(Clearwisdom.net) Li Liang is the brother of Li Ying, who is the fiancée of Australian citizen Li Qizhong. Since Minghui website published an article entitled "Please Help Rescue Family Members Ling Ying, Li Hong and Li Liang", the letter below has passed through the hands of many Falun Dafa practitioners in China to reach us.
I feel fortunate to have known Falun Dafa practitioner Li Liang. He was born on February 14, 1971, and graduated from Tianjin Finance and Economics Institute. He began to practice Falun Dafa in 1995 and worked at the Beijing Culture Book Shop before being arrested.
1) Why was he arrested?
At about 9 pm on September 28 1999, Tianjin's Hongqiao Public Security Sub-bureau sent people to where Li Liang stayed in Beijing and took him away without showing any ID or legal documents. He was then held in the detention center for Hongqiao Public Security Sub-bureau. The bureau staff filled out a warrant of "criminal detention" in his presence citing "disturbing social order." Actually after Jiang slandered Falun Dafa during his six-country European tour, Li Liang wrote an appeal letter. Motivated by a citizen's responsibility and duty, he wrote the letter to the Appeal Office of the State Council to explain his knowledge and understanding of Falun Dafa. He hoped the State Council would conduct a further investigation. Li Liang had only exercised his rights guaranteed by the Constitution.
2) The Hongqiao Public Sub-bureau illegally sentenced him to 18 months of forced labour
He was illegally sentenced to 18 months of forced labour, sent to Shuangkou Forced Labour Camp and held in the No. Two Team. Deputy Team Leader Lang Tao and office worker He Jun questioned Li Liang while walking, "Do you still want to practice?" "Yes I do!" So the policemen hit Mr. Li very hard in the face. As a result, by the time they got upstairs Mr. Li's face was already swollen. At noon, the team's political instructor, Zhen Runzhong, tried to forced Li Liang to write a so-called "Repentance Statement." [In this statement the practitioner is forced to admit remorse for practicing Falun Gong, promise to give up Falun Gong, and never again associate with other practitioners or go to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong] Li Liang refused. Zhen got drunk and went crazy. He punched Mr. Li in the face with force. Blood covered his face, the front of his clothes and the ground where he stood. Zhen ordered an inmate to help him wash away the blood. Afterwards, he smashed Li Liang again, and then washed the blood away again. The process was repeated four times until he had no strength.
Before March 2000 when they first arrived at No. Two Team, about 30 Falun Dafa practitioners wrote the so-called "guarantee letters" [statements promising not to practice and not to spread Falun Dafa] under violent persecution. On March 15, Li Liang and a dozen others solemnly proposed to study the Fa and practice the exercises to safeguard the truth. At the same time they declared those "guarantee letters" null and void and started a hunger strike to express their attitude. The forced labour camp reassigned these practitioners. Li Liang and some others were transferred to No. Three Team. Li Liang refused to take part in any activities related to so-called "education through labour." At the beginning of 2001, the policemen transferred Li Liang to No. Five Team and on September 13, 2001 he was charged with "refusing to reform." His term in the forced labour camp was extended five months on top of a previous six-month extension, not yet completed. Li Liang was then transferred to Yushan Forced Labour Camp in Jixian County, Tianjin and his term in the labour camp was extended another year.
3) Upon completion of his term Li Liang disappeared
On April 28, 2002 it was time for Li Liang to come back home after the completion of his term. That morning the policemen took him to the Labour Education Section. There were several staff members there. Among them was a lady claiming to be the leader from the neighbourhood committee. The identities of the rest were unknown but two were in police uniform. When they asked Li Liang to sign a "Notice of Release from Education through Labour" he refused, saying that since arresting him was against the law the release should be unconditional. He said he was not subject to forced labour education so he would not sign the paper. Several strangers tried to take him away. Li Liang said to them, "I am waiting for my family." Then they found all kinds of excuses not to let Mr. Li see his family. Li Liang asked them, "Who are you? Why should I go with you?" One of the strangers took from his briefcase a couple of blank "Subpoenas" with official seals and said bluntly, "If you want formalities I can fill out one for you any time." He seemed to speak with authority.
Just then, one person lied to Li Liang that his family had arrived, but when he left he only found seven strangers in a white car. Only two of the seven were in police uniforms. They surrounded Mr. Li and asked him to get in the car, but he refused. Then they pushed Li Liang into the car and went straight to Jianxin Forced Labour Camp where he was held in No. Three Team, Fifth Division.
