(Minghui.org)
Name: Liu ShuishengChinese Name: 刘水生Gender: MaleAge: 73City: WuhanProvince: HubeiOccupation: Retired employee of the 812 Public Security Equipment Factory Date of Death: Early 2023Date of Most Recent Arrest: March 10, 2003Most Recent Place of Detention: Hubei Province Brainwashing Center
Name: Hu MingxiuChinese Name: 胡明秀Gender: FemaleAge: 71City: WuhanProvince: HubeiOccupation: Retired pharmaceutical company employeeDate of Death: Early 2023Date of Most Recent Arrest: May 26, 2008Most Recent Place of Detention: Erdaopeng Brainwashing Center
Since the Chinese Communist Party began to persecute Falun Gong in July 1999, a married couple in Wuhan City, Hubei Province had been repeatedly targeted for upholding their faith. They were arrested more than ten times in total and detained in lockups and brainwashing centers. The husband served eight years in prison and saw his pension suspended years later. He and his wife passed away one after another in early 2023. They are survived by a son who has a mental disability and is unable to care for himself.
Husband’s Persecution
Before Mr. Liu Shuisheng took up Falun Gong in April 1996, he had been bedridden for years due to lumbar disc herniation, osteoarthritis and severe rheumatoid arthritis. After only six months of practicing Falun Gong, he was back on his feet.
Because he remained steadfast in Falun Gong after the persecution started, he was arrested four times and detained in brainwashing centers. His home was ransacked three times. And he served a prison term of eight years.
Mr. Liu was first arrested in October 2000 for going to Beijing to appeal for the right to practice Falun Gong. He was taken back to Wuhan and held in the Erdaopeng Brainwashing Center for two weeks.
Erdaopeng Brainwashing Center
A group of police officers, residential committee staff members and 610 Office agents arrested Mr. Liu at home in early 2001 and took him to the Tangjiadun Police Station. He was held in the Erdaopeng Brainwashing Center for two months.
Mr. Liu was arrested again in 2002 and taken to the Erdaopeng Brainwashing Center.
A group of officers came to harass him one night in July 2002. They broke into his home and were enraged to find that he wasn’t there. To avoid further harassment, Mr. Liu was forced to live away from home.
Along with three other displaced Falun Gong practitioners, Mr. Liu was arrested on March 10, 2003. The Dongxihu District Court sentenced him to eight years in December 2003 for printing informational materials about Falun Gong in his temporary residence. He was first held at the Qinduankou Prison and then transferred to the Fanjiatai Prison on March 20, 2007.
At the Fanjiatai Prison, Mr. Liu was forced to pull weeds, carry bricks, clean industrial trash, and make embroidery crafts. At night, he was forced to watch the state-run media’s propaganda-filled news reports. Surveillance cameras were everywhere in the prison and the practitioners’ daily activities were monitored.
On the evening of March 9, 2011, the day before Mr. Liu’s scheduled release, Qu Shen, the head of the Erdaopeng Brainwashing Center, took him there. As Mr. Liu still refused to renounce Falun Gong after 20 days, he was transferred to the Hubei Province Brainwashing Center on March 29.
Due to the beating and drug administration in the prison and the brainwashing center, Mr. Liu’s hair was completely gray when he was finally allowed to return home. His teeth were also loose and he had difficulty walking or doing anything.
In March 2010, while he was still in prison, his former workplace, the 812 Public Security Equipment Factory, processed his retirement and he had been receiving a 3,500-yuan monthly payment since. But in July 2019, the Jianghan District Social Security Bureau, which had been in charge of issuing all pension payments after a recent reform, suddenly stopped his pension.
The social security bureau claimed that Mr. Liu wasn’t entitled to any pension payments because he had been sentenced before, although no Chinese labor law has such a stipulation. They also demanded that Mr. Liu pay back the over 300,000 yuan pension he had received in the past ten years. It’s not clear whether he complied.
Wife’s Persecution
Ms. Hu Mingxiu used to work for the Wuhan Renfu Pharmaceutical Company. After witnessing the miraculous recovery of her husband from practicing Falun Gong, she also took up the practice. She used to endure tremendous burden caring for him and their mentally disabled son while working full-time, but practicing Falun Gong changed her into an upbeat person.
Ms. Hu went to Beijing to appeal for the right to practice Falun Gong in October 1999 and was arrested. After she was taken back to Wuhan, she was held in a metal cage with several other practitioners. They sat on the ground for a day, without being given any food or water. For the next 15 days, she spent the day in the police station writing thought reports and was taken to a community clinic in the evening.
The police knocked at her door at around 2 a.m. one day in March 2000 and deceived her into going with them to the police station. Without providing any reason, they gave her one month of detention, followed by two months at the Erdaopeng Brainwashing Center.
Both Ms. Hu and Mr. Liu were arrested on the same day in early 2001 and taken to the Erdaopeng Brainwashing Center. Their Falun Gong books, lecture audiotapes and photo of Falun Gong’s founder were confiscated. Ms. Hu’s mother was traumatized by their arrests and detention. She fell ill and passed away in August that year.
After Mr. Liu was forced to live away from home in July 2002, Ms. Hu applied for early retirement and stayed home to care for their son.
On April 2, 2003, one month after Mr. Liu’s last arrest, Ms. Hu was also arrested at home. Her Falun Gong books were confiscated. She was held at the Erdaopeng Brainwashing Center for 23 days, where she was deprived of sleep and forced to listen to audio programs that slandered Falun Gong. The guards also ordered her to curse people and provide information about other practitioners.
When both Mr. Liu and Ms. Hu were detained, their son was taken to the hospital.
After Mr. Liu was sentenced, Ms. Hu frequented the prison, but her visitation request was never granted, because she also practiced Falun Gong.
When Ms. Hu went with Mr. Liu’s younger brother to the prison in the summer of 2005, the guards also barred the brother from seeing Mr. Liu. Ms. Hu argued with the guards, who then accused her of causing trouble for them and ordered the police to arrest her. She was held in the police station for five hours.
Ms. Hu was arrested again on the evening of May 26, 2008. The residential committee staff members threatened her not to go out to promote Falun Gong since the Beijing Olympics were to be held in three months. She was taken to the Erdaopeng Brainwashing Center and held there until June 7. Her son was sent to a nursing home during this period.
Related reports:
Fanjiatai Prison at Hubei Province Denies Wife's Visit for Four Years
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