Issued by Clearwisdom Net

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Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Xia Linkun was from Tonghua City, Jilin Province. After being tortured for more than two and a half years in the Chaoyanggou Forced Labor Camp in Changchun City, Jilin Province, he was forced to leave his home to avoid being illegally arrested. He died on July 15, 2005.

Mr. Xia Linkun was 31 years old and he lived in the Oil-sprayer Factory Family Housing on Guangming Street, Tonghua City, Jilin Province. His apartment is owned by the Minzhu Police Station, the Minzhu Community Administration, and the Minqiang Neighborhood Council.

In January 2002, Mr. Xia and his fellow practitioners were arrested while distributing truth-clarifying materials in the countryside. He was sentenced to one year of forced labor. During the Two Congresses Meetings in 2003, his prison term was extended an additional 18 months because the persecution of Falun Gong had intensified. As a consequence, he was in forced labor for a total of two and a half years.

During his time in the Labor Camp, Mr. Xia was brutally tortured with electric batons, riding an airplane (1), massage (2), punching, kicking, sitting on a small stool, and other physical abuse. In addition Mr. Xia was infected with tuberculosis. His physical and mental condition was poor. When he was released in the summer of 2004, he was so thin that he looked disfigured.

A policeman by the name of Liu Zhongzheng from Minzhu Station, who was also a relative of Mr. Xia, continually searched for him after his release. While he was so sick that he was literally dying, Mr. Xia had to leave his parent's home to avoid being arrested. His body never recovered from the torture, and he died on the evening of July 15, 2005.

Notes:

The Women's Rights and Protection Act in the People's Republic of China's Constitution states clearly that "Women need special protection during menstruation, pregnancy, childbirth, and lactation." Nonetheless, reports of sexual assault, such as rape and forced abortion, frequently surface from Chinese labor camps.

According to the "Falun Gong Human Rights Report," ever since the nationwide persecution against Falun Gong began in 1999 in China, labor camp guards have continually abused female practitioners. The "Crimes Against Women" section in the report claims that only a handful of the tens of thousands of detained female practitioners escaped the humiliation of being stripped naked. Practitioners are often forced to remain naked for very long times. The female practitioners are not allowed to use clean feminine hygiene products. They live under the constant fear of sexual assault. The guards frequently strike practitioners' breasts and vaginal areas with batons and various other instruments of torture. More horrifying cases recount female practitioners being raped or even gang raped. Guards also shock practitioners' vaginas with electric batons, and scrape them with hard-bristled brushes. Many practitioners were also stripped naked and then thrown into male prison cells. A female Falun Gong practitioner who escaped, stated, "The evil in those places is unimaginable to the outside world."

Evidence collected by the Global Mission to Rescue Persecuted Falun Gong Practitioners indicates that numerous pregnant practitioners were subjected to forced abortions. Wang Hongmei, for instance, was a PhD student majoring in history at Lanzhou University, Gansu Province. The university police arrested her on June 7, 2001 for practicing Falun Gong. She was then transferred to Taoshuping Forced Labor Camp in Lanzhou City. At that time, Wang was pregnant and the police forced her to abort.

According to a recent report from the Clearwisdom/Minghui websites, Tan Yajiao, a pregnant Falun Gong practitioner in Benxi City, Liaoning Province, was arrested last year during the so-called "918 Benxi Raid." Personnel from the Dong Ming Police Station barbarically force-fed her, causing a miscarriage. Ms. Tan was force-fed with her whole body stretched out and shackled to a board. Policewoman Zhang Jinjuan then directed prisoner Wang to beat Ms. Tan. The report confirmed that the police often left the force-feeding tube in Ms. Tan's digestive track for as long as seven days at a time.

Tan Yajiao said, "They continued beating me until I felt the urge to go to use the bathroom. Because I was shackled and could not move, I used a basin. Two blood clots came out of my body. One was sticky. The other had a red circle and fingernail-shaped white object in the middle. The two blood clots were each about 0.7 to 0.8 centimeters (0.3 in.) wide. A prisoner asked if I was menstruating. I replied 'No. I miscarried.' Wang, the prisoner, told another prisoner to quickly flush the clots down the toilet."

In a report in The Epoch Times published in September 2004, journalist Zhou Xin traced the forced abortion of Falun Gong practitioner Wang Guijin from Lutai Village, Huaiyang Town, Henan Province. Ms. Wang was nine months pregnant when the police took her to the family planning center and forced her to abort. It was only ten days before her due date. When the journalist asked the family planning center in Huaiyang on the phone about Mrs. Wang's forced abortion, the reply was, "The pregnant woman certainly consented. We wouldn't force anyone to have an abortion." Zhou further inquired, "A nine-month pregnancy should naturally have a normal birth." The reply was, "This is our national policy. We had other considerations [in this situation]."

In addition to the abuses of female Falun Gong practitioners in labor camps, Mao Hengfeng, a woman from Shanghai, was persecuted severely in a detention center for having more than one child. According to a report from "Radio Free Asia," policemen tied Mao Hengfeng's hands and feet with belts and forcefully pulled her limbs in different directions. They asked Ms. Mao while pulling her limbs "Will you stop screaming? Will you acknowledge the fault?" This horrendous behavior lasted for three days.

On March 7, 2005, Xiong Wei and Chen Ying, Falun Gong practitioners currently in Germany and France, respectively, were invited to visit the European Parliament in Strasbourg to give a first-hand account of the persecution in China's labor camps. They not only described their personal experiences but also gave graphic descriptions of China's atrocious torture of mothers and children in the persecution against Falun Gong. Ms. Xiong recounted her ordeal in the Beijing Women's Forced Labor Camp. She said that she was not allowed to use the bathroom or sanitary napkins, even during her menstrual period. When she protested against this treatment, the policemen handcuffed her and threatened to "break your fingers one by one and scald you with hot water, if you don't give up your practice [of Falun Gong]." Xiong Wei also talked about a 19-year-old college girl, whom the police ordered prisoners to strip completely naked and beat. The eight male criminal inmates stuffed her mouth with socks and underpants and then kicked her vagina with hard shoes. Twenty days later, this young woman still looked severely depressed.

