(Minghui.org) Ms. Xia Ning is a 68-year-old resident of Xingcheng City, Liaoning Province. She started practicing Falun Dafa (also known as Falun Gong) on January 17, 1999. Six months later, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) launched a nationwide campaign against Falun Gong. Since then, she has been repeatedly arrested and tortured for upholding her faith. 

Ms. Xia was twice given forced labor for a total of more than five years. She was last arrested in July 2017 and sentenced to 4.5 years in prison in January 2018. She was released on January 14, 2022. 

Despite the brutal persecution, Ms. Xia has never wavered in her faith, having become more energetic, open-minded, and cheerful after she took up Falun Gong. She attributes her firm faith to Falun Gong’s principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, which she believes are the universal values that human beings should abide by. 

Arrested for Appealing in Beijing

After the CCP launched the campaign to persecute Falun Gong in July 1999, newspapers, radio stations, and TV stations spread rumors and incited hatred against Dafa. Tens of thousands of Falun Gong practitioners thus went to Beijing to seek justice for Falun Gong. 

In October 2000, Ms. Xia went to Beijing to speak out for Falun Gong and its founder, Master Li. She was detained in Xingcheng Detention Center for 15 days. She returned to Beijing on January 1, 2001, and was arrested at Tiananmen Square on the same day. She was taken to Donggaodi Police Station in Beijing and held there for seven days. During this period, she was beaten and forced to stand outside in the cold winter without a jacket. She was also ordered to step on Falun Gong books and badmouth Master at the same time.

Persecution in Masanjia Labor Camp

In June 2001, Ms. Xia distributed videos containing information about the staged “Tiananmen Square Self-immolation” hoax. She was arrested and detained in Xingcheng Detention Center for eight days and then sent to the notorious Masanjia Labor Camp for brainwashing.

During her three years of detention in Masanjia, Ms. Xia was always under strict control. She was often not allowed to sleep or talk to other prisoners. She was forced to squat or stand for extended periods of time. On one occasion, guards stripped off her shirt and forced her to kneel down with a stool on her head. On the top of the stool was a bucket of water. At the same time, a collaborator (former practitioner who had given up their belief under pressure) read a statement renouncing Falun Gong to her and ordered her to sign the statement. She refused.

Ms. Xia spent most of her days in a confinement room, where she was often restrained in a metal chair for a long period of time. She was taken out of the confinement room only when she showed signs of unconsciousness or when her life was in danger. 

She was released in July 2004.

Persecution in Xingcheng Detention Center

On September 13, 2004, Ms. Xia was arrested and sent to Xingcheng Detention Center, where she was handcuffed, shackled, and beaten for four days.

On March 11, 2008, Ms. Xia and another practitioner were reported for clarifying the truth. They were arrested and taken to Xingcheng Detention Center. Several officers from Chengdong Police Station then broke into her home. Ms. Xia went on a hunger strike to protest the arrest and was brutally force-fed twice in the Xingcheng 810 Hospital. Ten days later, she and the other practitioner were released after Masanjia Labor Camp refused to accept them because of their physical examination results.

Tortured in Masanjia Labor Camp Again

On May 13, 2008, two police officers broke into Ms. Xia’s home. They smashed a picture frame that held Master’s photo. When they dragged Ms. Xia downstairs, she resisted and shouted loudly, “Falun Dafa is good! Falun Gong practitioners are innocent!”

As soon as Ms. Xia was taken to Chengdong Police Station, the police forcibly drew her blood and take her photos before transferring her to Masanjia Labor Camp. On the way to the labor camp, she was told that she would be detained for one year [when her term was two years].

In the labor camp, Ms. Xia was shocked with electric batons, kicked, beaten, and handcuffed anytime when she recited the Fa, sent forth righteous thoughts, or refused to wear a labor camp uniform. Summarized below was the persecution Ms. Xia suffered during her detention.

Force Fed and Gagged with Metal Mouth Opener

Once Ms. Xia arrived at the labor camp, No. 3 Team captain Zhang Jun and one guard took her to a warehouse and stripped off her clothes. They looked at her records and said she was given two years of forced labor.

