(Minghui.org) I started to practice Falun Dafa in August 1996 along with my sister and my parents. Our whole family benefited from Dafa. My mother recovered from long-term hepatitis and became more tolerant and magnanimous. My younger sister recovered from an ilium tumor and became kind and considerate, always placing others' needs first. Falun Dafa brought peace, harmony, and compassion to our lives.
After the CCP started to persecute Falun Gong, just like many other families, we suffered, such as being detained and sent to forced labor camps and jail. My younger sister passed away due to the persecution. This persecution must be stopped. I hope that the horrors I have experienced will not happen to anyone else.
1. Being electric shocked and beaten, and made to do slave labor in the forced labor camp
After the CCP started to persecute Falun Gong, I went to appeal for Falun Gong three times, but each time I was intercepted by police. I was detained at Nanshan Detention Center in Shulan City for one month from October to November 1999 and was forced to do slave labor. The second time, I was taken back from Beijing by officers from Beicheng Police Station in Shulan City. I was first placed in custody at the Beicheng Residential Office to prevent me from going to appeal again. I told them about Falun Gong and how it teaches people to be kind and helps people to improve their health. Later I was placed under house arrest. A fellow practitioner and I went to Beijing to appeal again. We didn't realize that there were many plainclothes officers in front of the Beijing Appeals Office. We were arrested and sentenced to one year of forced labor. Because I did the exercises, my term was later extended eight months more.
I was detained at Heizuizhi Women's Forced Labor Camp in Jiling Province from 2000 to 2001. Falun Gong practitioners were shocked with electric batons every day by the guards, and practitioners' miserable screams could be heard coming from the education office. I was shocked with an electric baton because I refused to read the books that slandered Dafa. The guards told the inmates to beat the practitioners with plastic pipes to prevent us from doing the exercises. The practitioners were often punished physically and were tortured in various ways such as the “Stretching Bed.” A practitioner's limbs are tied to the four corners of a specially designed “Stretching Bed.” The bed boards are removed with only one iron pipe supporting the practitioner's waist while the rest of the body hung in the air. Some practitioners suffered a mental breakdown and were sent to the mental hospital, such as Ms. Wang Xiufen who died as a result of being tortured. Everyone in the labor camp was forced to do the slave labor from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. Many people got sick due to exhaustion and overwork. There were many other unknown abuses going on in the labor camp.
2. My younger sister was sentenced to 14 years in prison and I was sentenced to 12 years
After I was released from the labor camp, I had to leave home to avoid being harassed by the police. In November 2003, my younger sister and I were arrested at home by officers from Jiekuang Police Station in Shulan City. We were searched. Officer Guo Wei slapped my sister's face twice when she protested. They took away more than 3000 yuan in cash, our cell phones, the PC, the printer, and other personal belongings. Clothing was placed over our heads and we were taken away and interrogated in Shulan City Police Department overnight. Then we were sent to Nanshan Detention Center. Our family was not informed about our arrest. We started a hunger strike to protest the illegal arrest.
The next day two ruffians were hired to torture us at Nanshan Detention Center. My sister and I were tied to a chair with our hands cuffed behind us. They poured spicy mustard oil into our noses, mouths, and eyes. We were burned inside and out. They also pinched our ears. They held a secret trial one month after I held the hunger strike and didn't inform my family. My father reasoned hard with them and finally got permission to hire a lawyer. However, the lawyer hired by my family was not allowed to be in the courtroom. The people attending the trial were all their own employees, and they presented so-called “evidence” to frame us.
Judge Liu Yong slandered Dafa in court and prevented me from giving my statement. Xin He, head of the Shulan City Police Department, told persecutor Yang Guangyou to bypass the regular procedures. My sister protested, “Freedom of belief is protected by the constitution. We were framed with false evidence.” She also told how police officer Li Jiazhe used force to get evidence. Li Jiazhe kept scolding us in the courtroom. I was sentenced to 10 years in prison and she was sentenced to 12 years. When we tried to appeal, the judge added two more years to our terms.
Find details about the persecution of Ms. Song's sister, please read, “Ms. Song Bing Dies as Result of Brutal Torture (Photos)” http://en.minghui.org/html/articles/2009/8/13/109994.html
3. Tortured with the “Stretching Bed” in prison
The practitioners in prison were forced to repeatedly listen to the regime's propaganda and forced to write “thought reports.” If the officials thought the practitioner was not fully “transformed,” she would be placed under “strict control:” no shower, no speaking, no going to the restroom, no washing clothes, no sleep, standing for long hours, solitary confinement, and other forms of torture such as the “stretching bed.” Practitioners were subjected to various forms of mistreatment. The collaborators often threatened us, saying, “If you still refuse to be 'transformed', you will die or be driven insane!”