Chen Ying described her time in detention. She was forced to squat, naked. She was also forced to take cold showers. The police ordered five or six criminal inmates to beat her and handcuff her to the window. The police then injected her with unknown drugs. As soon as the drug entered her body, Ms. Chen felt as if her heart and blood vessels were painfully split open. The left side of her body twitched, and she lost some memory.

Liaoyang City Huazi Prison is now named Liaoyang No. 1 Prison. From September 2004 to May 15, 2005, three practitioners, Fan Xuejun, Zhou Dewei, and Hua Shuangyu, were tortured to death.

1. Three practitioners Die from Torture

In May 2004, after Li Chengxin and Xu Changhai, the executive general director and deputy director of the third ward of Huazi Prison, came back from Beijing, they organized a group called the "Education and Reform Core Group" that consisted of five guards. They isolated and brainwashed practitioners in turn. In the beginning, they focused on the practitioners whose terms would end soon. They forced them to watch videos during the day, and then in the evening they brainwashed, threatened and tried to deceive them. If a practitioner refused to "transform," they would extend his or her term using the excuse that "The practitioner may read and pass along Falun Gong articles." They used numerous methods to force practitioners to abandon their beliefs. This kind of brainwashing was later expanded to include every practitioner, especially in July 2004. During this time, every window and door of every room on the third ward was closed and curtained. Two inmates were assigned to monitor each practitioner. The guards persuaded the inmates to cooperate in persecuting the steadfast practitioners by tempting them with reduced terms. The persecution always lasted until midnight, and then the practitioners had to sleep on the cold ground.

In February 2004, Huazi Prison ordered the Second Ward to produce 60,000 yuan worth of labor by the end of year. That began the forced labor persecution of the practitioners. At the end of February, practitioners Bai Heguo, Li Wensong, Liu Shiwei, and Zheng Xianzhi were transferred to the "sewing team." Some of them were sent to make flower handicrafts, and some were sent to do hard labor in other wards. Mr. Fan Xuejun, 32, a practitioner from Shenyang City, was sent to the Ninth Ward to do hard labor. Huazi Prison belongs to a medium-size cement plant - Huazi Xinsheng Cement Plant. At around 11:00 a.m. on September 12, the guards said that Fan Xuejun had committed suicide by jumping into the cement silo. But according to insiders, the guards had incited prisoners to push him off the cement silo. Eyewitnesses saw the state of Fan Xuejun's body: his skull was smashed, there was a hole in his back, and on his thigh was a long cut. It was said that he had gone on a hunger strike before his death.

Photo 1: Cement silos that are used to store cement. Fan Xuejun fell from a silo like one of these. They are about 180 feet high

Photo 2: Entrance of Huazi Prison Xinsheng Cement Plant

Photo 3: Bags of cement made by Huazi Xinsheng Cement Plant

Photo 4: Inmates loading bags of cement

Photo 5: Loading truck with the license plate "Liao K30553"

Photo 6: A glimpse of the Huazi Xinsheng Cement Plant

Zhou Dewei, an engineer, was severely tortured in Huazi Prison and released on bail for medical treatment. He died one month after the death of Fan Xuejun.

2. Inciting inmates to torture practitioners

In the Third Ward of Huazi Prison, the inmates often tortured practitioners. The prison guards were blind to what happened, and the inmates became more brutal. On February 24, 2003, Qu Deren, 61, a practitioner from Shenyang City, wrote down the facts of the persecution. The inmate assigned to monitor him reported what Mr. Qu had done. Prison guard Shang Xiaoguang told the inmate to grab the paper. The head of the inmates, whose nickname is Er Binzi, could not snatch it from Qu Deren's hands. When Qu Deren stuffed it into his mouth and tried to swallow it, inmate Wang Xingwei punched his cheeks and knocked out four teeth. Later, three of his other teeth also fell out. Inmate Yao Guochen punched his neck, and Zhou Hui held his head. Now all of Mr. Qu's upper teeth are loosened, and a front tooth sticks out even when he closes his mouth.

In April 2004, practitioner Liu Shiwei was put in solitary confinement because he refused to do hard labor. His hands and feet were cuffed together in a bowed position for a week. After he came back to the cell, the head of the inmates, Zhang Hengquan, ordered two other inmates to beat him. His eyes subsequently swelled shut. On April 23, inmate Zhou Haifeng beat three practitioners who refused to perform slave labor.

In June 2004, seven practitioners were sent to other wards. They were very weak due to a long-term hunger strike. The guards disappeared and let the inmates torture the practitioners. Zeng Xianzhi, who is over 50, is a practitioner from Shenyang City, and was brutally beaten by inmates. Tan Siqiu, over 50, who had been on a hunger strike before and suffered from polio, was told to sweep the floor in the dining hall. He did not follow the order, so the inmates brutally grabbed his head and thrust it against the wall. Ren Xiaobei, who had been on a hunger strike before, was brutally tortured. He could barely walk, and other people carried him to the prison health center. Wang Limin, who had been on a hunger strike before, was slapped on the face by inmates in the education center because he refused to count off. Wang Jiangning, a practitioner from Shenyang City, who had been on a hunger strike for a long time, was extremely weak and frail, but the police still refused to release him.

Police often incited inmates to "transform" practitioners. Different brainwashing methods were used on different practitioners. They gradually learned the likes and fears of the practitioners, and then they focused on the practitioners' weaknesses to destroy their beliefs. Guard Wang Jianjun made careful observations every day to assess the practitioners' feelings and reactions.

In June 2003, practitioner Cao Yang, who was sentenced to seven years and who once went astray, read Teacher's new articles and then wrote a solemn declaration to void those statements. He also passed the articles to other practitioners, and it awoke several practitioners, so the guard sent him to solitary confinement. He was detained there for over two months, and his prison term was illegally extended by three more years. For those who gave up their beliefs, the guards recognized them as "advanced members of labor reform" and commuted their sentences.

