After Serving Two Labor Camp Terms, Hebei Woman in Her 70s Faces Prosecution Again for Her Faith

(Minghui.org) Having served two labor camp terms, a woman in her 70s is now facing prosecution, after she was arrested on July 3, 2021 for telling people about Falun Gong, an ancient mind and body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999. 

Ms. Dong Xiuling, of Baoding City, Hebei Province, was reported to authorities when she and another Falun Gong practitioner, Ms. Shen Jingli, talked to people about Falun Gong at a market in Xushui District on July 3, 2021. The police from Dayin Police Station came and arrested both practitioners.

When Ms. Dong refused to sign the interrogation record, the police grabbed her hands and tried to force her to fingerprint the document, but didn’t succeed. While she struggled, her finger was pricked.

The police then took both practitioners to the local lockup. Upon hearing that both of them had hepatitis A before, the guards released them, but ordered them to report to the police whenever summoned.

Two days later, the police from Dayin Police Station took the two practitioners to Baoding Infectious Disease Hospital for physical check-up. The next day, they raided their homes. A paper-cut and a hanging decoration were taken down from the wall at Ms. Dong’s home and confiscated as prosecution evidence against her.

Both practitioners were taken to the Xushui District Lockup on July 9 after the hospital issued their check-up reports.

Ms. Dong was transferred to Baoding Detention Center on July 20, and the police submitted her case to the Xushui District Procuratorate on July 26.

Past Persecution

Prior to practicing Falun Gong, Ms. Dong suffered from many diseases and spent a lot of money on hospital bills but to no avail. After practicing Falun Gong, she recovered completely and her whole family lived happily.

However, after the persecution of Falun Gong began on July 20, 1999, local officials often harassed her, and her family no longer lived in peace.

The police from Hanzhuang Township Police Station broke into Ms. Dong’s home on April 29, 2001 and arrested her. She was detained in Baoding Detention Center where she was brutally forced fed while on a hunger strike. During the force-feeding, she was put in handcuffs and shackles. The guards also barred her from using the restroom and she soiled her pants as a result.

She was later given two years at the Baoding City Labor Camp, where she suffered even more brutal torture.

The guards once handcuffed her to a chair for seven days in April 2002. Four months later, they dragged her from the second floor to the first floor by her legs, with her head on the ground. Then they tied her to the bed with her four limbs to the four corners for 22 days. After she was released from the bed, she was forced to stand for three days.

In addition to being forced to do intensive unpaid labor, Ms. Dong was also subjected to confinement to a small cell, being tied to a large board in a spread eagle position and deprived of sleep for a long time. The guards also forced her to wear handcuffs and shackles weighing 30 pounds. Sometimes she was forced to squat for long hours while handcuffed.

Less than a year after she was released from the labor camp in May 2003, she was arrested again on February 1, 2004 while distributing pamphlets to expose the persecution at a neighboring village. The police from the Hanzhuang Township Police Station and Beishi District Police Department ransacked her home on the same night.

She was taken to Baoding Detention Center the next day, and later given another labor camp term of unknown duration.