While in prison I was diagnosed with tuberculosis in September 2004 and I was treated. I appealed my case to higher authorities but didn't get any response. In April 2005, I started to do the exercises to regain my health. Soon I was sent back to prison and detained in a solitary cell. On April 13, 2005, collaborators Liu Cunyang, Shi Chuanxia, and Shang Wanfen tortured me with the “stretching bed.” I was tied to a bed with my limbs stretched out. My limbs were stretched to the extreme and the cords used to tie my limbs cut into my flesh. I was kept in this position day and night and had no choice but to relieve myself in the bed. One night, around 10 p.m., Liu Cunyang suddenly covered my head with a comforter, and I was unable to breathe. I was in extreme pain every minute, and the only way I got through it was my firm belief in Dafa. On the afternoon of the third day, Liu Cunyang put pressure on my legs with a comforter and pillow, causing me unbearable pain. They attempted to force me to write the three statements to give up Dafa.
I don't remember how many days I was tied up this way. Guard Lu Min, prison head Wu Zeyun, and division head Zhou Xiaoli often came to the solitary cell to see whether I had given in or not. They didn't do anything to stop the collaborators from torturing me. As a result of being tortured with the “stretching bed” for a month, my hands shook uncontrollably and I was unable to write. My limbs were always cold and numb. I had difficulty walking. The flesh around my ankles and wrists was covered with cuts and bruises. I was in pain all over. My brain became slow and unresponsive. It's hard to imagine how much pain a person endures under such extensive and inhuman torture.
I was forced to do slave labor in 2008 to produce the parts for a kind of electric toothbrush. We were required to do 5000 to 7000 spot weldings each day, and every day we were absolutely exhausted. In the evening, we were made to sit through a two-hour "class" to listen to the propaganda that slandered Dafa. It was another form of mental torture.
4. Hanging and force-feeding for refusing to cooperate
I was transferred to the No. 4 Division on March 2, 2012. On the morning of March 8 when I was doing the exercises, Li Dongmei and Ma Yan dragged me to a storage room. The guard hung me up with my hands cuffed together. I was pale and in extreme pain. When I was finally let down, the handcuffs had cut deeply into my wrists. On the evening of March 9, just as I started to do the exercises, several of the collaborators dragged me to the activity room to force me to stand upright without moving. Whenever I tried to do the exercises, they would open the window to freeze me. I was often put into the solitary cell for doing the exercises.
Saying that I ate too little, they force-fed me. During the force-feedings, my hands were tied to a bed and my legs and feet were held down. Once, the feeding tube was almost inserted into my trachea, which is very dangerous. After a period of such force-feeding, my internal organs started to spasm, which caused me to frequently vomit. My nose bled and the blood stopped up my nose.
On the evening of April 11, I tried to do the exercises again. Yang Shuang and Gu Nina stripped my clothes off. The inmates cursed and kicked me. They opened the window to let the cold air in. The next day I started a hunger strike to protest.
5. In danger of dying
The torture and mistreatment severely affected my health. I was little more than skin and bones. Zhao Liying and Xu Changping threatened me and told me there was a death quota for practitioners in the prison. On the morning of May 16, they closed the door and tied me to the bed to stretch my limbs. As soon as the guards came, I spoke out about their abuse and I also told those who visited me. This prevented them from committing further crimes. Two of them beat me many times to stop me from doing the exercises. They slapped my face, covered my mouth with a shoe-pad, covered my head with a comforter, and put hot pepper liquid into my mouth. Once they even dumped the hot pepper liquid into my private part.
Between 2006 to 2012, whenever I started a hunger strike I was given injections and subjected to force-feeding. I was covered with bruises. I was tied to a bed from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. according to the doctor's instructions. Later the time was reduced because my body was unable to handle it.
In May 2012, I developed two blisters filled with pus on my buttocks due to sitting for long hours on a small stool. Division head Zhang Shuzhen ordered that my limbs be tied to a bed. Two big holes were cut in my pants around the buttocks area so that they could put the medicine on. I was tied to the bed for 24 hours, which caused my arms to become numb and I wasn't able to raise them until several months later.
Later they inserted a catheter and tied me to a bed every night. My limbs were numb. I was slow and my mind was not clear.
In July 2012, I was treated in the provincial hospital. Except for the 10 minutes I was allowed to wash my face and teeth each day, I was cuffed to a bed the entire day.
In the middle of December, after suffering force-feeding, I started to vomit black liquid. I was tied to a bed to be treated. I felt dizzy, and had extreme pain in my stomach. I was given an infusion on December 15, 2012. The next day I was released.
Thanks to all my fellow practitioners, my parents, and kind people. Your care and support made my release possible. My parents are in their 70s and suffered so much for my sister and me. For over 13 years, they have been trying hard to keep us safe and to free us!
Earlier reports:
“Ms. Song Yanqun Weak from Torture and Hunger Strike, Heizuizi Women's Prison Blocks Family Visits”
http://en.minghui.org/html/articles/2012/8/12/134902.html
“Nothing But Skin and Bones, English Teacher Severely Persecuted in Changchun Women's Prison (Photos)”
http://en.minghui.org/html/articles/2012/5/22/133554.html
“Ms. Song Yanqun's Life is in Danger at the Changchun Heizuizi Female Prison”
http://en.minghui.org/emh/articles/2006/1/25/69330.html
