(Minghui.org) A 66-year-old woman in Hechuan District, Chongqing completed her second prison term on January 3, 2024, only to be denied a low-income subsidy and subjected to ongoing harassment.
Ms. Gao Jie’s ordeal was simply because of her faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999. She credits Falun Gong for curing her numerous illnesses, including hepatitis B, gastroptosis (stomach displaced downward), thrombocytopenia (low platelet count in the blood), insomnia, chronic enteritis, rhinitis, bone spurs, and hemorrhoids, but the communist regime subjected her to repeated arrests and prolonged detentions.
Ms. Gao was arrested around ten times over the years. She was given forced labor three times (in 2001, 2011, and 2012) and twice jailed a total of 6.5 years (June 2003 – June 2008 and June 2022 – January 2024). Her employer, Shuangyan Elementary School (located in Yunmen Town, Hechuan District), fired her in June 2003. Her husband feared being implicated and divorced her. Their daughter struggled to put herself through college. Ms. Gao’s parents were harassed by the authorities and died in distress one after another.
Part 1 of the rest of the report details Ms. Gao’s second prison sentence and her struggle to keep a temporary job as the police kept harassing her new employers. Part 2 details her earlier persecution, including three forced labor terms, one prior prison term, and two brainwashing center detentions.
Part 1. Latest Persecution (2022 – Present)
Ms. Gao was home on June 17, 2022, when her electricity and water were suddenly shut off by officers Duan Peng, Li Yang, and Yang Chengli from the Hechuan District Police Department, as well as agents from the Diaoyucheng Police Station and the Diaoyucheng Street Committee.
The perpetrators next pried open her door and broke in. Ms. Gao condemned them for raiding her home without a search warrant. The police claimed that they had one in their car and would show her later. But they never did. They confiscated dozens of Falun Gong books, a laptop, a printer, a laminator, a paper cutter, four cell phones, and other valuables from Ms. Gao’s home.
Ms. Gao was given a physical examination before being taken to the Hechuan District Police Department. Officers Yang and Li interrogated her before driving her to a local brainwashing center. She was held there until July 22, 2022, when she was transferred to the Hechuan District Detention Center.
The Jiangbei District Court heard Ms. Gao’s case on April 3, 2023, and sentenced her to one and a half years. She filed an appeal with the Chongqing First Intermediate Court but was rejected.
Ms. Gao was released on January 3, 2024, and went to stay with her brother’s family. Moments after she arrived at her brother’s home, five people showed up, including Wang Dexiong (the local Yunmen Town Street Committee secretary), deputy chief Yang and officer Liu Lujian of the Diaoyucheng Police Station. They videotaped her against her will and ordered her to sign statements to renounce Falun Gong. She refused to comply.
Secretary Wang later informed Ms. Gao many times to apply for a low-income subsidy. She went each time but Wang always said she still needed this or that paperwork. When she finally got all the required documents, Wang said that the higher-ups would not approve her application unless she wrote a statement to renounce Falun Gong.
Ms. Gao refused to comply and never received a low-income subsidy. She had to do odd jobs to make ends meet. On March 1, 2024, she began working as a personal care aide for a retired teacher in Hechuan District. Secretary Wang tracked her down and twice dispatched people to harass her at her employer’s home days into her job. Ms. Gao had no way but to quit her job. She then landed another personal care aide job for a family in Chenghua District, Chengdu City, Sichuan Province, more than 200 miles away.
Two weeks later, on March 22, 2024, two uniformed officers broke into Ms. Gao’s new employer’s home to videotape and interrogate her. They did not show any IDs or reveal their names. They next took her to the Wannianchang Police Station in Chengdu City.
Ms. Gao condemned the police for arresting her, a law-abiding citizen. The Chengdu police said their counterpart in Hechuan District, Chongqing had notified them of her new job in Chengdu and asked them to arrest her.
Ms. Gao explained that no law in China criminalizes Falun Gong and that the practice simply teaches its students to live by the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. She urged the Chengdu police to stop participating in the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. They released her hours later.
Ms. Gao returned to her home in Hechuan on March 31, 2024.
Part 2: Earlier Persecution (2000 – 2014)
Ms. Gao filed a criminal complaint in 2015 against Jiang Zemin, a former Chinese dictator, for ordering the persecution that resulted in her numerous arrests and brutal torture. Below are facts gleaned from her complaint.
Given First Labor Camp Term in 2000
Ms. Gao was taken to the Chongqing Women’s Forced Labor Camp on April 10, 2000, to serve an unknown term. She was subjected to various forms of abuse, including being beaten, handcuffed, and forced to run laps, stand, or sit on a small stool for long hours.