They scolded her and handcuffed her left hand to a bed. When they reported to work the next morning, they untied her, pulled her hair, and slapped her. They handcuffed her to another bed and tried to pry open her mouth with a metal mouth opener. When their effort failed, they beat her savagely. 

After that torture episode, Ms. Xia stopped eating to protest the cruel persecution. A few days later, the two men pried open her mouth and force-fed her. At the same time, they played to her the recordings that slandered Falun Gong. 

Torture Reenactment: Metal Mouth Opener

Ms. Xia continued on hunger strike for more than ten days. She was given IV drips containing an unknown liquid. 

One day after she returned from a physical examination at the hospital, the guards tied her in a spread eagle position with her hands and legs tied to the four corners of the bed frame. They then pried open her mouth with the mouth opener and force-fed her diluted corn porridge. After the forced feeding, the guards purposely left the metal mouth opener in her mouth for long hours. When it was finally taken out, Ms. Xia could not close her upper and lower jaws together.

At night, Ms. Xia was ordered to stand up with her hands tied to the bed. The torture lasted 13 days straight.

Handcuffed to Bed Frames and Stretched

Body stretching was one of the most harmful torture means in the labor camp. It was often used together with other torture means. The stretching torture on Ms. Xia took place often during her detention.

To force Ms. Xia to end her hunger strike, team captain Zhang Jun stretched her around noon one day. He handcuffed her hands widespread to the upper bed frames and tied her legs closed together against the lower bunk’s frame. Ms. Xia had to bend her body like that throughout the first half of the night. She was then forced to stand up with both hands tied high to the bed frame for the second half of the night.

Torture Reenactment: Handcuffing and Stretching

The torture continued on next day. Ms. Xia felt numb and painful in her hands and lower back when she was untied. She quietly did Falun Gong’s standing exercises to help relieve the pains when the guards did not pay attention.

When the guard on duty came in the morning, he again tied her hands up and didn’t allow her to use the restroom or wash up. 

On many other occasions, Ms. Xia was forced to stand up during the day and would be scolded if she failed to stand up straight. She could not go to sleep at night without the permission of the guards. 

Shocked with Electric Batons

The persecution of Falun Gong practitioners was intensified during the 2008 Olympics, and many male guards were sent to Masanjia Labor Camp to set up a Special Control Team. The practitioners were required to report their inmate numbers and wear the inmate uniforms and name badges. They had to sing the labor camp song and read the labor camp rules. They were forced to do labor work. If they failed to cooperate, they would be handcuffed, stretched, and shocked with electric batons. 

Ms. Xia insisted that she was not a criminal and refused to do labor work and eat food provided for the criminals. She was thus often shocked with electric batons and stretched. One day, the male guards took her to the fourth floor and brutally shocked her with electric batons because she refused to eat. They then tied her to a bed inside the Strict Control Office.

One morning, prison guards brought Ms. Xia into the Strict Control Office and tied her hands to the bed to stretch her body in front of a group of people from management units. When asked if she would eat, Ms. Xia insisted that she was not a criminal and refused to eat. She was brutally shocked and force-fed.

Another morning, the guards again took Ms. Xia to the Strict Control Office, where people from various departments were there. When Ms. Xia refused to answer any questions, they covered her eyes, stretched her hands up to the bed frames, tied her legs together, and shocked her with electric batons. She was released back to her cell after 5 p.m. 

When asked whether she would do the labor work, Ms. Xia firmly said no. She was tied and stretched in the Strict Control Office. The guards shocked her all over her body for the whole night, causing her extreme pain. 

As a result of the brutal persecution, Ms. Xia had trouble sitting down on the toilet for quite some time.

Force Fed Unknown Drugs

Nurse Chen Bin was notorious for force-feeding Falun Gong practitioners in the labor camp. She often prepared unknown drugs, water, and smashed garlic water for the feeding. She finished the feeding in just a few seconds no matter whether the liquid was hot or cold. She never removed the mouth opener afterwards. One type of drug she force-fed practitioners was red and spicy and tasted terrible. 

