(Minghui.org) Ms. Wang Shuying, 49, was an excellent salesperson at a clothing counter in the Jiamusi City Department Store until she was dismissed because of her belief in Falun Gong. Since the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) began to persecute practitioners in July 1999, her family life has been torn apart. She has been arrested four times and held in forced labor camps.
Ms. Wang used to suffer from many illnesses before she started practicing, and found life hard and tiring, especially after the birth of her child. However, after practicing and strictly following the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, her physical and mental health drastically improved. She was diligent at work and received positive comments from her supervisor and colleagues. Ms. Wang also often helped her neighbors and was widely thought of as a good person in the community.
Arrested and home ransacked
Ms. Wang was having dinner at her home when the deputy director of Xilin Police Station in Jiamusi City Shao Kunhai and officer Tian Weimin broke into her home at around 7 p.m. on September 8, 2010. They ransacked her place and arrested her without showing any legal documentation. Shao Kunhai shouted at Ms. Wang: “Turn in your possessions voluntarily. Don't wait for us to search for them!” When they found her Falun Dafa books, they called in two more officers, who were waiting downstairs. They confiscated the Dafa books as well as truth-clarification materials, her residence permit, ID and photos. They then took Ms. Wang to Xilin Police Station.
When the police interrogated Ms. Wang, she asked them: “Why did you arrest me? I haven't violated any law.” Shao Kunhai took out a piece of paper with the director of Xiangyang Police Department Zou Qiang's signature on it, which ordered officers at Xilin Police Station to deal with reports that Ms. Wang was suspected of participating in Falun Gong activities. Shao Kunhai asked Ms. Wang a few questions and then took out an interrogation report for her to sign. When Ms. Wang refused, he angrily shouted: “I don't care whether you sign it or not. When I finish compiling my report I will sentence you to three years in prison.” Another officer said, “It doesn't matter if you don't sign it, you will be taken to a labor camp, as you are already part of our arrest quota.”
A policewoman ordered Ms. Wang to put her fingerprint on the police documentation and sign it. Then a policeman took a sign with the words “criminal suspect” written on it and told her to hold it in front of her so that he could take her photograph. When Ms. Wang resisted, they grabbed hold of her, beat her and forcibly put her finger on the paper.
Before Ms. Wang was taken to Jiamusi Detention Center, her family members were ordered to sign their names on the documentation, but they refused. They were then told to pay 1,000 yuan for a “medical examination fee,” which they also refused. Shao Kunhai then angrily ordered them to leave the building.
Imprisoned in a dark and humid cell, and forced to do hard labor
Ms. Wang was forced to do hard labor during her time at the detention center. She had to wrap shiny decorative paper around toothpicks for the whole day and was not allowed to sleep until she had finished her quota. There were two small meals a day, consisting of cabbage soup, which had gone rotten, and a stale bun. Her cell was small, dark and humid, and she was only allowed to take a cold shower. When she had finished showering, her whole body was numb from the freezing cold. Under these harsh conditions, Ms. Wang developed high blood pressure and her heart rate increased. The authorities at the detention center reported her condition to the police many times, but they didn't allow Ms. Wang to be released to receive medical treatment.
At 6 a.m. on November 30, the guard on duty at the detention center urged Ms. Wang to pack up her belongings, claiming that she was allowed to return home. When she got downstairs, four officers from the Xiangyang Police Department and Xilin Police Station were waiting for her. They took her to the Heilongjiang Province Drug Rehabilitation Labor Camp for further persecution.
Tortured for resisting brainwashing sessions
Ms. Wang was held in the 4th Team at Heilongjiang Province Drug Rehabilitation Labor Camp, where former practitioners who had renounced Falun Gong tried to urge her to sign a guarantee statement to give up her belief. She steadfastly refused. Under the guards' instructions they pleaded with Ms. Wang to sign the guarantee statements, with some of them tugging on her arms and some hugging her body. They then forcibly put a pen in Ms. Wang's hand and held it over the guarantee statement.
