PureInsight | April 29, 2016
[PureInsight.org] “Pingping Che has already been on an eight-month long hunger strike. While imprisoned at Jilin Women’s jail, she faces the crisis of life and death every day. I've got to rescue her!” The speaker of this statement is Wang Huilian—Pingping Che’s friend in the United States, who spoke with our reporter. Wang’s tone was very distressed, with pauses between her sentences laden with grief.
“Currently, the Jilin Women’s Prison where Che is being held is one of the most brutal prisons in China. There have already been at least 10 Falun Gong practitioners who have been persecuted to death there. Right now, as Che is being held there, despite being 1.66 meters in height, her weight has emaciated to a mere 30 kilograms. Therefore, we are extremely worried about Pingping Che’s safety," said Wang.
Pingping Che was born in 1973 to a very prosperous family. Her father is the principal of a high ranking school in China, while her mother is a doctor. Che has a very open personality; she is cordial and likes to help others. She is an eloquent speaker, good at dancing and singing, and holds a Master’s degree. When she worked at the Jilin Institute of Physical Education, the students there had enjoyed her classes very much.
Pingping Che started practicing Falun Gong in 1993. She attended Master Li Hongzhi’s lecture series held in Yanji in 1994, as well as the Fa teaching at the Assistants’ Fa conference in Changchun in 1998.
According to Wang, Che was a very steadfast practitioner of Falun Gong and was among the first batch of practitioners to be persecuted in 1999. On July 22, 1999, Jilin Provincial police had abducted a large number of Falun Gong practitioners to an athletic stadium. When Che had stood up to protest this illegal action, the police had pulled her by the hair and dragged her on the ground for about 100 meters, after which she was sent to a drug rehabilitation center.
Such an experience has shaken Che deeply. She had previously told Huilian Wang how she couldn’t believe that such a good practice—one that had always been approved by the government and that so many people were practicing—was now being suppressed. On top of that, she had become the recipient of such inconceivable acts of violence. Overnight, she went from being a happy, outgoing girl to becoming uncommunicative and reticent—she didn’t speak to anyone for quite some time. But she gradually came to understand the reality—that there is no crime in practicing the principles of truthfulness-compassion-forbearance! All the lies that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) were spreading about Falun Gong was deceiving the public! Having stepped over her mental barrier, Che firmed up her belief and started continuously clarifying the truth to people.
Che was arrested and detained many times, and continuously suffered persecution at the hands of the CCP, because she stayed resolute in her belief. Her parents could not withstand the heavy pressure and both consequently passed away in 2003 and 2004. Now Che only has her sister left to which she can depend on for life support.
In June 2006, the Jilin Province police department and the security department at the institute came to Che’s home again to capture her. She was forced to jump from the fifth-story building to escape, and broke her sternum, right leg and right ankle joint. Doctors determined that her life was in serious jeopardy; they concluded that even if she were to survive, she would be disabled for the rest of her life.
After the Jilin ministry of public security and hospital forced Che’s family members to sign a form accepting personal responsibility for any death, they allowed Che to leave the hospital. After returning home, through studying the Fa and practicing the Falun Gong exercises, Che’s body miraculously recovered. A month later, she was already able to ride a bicycle. In two months, she had fully recovered without any residual effects. Her story became a legend of sorts throughout Jilin Province.
Later, survival became more difficult. In order to maintain her livelihood, Che Pingping participated in a food chain business with other practitioners. Yet even this simple act of maintaining one’s livelihood was used as an excuse for persecution by the local 610 office (illegal organization that specializes in persecuting Falun Gong). On October 18, 2013, Che Pingping was again captured, along with 30 other Falun Gong practitioners who had been running the chain store with her. In order to help Che Pingping, family members hired a human rights lawyer to plead for her innocence.
Yet, the Politics and Law Committee and the "610" office of Jilin City controlled the public security department and banned the lawyer, saying that there was a regulation that restricted the use of lawyers by geographic area. The chair of board at the Chuanying Court of Law, Zhang Fuhong; the deputy chair of board, Pu Haidon; and Judge Li Zhongcheng, who was handling the case; used evasion, uncouth behavior, senseless talking, and other coarse methods, including not accepting the law agency’s formalities, to aid the 610 office.
On the morning of September 7, 2015, the judicial court in Chuanying District, Jilin City, conducted a secret and illegal trial on Falun Gong practitioners Zhu Yujun, Che Pingping, and Ma Chi. No lawyers were notified; neither were family members. The entire process was directed and carried out by members of the Jilin City 610 office.
In order to protest the unlawful persecution by the 610 office, Che Pingping went on a hunger strike in April, 2015—it has now lasted over eight months. Later, with a body weight of just over 30kg, Che was sent to the Jilin Province women’s prison.
In December, 2015, Che Pingping was allowed to meet with her family members for the first time. When Che’s younger sister saw her, she couldn’t help but break down in tears. After eight months on hunger strike, the older sister she had always thought of as embodying “Mulan-esque” qualities—cordial, brave, proud and of unmatchable beauty—had been reduced to a bone-thin figure, and her hair was dirty and stuck together, due to long-term subjection to barbarous acts of force-feeding. Her body was extremely weak; she had essentially become like a trembling old lady who was on her last legs. Che told her sister that she now weighed only 30kg. She used to weigh 65kg, with a radiant body and was in excellent health.
“She is now force-fed three times a day. She is in such terrible condition and yet they treat her this way. Her life is perpetually in danger!” says Wang.
Wang Huilian also says that prisons generally don’t accept people who are on the brink of death, such as Che, but Jilin Women’s Prison is different. Falun Gong practitioners who have been detained there all know: the prison has a complete set of torture methods—cruel treatment, brainwashing, and “Flanking” (包夹, bao jia), an around-the-clock surveillance on ‘key targets’ by personnel or by controlled fellow inmates. Additionally, in the case of the ten or so Falun Gong practitioners who were persecuted to death, the perpetrators had been not only not held responsible, but even rewarded or promoted.
“This kind of situation makes us friends living abroad extremely worried. We know that every day she is on death’s door. This compassionate friend of ours should not be subjected any more to such persecution. We earnestly request everyone to pay attention to Che Pingping’s case. We ask that all people of conscience step forward to demand the immediate release of the innocent Che Pingping,” said Wang.
Wang Huilian says that Che Pingping’s friends in the United States, Canada, and Europe are currently working together to launch rescue initiatives. They will look to members of legislature in various countries to ask for Che’s release. The World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong has also released the report, which intends to apprise those persecutory police that in the future they will have to stand before the court of law.
We cannot let such tragedy to occur again! We call upon all people who have any connection to this situation to stand on the side of justice and lend your warm support. Together let’s put a stop to the evil and rescue a compassionate and beautiful human being!
Translated from: http://news.zhengjian.org/node/30121