3. Harassing Family Members during Their Visits

Huazi Prison's guards are afraid of their actions being exposed, so only immediate relatives are allowed to visit the prisoners. The inmates normally have meals with their families and talk face-to-face. Practitioners, however, were only allowed to communicate through a thick glass using the intercom. An inmate assigned to monitor the conversation stood behind each practitioner, and the prison guards sat in the observation room monitoring all the conversations. If they heard any sensitive words, they stopped the visit at once. All the sealed packages from the families were subjected to inspection, and homemade food was not allowed.

Photo 7: Entrance to the reception room

On August 27, 2004, the mother of practitioner Liu Hongchang was found to have brought him some of Teacher's articles. He was not allowed to have visitors for several months and was also sent to solitary confinement. Before this, the same thing happened to practitioner Jing Yu and his mother. Guard Hui Huaihao detected the transaction. Afterwards, no visitors were allowed for Jing Yu for six months.

On April 27, 2005, practitioner Jing Yu, who had been in the hospital for tuberculosis, told his family about his health. Guard Shang Xiaoguang accused him of being dissatisfied with the prison conditions and retained the paper stating his illness. Jing Yu has had an advanced case of TB since he was arrested in March 2002. The Shenyang Detention Center used an excuse relating to the relocation of the Shenyang Dabei Prison to claim that their medical equipment was not working properly, and covered up Mr. Jing's physical condition. Jiang Yu was consequently imprisoned. After this Spring festival, Jing's TB had further worsened and he was coughing up blood. On May 31, his family members were worried and visited him. After exchanging only a couple of words, prison guard Wang Jianjun walked out of the observation room. When he searched Jing's mother's bag, Jing's sister protested. Wang Jianjun said, "I suspect that you have a video camera in your bag" and stopped the visit at once. The guards in the Third Ward were so arrogant that even the other guards despise them.

Furthermore, some practitioners did not receive their milk powder, stamps, and other parcels on time from their families. It is possible that the prison guards withheld them.

Currently, there are more than 40 practitioners in the Third Ward of Huazi Prison. All practitioners have refused to do the slave labor, and the environment has seemed to improve. There is no more forced labor, and the guards seldom mention the word "reform." All practitioners there understand where their mission lies.

Prison address: Huajia Village, Huazi Town, Dengta City, Liaoning Province, Zip code 111312
Executive General Inspector Li Chengxin: 86-419-8540053 (Office), 86-419-8540095-2095 (Office)
Deputy Supervisor Xu Changhai
Deputy Division Chief Li Dahai
Team Chiefs Wang Jianjun, Hui Huaihao, and Zheng Xiaofei
General Party Secretary Shang Xiaoguang: 86-419-8540144 (Office)
Prison political director Wang Qi: 86-419-8540031 (Office), 86-13604996891 (Cell)

Warden of the Prison Zhao Yushan: 86-419-8540001-2001
Deputy Wardens Chen Zhongguo, Sun Bo, Shen Zequn
Prison Hospital Chief Ge: 86-419-8540102-2102
Monitor officer Wang Qingbin
Clerks Luo Fusheng andYu Changfa
Bailiff Xu Weimin: 86-419-8140023

The Nanjing City Brainwashing Center, which is organized by the city government at the city level (many brainwashing centers are also set up at the district level in the city), is located inside the Bole Hotel, close to the Nanjing Yanziji Xinnian Machinery Factory and Nanjing Xiaozhuang Teachers' College.

The Nanjing City Brainwashing Center has a whole set of hypocritical and malicious systems for persecuting Falun Gong practitioners. Moreover, the city also tries to promote this brainwashing model to other regions. Hereby I would like to expose some of what I know about this brainwashing center.

1. Releasing Fabricated Information to Shake Falun Gong Practitioners' Righteous Thoughts

This is the usual "modus operandi." When a Falun Gong practitioner is arrested on suspicion of having clarified the truth to the public in Nanjing, secret police hide the arrest. When vicious persons take this practitioner to a police department, the police, to make the arrest legal, usually make fabricated claims of evidence about him, faking the evidence they have collected, or how many days they have tapped his phone or followed him. Their purpose is to make the practitioner feel that they know everything and have all the necessary evidence against him. In this way they try to force some practitioners whose righteous thoughts are not strong to accept the so-called evidence. They also adopt some other despicable means. Not only do they let former practitioners who have abandoned Falun Gong release such fabricated information, but they also pass on such faked information to the arrested practitioners' parents and coworkers. They want the family members and work unit leaders to tell the practitioners this false information and thus deceive them. Their goal is to let practitioners who do not have strong righteous thoughts believe the made-up information, making them think their family members are on their side and would not deceive them.

2. Threatening Those Who are Close to the Practitioner, the Brainwashing Center Attempts to Put Pressure on the Practitioner

Through rumors and threats, the police try to force the practitioner's co-workers, work unit leaders and family members to participate in deceiving and persecuting the practitioner. The police keep putting pressure on these people or use vested interests to lure them to give in.

For example, the police say that as long as the practitioner accepts "reformation" (i.e., brainwashing) and confesses, that all his problems he will be released. Otherwise, he will be sent to a labor camp. This, in fact, is a means of coercion. Furthermore, the interests of the practitioner's co-workers, working unit leaders, and family members will also be hurt.

The police use these intrigues to force those who are close to the practitioner to put pressure on the practitioner. The vicious persons also urge and encourage the practitioner's family members to beat and verbally abuse him, and even make the family members kneel down before him, or write him letters that on the surface seem to express the family members' longing for reunion, but in fact urge the practitioner to accept the brainwashing.

The brainwashing center wants to make use of the family members' affection to upset the practitioner's righteous thoughts. If the practitioner is not moved by this, people close to him then accuse him of "really not caring about the family members' affection" etc., and in effect also make them resent Falun Gong. This way the evildoers may cause some practitioners who were too rash in clarifying the truth to become irrational, be afraid to be misunderstood by those who are close to him, and let family affection persuade him. So, for these practitioners, although torture, deprivation of sleep, and other violent tactics had not made them yield, the lies from their co-workers, work unit leaders and family members deceived them and made them become irrational. A practitioner who was beaten by her family member (the brainwashing center ordered her family member to do so) told me of this kind of sadness. She said while crying, "At the beginning, when those police officers and guards beat me, I was very calm and did not feel any pain. I knew that Master was benevolently protecting me. My family member, however, questioned me repeatedly about what kind of practical benefits I could get from practicing meditation, and told me how much loss my practicing meditation could bring to the family. They also followed the police orders to beat and verbally abuse me. I felt utterly sad and could not calm down. In the end, the beating injured my whole body. I could not hold on any longer and thus followed my family member's request and wrote the three statements."