Ms. Wang was put in a cell and was isolated from the others. The guards and collaborators talked to Ms. Wang many times in an attempt to get her to renounce her belief, and made her watch programs slandering Falun Gong. She was also forced to sit on a bench all day, causing her legs to swell up, her blood pressure to rise and her heartbeat to become even faster.
Every morning Ms. Wang had to get up at 5 a.m. and was only allowed to return to her cell after 10 p.m. She was forced to get up 30 minutes earlier than the others and was not allowed to return to her cell until after all the other practitioners had fallen asleep. The purpose was to deny her contact with anyone else. The guards appointed collaborators and other inmates to be on duty to prevent practitioners from talking to each other or passing messages to each other.
In the mornings, Ms. Wang had to walk down a corridor to use the washroom. Closed circuit cameras were installed in the corridor and the washroom. She was only allowed 5 to 8 minutes to brush her teeth, wash and use the toilet. If she was a bit slow, the guards would shout at her and even threatened to extend her imprisonment if she did not comply. When Ms. Wang had finished washing and cleaning up her bed, she was forced to sit on a tiny bench facing a video camera. After a long period of sitting, her buttocks started to bleed.
One day after 6 p.m, the guards made all of the practitioners sit on the tiny benches. Ms. Wang's eyes were very tired because she was forced to watch slanderous programs the whole day, so she closed them for a brief moment. Guard Lu Boya saw this through the camera and called Ms. Wang to the office. Lu forced her to stand to attention and shouted at her for over two hours. Lu didn't allow her to return to her cell until she could not stand upright anymore.
Every week the guards would choose a few cells to inspect and search for Falun Gong books or articles, especially on the days when practitioners would meet their family members. Several guards would suddenly rush into the practitioner's cell, conduct a body search and then search the whole cell.
Ms. Wang's family suffers from the persecution
Ms. Wang went to Beijing in 2000 to clarify the facts about Falun Gong. She was arrested and taken back to her hometown by personnel from the Jiamusi City Department Store, where she was imprisoned for over a month at the Xiangyang Police Department. Placed under immense pressure from the authorities, she was forced to write bad words against Falun Gong before being released.
Later, Ms. Wang was very regretful for writing those words, and in 2001 she wrote a solemn declaration nullifying those words. When the authorities found out, personnel from the Jiamusi City Department Store took her to the Xiangyang Police Department and imprisoned her there for over a month. She was released only after she paid 1,500 yuan.
Ms. Wang's husband was a former employee of the Jiamusi City Sugar and Winery Company. In 1992 his employer went bankrupt and the whole family had to rely on Ms. Wang's income to make end meet. After Ms. Wang was dismissed by her employer, her family had no source of income. To make a living, she would push a bicycle along the street selling socks, and once she set up a table on the street to sell tofu. She saved every penny to pay for her son's school tuition and her family's living expenses. Even under this kind of situation, the police extorted money from her many times, forcing her to borrow money to survive.
In 2002, Ms. Wang's neighbor reported her to the authorities when she was seen doing the exercises at home. Officials from the neighborhood committee paid money to Ms. Wang's neighbor to monitor her. She was imprisoned once again. This time the authorities wanted to sentence her to two years of forced labor, but as her health was so poor from the torture she suffered, officials at the labor camp refused to accept her.
After returning home, Ms. Wang was severely ill with hemorrhoids. She felt very itchy the whole day, and could not eat or sleep. She also found out that she had been pregnant for a few months. Facing the difficult family situation and her poor health, she had to borrow money to undergo an abortion. The pain she suffered was unbearable.
During these years Ms. Wang and her family suffered tremendously due to the CCP's persecution of Falun Gong. Her family was extremely worried every time she was imprisoned, especially Ms. Wang's son, who was attending elementary school at the time. Seeing his mother being arrested time and again, he became very distressed. His teachers and classmates also picked on him because his mother was a practitioner, causing him to be afraid of going to school.