Husband of Persecuted Falun Gong Practitioner Unable to Seek Justice

Yang Zhengwen is a retired Beijing public servant. He says in 2003, Chinese police arrested his wife and sent her to a labor camp for practicing Falun Gong. The torture left her mentally disabled.

For years, Yang has been seeking justice, but says the courts won't listen to him.

According to this 2004 report by rights group the Falun Dafa Information Center, Yang's wife, Zhang Shurong , was severely beaten and shocked with electric batons during her detention in a labor camp. This was part of the Chinese Communist Party's ongoing persecution of Falun Gong, aimed at forcing practitioners to renounce their spiritual beliefs.

Although Zhang was released in May 2004, the torture left her permanently disabled.

[Yang Zhengwen, Husband of Persecuted Falun Gong Practitioner]
"Before her arrest, my wife was healthy. She took care of all the housework and looked after our granddaughter. Why was she left disabled after 25 days of detention?"

Yang says after years of treatment, his wife still remains unable to care for herself. And when he tried to seek justice, authorities were unsympathetic.

[Yang Zhengwen, Husband of Persecuted Falun Gong Practitioner]
"The Supreme People's Procuratorate says I'm unable to seek legal address for this, because all Falun Gong cases are tossed around."

The legal system in China has played a big role assisting in the communist regime's persecution of Falun Gong. The courts are often forced to make decisions under political pressure. That has frequently meant they arbitrarily sentence Falun Gong practitioners to labor camps—and avoid holding Chinese officials who torture them accountable.