Elderly Ms. Zhang Xiuzhi Dies As a Result of Physical Abuse and Torture Suffered in Heilongjiang Province Women's Prison

Name: Zhang Xiuzhi
Gender: Female
Age: 68
Address: Jiagedaqi, Daxinganling
Occupation: Unknown
Date of Death: Early 2012
Date of Most Recent Arrest: March 2003
Most Recent Place of Detention: Heilongjiang Province Women's Prison
City: Harbin
Province: Heilongjiang
Persecution Suffered: Forced labour, brainwashing, forced injections/drug administration, imprisonment, solitary confinement, torture

Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Zhang Xiuzhi, 68, from Jiagedaqi, Daxinganling was sentenced to imprisonment and held in the Heilongjiang Province Women's Prison for nearly five years. Physical abuse and torture caused her to be unable to take care of herself. After she was released, she could no longer eat and food had to be instilled into her stomach through a syringe to sustain her life. She passed away in the spring of 2012.

After Ms. Zhang returned home from prison, her family saw that she had suffered a mental collapse. She cried and laughed uncontrollably. Her facial expressions were abnormal. Her family suspected that she had been injected with or forced to take toxic drugs in prison.

Ms. Zhang was previously sentenced to two years of forced labour in 2000 by the Jiagedaqi Police Department for travelling to Beijing to speak out for justice for Falun Gong. She was held in the Shuanghe Forced Labour Camp in Qiqihar City.

Ms. Zhang was arrested again in March 2003 for delivering Falun Gong teachings to a practitioner. Officers from the Jiagedaqi Domestic Security Division arrested her and sent her to a detention centre. Ms. Zhang was later sentenced to five years in prison, and held in the Heilongjiang Province Women's Prison.

Ms. Zhang was subjected to all kinds of physical abuse and torture at Heilongjiang Province Women's Prison. She was forced to undergo brainwashing sessions and do hard labour. In November 2004 she and four other practitioners were placed in a solitary confinement cell. Female guard Cao Jingyun, who was on duty that day, stripped the practitioners' clothes off, leaving them wearing only their underwear. Their hands were cuffed behind their backs for 24 hours a day.

Ms. Zhang suffered from stroke symptoms. Her mouth didn't work properly, and she couldn't articulate her words clearly. She had difficulty moving one side of her body. Her blood pressure exceeded 200. Her family requested that she be released on medical parole, but the prison officials refused. Later, Ms. Zhang's condition became more and more serious. With her family's strong demand, Ms. Zhang was finally released on medical parole about two months before her sentence expired.

Ms. Zhang's condition became worse and worse after she returned home. She could not take care of herself. Eventually, she could no longer eat and had to be fed with a syringe. She died in the spring of 2012.