Once Ms. Gao erased from a blackboard propaganda defaming Falun Gong and its founder. An inmate hit her on the head with a metal dustpan. Her skull caved in nearly one centimeter. To this day, her skull has not returned to normal.
Another time Ms. Gao refused to wear the inmates’ uniform and the guards instigated the inmates to strip her to her underwear. It happened that higher-ups were sending in an inspection team at the time. The guards then hid her in an attic.
Ms. Gao also had her hands tied behind her back once when she did Falun Gong exercises.
The labor camp later extended Ms. Gao’s term by eight months. After she was finally released on October 21, 2001, the local board of education ordered her employer to not allow her to return to teaching. The Shuangyan Elementary School eventually fired her in June 2003 when she was arrested again for her faith.
Ms. Gao’s husband was unable to cope and divorced her. Their daughter struggled to put herself through college. The local police often harassed Ms. Gao’s mother. The older woman lived in fear and died in distress.
Brutally Tortured During Five-Year Prison Term (June 2003 – June 2008)
Ms. Gao and two other practitioners were arrested at a rental place past 10 p.m. on June 20, 2003. The police smashed the door and broke in. They confiscated more than 20,000 yuan of valuables, including over 12,000 yuan of cash, a computer, and a printer. The three practitioners were taken to the Dadukou Detention Center the next day.
Ms. Gao refused to answer the roll call on June 27, 2003, because she did not break any law. Director Pu of the detention center slapped her in the face and forced her to stand outside in the rain. Guard Liu Weiyou then had two male inmates press her on a flower bed and whipped her with a wooden plank dozens of times. Pu did not stop until she was exhausted. Ms. Gao’s cellmates were shocked to see her hips and legs covered with bruises.
The guards next removed Ms. Gao’s shoes and hung her up to a metal frame with her two arms stretched in opposite directions and her feet barely touching the ground. The cuffs became tighter when she pressed her feet on the ground. She had to tiptoe the entire time. To make her suffer even more, the guards had a light bulb on in front of her all the time.
Ms. Gao was hung up like that for five straight days, during which time she was not given water to drink or food to eat. She had her period during that time yet the guards did not allow her to change her pads. Her pants were soiled with menstrual blood, urine, and feces. It was summer time and the smell was unbearable.
The guards also did not allow Ms. Gao to sleep during those five days. As soon as she closed her eyes, they slapped her in the face with books or magazines and hit her on the head with water bottles. Guard Wang Dongling also used plastic bags to make a rope. He tied one end of it to Ms. Gao’s handcuffs and then pulled the other end hard. She was in so much pain that she almost fainted. Wang yelled at her, “We are sadists and we just enjoy abusing you this way!”
Ms. Gao became disoriented after three days. Head guard Hua Yong then forced her to sign a pre-prepared statement to renounce Falun Gong. After that, he kept her hung up for two more days before returning her to her cell. She soon lost consciousness. After she came to, she realized she could no longer move her hands, arms, or shoulders. She was in excruciating pain. The detention center then had two inmates take care of her daily activities.
One guard allowed Ms. Gao to do Falun Gong exercises and she started feeling a bit better after about three weeks. But the detention center conducted another round of searches of all cells on July 28, 2003, and found Falun Gong materials in Ms. Gao’s cell. Guard Liu whipped her on the hips with a wooden plank dozens of times. She was still recovering from her earlier injuries. The whipping caused even more bruises.
Ms. Gao’s blood pressure shot up, and she had an abnormal heartbeat. Her legs and feet were swollen and she had unusually heavy period with blood clots.
Ms. Gao was later sentenced to five years and transferred to a prison (exact name unknown). The prison guards assigned four inmates to take turns watching her around the clock. They forced her to sit on a small stool for long periods of time. When she was not tortured, they ordered her to unload and load heavy bags of charcoal or porcelain beads. Each bag weighed almost 150 pounds, and she had to carry it up a slope and then climb to a second-floor storage room (there was no elevator). The bags often fell from her shoulders. She later ended up dividing each bag into several lighter bags to lessen the load, and the guards accused her of being lazy.
Her shoulders and arms never recovered from the five-day hung-up torture, and she was still suffering from high blood pressure and heart problems. Yet the guards forced her to finish the same work quotas as others. She often had to stay up to get the work done.