On one occasion, the prison guards tied Ms. Xia and another practitioner to the beds, and Chen Bin repeatedly force-fed them the red spicy drug several times in the entire morning. At the same time, she played to Ms. Xia the recordings that slandered Falun Gong.

As soon as Ms. Xia was fed, she vomited it all out and stained the clothes and bed sheets. Another time, several guards force-fed her smashed garlic water and almost choked her. Later, they force fed her with poor quality corn soup at the direction of Chen Bin.

Stripped to Underwear in Male Guard Room

Prison guard Zheng Xiaofeng often shocked Ms. Xia any time at will. One time, she stripped Ms. Xia of everything except her underwear and pulled her into a male guard room, leaving her almost naked in front of the male guards. When she tried to do that again, Ms. Xia held tight to the bed frame and chastised her.

Ms. Xia said, “You dragged me into the male guard room. Besides, you have taken away my clothes for two weeks and still have not returned them. Can you explain why?” 

Beaten and Kicked

The persecution got worse after many guards returned to the labor camp after the 2008 Olympics. On one occasion, Ms. Xia lay down and sent righteous thoughts during nap time at noon. Prison guard Yuan Guoyou ordered her to stand up and hit her hard in the ribs with a wooden stick. She resisted and shouted loudly, “Falun Dafa is good! Falun Gong practitioners are innocent!” She was then tied to the bed and stretched inside the torture room. That night, she felt pain in her ribs and could not turn over when she slept. 

Ms. Xia recited the Fa silently the following morning and was hit hard by guard Yuan in the head and on the nose and lips. The abuse resulted in her face swellings and mouth bleeding. Another guard then repeatedly kicked her to the floor.

Ms. Xia went to the restroom together with other prisoners one night. When she returned, her bedding was gone. As soon as she lay down in bed, the guards pulled her off the bed by her hair and tied the hair to the radiator.

Ms. Xia did the meditation in bed early one morning. She was brutally hit by the guards for a while. They pushed her down on the floor and forced the camp uniform on her. They then took her to the torture room and shocked her with electric batons. Ms. Xia went on a hunger strike to protest the brutal persecution. 

One night, Ms. Xia was reported for sending righteous thoughts. She was taken to an office and severely beaten and kicked for an hour. The guards also berated her with slanderous words. They wrapped her face with plastic tape (to stop her from reciting the Fa), pushed her to lie on her back on the floor, and stepped on her legs. They then handcuffed her hands behind her back to the heating pipe for an extended time after they removed the tape. Ms. Xia couldn’t remember how long she had been tied up.

Ms. Xia was transferred back to No. 3 Brigade in October 2009. Three guards including captain Zhang Jun took her to the warehouse and handcuffed her hands high to the bed frame. One guard on duty tied her to another bed a few days later. Guard Liu Ping threatened to beat her and kick her if she got off the bed. Ms. Xia recited the Fa when she returned to her room. She was pinched in the mouth, kicked down on the floor, and handcuffed to the heating pipe. The guards also sewed the camp uniform onto her clothes.

Tortured for Not Wearing Uniforms

The guards used various forms of torture such as electric shocks, handcuffs, freezing, and limiting use of the toilet in order to force Ms. Xia to wear the camp uniform.

One morning, Ms. Xia took off the camp uniform, saying that she was not a criminal and should not wear it. Because she refused to put it on again, she was shocked with electric batons nonstop. She shouted out “Falun Dafa is good. Falun Dafa is a profound Fa. Falun Gong practitioners are not guilty.” 

The guards wrapped Ms. Xia around her mouth and face with plastic tape and took her to the torture room. She was tied to the bed and stretched. She was starved for four days and only fed diluted porridge on the fifth day. The guards forcefully put three sets of camp uniforms on her.

It was in December, and the guards kept the torture room windows open to freeze Ms. Xia. They did not allow her to use the restroom, making her urinate on the spot and wet her pants and shoes several times.

