(Minghui.org) A Kunming City, Yunnan Province, woman in her 70s was held in a forced labor camp for one and a half years and twice incarcerated for a total of six and half years after the Chinese communist regime began to persecute her faith, Falun Gong (also known as Falun Dafa), in July 1999. Below is Ms. Li Zhuxiu’s own account of her persecution.
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I’m 73 this year. I worked for the Yunnan Province Cement Company before I retired. I began a new chapter in my life after I took up Falun Gong, an ancient spiritual and meditation discipline, in 1997. But after the Chinese Communist Party ordered a nationwide campaign to eradicate Falun Gong in 1999, I have been repeatedly targeted over the past 25 years for upholding my faith, including arrests, home raids and prison sentences. My pension was suspended while I was serving a 3.5-year term between 2019 and 2021. The persecution and harassment all these years has not only caused me tremendous mental pressure, but has also left my family members and friends in fear and distress.
Ailments Disappeared after Taking Up Falun Gong
Before I became a practitioner, I suffered all kinds of ailments, especially with my stomach and kidney stones. The pain was so severe that even opioid painkillers had no effect on me. I tried many other medications, but there was no improvement. Not long after, I met a Falun Gong practitioner who told me about people who’d recovered from serious illnesses by practicing Falun Gong. I was also happy to learn about Falun Gong’s principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. They uplifted and inspired me when the morality in society was degenerating so quickly. I took up the practice and soon regained my health.
1.5-year Labor Camp Term in 2002
A fellow practitioner, Ms. Duan Xuying, and I traveled from the Haigeng Dam back to Kunming on June 29, 2002. She left her purse on the bus and the driver turned it into the lost and found. After finding Falun Gong books in the purse, Ma Bin, the head of Wuhua District Domestic Security Division, and over ten other officers arrested us and took us to the Wuhua District Detention Center. The police initially said that, if our families each paid them 10,000 yuan, they would release us. But then they changed their mind and decided to keep us in custody. During the 45 days I was detained, they kept trying to pressure me to give up Falun Gong. I was also forced to sort peppers day and night, without pay. I wasn’t allowed to sleep if I didn’t finish the daily quota. The inmates beat and verbally abused us at will.
Given my prolonged absence, my manager at work came to the detention center to demand my release. He said that I had done excellent work over the past 30 years and he was willing to pay the fine to get me out. The police still refused to release me and transferred me to the Yunnan Province Women’s Forced Labor Camp on August 18, 2002, to serve a 1.5-year term.
Sentenced to Three Years in Prison in 2012
Around 2 p.m. on May 4, 2012, Qiu Xueyan of the Xishan District Domestic Security Division and seven officers of the Haikou Police Station broke into my home, raided it, and confiscated my computer and other personal items. I was held in the Xishan District Detention Center for 18 months and forced to do free labor during that time.
The Kunming City Intermediate Court later sentenced me to three years. I appealed to the Yunnan Provincial High Court, which ruled to uphold my original verdict. I was taken to the Yunnan Province Second Women’s Prison in January 2014. Guard Li Guoying of the ninth ward forced me to sit on a small stool motionless for long hours and didn’t let me buy toilet paper. They never stopped trying to pressure me into renouncing Falun Gong during my term.
Second Prison Sentence of 3.5 Years in 2019
I was reported for distributing Falun Gong materials near the Chenggong Subway Station and arrested by seven Chenggong Police Station officers on February 28, 2019. They searched my home and anything related to Falun Gong, including the books and wall decoration.
The Yiliang County Court sentenced me to 3.5 years on August 30, 2019, based on the charge of “undermining law enforcement with a cult organization,” the standard pretext used by the communist regime to frame Falun Gong practitioners. The verdict was signed by presiding judge Li Yi and judges Ma Kaiping and Lin Jiaxue. I appealed to the Kunming City Intermediate Court, but presiding judge Xu Jianbin and judges Ruan Wenbo and Liu Hua ruled to uphold the sentence. I was transferred from the Kunming City Detention Center to the Yunnan Province Second Women’s Prison on December 12, 2019.
Tortured in the Yunnan Province Second Women’s Prison
On my first day in prison, I was put under “strict management” in the ninth ward. “Strict management” meant subjecting Falun Gong practitioners to all sorts of torture (described below) in an attempt to make us renounce our faith.
The guards forced me to sit on a small stool for at least 15 hours a day. I wasn’t allowed to move, talkm or even close my eyes. Bedtime and use of the restroom were strictly regulated. I was only given a single basin of water to brush my teeth and wash myself. I could shower once a week. Although we had to buy all of our daily necessities, the guards capped my monthly spending at 50 yuan, which was barely enough for me to get everything I needed. I wasn’t allowed to buy extra food, either. I also had to get permission before I could buy anything and I had to write down what “crime” I’d committed. I wasn’t allowed to buy anything a few times because I refused to admit that I was a criminal. The guards also barred me from meeting with my family or writing to them.
All of us Falun Gong practitioners were monitored by other inmates around the clock. Most of the monitors were vicious drug dealers serving life sentences. Some of them had their terms reduced for their “excellent work” in monitoring us. But if the practitioners were found reading Falun Gong books or doing the exercises, the inmates’ terms might be extended. The guards punished some inmates for “failing to keep tabs on me,” and they in turn lashed out at me and verbally abused me even worse. They often pulled off my covers in the middle of the night to see if I was doing the Falun Gong exercises.
The prison doctor once collected samples of my blookd four times in two months. I was very nervous and worried, wondering if I would become a victim of forced organ harvesting. I couldn’t fall asleep and lived in fear.
On top of the all the physical abuse, a guard surnamed Xiang forced me to watch or read propaganda materials slandering Falun Gong. I couldn’t endure it anymore and wrote a guarantee statement against my will. I regretted it so much.
In March 2020, I was transferred to the fifth ward and forced to work without pay. Most of the profits went into the pockets of the guards and leaders. To maximize our working hours, they limited our water intake and the frequency of our restroom use. We weren’t allowed to go back to the cell if we didn’t finish the daily quota. Even the janitors had to work in the sweatshop. Those who didn’t follow the guards’ orders were required to clean the restroom. The guards also arranged for an inmate to monitor my daily activities and take notes.
While I was serving time, the Xishan District Social Security Bureau visited me and demanded that I return the pension that I had received. When I refused to comply, they found my son and threatened him: “She has to return the money even if she dies in prison!” Fearing that they might indeed torture me to death, my son paid them 2,500 yuan out of his own income each month until six months after I was released.
Harassment after Prison Release
After I was released, Yongchang Police Station officers frequently harassed me, especially around major holidays and political conferences. They also installed surveillance cameras in my apartment building and ordered the security guard to report my daily activities. One day I noticed an officer following me when I went out to buy groceries.
I was summoned to the Yongchang Police Station in September 2023. Officer Pan Yunhong claimed that someone saw me leaving the subdivision around 4 a.m. the day before. When I challenged them to provide evidence, they said they didn’t have any. I condemed them for violating my basic rights by following me and taking photos of me.
A few days later, officers from the Haikou Police Station, where my household os registered, and officers Li Jian and Pan form the Yongchang Police Station harassed me again. They asked me if I had contact with other Falun Gong practitioners. I refused to answer their questions and demanded to know their names and police IDs. They didn’t give me their personal information and attempted to take photos of me. I urged them not to participate in the persecution, because all the perpetrators will one day be brought to justice.
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