3. Using Hypocrisy and Threats to Prevent Practitioners from Staging a Hunger Strike and Resisting the Persecution

Some practitioners stage hunger strikes to resist the persecution. However, they are made irrational by the guards' hypocrisy and the family members' affections. The guards and family members keep telling the practitioners that they do not ask the practitioners to accept "reformation," but just want them to eat. The brainwashing center also lets the family members bring food to the practitioners who are on a hunger strike, so as to shake the practitioners' righteous action of resisting the persecution. The perpetrators also put a lot of salt in the porridge used for force-feeding, so even if only a little of the porridge gets into the practitioners' stomachs during force-feeding, the practitioners will want to drink lots of water.

Once the practitioners have taken a little bit of food, the brainwashing center will further use "deprivation of sleep," "punishment though forcing the practitioners to stand around the clock" and other cruelties to torture them in an attempt to make them accept the brainwashing. The so-called "just wanting you to eat" is therefore essentially a deception.

4. Detained in Solitary Confinement

When a practitioner is detained in solitary confinement, the only people he comes into contact with are those who are using their heresies and hypocrisies to help the police in brainwashing him. There are also the guards who have tortured him with violent beatings and deprivation of sleep. They pour cold water onto his head, prevent him from using the toilet, etc. There are also those who accompany him in order to monitor him around the clock and prevent him from practicing the exercises. The guards lie to the practitioners all the time, regarding who has and who has not been "reformed," or who has written the guarantee statement. "If you don't write the statement, you will be one of the few to be punished." This can make some practitioners whose righteous thoughts are not strong feel isolated and helpless.

5. 610 Office Arranges Everything, Even Who Will Say What

Practitioner A said that after he came out of the brainwashing center, "Guard A was so evil that he only knew how to beat people while guard B still talked and was kind to me. Because of his misunderstanding toward Falun Gong, guard B did..." Practitioner B said, "That was not right. Guard B just knew verbal abuse and beating people, while guard A said that he was sympathetic with Falun Gong practitioners. It was only that he had some misunderstandings."

Later they learned that it was all pre-arranged, which guard would see which practitioner, and what they would say. 610 Office leaders may assign one guard to beat a practitioner fiercely while assigning another to say, "I sympathize with you...the leaders don't let us talk to you. I just want to talk with you out of compassion." Such hypocrisy has caused some practitioners to let down their guards.

The so-called staff members of the brainwashing center hold a meeting every Monday to discuss how to brainwash and deceive the practitioners, and what attitude they need to take toward each specific practitioner. Even what they will say to the practitioners is preplanned. The brainwashing center may assign the officials and the guards to bring the hunger-striking practitioners some food in their own names. It even designates some individuals to show their sympathy with the practitioners and indicate their intentions to learn Falun Gong. This way the officials try to find out what the practitioners have done and with whom they have contact.

6. Vicious Tactics Utilized by This Most "Civilized" Brainwashing Center

Nanjing City Brainwashing Center boasts to the practitioners' family members and work units that it is the most "civilized" center and not as cruel as those in other regions. When the practitioners mention how brutal the guards are, the brainwashing center goes so far as to say that it was just an individual trait of a certain guard. It also cunningly says that what was reported on the Internet about force-feeding practitioners with pepper water in the brainwashing center never happened. To the contrary, what I saw was this - the practitioners were force-fed with a kind of extremely salty porridge, deprived of sleep for over twelve days in row, forbidden to take baths, and not allowed to use the restroom. They were also dowsed with cold water and subjected to other atrocities. Furthermore, what I saw was not the entirety of the gross abuses.

One of the female practitioners was not allowed to sleep for two months. The torture made her body as thin as a skeleton. She trembled, even while standing. In the winter when it was several degrees below freezing, the police opened up the windows and forced her to stand in the room while she wore only one thin layer of clothing. As her body could not bear it, she fell asleep even while she was standing. The brainwashing center then ordered the guards to pour cold water on her face whenever she closed her eyes. Sometimes the guards also forced the practitioner to stand barefoot in cold water. When she needed to use the restroom, a male guard just gave her a pot, saying that if she wanted to relieve herself she needed to do so in front of him. In the end, when the practitioner was extremely weak, her family members, under threats, forcibly held her hand and made her write the so-called "three statements." There were also practitioners whose hands the guards held and who were forced to write the three statements that way.

What was even more evil was putting a photo of Master Li on the floor and then forcing the practitioners to step on the photo. The brainwashing center even tampered with the drawn image of the founder of Falun Gong. It is so evil that it is beyond description. They then forced the practitioners to look at the drawing. After the practitioners tried to restore the image with a pen, the guards also laughed at the practitioners, saying that his drawing was not good. These vicious persons also wrote Master Li's name everywhere on the floor. The practitioners who were unwilling to step on the names were forced to stand all day long for several days in a row.

There was one guard who said viciously, "You who practice Falun Gong should not be sent here in the first place. You should be directly taken out and shot." He even said to the practitioners while holding a lighter, "If you still do not accept reform I will 'self-immolate' you."

7. Use of the Fiendish "No Reform, No Release" Policy to Undermine Practitioners' Righteous Thoughts

Brainwashing center officials said that the top government level issued an order stating that from 2004 on, those practitioners who have finished serving their given terms of forced labor but had not yet been "reformed" are not allowed to go home. They will instead be sent to brainwashing centers. This also applies to those who have come out of the brainwashing centers not "reformed." This malicious order has driven the practitioners' family members and some practitioners whose righteous thoughts are not strong into despair. Some practitioners in labor camps who had refused to be reformed for three years yielded under such pressure.

