(Minghui.org) My name is Chen Liyan, and I am 40 years old. I started practicing Falun Gong at the same time as my husband Li Xiwang in 1995. My husband was arrested in 2010 for practicing and clarifying the truth about Falun Gong, although Articles 35 and 36 of China's Constitution guarantee its citizens the freedom of speech and spiritual belief.
My husband died in 2011, after 10 days in Gangbei Prison in Tianjin. The prison claimed that he died in the hospital, but I was informed in early 2013 by reliable sources from the prison that he was, in fact, tortured to death in prison.
Initial arrest
After the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) began to suppress Falun Gong in July 1999, my husband and I clarified the truth and handed out materials containing important facts about Falun Gong. My husband was arrested on May 16, 2001, for clarifying the truth and was sentenced to eight years in prison. I was arrested in November 2001 and was sentenced to five years in prison. We were reunited after he was released on May 16, 2009. We were finally able to study the Falun Gong books and practice the exercises together again. We started clarifying the truth again in order to save people from the CCP's lies created to justify its ruthless suppression of Falun Gong.
We were arrested again on December 21, 2010, while clarifying the truth, and held in the detention center for seven months. Even though the police were not able to find any evidence for the prosecutor, I was sentenced to one year of forced labor and my husband to eight years in Gangbei Prison in Tianjin, also known as Binhai Prison.
My husband died after just ten days in prison. I knew he must have been subjected to many forms of torture because I saw many signs on his body. I raised a lot of questions about his death, but the prison authorities answered none of them. They told me to sign a proxy so that my husband's sister could make funeral arrangements because I was incarcerated in the forced labor camp. I asked not to have his body cremated because I wanted to wait until I was released to make funeral arrangements for him. However, the prison had him cremated without my permission. They also reached an agreement with his sister to pay me 350,000 yuan as compensation on the condition that I must not contact the prison about my husband again.
I heard from reliable sources in the prison on March 18, 2013, that my husband had been tortured to death there. After they had killed him, the guards made an inmate inject my husband's body with drugs to create the illusion that he was still alive. The inmate was horrified when he saw my dead husband's eyes opening wide with his purple flesh.
There were three guards on duty at the time. One of them was fired although they told everyone he resigned. The other two guards were transferred. They even shipped his body to Xinsheng Hospital for a pretend resuscitation. The security guard wrote on the paper, “One dead body shipped out.” However, they made him change the paper and write, “One inmate transferred to the hospital.” Dong, the attending doctor at Xinsheng Hospital, even produced a falsified document stating that my husband died after 60 minutes of attempted resuscitation.
Before I was released from the labor camp, officials from the Prison Management Bureau and the Forced Labor Management Bureau had “conversations” with me, threatening me not to appeal regarding my husband's death, or else I would bear all the consequences.
I am being watched by the police when I leave home, and I discovered that my phone line has been tapped. I was watched even when I went back to my hometown. The policeman from my hometown told me, “We received notice the moment you came back.” It is evident that the police are afraid that I might try to expose the truth about my husband's death and seek justice for him.
I am calling for justice for my husband. I am entitled to know how he died and wish to bring those responsible for his death to justice.