A few days later, they told Li Liang that they planned to run a "class" because they found he had a problem in his ideology. Li Liang sternly pointed out, "Tell me what I am thinking now. Do you really know my thoughts?" These people were rendered speechless. Mr. Li continued to ask, "If you don't know my thoughts then how could you know I have problem in my ideology. According to the law, the conviction of a crime should be based on action, therefore don't you think it's ridiculous to jail someone because he's got problem in his ideology?" It is very sad that Chinese law is wantonly trampled upon by the Chinese rulers and law enforcers. Li Liang solemnly lodged a protest and started hunger a strike. Later, Mr. Li was given another two years of forced labour.
When Li Liang's family arrived at Yushan Forced Labour Camp they were told that Li Liang had left but his whereabouts were unknown. Personnel of the so-called forced labour camp and public security bureau had openly trampled on his constitutional rights and kept him from his family.
4) The persecution of Falun Dafa practitioners at Shuangkou Forced Labour Camp
- Facilities there are extremely poor. At the time there were about 150 people but only about 90
beds, so a lot of people had to sleep on the floor or in the corridors. The quality of drinking
water was very bad and sometimes there was no water. The workload was extremely intense but no
safety measures were implemented for the practitioners. As a result, finger injuries or burns were
not uncommon. The wounds would get infected and fester very quickly. Part of the finger joints would
then become deformed and fingernails would come off. Because of their wounds they could not finish
their work, so they were deprived of sleep, beaten or suffered other forms of corporal punishment. A
lot of people only had 2 to 3 hours sleep a day. Some were even forced to have their eyes open for 3
to 5 consecutive days.
- Corporal punishment is a common occurrence. In the first half of 2000, several Falun Dafa
practitioners were forced to do body folding. This requires the practitioner to stand straight and
bend over to fold the body in half. After that their trousers would be stripped off and then the
criminals who assisted team leaders would beat them with sticks 10cm x 150cm. The thrashing could be
as few as two to three hits or a dozen or more. Those onlookers would feel terror stricken. They
would be beaten again the following day. However, when their trousers were again stripped off you
could see large areas that were black and blue and swelling. Even the hatchet men did not have the
heart to bash them again.
- From June to September 2000 the Fifth Division forced the Falun Dafa practitioners to take part
in the so-called "study sessions" where TV or tape recorders repeatedly played slanderous
material about Falun Dafa. Whoever disagreed with the material would be punched and kicked. They had
to sit there for nearly 20 hours every day. They were only allowed to go to bed at 4:30 the next
morning; however they had to get up at 5:30am. Whoever dozed off during the day would be beaten.
Policeman Du gave each Falun Dafa practitioner what he called "the largest mopping cloth in the
world" which was actually 2cm x 4cm. He expected them to clean the floors, walls, and toilets
with the cloth and they had to use their lunchboxes to wash the cloth.
- March 13, a new group including Zhang the Deputy Head of the Tianjin Bureau of Forced Labour
Reform came to Shuangkou Forced Labour Camp to assume command and called to order a "meeting of
reward and punishment". One Dafa practitioner refused to participate. Under the instruction of
the police, 4 to 5 criminals forcefully dragged him to the meeting. While struggling this
practitioner announced in a loud voice that he would not take part in such a meeting. The thugs used
towels that they prepared beforehand to silence him and used tape to tie his hands and legs. This
practitioner's clothes were worn away from being dragged. The bureau chiefs, heads of departments
and section leaders were all present but they just turned a blind eye to what was happening. Only
with their connivance could the violence take place.
- Practitioners are not allowed to see their families. When Li Liang first came to the Number Two
Team he was told that if he did not write the so-called "Repentance Statement" he would
not be allowed to write letters or meet with his family. He was also body-searched from time to
time; his dignity insulted.
- In the summer of 2001, because the Falun Dafa practitioners held at the Fifth Division of the Shuangkou Forced Labour Camp requested to practice the five sets of exercises they were forced to sit on the ground with their legs crossed and then the thugs used rope to tie their legs up. They stomped on the practitioners' legs. The practitioners had to raise their hands with palms facing the sky. The thugs then put lit cigarettes on each of their palms until the cigarettes burned out. The practitioners' palms festered after they were burnt. The odor of burnt flesh filled the room! I can cite more examples. It's known to all that good and evil always have consequences! Being evil is met with evil returns.
5) The righteous will triumph over the evil and more people will learn the truth
- Wherever Li Liang went he would state clearly that he was not an offender under forced labour
reform, therefore he would not take part in any forced labour reform related activities. He also
made it clear that he would boycott any attacks on Falun Dafa. In Jianxin Forced Labour Camp his
team leader had to say, "I do not admit you are an offender under forced labour reform for I
have not received any formalities about you. The only thing I received is an order to detain you
here."
- Li Liang had once talked to a policeman who had graduated from the University of Political Science and Law about his sufferings. The policeman sighed deeply and said, "Liangzi (Li Liang's pet name), you should have known China's present legal situation..."