In fact, even under the current Chinese laws this vicious order is completely illegal. The practitioners and their family members can resort to legal means to protect their rights, and demand the unconditional release of practitioners. They should not be intimidated by this immoral order.

8. Former Practitioners Who Have Abandoned Falun Gong, and Professional Brainwashing Helpers Have Participated in the Persecution

All those who assist in "reforming" practitioners, and do not personally participate in torturing the practitioners, can easily deceive people. In fact, they are the ones who have instructed the guards to beat the practitioners and who have told the officials which practitioners should be subjected to sleep deprivation. While before the practitioners they say that it is out of humanitarian considerations they have not sent practitioners to labor camps. When questioned by the practitioners about the boarding expenses of up to 10,000 yuan, they became uncomfortable and became tongue-tied. These brainwashing helpers earn a wage of 5,000 yuan per month, and furthermore, all their boarding and transportation are free. What is even less known is how much bonus they get.

Those who have abandoned Falun Gong usually take the approach of "learning the Falun Gong books together with the practitioners," so as to try to lure the practitioners down an evil path. When "learning," they quote words out of context and give a casual definition and make an arbitrary explanation of some words to confuse the practitioners. They also use their so-called personal experiences to provide support for the fabricated, official propaganda. Some of them had been badly persecuted before, but they still want to provide credibility for the fabricated lies. They also adopt the approach of taking turns in trying to instill their evil realizations into the minds of the practitioners.

Some members of the Chinese Communist Party who have disguised themselves as lay Buddhists force the practitioners to learn Buddhist religion or other things, or make them drink alcohol.

9. Covering up the Persecution

To cover up the persecution, the brainwashing center orders those who have abandoned Falun Gong to bring banners of appreciation to the brainwashing center, write the so-called statements of non-existence of the persecution, or prepare something that glorifies the evil Party.

The brainwashing center officials also threaten those who have been persecuted, trying to force them not to publicize even their own personal experiences of the persecution.

10. Destroying Human Nature and Inciting and Threatening Practitioners to Betray Others

One new practitioner did not have a deep understanding of the Falun Gong. The 610 Office agents deceived her by saying, "Who has taught you? Whom else do you know? Revealing their identities is for their wellbeing," and other nonsense. They used the threat of not permitting her to go home to force this new practitioner to betray other practitioners.

Ms. Li Hongmei, 41, lived on Heping Street, Acheng City, Heilongjiang Province. She was brutally tortured many times after the persecution began on July 20, 1999. She was abducted numerous times, and was twice sent to a forced labor camp. During the past six years her life has been severely disrupted. Her mother, Wen Jingtian, and her brother, Li Hongbin, both Falun Gong practitioners, died as a result of the persecution.

Before Li Hongmei began practicing Falun Gong, the skin on her hands was cracked and she lived in great pain. She was diagnosed with tinea manuum, a fungal infection. Blood spots appeared on her legs, and then spread to her back, and she gradually lost the ability to take care of herself. Her child was sickly 100 days after he was born, and her husband had protruding discs on his spine and a narrowed spinal column, and he could not do heavy labor. Her entire family was at the brink of destruction.

After Li Hongmei began practicing Falun Gong in July 1995, miracles took place. She fully recovered her health and so did her child and husband. Her whole family benefited from Falun Gong.

After July 20, 1999, when Jiang Zemin illegally suppressed Falun Gong, Li Hongmei felt an urgent need to clarify the truth to the government. On September 25, 1999, Li Hongmei went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong and was illegally detained for 115 days. The police extorted 10,000 yuan from her family when they went to pick her up. Her family was having financial difficulties and they borrowed money from relatives and friends to bail out Li Hongmei. Seven days after Li Hongmei was united with her family and they were preparing to celebrate Chinese New Year, she was arrested again and sent to the No. 2 Detention Center in Acheng City. She was held for 113 days and the guards extorted another 1,000 yuan from her family on her release.

In 2000, during the time she was held at Acheng City Detention Center, Li Hongmei refused to provide her fingerprints on a detention warrant in protest of the illegal detention. Nine guards including guard Liu Yi beat and kicked Li Hongmei so savagely that she urinated blood after she returned to her cell. Her mother, Wen Jingtian, who was in her late 60s, was held along with her. She was so frightened upon witnessing this atrocity that she went into convulsions. Wen Jingtian then held a three-day hunger strike and was soon released. After she returned home, lawless officials from the farm machinery factory often went to her home to harass her, and the local police station also put pressure on her. She was weak from the hunger strike but was compelled to leave home to avoid the persecution. Because of the tremendous mental pressure and her poor physical condition she soon passed away.

Li Hongmei's brother, Li Hongbin, was tortured to death at Changlinzi Forced Labor Camp soon afterwards.

Due to the continuous and unjustified persecution, Li Hongmei decided to go to Beijing again to appeal. She was abducted on October 15, 2000, and held at the Acheng City Liaison Office in Beijing. The police, including Wang Jia from the Acheng City Police Department, searched her. Li Hongmei was sent to the No. 2 Detention Center in Acheng City and was released after holding a ten-day hunger strike. However, merely two days after her release, officers from the Heping Police Station again arrested her at her home and sent her to the Wanjia Forced Labor Camp in Harbin City where she was held for one year.

Li Hongmei was detained in solitary confinement the first time she was held at Wanjia Forced Labor Camp. The solitary confinement cell is about one meter wide and two meters long (about 3 feet by 6 feet), with a toilet inside the cell. Li Hongmei had to eat, sleep and relieve herself inside the locked cell. The guards ordered up to a dozen inmates to attack and torture one practitioner. They give the practitioners corn flour cakes with many small stones and dirt in them, and soup made out of rotten carrots and cabbage, with a layer of soil at the bottom of the bowl. Later, Division 12 was established, and Li Hongmei was transferred from Division 7 to Division 12. The single-storey quarters in Division 12 were infested with rats. The rats often bit the practitioners who were held there.

