Ms. Song Shuye, 60, Dies after Enduring over 10 Years of Persecution and Torture

Name: Song Shuye
Gender: Female
Age: 60
Address: Yanjingli Neighbourhood, Youyi Community, Lubei District, Tangshan City, Hebei Province
Occupation: Unknown
Date of Death: April 2010
Date of Most Recent Arrest: 2001
Most Recent Place of Detention: Tangshan City Second Forced Labour Camp
City: Tangshan
Province: Hebei
Persecution Suffered: Electric shock, sleep deprivation, forced labour, brainwashing, beatings, torture, physical restraint, home ransacked, interrogation, arrest, detention, denial of toilet use

Ms. Song Shuye learned Falun Gong in 1996 and benefited a lot from the Falun Gong practice, both physically and spiritually. She became healthier, and her family became more harmonised.

In July 1999, the Chinese Communist regime outlawed the practice and ordered all government branches, including police departments, to force every practitioner to write a guarantee statement to stop practising Falun Gong. When Ms. Song refused, she was detained in an iron cage and handcuffed for many days. Afterwards, Ms. Song was closely monitored by the local police station. The police officers regularly harassed her and her family, especially during the important holidays and sensitive dates, and even forced her own family to monitor her.

In 2001, because she was among those who wrote a public letter to appeal against the persecution of Falun Gong, Ms. Song was detained and sent to the No. 2 Labour Education Centre of Tangshan City for three years.

The female warden at the prison, Xing Lixin, slapped the faces of and violently beat Falun Gong practitioners at her will. When Ms. Song refused to acknowledge the unjust imprisonment and put on the prison uniform, Xing beat her with electric and rubber batons with the excuse that she did not follow orders. At one time, Ms. Song lost consciousness due to the brutal beating and had bruises all over her body, including her chest, neck, head, and face.

During the detention period, Xing also cut Ms. Song's skin with iron wire and forced her to sit on a small metal stool with her legs handcuffed to the stool so that she could not stand up for extensive periods of time. The prison guards also forbade her from using the toilet and didn't allow her to drink water or eat for long periods of time. These are among the many torture methods that she endured.

In 2004, because her blood pressure continued to be elevated to over 200 mmHg, Ms. Song was released. Upon her release, she had many injuries to her body and head as the result of the brutal torture she endured in custody. She soon became paralysed, lost vision in both eyes, and had bedsores. She died in April 2010.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.org/mh/articles/2010/5/4/222832.html