Ms. Xia still persistently refused to wear the camp uniforms. She suffered all kinds of torture. Because of the severe torture, Ms. Xia was short of breath when she slept. Her body including the chest, ribs, and arms was constantly in pain, and she couldn’t turn over her body. 

One night, Ms. Xia was very weak and could not change her clothes. She thus slept in the day clothes. The guards on duty hit her with a broom handle for a while, causing her buttocks to turn black and blue. They then sewed a camp uniform over her own clothes. Ms. Xia secretly recited the Fa and did Falun Gong exercises every day. She soon regained her health and was able to remove the stitched camp uniform. 

One night when Ms. Xia refused to put on a camp uniform to sleep, she was taken to the torture room and forced to stand up with both hands tied to a bed for the entire night. When the guards again sewed the camp uniform onto her own clothes, Ms. Xia recited the Fa loudly.

In July 2009, A Special Control Team was established to persecute Falun Gong practitioners. Many guards were moved to this new team. They put the camp uniforms on every practitioner and shocked them with electric batons every day when they came to do forced labor. 

Ms. Xia was tied to the bed and forced to stand up in the prisoner room during the day and returned back to the Special Control Team to sleep at night. She always took every opportunity to throw away the camp uniform whenever she cleaned up the rooms and took out the garbage.

On one occasion, the guards did not allow Ms. Xia to sleep for fear that she would take off the camp uniform. When she removed the clothes, the guards opened the windows to let mosquitoes and bugs fly in.

Ms. Xia sent righteous thoughts at twelve o’clock every day. One day, when she sent forth righteous thoughts at midnight, the guards took her to the office and brutally kicked her all over her body. They forcefully put the camp uniform on her and tied her to a heating pipe. 

One day, Ms. Xia wrapped her body with hemp cloth and long johns because she did not have her own clothes. The guards on duty asked her how she got the pants and replaced them with the camp uniform. When Ms. Xia resisted, she was brutally shocked all over her body.

Abuse like this was repeated again and again. Ms. Xia could not remember how many days she had been tortured.

Although Ms. Xia was tortured so cruelly, her commitment to practicing Dafa was as strong as a rock. She recited the teachings loudly. Because of her persistence for a long time, the guards finally no longer forced her to wear the camp uniforms during the remainder of her term.

Persecution in Liaoning Women’s Prison

Ms. Xia was arrested at home on July 15, 2017, by plainclothes officers from Wenquan Police Station of Xingcheng City. She was detained in Huludao Detention Center for nine months. In January 2018, she was sentenced to four years and six months in prison by the Xingcheng City Court and then taken to Liaoning Women’s Prison on April 24 that year.

Not allowed to buy daily necessities

Inmates in Liaoning Women's Prison were usually allowed to shop at the prison store once a month to purchase food and daily necessities. But Falun Gong practitioners who refused to renounce their faith were not allowed to buy anything. Without toilet paper, toothpaste, toothbrush, soap, detergent, and other daily necessities, practitioners had an extremely difficult life. The prison used such abuse to try to force practitioners to give in. 

Ms. Xia refused to renounce Falun Gong or write any required statements in the first four months, so she was forbidden from buying anything during that time period. 

Not Allowed to Shower

After Ms. Xia was taken to Team 4, Section 3 of Liaoning Women's Prison on April 24, 2018, she was not allowed to brush her teeth, wash her hair, or take a shower.

The inmates in her cell despised her for her strong odor (because of lack of showers), so they demanded that she renounce Falun Gong so she could take a shower. Ms. Xia refused to give up her belief and persistently protested the abuse. The guards eventually allowed her to take a shower starting in August 2018.

Forced to Stand for Extended Time

Ms. Xia, then 65, had to stand motionless beside the workshop window all day long. Two criminals took turns monitoring her until 10:00 p.m. On Sundays or holidays she was forced to stand around the clock. 

