(Clearwisdom.net) Ms. Yang Lixia is a Falun Dafa practitioner in A'cheng City, Heilongjiang Province. She started to practice Falun Gong in 1996. She followed the principles of "Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance" to be a good person. Her body was purified, and she recovered from cerebral arteriosclerosis, sciatica and rheumatism. In the past five years, because she clarified truth about Falun Gong, she was illegally arrested many times and suffered many hardships.

Mr. Zhang Bingxiang, Ms. Yang Lixia's husband, was imprisoned for two years in a labor camp for persisting in his belief in Falun Gong. He was severely persecuted and passed away on January 3, 2004 of the Lunar Calendar (January 24, 2004) after he was released from the labor camp. Ms. Yang's daughter was illegally imprisoned in labor camps twice for clarifying the truth about Falun Dafa. When she was first imprisoned in a labor camp, she was not yet 20 years old. She was released on August 13, 2004. Ms. Yang reunited with her daughter just for a few days before she was illegally arrested again on August 15, 2004. Ms. Yang is currently imprisoned in A'cheng First Detention Center by A'Cheng Police Station and the "610 Office".

In September 1999, Ms. Yang Lixia went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong, but her right to appeal was denied. Around 2am, the police took her from her hotel to an underground parking garage. The A'cheng City Political Security Office and Du Liping from Ms. Yang's company sent her to A'cheng First Detention Center and interrogated her that same night. Zhang Zhongfan, Deputy Director of A'cheng City Police Department, and a political commissar named Xing interrogated Ms. Yang. The police department forced Ms. Yang's family to pay 10,000 Yuan for so-called "bail" and illegally detained her for 116 days.

On the eighth day after Ms. Yang Lixia was released, the Party Secretary named Chen from her company came to talk to her. Ms. Yang clarified the truth about Falun Gong to him, but Chen called the "610 Office" for orders. The "610 Office" instructed him to call the Security Office in her company, which sent Ms. Yang to Heping Police Station in A'cheng City. Ms. Yang was later transferred to A'cheng Second Detention Center.

On the day before Chinese New Year, Falun Gong practitioners in prison attempted to study articles written by Teacher and practice the Falun Gong exercises. However, the male guards severely persecuted them. They beat the practitioners with plastic tubes and brooms, striking them so hard that the brooms bounced out of their hands. Once when the practitioners were sitting in meditation, guard Yang Qi fiercely whipped Ms. Yang's back with a ring of metal keys. She could hardly breathe and suffered from acute pain that lasted for many days. Whenever the practitioners practiced the Falun Gong exercises, the guards poured water on them to freeze them during the winter. The guards beat them for a whole month, starting on Chinese New Year's Eve.

In the Chinese New Year holiday season, when the practitioners were illegally imprisoned and suffered from all kinds of torture, their families were also subjected to a lot of suffering. Practitioners started a hunger strike to protest and demanded to be released unconditionally. The guards brutally forced-fed the practitioners. They handcuffed the practitioners, grabbed their hair, pinched their noses, and used sticks to pry open their mouths. Many practitioner's mouths were injured by the sticks. Beer bottles were then used to force-feed the practitioners. This time, Ms. Yang was illegally imprisoned for 114 days, and her family was extorted for 3,000 yuan.

In July 2000, Ms. Yang Lixia was arrested again for going to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong. In the police car, the police beat her face with a plastic tube. Her face and eyes were so swollen that she could not see. She was detained in Changping Detention Center and Malianwa Police Station. Ms. Yang refused to tell them her name, so the police cuffed her to a metal pole outside in the yard. There were a lot of mosquitoes in the evening. She was wearing a T-shirt and shorts, and was bitten repeatedly by the mosquitoes. A policeman tightened her handcuffs again and again to increase the pain in her wrists. The policemen forced her to stand outside with her hands cuffed all night and interrogated her. The next day, the chief of the detention center detained her in Changping for another half day, with her hands cuffed. Some practitioners were brutally beaten without even being allowed to put shoes on first. Ms. Yang went on a hunger strike to protest, and was released 6 days later.

