(Minghui.org) “They tortured me this way for 24 hours a day, which lasted about 30 days. After I still refused to be “transformed” the torture became more brutal. I was hung up in mid air more than a foot above the bed, with my four limbs tied to the corners of a bed frame with white cloth ropes. My upper body was hanging lower than my lower body. I felt as if my muscles and bones were being pulled out. Such pain is hard to describe in words. I passed out several times....”
The above is from Ms. Liu Xiangzuo, a high school teacher at No.2 High School of Dongliao County, Jilin Province. Because she practices Falun Gong, Ms. Liu has been arrested, detained, subjected to forced labor, and sentenced to prison. She suffered brutal torture during her detention, including being tortured on a death be for more than 80 days. She describes her suffering below.
Beaten and Tortured at the Detention Center and Forced Labor Camp
I was arrested on the afternoon of November 9, 2000 at my workplace. Police from Weijin Town Police Station came to the school with the excuse that I had spoken to a local Falun Gong practitioner. They searched my office and took away my Dafa books, exercise tape, tape player, and some truth-clarification materials.
I was interrogated by Chen Lin from the Dongliao County Police Department. He wanted to know who introduced me to Falun Gong, where the Dafa books came from, who I would give the truth-clarifying materials to, etc. I would not betray any fellow practitioners and said nothing to him. So he started to kick my legs, slapped me , and violently slammed my head against the wall while holding me by my hair.
I was taken to the Dongliao Police Department around 4:00 p.m. that afternoon. Li Jing, head of the political and security section, and officer Song Guangbo kicked and beat me. They kept kicking my lower abdomen with their leather shoes. I was kicked around and slammed against the wall so hard that I bounced off.
My menstrual period had come earlier. The police were tired of beating me and were breathless. They forced me to open my legs and pressed my head down, which made me bend at my waist with my bottom rising up. Later my husband rushed in. He took my hand and said to me, “Let's go home.” He started to struggle with the police. The police rushed to issue a detention order and put me in the Liaoyuan Detention Center.
In the detention center, we started a hunger strike and were force-fed a salty corn paste. Two months later I was sent to the Heizuizi Women’s Forced Labor Camp. We were forced to do slave labor with only four or five hours of sleep a night. At any moment, we might be beaten, forced to stand for long hours, deprived of sleep, etc.
One day in May 2001, I was called to the “education classroom” of the labor camp. After I refused to be “transformed,” deputy division head Hou Zhihong and Li Man (education section officer) started to shock me with electric batons. They shocked my neck, legs, and other parts of my body. I fell down several times. Division head Li Hu threatened me, “We will shock you like this for three hours a day every day until you give in.” They didn't stop until I finally passed out.
My term of forced labor was extended by 36 days because I persisted in my belief in Falun Gong. I was released on December 14, 2002.
Since I refused to give up Falun Gong, I was not allowed to go back to work by the principal, Li Bao, in Dongliao No. 2 High School. Zhen Rongli, head of the Weijin Police Station, and police officer Wang Zhe often came to my parents' home to harass me. I had no other option but to leave home to avoid further persecution.
Again Arrested and Tortured
In order to let more people know about the Chinese Communist Party's atrocity of harvesting organs from live Falun Gong practitioners, six fellow practitioners (including my husband and I) distributed truth-clarification brochures in the suburbs of Liaoyuan City. We were arrested around 1:00 a.m. on April 23, 2006 by plainclothes officers from the Dongji District Police Department.
We were taken to the Dongji District Police Department and tortured during 16 hours of interrogation. My husband and I were detained on the first floor and the third floor, respectively. We were each tied to a metal chair rendering our four limbs immobile. They poured cold water on me, slapped my face, and threatened me with an electric baton.
My husband, Zhang Sunhong, suffered more during the interrogation. Ignoring the big cut on his head, policeman Jiang Yang poured cold water on him and turned on a fan to blow cold air on him. The blood from the cut on his head mixed with the water and rushed down, which made his white shirt turn red. He kept trembling because of the freezing cold. Jiang Yang covered my husband's head with a plastic bag, lit up five or six cigarettes and bundled them together in front of his nose.
We were taken to the Liaoyuan City Detention Center at 5:00 p.m. on April 23 after the interrogation was in vain. My cell phone and our motorcycle were taken by police. They searched our home and took a bank card of 2,000 yuan and a gold ring.
In the Liaoyuan Detention Center, we refused to wear the prison uniform, recite the prison regulations, or do slave labor. Guard Luo Dongmei beat and cursed me several times. I was forced to wear heavy shackles for more than 50 days.
Tortured on the “Death Bed” for More Than 80 Days at Heizuizi Women's Prison
I was sentenced to five years in prison by the Longshan District Court in Liaoyuan City, after being detained for nine months in the Liaoyuan Detention Center. On January 29, 2007 I was sent to Heizuizi Women's Prison, where I suffered tortures such as sleep deprivation, being forced to stand for long hours, hung up in the air, being forced to watch brainwashing programs, and being tortured on the “death bed” for more than 80 days.
Torture Re-enactment: “death bed”
The “education” section in Heizuizi Women's Prison is specifically established to persecute Falun Gong practitioners. In the first week after I was sent there, they tried to brainwash practitioners using their “soft” ways. Every day different perpetrators came to “advise” me. Every steadfast practitioner was watched by three inmates 24 hours a day. They took turns monitoring us, even at night, and reported to the guards at any time.
Since I didn't cooperate with them, they resorted to the “hard” methods with me. On the night of February 6, 2007 four inmates pressed me on the ground and tied my four limbs with four white cloth ropes. They tied me to the bed with the ropes fixed to the four corners of the bed. They covered the window with a white curtain and had those perpetrators leave the room. Three inmates started to torture me on the “death bed” for more than 80 days.
I was fixed on the bed, and not allowed to wash my face and feet. They fed me water and food and used a plastic basin instead of letting me go to the restroom. I was not allowed to sleep before 12:00 a.m. and was awakened at 5:00 a.m. The TV repeatedly played programs that slandered Falun Gong. Once, they refused to let me urinate for more than 17-18 hours, which made me urinate in bed. They refused to change my pants and bed cover with dry ones.
They tortured me this way 24 hours a day for about 30 days. After I still refused to be “transformed,” they made it more insufferable. I was hung up again with my arms and legs tied to the corners of the bed frame with white cloth ropes. My whole body hung in the air, more than a foot high above the bed, and my upper body was lower than my lower body. I felt as if my muscles and bones were being pulled out. Such pain is hard to describe in words. I passed out several times under such pain.
Torture Re-enactment: Hanging above the bed
During that period of time, they forced me to take an intravenous drip for nine days. I developed stomach pain, and I don't remember how many times they hung me up. In the beginning, it lasted for only one hour each time. Then it lasted longer and longer, up to eight or nine hours. Once, I was hung up the whole night. My hands were swollen and my skin turned dark. Another time, they gave me an IV drip first and then hung me up at night. They changed the rope's position from my wrist to my arm, which was so painful that I screamed out involuntarily. They were afraid my voice was being heard by others and rushed to me. Sun Lianhong held my nose and covered my mouth. Yuan Yinghua knelt on the bed and repeatedly punched me in my abdomen forcefully. I was breathless and in extreme pain.
Above is what I suffered in Heizuizi Women's Prison in Jilin Province. What I have endured is just the tip of the iceberg. Many Falun Gong practitioners have been brutally tortured there. The steadfast practitioners were all tortured on the “death bed.”
