(Minghui.org) Shortly after Ms. Guan Surong of Gaizhou City, Liaoning Province took up Falun Gong in 1997, the ailments that had bothered her for years disappeared. But her happy life was shattered two years later, when the Chinese Communist Party ordered the persecution of Falun Gong in July 1999.
For upholding Falun Gong, Ms. Guan, around 60, has been arrested and detained at least five times. She was given a labor camp term, but was denied admission due to her poor health as a result of the mental distress from the persecution. Her husband, Mr. Sun Xianhui, also around 60, was arrested multiple times for practicing Falun Gong. He was given three years of forced labor in late 2000 and sentenced to three years in prison in late 2005.
Now after two decades of persecution, Ms. Guan has become disabled. She couldn’t talk or walk, much less do household chores or take care of herself. The family is now in a dire situation.
Earliest Detention
Shortly after the onset of the persecution in July 1999, Wei Angang, the chief of Guizhou Township Police Station, led officers Xi Guangwei and Zhao Chunming, as well as the township Party secretary Lyu Yongwen, to harass local Falun Gong practitioners. They confiscated Ms. Guan’s Falun Gong books, a photo of Falun Gong’s founder and her exercise music tapes.
The officers ordered Ms. Guan to sign a statement to renounce Falun Gong. As she refused to comply, they came back every day, and sometimes several times a day, to harass her. Her elderly parents in their 70s, who lived with her, were terrified. Her mother would suffer loose bowels as soon as she saw the police.
Ms. Guan and Mr. Sun took their children, 5 and 9, to visit Mr. Sun’s parents in the nearby Yangyun Township in July 2000. Not long after they left, the local police found out about it. They searched the couple’s place and confiscated their Falun Gong materials, before arresting them at Mr. Sun’s parents’ home. The couple’s two young children had to stay with their paternal grandparents temporarily.
The police interrogated the couple and questioned them on who had provided the Falun Gong materials to them. They refused to answer and were taken to the Gaizhou City Lockup at around 6 p.m. Teaming up with Yang Deshao, the head of Santaizi Village in Guizhou Township (where the couple resided), and village secretary Gao Jingrong, the police continued to interrogate them in the lockup.
The police also ordered Ms. Guan’s sister and brother-in-law, as well as Mr. Sun’s father, to persuade the couple to renounce Falun Gong, but they held firm to their faith.
The couple were detained for 15 days and forced to pay over 100 yuan for the food. Agents of the Gaizhou City 610 office, local police and village officials continued to harass the couple and arranged for people to monitor their daily activities after their release.
Both Arrested in Beijing for Appealing for Falun Gong, Husband Given Three Years of Forced Labor
Ms. Guan and Mr. Sun brought their two children to Beijing to appeal for the right to practice Falun Gong on December 16, 2000. They demonstrated a banner that said “Falun Dafa is good” at the Jinshui Bridge in front of Tiananmen Square. The police soon came to arrest them and took them to a police station near Tiananmen Square, where practitioners coming from around the country were also arrested and detained. As the police station was filled with practitioners, Ms. Guan and Mr. Sun were held in the backyard.
At night, Mr. Sun was transferred to the Yanqing County Detention Center on the outskirts of Beijing, while Ms. Guan and their two children were taken to another police station. Upon arrival at that police station, the police separated Ms. Guan and her children, and held the children in a room without heat. Then they interrogated Ms. Guan and demanded to know her name and address. As she remained silent, the police turned to her children, who also remained silent. The police held them at the police station until 1 a.m. and then released them.
When Ms. Guan returned home with her children on December 18, officers from the Guizhou Township Police Station, village head Niu Zaofeng and secretary Cong Yongjun showed up and took her to the police station. They questioned her on where she had been for the past few days and who else was with her. She refused to answer and was taken to the Gaizhou City Lockup. There, she saw 30 other practitioners. The directors of the women’s federation in nearby cities were also there, playing videos slandering Falun Gong and trying to persuade the practitioners to renounce their faith. Ms. Guan was released after 23 days of detention.
Mr. Sun was released after three days at the detention center in suburban Beijing. He was seized by the police waiting outside of his home as soon as he went back. He was also taken to the Gaizhou City Lockup and later given three years at the Yingkou Forced Labor Camp. He was subjected to brainwashing and forced to work without pay. He was released on June 8, 2001 without serving the full term.
Wife Twice Held in Brainwashing Centers in 2001
Ms. Guan was arrested again in 2001 and taken to the Shuangtaizi Brainwashing Center. She was forced to write a statement to renounce Falun Gong. Not long after she was released, Chen Xianrui and a few other officers from the Guizhou Township Police Station arrested her and took her to a brainwashing center. She and nearly 30 other practitioners, including Chi Guangrong and Dong Guiyuan, were forced to watch brainwashing videos smearing Falun Gong. She was released after 17 days after being forced to sign another renouncing statement.
Husband Sentenced to 3 Years in Prison
Ms. Guan and Mr. Sun were distributing informational materials about Falun Gong in the Yangyun Township on September 4, 2005, when they were discovered by Yuan Jianhui of the Yangyun Township Police Station. While Ms. Guan escaped, Mr. Sun was arrested and held in Gaizhou City Detention Center. The guards beat him, causing his eardrum to rupture, and his body was covered with bruises.
While beating Mr. Sun, guard Liu Zhenchao said, “For those of you who practice Falun Gong, we wouldn’t bear any responsibility if we beat you to death.” Trying to instigate other inmates to join him in torturing Mr. Sun, inmate Wang Xiang quoted the head guard, Gao Zhifan, “Sun Xianhui dares to practice Falun Gong, which directly goes against the Communist Party. He is asking for it.”
The Gaizhou City Court sentenced Mr. Sun to three years in Anshan Prison two months later. He was also subjected to relentless beatings by the prison guards and inmates. He was released in September 2008.
Wife Arrested Again in 2006
Ms. Guan was arrested another time on the evening of May 31, 2006 for hanging up Falun Gong banners in the Liguan Township in Wafangdian City. Officer Qi Xianjin of Liguan Township Police Station questioned her on where she got the banner. She didn’t cooperate with the police and was handcuffed to the heating pipe. The police stayed in the room and watched her overnight.
On the next morning, the police ordered Ms. Guan to sign the fabricated interrogation record, but she refused. Officer Qi became infuriated and hit her in the head. Another officer, Li Changwei, verbally abused her. Unable to get any information from her, the police then raided her home.
Upon finding out about Ms. Guan’s arrest, her parents came to the police station to look for her, only to be threatened by the police.
The police later took Ms. Guan to the Wafangdian Detention Center, where she was beaten and forced to work without pay. The food she was given was very poor and often had mud in it.
The police handed Ms. Guan a forced labor term 42 days into her detention. Due to her poor health, the Masanjia Forced Labor Camp refused to admit her. The police also contacted other labor camps, and when all of them refused to take her, the police released Ms. Guan.
Related article in Chinese:辽宁盖州市孙宪会遭三年劳教和三年冤狱
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