This was the fourth time Ms. Shi Yingchun had been imprisoned.
She died around March 4, 2010, after a series of arrests, imprisonment and torture.
FDI: Elderly Falun Gong Practitioner, Jailed for Handing Out Fliers, Dies in Chinese Prison Camp
31 Mar 2010
NEW YORK - A 60-year-old woman died on March 18 in a northeast
China prison camp where authorities had sent her after finding her
distributing information about the persecution against Falun Gong. This
was the fourth time Ms. Shi Yingchun had been wrongfully
incarcerated, suffering repeated torture sessions of beatings, electric
baton shocks, forced-feedings and sleep deprivation.
"Despite the horrific torture she had already suffered for her
faith in Falun Gong, she went out and tried to inform the public of the
atrocities being committed against her and her fellow citizens," says
Falun Gong Information Center spokeswoman Gail Rachlin. "For that act
of compassion and courage, she was jailed again, but this time, did not
survive the torture. Her case is tragically common and speaks directly
to the senselessness of the Chinese Communist Party's brutal campaign
against Falun Gong practitioners and freedom of expression more
generally."
On August 2, 2008, Ms. Shi was detained while handing out fliers in
public about the persecution against Falun Gong. This is a common
practice among Falun Gong practitioners and supporters in China given
that virtually all access to objective news on Falun Gong is highly
censored or blocked entirely, including via the media and on the
Internet. By informing the public of the reality of what Falun Gong is
and what adherents are suffering, the aim is to discourage individuals
from participating in the persecution. Anecdotal evidence points to
numerous cases in which such aims have indeed been achieved.
After being taken into custody in 2008, Ms. Shi was held at
Suizhong Detention Center for two months. She was then put through a
sham trial and sent to the Liaoning Province Women's Prison for a seven
year "sentence."
According to sources inside China, Ms. Shi died at Liaoning Province Women's Prison on March 18, 2010.
Previous Detentions and Torture in Custody
Ms. Shi sold vegetables for a living in a market near her home in
Huludao City, Liaoning Province. Ms. Shi had begun practicing Falun
Gong in 1995. Her husband and son were also Falun Gong practitioners.
Ms. Shi was first detained by police on July 23, 1999 -- three days
after the Chinese Communist Party launched the campaign to "eradicate"
Falun Gong. She was held for seven days and then released.
Because Ms. Shi would not renounce Falun Gong, she was detained a
second time on October 5,1999 by local police. While subsequently being
held at the Huludao City Detention Center, Ms. Shi was tortured several
times, including having her pants removed and being whipped about the
buttocks and legs, suffering beatings to the face and sleep
deprivation.
After being held for 20 days at the Huludao City Detention
Center, Ms. Shi was sent to the Masanjia Forced Labor Camp for two
years. While being held at Masanjia, she was tortured repeatedly with
electric shock batons to the feet, body and face. On at least one
occasion, other incarcerated Falun Gong practitioners were brought into
an adjacent office to hear Ms. Shi's screams while being tortured in an
attempt to scare them.
On October 24, 2001, Ms. Shi was released. However, six days later,
she was detained again while practicing the Falun Gong exercises in a
park near her home. Ms. Shi was then sent back to Masanjia for three
years.
The Liaoning Province Women's Prison is located in Baixintai
Village, Pingluo Town, Yuhong District, Shenyang City, Liaoning
Province. Phone numbers for the prison director, Mr. Yang Li, are as
follows: 86-24-89296666 (Office), 86-24-86914173 (Home), 86-13390118299
(Mobile).
