(Minghui.org) A simple letter written to a Chinese Communist Party official has resulted in a 6-year nightmare of arrests, detention and torture for the writer, Ms. Li Fengzhen of Jianchangyin Town, Qian'an City.
When Ms. Li, who practices Falun Gong, saw her peaceful cultivation practice maligned and brutally persecuted in a nationwide campaign, she wrote a letter to the party secretary of Jianchangying Town in August 2000, explaining the benefits of the practice and asking for justice and an end to the persecution.
Treated as a criminal for exercising her right to expression and personal belief, Ms. Li was arrested and held in the Qian'an City Detention Center, where she was brutally beaten. She was arrested two more times in 2000 – once in September, released after she staged a protest hunger strike, and again at the end of year when she was sent to a brainwashing center.
In subsequent incarcerations in detention centers, brainwashing centers and forced labor camps over the 6-year period from 2000 to 2006, Ms. Li endured beatings, being hung up by the handcuffs, electric shock torture, punitive forced-feedings, and forced administration of drugs. She was so severely tortured and abused that she nearly lost her life several times.
Ms. Li, now 70, credits Falun Gong with helping her to recover from the injuries and illness brought on by the persecution.
Below is a summary of the persecution that Ms. Li has experienced. Ms. Li is not alone in experiencing this severity of abuse, as hundreds of thousands of other Falun Gong practitioners have been subjected to similar experiences for upholding their belief.
On the Verge of Death Twice in Detention Center
After her third arrest at the end of 2000, Ms. Li was transferred to a detention center in January 2001, where she was often hung from a window frame for extended periods of time. The skin on one of her wrists was broken where the handcuff cut into her flesh. Blisters developed on her other wrist. She lost consciousness several times, but the guards still kept her restrained to the window. She was hung up for so long that her body twitched involuntarily and she vomited repeatedly.
Ms. Li started a hunger strike to protest. In response, the guards brutally force-fed her with salt water. They used hard objects to pry open her mouth, breaking one of her teeth in the process. Her lungs, tongue and nose were severely damaged when the guards pushed the feeding tube down her throat.
She was released only when she was on the verge of death.
However, Ms. Li was arrested again in June, 20 days after her release. Even though she had not recovered yet, she was sent back to the detention center.
Ms. Li was brutally beaten on October 10, 2001, for protesting her illegal detention. Guard Lei Xiansheng kicked her in the legs and guard Hui Zhijiang savagely whipped her back, hips and legs with his belt.
Ms. Li began another hunger strike to protest the abuse. She was sent to the hospital when her life was in danger. The hospital refused to accept her due to her high blood pressure, so her family was notified to bring her home. The injuries from the brutal beatings did not heal for months.
Ordeal in Brainwashing Center
Because Ms. Li refused to renounce Falun Gong, Peng Minghui, director of the Qian'an City Domestic Security Division, arrested her on May 15, 2003. This time she was sent to the local brainwashing center.
Peng and other police officers shocked Ms. Li with electric batons on her neck, hands, and feet for two consecutive afternoons. She became dizzy and her body shook uncontrollably. Her heartbeat stopped momentarily and she collapsed.
When Ms. Li tried to stop the beating of another Falun Gong practitioner, Yang Yulin, an officer at the brainwashing center, pulled her hair and slapped her in the face until she bled from her nose and mouth. Three of her teeth came loose.
Mr. Li protested the abuse with another hunger strike. Her condition deteriorated after a few days. Ms. Li became incontinent and faded in and out of consciousness. Even so, she was brutally forced-fed in this condition. Two more teeth were knocked out during the forced-feedings. She was also injected with unknown drugs. She became nauseous, and she vomited and lost her eyesight.
Yang and Peng sent Ms. Li to a labor camp for a three-year term. The labor camp refused to admit her because of her condition. After she was brought back to the brainwashing center, her condition worsened. Her blood pressure was at 240, her heart beat was dangerously weak and her whole body shook. Her eyesight and hearing were severely impaired.
Ms. Li was released after 39 days of detention.
Sent to Hospital Three Times in Labor Camp
Ms. Li was arrested again on the morning of September 18, 2009. She was later sentenced to three years of forced labor and sent to the Tangshan Kaiping Forced Labor Camp.
She began a hunger strike upon her arrival and was subjected to brutal forced-feeding. She was sent to the hospital three times when her life was in danger. Ms. Li was finally released after the third hospitalization.
Even though Ms. Li's life was has been difficult since her release, her persistence in practicing Falun Gong has helped her to regain her health.
