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Ms. Chen Qinfang from Shanghai Files Criminal Complaint after Five Stints in Forced Labor Camp

February 09, 2016 |  

(Minghui.org) A 55-year-old Shanghai woman filed a criminal complaint against Jiang Zemin, the former head of the Chinese Communist regime, on August 25, 2015 for being persecuted since the onset of the persecution of Falun Gong on July 20, 1999.

Ms. Chen Qinfang (陈琴芳), a Falun Gong practitioner from the Jiading District, was arrested nine times and her home was ransacked eight times. She was held in a brainwashing center four times, detained in a forced labor camp five times and released on medical parole once. She was given forced labor for a total of six-and-a-half years.

Could Not Turn Back on Falun Gong When Maligned

As a young woman of 36 with many illnesses, I turned to the cultivation practice Falun Gong in the hopes of becoming healthy again. After having practiced for a short time, I recovered from my ailments.

Having benefited from practicing Falun Gong, I could not stand aside when this practice was maligned and banned in 1999, 16 years ago.

I went to Beijing in July 5, 2000 to peacefully appeal for the right to practice Falun Gong after the Chinese people were bombarded with slanderous information by the Chinese government owned media.

The Chinese Constitution gives citizens the right to appeal to the authorities if they are unfairly treated. However upon my return home, a series of detentions, forced brainwashing, and pressure from my family awaited me.

Brainwashing During the First Two Years of the Persecution

When I returned home, the police station and community members ordered me to hand over my Falun Gong books and I refused. They then went to my workplace, which at the time was undergoing layoffs. They took advantage of my situation and fired me. Upon hearing about it, my elder sister and mother scolded and beat me.

I was taken to a brainwashing facility for eight days during the 2001 Chinese New Year. I was forced to listen to community members reading articles that slandered Master, the founder of Falun Gong. They also demanded that I watch a video on the Tiananmen self-immolation, which has proven to be a staged event. This placed great mental pressure on me and also scared my family.

Then, I was again taken to a brainwashing facility on a daily basis with my four-year-old daughter on May 18, 2001. My daughter tried to protect me when she saw the director of the police station stomp on my feet.

When I refused to be “transformed}” by the end of the sessions on June 11, 2001, I was transferred to the Qingpu Brainwashing Center. My home was ransacked and my Falun Gong books were confiscated.

I was put into a straitjacket because I practiced the exercises at night, and released in the morning. My hands were later handcuffed behind my back and I was hung up with only my toes touching the ground.

When I refused to sign a statement that I would give up Falun Gong, the center called my husband, daughter, my mother and former deceased husband's mother to “transform” me. As I remained determined to continue on my cultivation path, I was released on August 1, 2001.

Forced Labor Camp Detention

I was given forced labor five times, for a total of six-and-a-half years. I was first held at a detention center with my hands cuffed to the metal doors for three-days-and-three nights on August 23, 2001 after police discovered that I had produced 100 flyers, detailing the benefits of practicing Falun Gong.

August 2001: Given Two Years of Forced Labor

The authorities gave me two years of forced labor and took me to the Qingpu Women's Labor Camp two months into my detention. An inmate reported me to the guards, as I refused to be “transformed” and because I recited Master's articles.

For that, I was put on food rations and given the cheapest vegetables for meals everyday. Out of hunger, I vomited up bile, which is common when one is kept hungry for extended periods of time.

They forced me to perform labor, and I had to stand for up to half a month if I did not meet my quota.

The guards put me in solitary confinement from July 3 to August 1, 2003. A heat-producing lamp shone on me all day long, causing me to perspire profusely.

October 2004: Given One Year of Forced labor

The police and community committee members ransacked my house on October 16, 2004. They arrested me and took me to a detention center. I was sentenced to one year of forced labor. The authorities transferred me in December 2004 to the Qingpu Women's Labor Camp.

My meals consisted of eggplants only, because I recited one of Master's poems. After a while, the sight of eggplants made me queasy.

