others were only allowed to use the restroom during designated times, no matter how urgently they needed to. The restroom break however was very short and dozens of people were lined up. Some paced around and said they felt their bladder was about to explode.

Ms. Chen was ordered to be on patrol duty the first day at the detention center. The patrol duty involved groups of 5-6 people taking turns watching others taking naps or sleeping at night. They must remain standing during their two-hour shift. If they spotted anyone snoring or having their limbs in the wrong place (except the head inmate who occupied a big bed, everyone else had to sleep next to each other like sardines in a can), they must wake her up and correct her position.

Whether on patrol duty or not, Ms. Chen struggled to have a good night’s sleep. She experienced low blood sugar and fainted several times. After a small break, she was ordered to continue her patrol duty. Even when she was not on duty, she could not lie down to take a break except during nap time.

Ms. Chen also faced tremendous pressure to renounce her faith as the detention center linked the guards’ job performance to how many Falun Gong practitioners they managed to transform. They threatened to make Ms. Chen’s life miserable if she refused to renounce her faith.

The guards also used inmates to abuse Falun Gong practitioners. Wang Ninging was especially cruel to practitioners. Once Ms. Chen stayed in the restroom for a bit longer because she felt dizzy due to low blood sugar. Wang yanked her hair hard and cursed at her. An elderly practitioner was also often verbally abused by Wang and the mental stress caused her to suffer from frequent urination, which invited more abuse from Wang. Once the elderly woman asked to take a break from her patrol duty because she felt extremely uncomfortable, but Wang accused her of faking and beat her up with a few others in a corner where there were no surveillance cameras. The practitioner’s family later hired a lawyer and only then did Wang stop abusing her.

Ms. Chen’s family sent her another pair of glasses, which she was allowed to wear. Wang snatched her new glasses one day when the guard was on duty and said that glasses with metal frame were prohibited.

Inmate Chen Jing (no relation) allowed Ms. Chen to wear glasses while doing forced labor but required her to hand in the glasses after she was done. Once she did not comply and Chen snatched her glasses and verbally abused her.