Ms. Hu Lianhua, Shandong

Name: Ms. Hu Lianhua (???)
Gender: Female
Age: Unknown
Date of Most Recent Arrest: September 2, 2010
Date of Death: October 4th, 2010
Province: Shandong
Most Recent Place of Detention: Qinyun county’s police department

Case details:

Ms. Hu Lianhua (???) worked as an elementary school teacher in Hebei Province. On August 28th, 2008, Ms. Hu was discovered handing out information about the persecution, and was sent to a detention facility where she was reportedly tortured. Authorities ransacked her home, confiscated electronics, Falun Gong books, and took her son and daughter into detention. Ms. Hu was released only after the torture had rendered her weak and in ill-health. 

Upon her release, Ms. Hu continued practicing Falun Gong, and began to recover from the effects of abuse in custody. Then, on September 2, 2010, Ms. Hu was abducted in Shandong Province, along with about ten other Falun Gong practitioners, and taken to Qinyun county’s police department. Her home in Hebei province was also ransacked again, and authorities there took her husband into custody as well. 

One month later, on October 4th, the family was notified that Hu Lianhua had died in custody. Additional details into her death are being investigated.

Ms. Hu began practicing Falun Gong in 1997, along with her husband and daughter. The family found in Falun Gong a more positive outlook on life and improved health, including relief from Hepatitis C. 

After the Communist Party launched its suppression of Falun Gong in July 1999, Ms. Hu felt compelled to speak out. In 2000 she traveled to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong, but lost her job and pension once she returned home. Over the following ten years, Ms. Hu was abducted and imprisoned four times for her belief in Falun Gong.