Ms. Wu Lingxia , female, 37, resident of Shuangyashan City, Heilongjiang Province.

Ms. Wu went to Beijing twice to appeal for an end of the persecution of Falun Gong. As a result, the local police of Changchun City, Jilin Province kidnapped her and extorted money from her and her family. The police often went to her home to harass her family. Unable to withstand the police’s frequent harassment, Ms. Wu’s husband divorced Ms. Wu. Later, when Ms. Wu was released, she returned to her hometown of Shuangyashan City, Heilongjiang Province. After her return home, local police of Shuangyashan City repeatedly arrested her, interrogated and extorted money from her for refusing to give up the practice of Falun Gong. In May 2001, the police arrested Ms. Wu while she was visiting a fellow practitioner. She was then sent to Shuangyashan Detention Center, where she was illegally detained for a month. On July 2, 2001 she was transferred to the Xigemu Labor Center in Jiamusi City, where she was severely tortured for long periods of time and given no medical attention when her condition worsened. As a result, she contracted hepatocirrhosis and ascites. She was sent home a year later and passed away on July 27, 2002. She had festered scars all over her body and severe edema in her abdomen. She leaves behind a teenage son and parents in their 70's.

type=Case, Death; type=Case, Women; type=Labor Camp, Xigemu Labor Camp; location=Heilongjiang