On January 31, 2001, Li Hongmei and several other practitioners were doing the Falun Gong exercises when male guards barged into the cell and yanked the practitioners off the bed. They jerked one practitioner from her upper-bunk bed to the ground. They then dragged the practitioners into the hallway. Li Hongmei was barefooted. At the division head office the persecutors asked if she would still practice, threatening to send her to the male division if she didn't change her mind, and promising to send her home if she complied. Li Hongmei was later sent to the male division. The male division was originally used to hold common male inmates but was later emptied to hold Falun Gong practitioners.

Practitioners held at the male division were not allowed to change clothes or to brush their teeth. They had limited access to the restroom and were forced to stand during the day. Sometimes they were hung by handcuffs onto the bed and were not allowed to sleep at night. They were tied up while being forced to stay in a standing position until 3:00 a.m. They slept on the bare concrete floor. Because she refused to follow orders, Li Hongmei was forced to sit on a metal chair around the clock for eight days, during which time her mouth was taped shut so she could not talk.

Some practitioners wore only short-sleeved shirts and were not allowed to get clothes from the cell when it was cold. This round of torture lasted 20 days. Guard Zhang Bo ordered some perpetrators to send Li Hongmei to the conference room where Falun Gong practitioners are often tortured. They tortured her for one hour with a method called the "big hang-up." (1)

On June 18, a conference was held to discuss extending the terms of determined Falun Gong practitioners. Fully armed guards watched over the conference, with one guard positioned behind each practitioner. There were also doctors present. Li Hongmei, with her hands tied behind her back, was pushed to the front where it was announced that her sentence would be extended by one year. A total of 20 practitioners from Division 12 and Division 7 had their sentences extended, including Xie Jinxian, Zhang Shuzhen, Zhang Shuqin, Zhang Guirong, and Yang Lixia from Acheng City. The police officers quickly took practitioners Li Hongmei, Wang Wenlian, Li Xiaobin and Li Rongqin to the conference room, where 12 guards and 8 inmates monitored the practitioners. They were forced to sit on small stools during the daytime and were not allowed to move. They slept on the concrete floor at night. The 12 guards worked in three shifts, taking turns watching the practitioners. Li Rongqin's stomach swelled and she developed a tumor. She was later released.

On July 30, the guards detained Li Hongmei, Wang Wenlian and Li Xiaobin in solitary confinement at Division 9. Three practitioners were held in a one-meter wide, two-meter long (3 feet by 6 feet) room where they could only sleep on their sides. The cell was right next to the cafeteria stoves, and the sweltering summer heat made it all the more unbearable. The three practitioners were held in these conditions for over two months. Practitioners who were held past their terms demanded release by holding a hunger strike. Li Hongmei asked to be let out of solitary confinement. One week later she could no longer eat or be force-fed. She was hospitalized for a few days and was sent back to her cell. She developed scabies from the terrible conditions in the cell and was released ten days later when her term expired.

Li Hongmei had already lost two members of her family to the persecution, and she was constantly harassed, followed and monitored when she was home. The authorities even followed her child. Once, people from the 610 Office, Heping Police Station and the Street Party Committee, knocked on her door, but Li Hongmei firmly refused to open it. The perpetrators left after a long standoff.

On March 13, 2002, Wang Wenguang and others from the Heping Police Station waited for Li Hongmei in a stairway. They forced their way into her home by following her husband, who had come home for lunch. They took away Li Hongmei, along with some Falun Gong books and Teacher's pictures, and proceeded to ransack her home. One police officer took a pair of earrings, thinking they were made of white gold. This police office said to Li Hongmei, "Sorry, we now have a new mayor, and he has assigned quotas [of the number of practitioners abducted during a period of time]. We have followed you for four months. Although you've done nothing wrong, we have to take you so we won't lose our job." This was the fourth arrest for Li Hongmei. She was illegally sentenced to three years of forced labor.

In 2002, Li Hongmei was sent to the Wanjia Forced Labor Camp for the second time. Her whole body was swollen and covered with scabies, and her eyes were reduced to slits. In late July, male guards were sent to the women's divisions to brainwash Falun Gong practitioners. All practitioners were detained in solitary confinement. The guards hung the practitioners up by their handcuffed wrists, with their feet in the air. They then shocked them with electric batons. They shocked Li Hongmei all over her body. Guard Meng Xiangzhi tied her up and a male guard shocked her eyelids, face, lip and the rest of her body. In the end they also shocked the soles of her feet. Her socks were full of holes from the shocking. Her feet immediately swelled. They shocked her for over 30 minutes. She heard another practitioner scream in the cell next door.

The guards also forced the practitioners to get up at 5:00 a.m. to make flax car seats and pick watermelon seeds. Each practitioner was assigned 50 kilograms of seeds to pick. They often worked until 11:00 p.m. or midnight, as they were not allowed to sleep until they finished their work. Practitioners of all ages and physical conditions were forced to work. Their bodies were extremely sore and they had blisters on their fingers, and their skin cracked open and peeled off. Their knuckles swelled, and the swelling did not subside because they worked every single day.

The practitioners wrote a letter exposing the persecution, but division head Chang Shumei intercepted it. To find the author of the letter, she ordered determined practitioners to be sent to the Group Drill Division on the third floor, which is part of Division 13. The practitioners were forced to sit on small stools all day long.

On May 12, 2004, about 30 guards at the Group Drill Division forced the practitioners to renounce their belief in Falun Gong. They used electric batons, the "big hang-up," metal chairs, and other means to torture the practitioners. Over 20 practitioners were shocked with electric batons. Li Hongmei was tortured with the "big hang-up" because she refused to say slanderous things about Teacher. She was handcuffed between two beds, and then the perpetrators moved the beds apart, forcing her body to stretch. The handcuffs cut into her wrists and caused excruciating pain. In the meantime, guard Li Xiaojie shocked her left hand, guard Wu Hongxun shocked her right hand, and guard Yao Fuchang shocked her face with electric batons. Her face swelled so drastically that it became disfigured, and blisters appeared on her lips. Guard Zhao Yuqing violently slapped Li Hongmei's face. They tortured her for an entire afternoon. At 5:00 p.m. they forced her to squat on a small brick, and if her feet slid outside the brick the guards would beat and kick her. They didn't allow her to sleep until midnight and didn't let her use the restroom during the torture. She was allowed to use the restroom only twice a day - once in the morning and once in the evening.

