After the persecution of Falun Gong began, between December 5, 1999 and July 8, 2003, she was detained six times because she refused to give up Falun Gong. Three times she was sent to the Nanmusi Women's Labor Camp in Zizhong County, Sichuan Province. During her 856 days of detention there, Ms. Zhou was tortured with various cruel methods. She protested the detention and abuse through hunger strikes eight times, demanding her unconditional release. Her longest hunger strike lasted 89 days, from September 2 to November 29, 2002, during which time her internal organs and the muscles throughout her body became severely atrophied. Finally, she was released from the labor camp.
From May 21 to July 8, 2003, Xu Wenhai from the Dujiangyan City "610 Office" and Police Chief He Qin from the Dujiangyan City Zhongxin Police Station handcuffed Ms. Zhou's hands to the headboard of a bed and tied her feet to the bed frame; they kept her this way for as long as 49 days, completely immobilizing her. Her heartbeat was as fast as over 160 beats per minute. Her arms became numb and stiff. She suffered from muscle necrosis in the area of a wound on her leg that was injured from a beating, making her unable to bend her right leg. After she returned home from the labor camp, through practicing Falun Gong, she was able to stand again after a little over three months. Both of her legs recovered, as did her heart. Ms. Zhou had to leave her home in order to avoid further persecution.
Photo 1: On December 6, 1999, the police body-searched Ms. Zhou in Beijing's Tiananmen Square Police Station. The police hit her on her nose with a wooden club. Her eyes became so swollen that her face was deformed. Her eyes were black and blue and it took one month for her to recover.
Photo 2: On December 7, 1999, in the Chengdu City Liaison Office in Beijing, the police punched and kicked her. She was knocked down to the floor many times. As a result, Ms. Zhou was unable to raise her arms for one month and she could not even turn her body. Her whole body was black and blue from the beating.
Photos 3, 4, & 5: In April 2000, when Ms. Zhou was meditating in the No. 3 Team of the Nanmusi Women's Labor Camp in Zizhong County, guard and team leader Zhan ordered drug-addict inmates to kick her. She fell on the ground and the inmates stomped on her legs. During the whole month of April, Ms. Zhou was beaten almost every day, and injuries covered her whole body. In May 2003, guards ordered the drug addicts to stuff filthy cleaning rags into her mouth and then to beat her violently.
Photo 6: On June 20, 2000, when Ms. Zhou was detained in the Nanmusi Women’s Labor Camp, guards from the Defense Team grabbed her by her handcuffs and dragged her across the ground for several yards. The skin on her hip became abraded during the dragging. Guard Mao Weihan then handcuffed her to a tree with her hands behind her back and shocked her for a long time with a high-voltage electric baton.
Photo 7: On June 20, 2000, while Ms. Zhou was detained in the Nanmusi Labor Camp, the drug addict inmates took her to the newly established No. 7 Team designated for persecuting Falun Gong practitioners. Just as she entered the gate, guard Li Jun slapped her face fiercely several times, yelling "Hang her up for me!" She was then hung by her arms for a whole day.
Photo 8: At the beginning of July 2000 when Ms. Zhou was detained in the Nanmusi Women’s Labor Camp, because she refused to listen to the brainwashing materials, the guards punished her by forcing her to squat down and stand up more than 1,000 times on two occasions within the same day. Thereafter, she could not walk and her whole body ached terribly.
Photo 9: In early July 2000, while Ms. Zhou was detained in No. 7 Team of the Nanmusi Women’s Labor Camp, guard Li used a club with sharp protrusions to beat her because she did Falun Gong exercises in her cell.
Photo 10: On January 13, 2001, because Ms. Zhou refused to attend the meeting about slandering Falun Gong, team leader Zhang Xiaofang and guard Liao from the No. 7 Team, and the Defense Team leader Yang kicked her for a long time.
Photo 11: After the guards kicked Ms. Zhou, they handcuffed her. Defense Team leader Yang grabbed her by her coat and pulled her down to the ground. Her coat and pants were torn in the process. Yang also ordered other inmates to hold her down and make her sit on a plastic stool, forcing her to listen to the slander.
Photo 12: In March 2001, when authorities of the Nanmusi Women’s Labor Camp collected signatures to slander Falun Gong, Ms. Zhou refused to sign her name. Guard Zhang Xiaofang from the No. 7 Team shocked her with an electric baton.
Photo 13 and 14: On March 3, 2001, while Ms. Zhou Huimin was detained in the No. 9 Team of the Nanmusi Women’s Labor Camp, she refused to do the labor camp exercises. Guard Li thus ordered drug addicts to beat her.
Photo 15 & 16: On October 13, 2001, Ms. Zhou told people the facts of the persecution of Falun Gong on Tianfu Square in Chengdu City. She was arrested by personnel from the Xiyuhe Police Station and sent to Chengdu City Longquan Detention Center. In the evening, detention center administrator Wei and several guards dragged her to the hallway outside her cell and then beat her. They also poured cold water on her to torment her further.