Torture re-enactment: standing for extended times

Around the Clock Monitoring

Personal monitors watched Ms. Xia around the clock. Such monitors were called special task forces and usually consisted of two criminals. They monitored every word and behavior of a given practitioner, then reported anything they noticed to the guards.

Prison management considered anything that concerned practitioners to be of high priority. Each pair of two personal monitors watched closely and oversaw a practitioner – what the practitioner wore, ate, how she walked, and so on.

The prison guards gave the personal monitors discretion to abuse the practitioners at will. One could hear the personal monitors screaming at, cursing, and scolding the practitioners. If the personal monitors did not report everything about the practitioner, and the guards found out about it, they would be punished.

The other inmates were very tired as they had to work from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. and then monitored practitioners afterward. This made them hate the practitioners.

Unshakable Faith in Dafa

One day in early November 2018, Ms. Xia was assigned to one small room and two prisoners, Huang Lanlan and Liu Fenglin, were assigned to watch her. On the second day, before she got off the bed in the morning, Ms. Xia quietly sent righteous thoughts in a way not to interfere with any person. However, the inmates dragged her out of the bed and pushed her down to the floor. Ms. Xia shouted “Falun Dafa is good! Dafa disciples are innocent!.” 

Several inmates including a prisoner team leader came and held Ms. Xia in bed. They covered her mouth and nose with their hands, making her almost out of breath. After the incident was reported to the guard on duty, other practitioners requested that the inmate perpetrators be punished. Ms. Xia thus was sent back to the big room where she initially stayed. Again, she was monitored by two inmates, this time Yu Lan and Ning Dan.

On November 14, 2019, the entire No. 3 Ward was merged into Liaoning No. 2 Women’s Prison. In the morning of November 18, Ms. Xia waited with inmate Ning Dan in the hallway to use the restroom. Inmate Ning mentioned that the prisoner team leader did not want Ms. Xia to sit in bed. Ms. Xia said something that annoyed Ning. She was then pushed into the room of the prisoner team leader and abused by a group of people. They held her on the ground. Some covered her mouth, while others jumped on her. 

On the morning of November 20, Ms. Xia sent righteous thoughts in bed. Inmate Jin Yujun punched her and pushed her down to the floor. She then pulled Ms. Xia by the hair and banged her head against the wall.

Torture Reenactment: Pulling Hair and Banging Head Against the Wall

Torture Reenactment: Brutal Beating

As soon as Ms. Xia sat up and sent righteous thoughts in bed in the morning every day, inmate Jin Yujun would come to beat her. After each beating, Jin then reported “her achievement in abusing Ms. Xia” to Yuan Wei, captain of No. 4 Squad, to receive a compliment. She’d beat Ms. Xia even harder the next day. The abuse lasted about one week. 

During this period, other inmates also participated in the persecution. As a result, Ms. Xia was injured all over her body and her two teeth became loose. She felt pain when she breathed. She could not fall asleep because of the pain. 

Starting September 20, 2020, the inmates, two-person each shift, took turns bringing Ms. Xia to the hallway at 4:30 a.m. every morning. They slapped her on the first day and stripped her down to her underwear on the second day. When Ms. Xia shouted “Falun Dafa is good!” she was brutally slapped with slippers.

One morning during the patrol, inmate Lin Yuanyuan saw Ms. Xia sitting on the bed. She ordered Ms. Xia to lie down and called another inmate to come to help. They beat Ms. Xia violently, dragged her down to the ground, and grabbed her by the hair and banged her head against the wall.

The abuse lasted several days, causing two teeth in her lower jaw to loosen. 

Inmate Fang Lili hit Ms. Xia with plastic clothes hangers. Another inmate did not allow Ms. Xia to sit normally and pushed her down as soon as Ms. Xia sat down. Because of the abuse, Ms. Xia had difficulty holding water basins. She couldn't lift up her head. Her lower back was not fully recovered even when she left the prison on January 14, 2022. Her health improved only after a long time. 

However, no matter what tribulations or cruel persecution Ms. Xia has endured, she still holds firm to her belief in the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.