Li Hongmei was forced to squat this way for nearly two months. She suffered extreme pain and torment both physically and mentally from this torture.

Later, practitioner Zhang Hong was sent to the Group Drill Division to be further tortured. He died within 10 days.

Li Hongmei and a few other practitioners were later sent back to their original cells and forced to work. They were forced to make Popsicle sticks, and were not allowed to sleep until they had finished the quota assigned to them. Such slave labor continued until their release.

Note:

1. Big Hang Up - There are two forms in this torture: (1) With both hands cuffed behind the back and only toes touching the ground, one is hung by a rope that is tied to the metal window frames; (2) One hand of a practitioner is cuffed to one bunk bed and the other hand to another bed, and the two beds are pulled in the opposite directions. One feels extreme pain as the body is pulled. See illustration on /emh/articles/2004/11/17/54624.html

Ms. Guo Henghong, 36, was an employee of Hubei Cheqiao Co. Ltd. She was fired by her company because she persisted in practicing Falun Gong. She was arrested three times, and was subjected to shackles, tortures and brutal force-feeding. She passed away in July 2002.

Ms. Guo Henghong started to practice Falun Gong in 1996. She got along well with people afterwards, and did a wonderful job at her workplace. Since the Chinese Communist Party started to persecute Falun Gong on July 20, 1999, Guo has been arrested, detained, and brainwashed many times.

Ms. Guo however, did not comprimise her belief. The 610 Office pressured her factory's management many times, and threatened to disqualify the factory from "Star Company" status because there was someone in the factory practicing Falun Gong. When Guo went to Beijing to clarify the truth, the 610 Office in Gong An County took 10,000 yuan from her factory, and sent people to Beijing to look for her. Guo was illegally arrested and detained for a long time in the Gong An detention center. A short time later, Guo's factory accompanied the corrupt authorities to persecute her economically and cut off her financial resources. Although Guo had worked in the factory for ten years, the company gave her only 4,000 yuan and fired her.

The authorities monitored Guo by sending people to watch her house. One time, approximately eight police officers lead by Zhou Liangqing broke into her house, and took her to a detention center in Gong'an County where she was brutally persecuted. There was even one time when Ms. Guo and several other practitioners were reciting the words from Falun Gong books, when policeman Liu Guohua violently slapped her.

In January 2001, Liao Xuesheng and four others from the 610 Office broke down the door of Ms. Guo's home, and forcibly took her to the detention center. Because she did not bow to the evil's orders and requirements, she was brutally beaten many times, and forced to wear shackles and handcuffs. The evil persons used the heavy shackles and handcuffs to torture her. During the time when Guo appealed by refusing to eat, she was force-fed several times. Ms. Guo was released in June 2001 when the force-feeding made her stomach bleed. She was forced to become homeless to avoid further persecution.

Ms. Guo Huanhong died in July 2002.

Mrs. Tang Guiying, 62, was from the No. 6 Geology Department in Zhaoyuan City, Shandong Province. After July 20, 1999, the Chinese Communist Party began persecuting Falun Gong and broadcast programs on TV that slandered Master and Falun Gong. She could not handle the pain and suffering she felt, seeing such a great master and Falun Gong being defamed. She died on July 23, only three days after the persecution began.

Mrs. Ci Yunling, 60, was a practitioner from the Hongshan District, Chifeng City, Inner Mongolia. She had at least 10 different illnesses, which all disappeared shortly after she started practicing Falun Gong. She went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong in 2001. Authorities from the Chifeng City 610 Office arrested her and held her in the Tumuji Labor Camp in Inner Mongolia, where she was forced to do hard labor. She developed mouth cancer and vomited blood constantly. She also developed insomnia. She passed away one year later.

Mr. Liu Zhihong, 61, was a practitioner from Tianjin. He continued his practice of Falun Gong after the persecution started. He was sent to a detention center for persecution in July 2001, but was released due to severe hypertension. He was then sentenced to eight years in prison in May 2002. Six months later, he had a cerebral hemorrhage, which resulted from the torture, and was again released. He died at home in September 2004.

Mrs. Yang Xiuzhi, 86, was a practitioner from Helongjiang Province. Her entire family practiced Falun Gong. After the persecution started, the police came to harass them constantly. The police arrested her son and daughter-in-law and threatened her teenage granddaughter. They could not live a normal life. Mrs. Yang Xiuzhi suffered greatly in both body and mind and passed away on April 10, 2002.

Ms. Liu Yufang was a resident of Baoding City, Hebei Province. The local police tried to force her to curse Teacher Li and Falun Gong. When she refused, they beat her. On many occasions, Chinese Communist Party (CCP) members also harassed, insulted, and cursed her because she practiced Falun Gong. As a result of persecution by CCP perpetrators from the village, town, and county levels, Ms. Liu died on September 25, 2002. She was 95 years old.

Ms. Liu Yufang lived in Dongwanggezhuang Village, Nanxiaowang Town, Boye County, Baoding City, Hebei Province. She lived alone at one of her daughter's homes. Her daughter's family lived elsewhere. Ms. Liu used to suffer from many diseases such as heart problems and hypertension. Although she sought treatments from many doctors, her condition did not improve. In late June 1996, Ms. Liu began the practice of Falun Gong. On the first day she practiced, her body and mind felt great. Ever since then, she was able to take care of herself.

After the persecution began on July 20, 1999, Ms. Liu and her daughter were both threatened many times by officials from the town and county level for practicing Falun Gong. In November 1999, Ms. Liu's daughter went to take care of her mother-in-law. One evening at around 9:00 p.m., police officers led by the chief of Nanxiaowang Town Police Station broke into Ms. Liu's home to arrest her daughter. Because Ms. Liu was the only one at home at the time, they cursed and threatened her instead.

