Victims:

1.      Ms. Zhang Shufen, female, 61, resident of Xiangyang District, Jiamusi City, Heilongjiang Province.

2.      Mr. Huang Min, male, resident of Xiangyang District, Jiamusi City, Heilongjiang Province.

3.      Ms. Wang Fengying, female, 71, resident of Xiangyang District, Jiamusi City, Heilongjiang Province.

Perpetrators:

1.       Chen Wanyou, Policeman with the Political and Protection Brigade of the Jiamusi City Public Security Bureau.

2.       Cui Rongli, Brigade Head of Political and Protection Brigade of Xiangyang Police Department.

3.       Su Fuli, Head of the Politics and Protection Brigade of Xiangyang Police Department.

Ms. Zhang Shufen is a 61-year-old Falun Gong practitioner from Xiangyang District of Jiamusi City, Heilongjiang Province. The past five years of persecution of Falun Gong has brought tremendous mental, physical and economic trauma to Ms. Zhang and her family.

In May 2000, Ms. Zhang went to Tiananmen Square in Beijing to appeal to the central government to stop the persecution of Falun Gong. She was arrested and sent to a detention center in her hometown. Ms. Zhang went on a hunger strike for nine days to protest her incarceration, after which she was released.

On December 17, 2001, a security team led by Policeman Chen Wanyou of the Political and Protection Brigade of the City Public Security Bureau and Cui Rongli, Brigade Head of Political and Protection Brigade of Xiangyang Police Department surrounded Ms. Zhang’s home, and detained Ms. Zhang and several other Falun Gong practitioners.

For persisting in her beliefs, Ms. Zhang was sentenced to three years of forced labor.

At the labor camp, the Falun Gong practitioners were given only food with little nutritional value, and their every move was strictly monitored. Ms. Zhang was forced to do hard labor, even after she developed a whole-body scabies infection.

One day in the prison, Ms. Zhang and other two elderly practitioners removed an anti-Falun Gong sign from a wall. In reprisal, the police put the three of them under “strict management.” They were cuffed to their beds. Ms. Zhang went on a hunger strike to protest the torture. On the tenth day, she lost consciousness while in the restroom. When she woke up, her left ankle was fractured and she could not walk. She was also hurt in her pelvic area, her feet were black and blue, and someone had drenched her with water .

Ms. Zhang continued the hunger strike for another 5 days, until September 30, when in a heavily weakened condition she was released.

A year later on September 30, 2002, Su Fuli, Head of the Politics and Protection Brigade of Xiangyang Police Department, led a group police again to again break into Ms. Zhang’s  home. Because she still practiced Falun Gong, they forcefully abducted her, and again sent her to a detention center.

To protest the torture she received and her being repeatedly persecuted, Ms. Zhang again went on a hunger strike at the detention center. Soon thereafter, she became quite weak, and had to lie in a bed every day. On November 2, 2002, only when Ms. Zhang was close to death, the police sent her to a hospital for emergency treatment. The doctor found that her internal organs had sustained damage. Her gallbladder had a noticeably large cyst. Her heartbeat reached 150 beats per minute. Her eyes were yellow and green, and her face and body were purple, her lips blue, and she was covered in scabies. Even in such a condition, the police ordered she be shackled while being treated in a special room under heavy guard. She was released fourteen days later.

When Ms. Zhang returned home, she had lost half of her hair, and she discovered that her workplace had fired her.  

Ms. Zhang’s husband, Mr. Huang Min was also wanted by the perpetrators because he is a Falun Gong practitioner. In March 2002, to avoid further persecution, Mr. Huang was forced to leave home.

Officers from, the Pubic Security Bureau of Heilongjiang Province, the Public Security Bureau of Jiamusi City, and the Xiangyang Police Department constantly went to Ms. Zhang’s home to harass the family. Among abuses, police broke into the house at night, and abducted family members for interrogation. The family continues to receive harassing phone calls to this day.

On February 18, 2003, Mr. Huang was arrested in Shandong Province and sentenced to twenty years in prison, because he persisted in practicing Falun Gong. Ms. Zhang went to Weihai City Detention Center, requesting to visit him but was refused. The authorities kept Ms. Zhang from attending her husband’s trial by lying about the date it would be held.

The 1,500 yuan Mr. Huang had on his person at the time of arrest was also taken by police. Ms. Zhang went to Weihai City 610 Office and Huancui Court to ask for the return of the money, but was refused.

The last time Ms. Zhang and her family visited Mr. Huang was around the February 2004. They have been denied visiting him since.

During the days when police were staking out Mr. Huang, the whole family,  including more distant relatives, were affected by the persecution. Ms. Zhang’s brother and sisters were harassed by police officers. Even her daughter-in-law’s parents were not exempted. In Mr. Huang’s hometown in He’nan Province, to discover his whereabouts, the police ransacked Mr. Huang’s brother and aunt’s homes. All the phone lines were tapped.

type=case, family;type=case, religion; type=case, torture;