Photo 17: Starting from October 13, 2001, while Ms. Zhou was detained in the Longquan Detention Center, the guards tortured her by handcuffing and shackling her. The shackles had three heavy metal weights. Sometimes, she and another practitioner were bound together with one pair of shackles. Other times, guards handcuffed her hands that had already been handcuffed onto another practitioner's hands. Then the guards tortured her with a method called "a dragon holding the column" [both hands are handcuffed around one leg. Being shackled in this way makes one unable to stand straight, and one's center of gravity is completely disrupted]. She was tortured this way for 34 days.
Photo 18: In January 2002, while Ms. Zhou was on a hunger strike in the Chengdu City Pi County Detention Center, a police officer by the last name of Jiang ordered the inmates to use bamboo sticks used in binding books to pry open Ms. Zhou's mouth for force-feeding. They injured her lips and gums, but still failed to finish the force-feeding. In the end they poured a bowl of gruel on her face and clothes.
Photo 24: From September 7 to September 19, 2002, Ms. Zhou was tortured in the Chengdu City Qingyang District Hospital: From 9:00 p.m. to 9:00 a.m. the next day, the police kept her shackled onto a bed. The police used handcuffs to shackle one of her legs to the bed. At the same time, her hand was handcuffed to the bed frame. In the daytime, the police used the shackles to restrain her feet on the bed, and then gave her an intravenous infusion. The armed police and the detention center guards took turns guarding her.
Photo 25: Toward the end of September 2002, Ms. Zhou was sent from the Chengdu City Qingyang District Hospital to the internal medicine department's inpatient section in the third building of the Jianyang City Chinese Medicine Hospital. At that time, the hospital issued a notice saying that she was in critical condition. The officials from the Ziyang City "610 Office," the Jianyang City "610 Office," the Jiancheng Town Government Comprehensive Management Office and the doctors at the hospital forcefully tied her on the bed and then gave her an intravenous infusion of sleeping drugs. On September 29, 2002, she was sentenced to two years of forced labor. On October 29, 2002, the Nanmusi Labor Camp authorities released her because of her critical condition. Immediately after her release, the Jianyang City "610 Office" enforcers abducted her again and took her to the Internal Medicine Department's inpatient section of the Jianyang City Chinese Medicine Hospital, where she was tortured for 30 days. This round of persecution lasted for 89 days, starting with her being transferred from the Chengdu City Huangwajie Police Station to the Pi County Detention Center, then to Jianyang Detention Center, then to Nanmusi Women’s Labor Camp, and finally to the Jianyang City "610 Office." Ms. Zhou protested by going on a hunger strike which lasted 89 days. Her internal organs and muscles became severely atrophied.
Photo 19 & 20: On December 9, 2002, officials from the Chengdu City "610 Office" arrested Ms. Zhou. Officers from the Guangrong Community Police Station participated in the arrest. They carried her down from the sixth floor because she refused to be taken away.
Photo 21: Ms. Zhou Huimin was released from prison after her 89-day hunger strike. On December 9, 2002 just ten days after she got back home, Chengdu City "610 Office" enforcers and Guangrong Community Police Station officers ransacked her home . She was again abducted and taken to the fourth floor of the Chengdu City Baifurong Hotel. The police took off her coat and only let her wear a thin sweater. They soaked a towel with water, and then squeezed the towel, letting the water drip on her head. Ms. Zhou was tortured this way for five days and five nights. Her clothes were soaking wet the whole time.
Photo 22: On December 12, 2002, when Ms. Zhou was detained at the Baifurong Hotel, a policeman who was about 50 years old kept stabbing her forehead with a ballpoint pen, until the pen broke
Photo 23: From December 9 to December 13, 2002, while Ms. Zhou was detained at the Baifurong Hotel, the police handcuffed her onto a wood stool. While they directed a very strong light from a table lamp toward her eyes, they did not let her sleep or close her eyes. As soon as she closed her eyes, they would use a wet towel to slap her face. Her face was injured and became swollen from the beating.
Photo 26: On June 4, 2003, while in Dujiangyan City Central Hospital of Forestry, seven to eight police officers including Xu Wenhai from the Dujiangyan City "610 Office," He Qin from the Dujiangyan City Zhongxin Police Station and others held Ms. Zhou down tightly for force-feeding. This picture shows that they failed to insert the feeding tube completely. The tube was still inside Ms. Zhou's mouth. Police officer Zheng Zhaofu wanted to pull the tube out and re-insert it. To resist such abuse, Zhou Huimin held on to the tube with her teeth for three days and nights. Her abdomen became very swollen due to the hunger strike.
Photo 27: In mid-June 2003, Ms. Zhou was abducted again and once more taken to Dujiangyan City Hospital of Forestry for further torture. Most of the blood vessels in her thighs became shriveled. Xu Wenhai from the Dujiangyan City "610 Office" and He Qin from the Dujiangyan City Zhongxin Police Station twice instructed the doctors to give Ms. Zhou a general anesthesia, and the numbness lasted about four hours each time. They then inserted a tube into Ms. Zhou's stomach and carried out the force-feeding. By then, Ms. Zhou's heartbeat was up to 140 beats per minute. This round of cruel torture began on May 21, 2003 and ended on July 8, 2003, lasting 49 days. During this outrageous mistreatment, the police handcuffed Ms. Zhou and tied her to the bed to prevent her from moving. Her legs and arms could not bend because of the torture.