In December 2000, Ms. Liu's daughter came to visit her. At around 7:00 p.m. on December 30, the mayor and party secretary of Nanxiaowang Town, led by an official named Li from Dongwanggezhuang Village, broke into her home. Her daughter clarified the truth about Falun Gong to them, but they would not listen to her. Instead, they surrounded the home, illegally ransacked it, and called in several dozen people from the town police station and county 610 Office. They all ransacked her home again and confiscated Teacher Li's pictures, some Falun Gong books, and a new video recorder with six blank cassette tapes. They also arrested Ms. Liu's daughter and illegally detained her for three months. Two days after the incident, they again ransacked Ms. Liu's home, this time extorting 3,000 yuan from her.

In July 2001, officials from the town police station came to her house and harassed her again. At the time, Ms. Liu was alone at home. They tried to force her to curse Teacher Li and Falun Gong. When she refused, they attacked, insulted, and cursed her. They also threatened to arrest her.

In April 2002, her daughter's family came to visit Ms. Liu. On April 23, before dawn, the town party secretary led about eight local police officers to the house and ransacked it. They claimed that the County Political and Judiciary Secretary had given the orders, but they did not show any document or permit.

Due to the continuous harassment, threats, and pressure from the village, town, and county levels, Ms. Liu Yufang died at the age of 95 on September 25, 2002.

Practitioner Ms. He Xianggu Released When in Critical Condition

Falun Gong practitioner Ms. He Xianggu from Changsha City, Hunan Province, worked as a nurse at the Hunan Province Maternity and Child Care Hospital. Police arrested her and sent her to the Baimalong Women's Forced Labor Camp in Zhuzhou City on April 21, 2005. This was the third time she was arrested and sent to a labor camp. She held a hunger strike to protest the illegal detention and was savagely tortured. In July 2005, Ms. He was hospitalized in critical condition and the labor camp authorities released her.

http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2005/7/15/106210.html

Practitioner Ms. Pei Shanzhen from Shanghai Faces Second Trial

Practitioner Ms. Pei Shanzhen is 61 years old. On July 13, 2000, she was arrested while distributing truth clarification materials. The police issued an illegal arrest warrant after 35 days of criminal detention. In November 2000, an unlawful trial was held at the Jingan People's Court. Ms. Pei was later exempt from criminal punishment. In March 2005 the authorities again ransacked her home and arrested her. She has been held at Jingan Detention Center for over four months. She is currently facing her second trial at the Procuratorate and has been charged with "disrupting the social order."

http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2005/7/15/106211.html

Practitioner Mr. Lu Jinlong Again Abducted by Police Officers from the Baoshan District

Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Lu Jinlong, 38, from Shanghai, was abducted for the second time by police officers from Gongfuxin Village in the Baoshan District. He was sentenced to two years of forced labor in November 2001 for distributing truth clarification materials and was held at the No. 3 Forced Labor Camp in Shanghai where he was ruthlessly tortured. In April 2003 Mr. Lu was deprived of sleep for three days. The persecutors continuously slapped his face with the soles of their shoes. They also tortured him with the "small tiger bench" (1). He could not walk normally for a long time after the torture. Around July 5, 2005, Mr. Lu was again arrested by police officers from the Baoshan District for distributing truth clarification materials. He is currently being held at a detention center, and the details are unknown.

http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2005/7/15/106191.html

After Three Years of Forced Labor, 60-year-old Practitioner Arrested by 610 Office Authorities and Sent to Brainwashing Class

Ms. Wang Cuifang, 60, lived near the Linshu County Traffic Bureau in Shandong Province. She was illegally held for over five months in 2000 at the Linshu County Detention Center. During this time she was twice sent to a forced labor camp, but the labor camp authorities refused to accept her because she had high blood pressure and heart disease. The authorities told Ms. Wang to write a guarantee statement and promised to release her if she complied. When she refused, the authorities sent her to the No. 1 Women's Forced Labor Camp of Shandong Province for "transitional detention." Linshu County personnel went through connections and eventually the forced labor camp took Ms. Wang for three years. In March 2005, when her three-year sentence had expired, officials from the No. 1 Women's Forced Labor Camp in Shandong Province and Linshu County personally sent Ms. Wang to the Linshu City Brainwashing Class, held by the 610 Office, to be brainwashed for two months.

http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2005/7/15/106214.html

Persecution of Practitioner Ms. Sun Jinfeng in Xiheying Town, Wei County, Hebei Province

Ms. Sun Jinfeng is a Falun Gong practitioner from Nanliuzhuang, Wei County, Hebei Province. She was ill before she learned Falun Gong and became very healthy after she started practicing Falun Gong in 1997. In March 2000, persecutors from the county government beat and fined her. They illegally detained Ms. Sun and her husband for over 20 days, and forced their child to write a guarantee statement for them before they released the couple.

In July 2000, Ms. Sun Jinfeng went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong. The local police escorted her back and sent her to the Wei County Detention Center, where they held her for 17 days and fined her 320 yuan. They later sent her to the Qijiazao Brainwashing Class to further persecute her. Ms. Sun's husband was abducted during that time and sent to the Division Bureau, where he was beaten until his face was black and he collapsed on the ground and could not get up. On January 29, 2002, officers from the county, town, and village police department arrived in two police cars to abduct Ms. Sun Jinfeng and her husband Qi Jianzhi. The couple was compelled to leave their home for six months to avoid being persecuted. The authorities didn't find Ms. Sun Jinfeng, so they vented their fury on her husband and savagely beat him. In July, they abducted Sun Jinfeng and Qi Jianzhi and beat them. Qi Jianzhi was forced to hand over his house and all his possessions and also wrote an IOU for 3,000 yuan, in exchange for Sun Jinfeng's release.

http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2005/7/15/106226.html

Note:

(1) Small Tiger Bench Torture: A small, circular-shaped stool is placed against a wall. Under regular circumstances it is actually a type of spool for wire, rather small in diameter. The practitioner is forced to sit on the floor with his back against the stool. His legs are extended in front of him in such a way that the legs and upper body form a 90-degree angle. His arms are stretched to both sides of the body to form a straight line on the wall. Several people spread the person's legs until they are almost 180 degrees apart. This torture is extremely painful and very hard for people to endure. A person can become unconscious from the excruciating pain