Ms. Hu Suhua Dies in Custody in Hohhot City Police Department
Name: Hu Suhua
Gender: Female
Age: 56
Address: Hongshan District, Chifeng City, Inner-Mongolia
Autonomous Region
Occupation: Unknown
Date of Death: Around March 4, 2010
Date of Most Recent Arrest: June 3, 2006
Most Recent Place of Detention: Masanjia Forced Labor Camp
in Shenyang City, Liaoning Province
City: Hohhot
Province: Inner-Mongolia Autonomous Region
Persecution Suffered: Electric shock, sleep deprivation,
forced labor, brainwashing, beatings, hung up, solitary
confinement, torture, force-feedings, physical restraint, home
ransacked, interrogation, detention, denial of restroom use
Ms. Hu Suhua used to have many sicknesses, which made her miserable. All of her symptoms disappeared after she started practicing Falun Gong. After the persecution began in 1999, she was arrested multiple times and sent to forced labor camps twice. Her husband divorced her under huge pressure. She had to leave her hometown to live in Hohhot City in order to avoid being arrested. Before her death, she was followed by the police, and her rental home was ransacked. She died in custody in Hohhot City Police Department around March 4, 2010.
In 2000, Ms. Hu was arrested, sent to Tumuji Forced Labor Camp, and later transferred to Hohhot City Women's Forced Labor Camp. She absolutely refused to give up her faith. She was handcuffed to a bedstead for 25 days in a position made that made it impossible for her to stand up, sit down, or lie down. The other prisoners had to help her use the chamber pot since she was unable to open the handcuffs. Her feet and legs were severely swollen. In May 2001, she refused to write an article slandering Falun Gong, so the guards handcuffed her to the bedstead again for 38 days and starved her. Seeing that she still refused to write the article, the guards added four bricks to the bed frame, raising her further off the ground, which increased the pain.
On July 2, 2001, the camp held a big meeting to slander Falun Gong. Ms. Liu Zhenyu went to the podium to clarify the truth about Falun Gong, so the guards handcuffed her to a metal bed frame and shocked her with an electric baton and punched, and kicked her. Many of the other detained practitioners stood up to reason with the guards, but they were all brutally beaten, including Ms. Hu Suhua. From the afternoon until the evening, the warden, guards and drug-addicted prisoners cruelly beat more than a dozen practitioners, shocked them with electric batons, kicked them, and whipped them with leather belts. The guards were too exhausted to continue, but they still encouraged prisoners to beat the practitioners, promising to "reward" them with reduced terms. The guards began the cruel beatings again the next afternoon. Ms. Hu passed out three times. She was covered with bloody sores and bruises.
On November 7, 2001, Ms. Hu and more than a dozen practitioners went on hunger strike to protest, but they were brutally beaten and force-fed highly concentrated salt water. The guards and prisoners handcuffed Ms. Hu in a cell without heat for two weeks. They opened the window and took off her clothes so she would freeze. They sealed the door and window facing the hallway, so no one would see her. The handcuffed both of her hands behind her to the metal window frame, and only the tips of her toes touched the floor. They did not let her use the toilet.
In November 2005, domestic security agents from Hongshan District Police Precinct ransacked Ms. Hu's home and took all of her belongings, including a refrigerator, TV, furniture, cooking ware, and clothes and more than 5000 yuan cash. They also took her friends' personal belongings that were stored in her home as well as her child's belongings. Her child was in college out of town and suddenly lost connection with his mother. He was starving and had to live on a schoolmate's charity.
At around 11 p.m. on June 3, 2006, Guo Yuming, Domestic Security Team Captain of Chifeng City Police Department, arrested eight practitioners, including Ms. Hu. They drove six to seven vehicles and hid for three days in the Balipuxiaoqiao Neighborhood in Chaoyang City, Liaoning Province. They climbed over the wall and violently beat practitioners. They tried to cover up their illegal acts by shouting, "Stop! Thieves!" Ms. Hu immediately called out the truth, "We are Falun Gong practitioners, not thieves!" The officers beat her cruelly and pulled one of her arms behind her and the other over the top of her shoulder, then tied her hands together behind her back with wire. When they dragged her into the vehicle, both of her shoes fell off.
After being detained for 15 days, she was taken to Masanjia Forced Labor Camp in Shenyang City, Liaoning Province. She was released after the second day but had to leave home to avoid being arrested again. She recently died in custody in Hohhot City Police Department.