(Minghui.org)
Name: Zhang LimeiChinese Name: 张丽梅Gender: FemaleAge: 52City: ChifengProvince: Inner MongoliaOccupation: N/ADate of Death: November 29, 2016Date of Most Recent Arrest: Spring 2001Most Recent Place of Detention: Hohhot City Women’s Prison
Name: Zhang GuipingChinese Name: 张桂平Gender: FemaleAge: 70City: ChifengProvince: Inner MongoliaOccupation: N/ADate of Death: May 18, 2024Date of Most Recent Arrest: August 2015Most Recent Place of Detention: a local police station
Two sisters in Chifeng City, Inner Mongolia died in 2015 and 2024, respectively, due to the persecution of their shared faith, Falun Gong.
Ms. Zhang Limei
Ms. Zhang Guiping
Both Ms. Zhang Limei and Ms. Zhang Guiping took up Falun Gong in 1997. After the Chinese Communist Party ordered the nationwide persecution of this ancient spiritual and meditation discipline two years later, the sisters remained firm in their faith and were repeatedly arrested for raising awareness about the persecution.
The younger sister, Ms. Zhang Limei, was sentenced to seven years in 2001, while her child was still nursing. Although she survived the brutal torture in prison, she was forced to go into hiding after her prison release to avoid police harassment. She died on November 29, 2016. She was 52, and her child was only 17.
The older sister, Ms. Zhang Guiping, served an unknown forced labor term and also endured relentless torture in custody. She passed away on May 18, 2024, at the age of 70.
Ms. Zhang Limei’s Persecution
Ms. Zhang Limei was arrested in the spring of 2001 and was sentenced to seven years. She was the first Falun Gong practitioner to be wrongfully sentenced in the Chifeng region.
While serving time at the Hohhot City Women’s Prison, Ms. Zhang was deprived of sleep, because she refused to admit “guilt” in practicing Falun Gong. Yuan Ximei, an inmate assigned to monitor her, slapped her in the face, yanked her hair, stomped on her, and beat her on the head, hands, chest, and arms with a bamboo plank. Yuan also verbally abused her.
Ms. Zhang held a hunger strike in protest. But inmate Yuan tortured her even more severely, by stabbing her arms and thighs with long steel needles. Yuan told Ms. Zhang that the guards instructed her to torture her, as long as she kept her alive. She said, “You are a dead woman. You won’t have a minute of peace from now on. This is how I will treat you every day.”
Although Ms. Zhang survived the torture, the police continued to harass her after she returned home. She was forced into hiding, yet the police still managed to track her down and monitor her daily life.
In August 2015, she was arrested for filing a criminal complaint against Jiang Zemin, the former Communist Party dictator who ordered the persecution of Falun Gong. She was held at a police station for a few hours and released in the evening.
The mental pressure from the persecution took a toll on Ms. Zhang’s health. She died on November 29, 2016, 14 months after her last arrest. She was 52.
Ms. Zhang Guiping’s Persecution
In late 1999, upon hearing that several local practitioners had been arrested, Ms. Zhang Guiping and a few others went to the Pingzhuang Detention Center to demand their release, only to be arrested and beaten by over 30 officers.
To raise awareness about the persecution, Ms. Zhang put up posters about Falun Gong on December 29, 1999, and was arrested by the chief and two officers of the Hongweikuang Police Station. Officer Xu Zizhang interrogated her while beating her. He kicked and injured her ribs. She was then taken to the Yuanbaoshan Detention Center.
The detention center guards often forced Mr. Zhang to kneel, each time for several hours. Sometimes they forced her to sit, run, or walk in the snow without shoes. After three months of torture, she was transferred to the Chifeng City Detention Center. She only stayed there for seven days, before being transferred to the Tumuji Women’s Forced Labor Camp to serve an unknown term.
Guards at the labor camp received incentives and bonuses when they “transformed” a Falun Gong practitioner. They often incited inmates or “transformed” practitioners to monitor the newcomers. Those who refused to renounce Falun Gong weren’t allowed to talk to each other. They had to obtain permission before using the restroom. During the day, they were forced to watch propaganda materials slandering Falun Gong, and at night, they were ordered to write thought reports.
On May 30, 2001, Ms. Zhang held a hunger strike in protest. The guards removed her shirt and shocked her all over with electric batons for over ten minutes. Her body and neck became swollen and bruised.
Starting in August 2001, the guards began to force Ms. Zhang to do unpaid labor, for over ten hours a day. After she returned to the cell at night, they continued to torture her, without allowing her to sleep.
Ms. Zhang was last arrested in August 2015, also for filing a criminal complaint against Jiang Zemin. She was released shortly after due to her poor health.
Ms. Zhang was dealt a blow when her sister died a year later. Her own health also kept declining over the years. She passed away on May 18, 2024.
Related Article in Chinese:内蒙赤峰市两善良女士含冤离世
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