In December 2000, Ms. Yang Lixia held a banner appealing for Falun Gong in Tiananmen Square. The police beat her brutally, causing her nose to bleed heavily, injuring her eyes and leaving a big knot on her head. She felt dizzy and vomited. Still, the police handcuffed her to a table leg for a whole night. The next day, the police deceived her into telling them her address in order to send her home to treat her eyes. She was illegally detained in Fangshan for four days, and in A'cheng Second Detention Center for another 34 days. She was later imprisoned for two years in Wanjia Labor Camp.

In Wanjia Labor Camp, practitioners are often brutally beaten by guards and criminals for persisting in practicing Falun Gong. Once Wu Jingying, the head guard, led a group of female guards to drag Ms. Yang outside. Thanks to the help of other practitioners, they failed to drag her out. Another time, a male guard seized her hair and dragged her all the way to the chief's office on the second floor. Because Ms. Yang persisted in practicing Falun Gong, the guards confined her in a solitary compartment and hung her up with a rope for one day and one night.

Ms. Yang Lixia practiced Falun Gong in the solitary compartment. The guards beat her brutally and hung her until her thumbs went numb, which persisted for several months. When she refused to attend the formation drill in prison, the criminals beat her and scolded her, ripping out three buttons from her shirt in the process. A guard named Zhang chased her to beat her and ripped out a lot of her hair, just because she tried to protect Teacher's articles. Falun Gong practitioners were also beaten for sending righteous thoughts. A guard hit Ms. Yang with a rod, causing her middle finger to be black and blue for several days.

Once, the guards searched the practitioners and took away Teacher's articles. The practitioners went on a hunger strike for 33 days. They refused to be forced-fed and were brutally beaten. Two criminals held down Ms. Yang's shoulders and forcibly inserted tubes into her stomach twice a day. Ms. Yang's body was covered with scabies, with running pus. She had a high fever at the time of the hunger strike. She felt pain and itching all over her body, and couldn't sleep at night.

On August 27, 2002, male police guards entered the 7th brigade in Wanjia Labor Camp and started even more severe persecution. They forced practitioners to sit on small stools all day. They prohibited practitioners from talking to each other, and ordered criminals to follow them when they went to the restroom. Ms. Yang Lixia refused to recite the prison regulations and report to the guards. Guard Sun Guoqing kicked her, shocked her with electric batons and wrenched her arms hard. After that for several months, Ms. Yang's arms hurt whenever she tried to move them.

On September 20, 2002, guard Chang Shumei called Ms. Yang to the 3rd floor. A former practitioner who turned against Dafa under torture came to brainwash her. Ms. Yang refused to listen, so guard Yao Fuchang kicked her and punched her in the shoulder. Then Yao forced her to squat down in a room with her hands behind her back. Yao ordered four criminals, including Bai Xuelian, to watch to make sure she squatted down without moving. Whenever Ms. Yang tried to move her legs, Bai kicked her. They tortured her from 9pm until 3:30am the next morning. Ms. Yang went to bed at 3:30am, and then had to get up at 5am. At 8am the former practitioner came back to try to brainwash her, but failed. At around 1pm, the guards cuffed Ms. Yang's hands behind her back. They tied the handcuffs to the bars in a metal window frame, with a rope to suspend her. Ms. Yang could barely touch the floor with the tip of her toes. Her whole body trembled with pain. The pain was so severe that large drops of sweat dropped from her face. The cuffs got tighter and tighter, and bit into her flesh.

Because Ms. Yang Lixia persisted in her belief in "Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance", the guards attempted to extend her imprisonment terms for another year, but their plan failed.

On August 15, 2004, Ms. Yang Lixia was reported to police when she was distributing truth-clarification materials in Xiaoling Township, A'cheng City, and she was arrested again. She is currently imprisoned in A'cheng First Detention Center. During her imprisonment, the police interrogated her many times, trying to force her to reveal where she got the truth-clarification materials. They brutally beat her when she refused to tell them. One day, some people from Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province came. They interrogated every Falun Gong practitioner detained there, and then brutally beat them. All of the practitioners there were very firm and refused to give in.

September 26, 2004