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Ms. Sun Aiqun from Shandong Province Sues Former Dictator Jiang Zemin for Illegal Detention and Torture

June 20, 2015 |   By a Minghui correspondent from Shandong Province, China

(Minghui.org) Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Sun Aiqun has filed a lawsuit against former Chinese leader Jiang Zemin for ordering the brutal suppression of the spiritual practice, under which she was tortured in a forced labor camp for two years.

In their attempts to force Ms. Sun to renounce her belief in Falun Gong, labor camp guards deprived her of sleep for extended periods of time, subjected her to freezing temperatures, and inflicted other physical abuse upon her.

Ms. Sun sent her criminal complaint to Supreme People's Procuratorate, charging Jiang with torture, deprivation of personal liberty, and other crimes.

Ms. Sun's Personal Account of Torture

I spent the first three weeks of my forced labor camp detention in a tiny room without a window. There was only one lamp and I couldn't tell whether it was day or night.

The guards didn't allow me to sleep at all and would pinch and beat me whenever I dozed off due to extreme fatigue. My mind was foggy and tired most of the time, and the only thing I could remember thinking was that “they are so cruel!”

As I refused to give up my belief, the guards next forced me to stand still facing a wall for up to 22 hours a day. If I fell down, they would drag me up.

I couldn't remember how many days I was tortured like this. My legs were thicker than my waist, my arms doubled in size, and my feet were swollen so badly that the skin could break at any time. I felt there were a thousand needles poking me all over.

Later on, they moved me to a bathroom to continue the standing torture. Each day, I was allowed to sit for only two or three hours in total. In addition, I had to eat my meals there too – I was given only a small bun and half a bowl of water.

I was also not allowed to wash, so my hands, face, and body became filthy, for which the female guards ridiculed me.

In winter, they locked me in a cold, dark room. They took away my jacket and opened the door to let in the icy wind and snow.

After a while, they hung me up with my arms spread wide and cuffed to a set of railings, and the tip of my toes touching the floor. I had to stay awake to prevent hanging myself from the cuffs. However, I had been deprived of sleep for so long that it was impossible. Each time when I almost fell asleep, the pain on my wrists woke me up.

Torture demonstration: Hanging

I still didn't give in, so they changed the torture regimen again.

They brought me back to the dark room. They made me double-cross my legs and ound them with rope. Then they forced me to cross my arms over my chest and bound my body over my legs. I couldn't move at all.

Torture demonstration: Bound in painful position

While tying me up, they taunted, “Well, you like to meditate, right? I'll let you meditate all day long.”

After my two-year forced labor term expired, I was detained at the local 610 Office for 15 days.

During my time in the labor camp, my family also suffered greatly. My parents-in-law had to take care of my baby while enduring great pressure. My husband's business was disrupted, and my parents cried all the time. It still pains them to recall the bitter ordeal.

Background

In 1999, Jiang Zemin, as head of the Chinese Communist Party, overrode other Politburo standing committee members and launched the violent suppression of Falun Gong.

The persecution has led to the deaths of many Falun Gong practitioners in the past 16 years. More have been tortured for their belief and even killed for their organs. Jiang Zemin is directly responsible for the inception and continuation of the brutal persecution.

Under his personal direction, the Chinese Communist Party established an extralegal security organ, the “610 Office,” on June 10, 1999. The organization overrides police forces and the judicial system in carrying out Jiang's directive regarding Falun Gong: to ruin their reputations, cut off their financial resources, and destroy them physically.

Chinese law allows for citizens to be plaintiffs in criminal cases, and many practitioners are now exercising that right to file criminal complaints against the former dictator.