Name: Song Chunyuan (宋春媛)
Gender: Female
Age: 52
Address: Tahe, Daxinganling, Heilongjiang Province
Occupation: Retiree
Date of Most Recent Arrest: January 21, 2010
Most recent place of detention: Tahe County Detention Center (塔河县看守所)
City: Tahe
Province: Heilongjiang
Persecution Suffered: Detention, beatings, torture, sleep deprivation, extortion, home ransacked
(Clearwisdom.net) Ms. Song Chunyuan is a retiree from the Tahe Railroad. She was physically disabled during a major accident. After she started to practice Falun Gong, her health recovered. Ms. Song has been detained several times at detention centers and a labor camp, and is currently held at the Tahe Detention Center.
Disabled in an accident and recovered after practicing Falun Gong
On July 16, 1975, a rainy day, a group of Tahe Railroad workers were riding in a vehicle on the railroad tracks, and 19-year-old Song Chunyuan was among them. A train approached and failed to stop due to low visibility.
The train ran into the vehicle and crushed it, and eleven workers died at the scene. Ms. Song was severely injured and lost consciousness. She suffered severe injuries in her lumbar vertebra. Her kidneys were damaged the most, with one dislocated and the other one suffering from hydronephrosis (accumulation of urine in the kidney because of an obstruction in the ureter). She needed several major surgeries, which did not improve her condition much.
Ms. Song was unable to take care of herself, and her family members had to look after her. Even during the hot summer, she had to wrap her lower back with heavy clothes and a metal lower back protector. She also needed support when sitting to help alleviate the pain. Due to her weakened kidney functions, Ms. Song had to take Chinese medicine every day. Due to her constant pain, she became irritable and was often angry.
In 1998, someone recommended Falun Gong to Ms. Song. After practicing it for one month, she no longer needed the lower back protector. Her health improved steadily, and she was able to do household chores. After practicing Falun Gong, her temper also improved.
Sent to labor camp for her beliefs
After the persecution of Falun Gong began on July 20, 1999, Ms. Song was arrested four times and sent to a labor camp once. In July 2000, she went to Beijing to tell people about Falun Gong. Police officers from the Qianmen Police Station took her to the Meitougou Police Department and then to the Chengzi Police Station. During that period of time, Ms. Song was threatened, beaten, deprived of water, exposed under the burning sun for a long time, forced to squat, deprived of sleep, not allowed to sit, and tied to a tree for a whole night. The next morning, police officers tied her to a tree next to the gate for two hours, followed by taking her to the Meitougou Police Department. She was eventually sent to the Xinlin Detention Center in Daxinganling City and kept there for more than 20 days. She was also forced to pay 4,000 Yuan. After her release, police officers and residential committee officials often came to harass her.
In 2001, the Xinlin Police Department head, together with two officers from the Taergen Police Station (Wang Xiquan and an officer surnamed Cai) went to Ms. Song's home and tried to force her to slander Falun Gong. She refused and policemen then took her, together with another practitioner, to the Xinlin Detention Center and detained them there for 49 days. Party Secretary Xue from Ms. Song's workplace deceived Ms. Song into paying him 5,000 Yuan.
On June 12, 2003, Ms. Song and two other practitioners went to the Tahe Copy Center to prepare Falun Gong literature. Xu Feng from the Tahe Police Department led several people to Ms. Song's home, including Shi Wei, Yang Kai, Han Yuqing, and Wang Xiquan from the Taergen Police Station. In addition to arresting Ms. Song, they also took away her daughter and detained her for 7 days in the name of "impeding government affairs." Her daughter merely wanted to keep them from taking away the book Zhuan Falun. After being detained in the Tahe Detention Center for more than 40 days, Ms. Song was subjected to three years of forced labor and taken to the Shuanghe Labor Camp in Qiqihar. Later, she was released on medical parole.
At about 5:00 pm on January 21, 2010, when Ms. Song was distributing Falun Gong materials, plainclothes police officer Sun Wei arrested her and took her to the Tahe Police Department.
Several people then went to Ms. Song's home, including Li Jun, She Kai, Wang Guo Yi, Han De Gang, Sun Wei and Sun Yan Guo from the Talin Police Station. They took away Falun Gong books, two MP3 players and a computer. They also took Ms. Song's children to the police station for interrogation.
On January 22, Wang Guoyi and several other people went to Ms. Song's home. They placed Falun Gong books where they used to be and began to take pictures, which was later used as evidence in court.
Currently, Ms. Song is still being detained at the Tahe County Detention Center.
People involved in the persecution:
Gou Bing, Head of the Tahe County Police Department: 86-457-3666743 (Office)
Li Jun, Head of the Tahe County Domestic Security Division: 86-13804843102 (Cell)
Li Zhihua, Head of the Tahe County 610 Office: 86-457-3609042 (Office)
Li Shuchang, Party Secretary of the Political and Law Committee, Tahe County: 86-457-3661422 (Office)
Shi Wei, section head of Tahe County Domestic Security Division: 86-457-3665631 (Home)
Sun Wei, police officer, Tahe Police Department: 86-457-3662882 (Office)
Yang Kai, police officer, Tahe County Police Department