January 2008: Given One Year of Forced Labor

When I bought groceries on a snowy day in January 30, 2008, I was accosted by police. They confiscated my bag and took me to the police station. In the bag, there were 900 yuan in single bill currencies, on which were printed the words “Falun Gong is good.” They also confiscated 100 yuan used for shopping for daily necessities.

I was given one year of forced labor and taken to the Jiangsu Women's Labor Camp in March 2008.

The team captain was told that I could not be “transformed,” so he ordered inmates to harass me. If they succeeded, they were told that the prison authorities would reduce their term. Therefore, they tried different ways to torture me.

For refusing to write a guarantee statement, promising to give up Falun Gong, they hit me in the face. Blood ran down my face and it was badly bruised.

Because I greeted another practitioner, who also refused to be transformed, I had to do exercises in the field during cold winter days between November 1, 2008 and January 1, 2009. The skin on my hands and feet cracked and bled. I was also deprived of normal sleeping hours.

November 2009: One Year of Forced Labor

I was given my fourth forced labor term in November 2009.

When I was shopping, police arrested me. They took four one yuan currency with the words “Falun Gong is good” printed on them from elsewhere and claimed that those bills were mine. My house was also ransacked.

May 2011: One-and-a-Half Year of Forced Labor

Police from the Anting police station arrested me on May 26, 2011 while grocery shopping. I was body searched and my house was ransacked. They took away personal belongings, including currency with information about Falun Gong printed on them. This time, I was given a one-and-a-half-year of forced labor.

At the labor camp, guards ordered inmates to have me sit on a small stool from morning until night. If I moved, I was denigrated with curse words. They also poked me in the back and grabbed my thighs constantly.

When I felt sudden pain one afternoon and could neither sit nor stand, I was taken to a hospital, where I was diagnosed with gallstones. I was put on an IV drip, but was in extreme pain every night. I was released on medical parole.

I recovered very quickly, as I could practice the Falun Gong exercises and read the Falun Gong books. When the authorities heard of my recovery, they rescinded the medical parole.

I was arrested and taken to the labor camp on January 23, 2012. I was tied to the bed for three days and nights, and was only released on the first day of the Chinese New Year.

The guards put unknown substances in my meal, causing discomfort in my stomach, but stopped when I told them not to give me unknown drugs.

February 2009: Brainwashing Center and Harassment

I was at the hospital caring for my former mother-in-law in February 2009 when police, officers from the {{610 Office and community members arrested and took me to a brainwashing center. I went on a hunger strike for three days and nights. The brainwashing session ended in May 2009. I could not fulfill my filial duty as my former mother-in-law passed away one month after my arrest.

During the first year of my release from the labor camp, a retired police officer harassed me every week. The “visit” was reduced to once every two weeks in the second year.

In addition to the house “visit,” the 610 Office also assigned someone to watch me and everyone who visited me from my neighbor's house.

My house was ransacked on July 8, 2015. I was arrested and released on bail. Then, my house was ransacked again on August 7, 2015, and my criminal complaint against Jiang Zemin was confiscated. I was taken to the police station and was released the same day.

All these arrests and imprisonments have caused tremendous harm to me and my family. It also brought pain and worry to my relatives. We are living in constant fear. The fear caused my parents and my former husband's parents a great deal of stress, and they have passed away.

Background

In 1999, Jiang Zemin, as head of the Chinese Communist Party, overrode other Politburo standing committee members and launched the violent suppression of Falun Gong.

The persecution has led to the deaths of many Falun Gong practitioners in the past 16 years. More have been tortured for their belief and even killed for their organs. Jiang Zemin is directly responsible for the inception and continuation of the brutal persecution.

Under his personal direction, the Chinese Communist Party established an extralegal security organ, the “610 Office,” on June 10, 1999. The organization overrides police forces and the judicial system in carrying out Jiang's directive regarding Falun Gong: to ruin their reputations, cut off their financial resources, and destroy them physically.

Chinese law allows for citizens to be plaintiffs in criminal cases, and many practitioners are now exercising that right to file criminal complaints against the former dictator.