(Clearwisdom.net) Baiguo Township is one of most vicious strongholds in Macheng City for persecuting Falun Dafa practitioners. Houzishan Retirement Home was originally a rest home in the township, but now it is a living hell --a place for persecuting Falun Dafa practitioners.

Baiguo Township authorities illegally impose fines between 3,000 RMB Yuan to over 10,000 RMB Yuan (about 1.5 to 5 years' income for an average rural worker) on those who have ever practiced Falun Gong. After fining practitioners, the authorities ask, "Are you going to continue practicing Falun Dafa or not?" When practitioners say yes, they are sent to Houzishan for detention and told, "Without our permission, you are not allowed to leave." From January 16, 2000 of the lunar calendar (February 20, 2000), many practitioners have been detained there. At one time, over 30 practitioners were detained at the same time; five practitioners are detained there now. Militia company commanders have been gathered from the whole township and the most wicked so-called "veterans" serve as hired thugs. They brutally beat and torture the practitioners in turns. They use special wood batons to beat the practitioners' lower bodies and tree branches with sharply whittled ends to whip their upper bodies. Once they broke several bundles of the branches while beating practitioners. When the tree branches were not enough, they used the bamboo handles of brooms. The thugs do not allow practitioners to eat, drink, sleep, wash, or brush their teeth; no relatives are allowed to visit. Additionally, practitioners are forced to swear at the Teacher and Dafa; otherwise, they are forced to stand facing a wall all day. The township officials, however, eat and drink with public money. When they get drunk, they go to the Houzishan Retirement Home to beat Dafa practitioners, and do not stop until they are exhausted. A rest home that once respected the elderly has been turned into a concentration camp.

The radio and TV stations of Baiguo Township endlessly broadcast a reward of 2,000 RMB Yuan for each Dafa practitioner reported to the authorities. Those practitioners who are seen practicing Falun Gong exercises, talking to each other, or visiting one another can all be reported. Monetary rewards have pushed some ignorant people into a sinful abyss. Many Falun Dafa practitioners are arrested, fined, or beaten. The practitioners' family members are arrested too if they complain. As a result, complaints are heard everywhere in the township and everybody is endangered. Any practitioner released from Houzishan is completely covered with bruises and cuts. Even those practitioners released from the Macheng Detention Center are forced into the brainwashing class in Houzishan and are excruciatingly tortured with all means.

Below is the partial list of the Dafa practitioners who have been persecuted.

Lu Xinai, female, was surrounded by four thugs. They beat her with wood batons, punching and kicking her at the same time. Her eyes were so damaged she could not see; her face swelled up like a steaming bun. Her whole body was covered with bruises and cuts.

Yang Guihua and Tong Guihua, both female, were forced to kneel down. The practitioners said, "We are not wrong. Our heads can be cut off and our blood may flow, but we will never give up practicing Falun Dafa." In addition to brutally beating them, the ruffians forced them to wear only underwear and bras and sit cross-legged in a basin of ice as they poured cold water over their heads. It was in the dead of winter and the temperature was below zero degrees Celsius (32 degree Fahrenheit).

Yan Xuling is a male practitioner. His feet were beaten until the bones broke. The local Township Government, Police Station, and Revenue Office all imposed fines on him. The total amount was in tens of thousands of Yuan.

Wang Lijuan, Peng Weixiang and Guo Jinhua are all female practitioners. The thugs tried to grab Falun Dafa books from the practitioners but when the practitioners refused to let go of the books the thugs tied them to a ladder and beat them.

Qiu Bingle and Deng He are both male practitioners. Even though they were covered with bruises and cuts from beatings, they still refused to turn in their Dafa books. The perpetrators publicly tortured and humiliated the practitioners--they were tied to a motorcycle and drug through the streets at full speed. Later, the ruffians slowed down for fear of public condemnation. Qiu Bingle was fined 8,000 RMB Yuan and his wife was fined by 5,000 RMB Yuan.

During the persecution of Falun Dafa practitioners, the police from the Baiguo Police Station were congratulating themselves on their illegal income. They said, "The profits are considerable in the first half of this year. It is very promising if everything continues like this."

Chen Yuanliang, the director of 610 Office [a government office established to handle all Falun Gong related issue] as well as the Director of the Office of Macheng City Committee, personally ordered the persecution of Falun Dafa practitioners. Xu Shiquan, the Secretary of the Political and Judiciary Committee of Baiguo Town, directly oversaw the persecution. Qiu Yuanqing, the director of Baiguo Police Station is the chief criminal in the persecution of Falun Dafa practitioners in Baiguo Town.