Ms. Gao’s health quickly declined. She had a vaginal hemorrhage in April 2008 and was rushed to the prison hospital. Upon learning that she was a Falun Gong practitioner, Doctor Zhao intentionally stirred a surgical plier in her uterine, causing excruciating pain. She was hospitalized for two weeks, during which time she dared not move or else she would have vaginal bleeding. Even before she recovered, she was taken back to her cell. She couldn’t even sit upright but guard Tu Xin ordered her to still do hard labor.
Ms. Gao had to put her hands on the work surface to support herself. Guard Tu forced her to sit on a small stool or stand at night as punishment for her failure to finish her quota, even though she struggled to sit or stand steadily. Tu also deferred her unfinished work quota to the remainder of her prison term. She had to make up all the missed work after she got a bit better.
Taken Straight to Brainwashing Center Upon Prison Release
Ms. Gao’s five-year prison term ended on June 20, 2008. Xi Mingyun, the local 610 Office head, and his subordinate Gao Qun, as well as officer Wang Xuejun, seized her from the prison and took her straight to a brainwashing center.
Ms. Gao went on a hunger strike in protest and was finally allowed to call her family on the fourth day. Her loved ones requested to see her, and the police moved her to another brainwashing center on the night of August 7, 2008.
On September 24, 2008, Ms. Gao suddenly exhibited severe symptoms. She felt the blood vessels in her brain and around her ears were about to explode. Her legs were swollen, and she felt restless. The brainwashing center called in a doctor, who found that there was a lack of oxygen to Ms. Gao’s brain and heart, and her blood pressure was at dangerously high levels.
Instead of seeking treatment for Ms. Gao right away, the brainwashing center sent her home after the doctor examined her.
Given Two More Forced Labor Terms, in 2011 and 2012
Ms. Gao was given one year of forced labor in July 2011 but was allowed to serve time at home. One month before her term ended, she was arrested in June 2012 and taken to the Chongqing Women’s Forced Labor Camp nine days later to serve another one-year term.
Her blood pressure had shot up to over 200 before her labor camp admission, yet secretary Yan Liping of Team Four of the forced labor camp subjected her to various forms of abuse. Yan ordered two drug addicts to remove all her clothes and cut them into pieces. They next cut her hair and put an inmate’s uniform on her. They brought her to a third-floor room and assigned four other inmates to work in two shifts to watch her around the clock.
Ms. Gao was not allowed to look at anything except the wall facing her and the books the inmates ordered her to read. They forced her to stand, squat, or sit for long hours. During the standing torture, they inserted a piece of paper between her legs and a book between each of her hands and legs. She had to stand longer if the paper or the books fell. Sometimes they suddenly kicked her or jerked her hands. The most unbearable torture was squatting. She was forced to stand on one foot for 10-15 minutes before being allowed to switch to the other foot. Each time the squatting torture lasted 30-40 minutes, followed by the sitting torture.
In just one week, the skin on Ms. Gao’s soles cracked and still did not heal half a year later.
The guards initially allowed Ms. Gao to sleep 6-7 hours every night but soon gradually reduced her sleep time. Her feet and legs remained swollen and hurt badly. The guards still ordered her to write thought reports every day. She was not allowed to sleep when her reports did not meet their requirements.
Her blood pressure elevated under the physical torture and mental pressure. During a physical examination of all detainees, the labor camp doctor asked what may have caused the swelling in her legs and her elevated blood pressure. She said it was the torture and sleep deprivation. Guard Zhu Yu overheard what she said and threatened to not allow her to sleep at all to see if her blood pressure would indeed shoot up. Zhu also ordered her to write statements to denounce Falun Gong and its founder. When she refused, she was put in solitary confinement and tortured by drug addicts.
Guard Zhao Yuanyuan went to Ms. Gao’s father’s home and coerced the elderly man into recording a statement against Falun Gong. She then showed Ms. Gao the footage. While Ms. Gao remained firm in her faith, her father regretted what he did and suffered declining health. He passed away in September 2012.
Held in Brainwashing Center Again in 2014
Ms. Gao completed her third forced labor term in June 2014, only to be arrested soon afterward and taken to a brainwashing center. She and other detained practitioners were forced to watch anti-Falun Gong videos from around 7 a.m. to almost midnight every day.
Those who refused to renounce Falun Gong after one week were summoned to a small conference room to be “educated” separately by former practitioners who had renounced Falun Gong under pressure. These targeted practitioners were not allowed to go back to their rooms to sleep until 1 or 2 a.m. Some practitioners became disoriented or developed medical conditions as a result. Instead of rendering medical attention to them, the brainwashing center accused them of faking illness and kept pressuring them to renounce Falun Gong. The practitioners were not released until they wrote statements to renounce Falun Gong against their will.
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Category: Torture of Women
