Fan Weihuai, in his 70's, was illegally sentenced to ten years in jail

To all kindhearted people:

We are dozens of Falun Gong practitioners who are being persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and are now being "illegally detained" in the Shenyang Second Jail in Liaoning Province. Please pay close attention to the evil persecution toward us and the severe abuse of our human rights during the past seven years, and listen to our appeal.

We practice Falun Gong and try to be better people by following the principles of "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance." We also clarify the truth about Falun Gong to people all over the world, and reveal the lies and propaganda of the CCP, as well as the brutal persecution towards Falun Gong. Therefore, we are being persecuted by the CCP, illegally sentenced and thrown into jail. Some of us were sentenced to relatively short terms such as three, five, or eight years. Others received long terms such as ten or thirteen years. The longest term is fifteen years. Among us are young people in their twenties and thirties. There are also experienced and strong middle-aged people in their forties and fifties. There are also very old people like Fan Weihuai who was sentenced to ten years in jail in 2002 when he was 73 years old. We were previously factory workers, farmers, teachers, police officers, college lecturers, company clerks with high ranks, engineers, and government officials. We are good people in different levels of society. We previously had happy and harmonious families. We lived normal lives and had legal rights as citizens. However, we were brutally persecuted by the CCP because of our belief in "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance." We were brutally deprived of our careers, families and a life as normal human beings. Our happy and harmonious families were broken into pieces. Elderly parents lost their son's care. Young kids lost their fathers. Weak wives lost the care of their husbands.

During the seven years of being illegally detained in the Shenyang Second Jail, we suffered from inhuman tortures. Our freedom of belief and human rights were severely abused. This jail in Liaoning Province is for career criminals. Among the over 4,000 prisoners here, most are sentenced to a delayed death penalty, to life in jail or terms over ten years. We are being detained together with these prisoners. The Second Jail is specifically focused on the persecution and torturing of Falun Gong practitioners. At one time, over fifty practitioners were illegally detained here. After some practitioners completed their terms they were released, other practitioners were sent to other districts. As of now, this district is still illegally detaining over twenty practitioners. There are over twenty practitioners in other districts as well.

During the past seven years, the jail guards, other than a small percentage who still have a conscience, in the section that persecutes Falun Gong, led by the section head Li Jianguo and some inmates continued the vicious persecution and tortures towards us. The following are just a few cases:

The jail authorities transferred some prisoners who had committed violent crimes from other districts and told them to watch us around the clock. Those prisoners were murderers, or had committed robbery and physical abuses. Some prisoners were sentenced to a delayed death penalty, a life-time in jail, or to a more than ten year term in jail due to stealing or fraud. Currently, there are over twenty inmates who are watching us in this district. A small percentage of them still have some conscience left, however, most of them are extremely violent and vicious. They depend on the power authorized by the guards, and spare no mercy when torturing us. They do not allow us to do anything. When we questioned them by saying, "You are prisoners, how can you give orders to us? Who gave you the authorization?" They replied arrogantly, "We have authorization. We have the authorization from the guards, government and communist party." The law for Chinese prisons clearly states that the guards are managing the jail, and that this power cannot be transferred to others. Therefore, are the deeds by the guards in the Second Jail in Shenyang not clearly a violation of the law? Illegally sentencing innocent people and throwing them in jail is already persecution in itself. The jail guards who are supposed to uphold the law, instead openly disobey the law. This is a persecution within a

In the district, guard Li Jianguo arranged inmates to watch every corner of the bedrooms, hallways, activity rooms, washrooms, and restrooms. They watch us around the clock, continuously. In Li Jianguo's words, "There are eyes everywhere." The washroom is open only at specific hours during the morning, noon and night. Other times it is locked. Every day, the inmates record every word and every movement we make, then it is collected and submitted to Li Jianguo. Even if we get up in the middle of the night, the inmates on night duty must record it.

Guard Li Jianguo separated dozens of us into different rooms. Every room contains a few practitioners and several inmates who watch us. We can only associate with practitioners within the same room. We cannot go to other rooms, nor can we contact practitioners in other rooms. Even if we meet each other in the hallway, we cannot speak with each other besides a simple greeting. Before 2004, each room even had to take turns using the washroom during the morning and at night. We are not allowed to be together. This kind of separation made it impossible to get to know each other, even though we see each other every day. We do not even know what is happening in the room next door.

Guard Li Jianguo does not allow us to talk with each other in a low voice. Inmates watch us, and if we speak, we have to speak loudly, and let inmates next to us know what we are talking about. We are not allowed to say anything about Falun Gong. When we speak with a low voice, the inmates who are watching us will rush towards us, as ordered by the guards, and shout at us that we are not allowed to talk.

When we start doing the exercises, a gang of inmates assigned by the guards will come towards us rampantly, and five or six people attack one practitioner, forcibly separating his hands and legs, then cuff the neck and hold him onto the bed. Or several people hold one person and throw him to the ground, holding him down, and sometimes even beat him. During the day, even if one does not do the exercises, if he crosses his legs, a gang of inmates will come forward and forcibly pull his legs apart. In the beginning years, one could not even close ones eyes. Once our eyes were closed, the inmate gang shouted and told us to open our eyes.

In 2001, practitioner Wu Haili was kicked in the genitals by the inmate gang because he was doing the exercises. At that time, his entire lower body was covered with blood. He urinated blood for several months. He used to be very healthy, but quickly became very thin and it seemed as he would not make it. After resting for a long time he gradually recovered, however even now he still urinates strange things from time to time.

In 2001, practitioner Wang Zhicheng was transferred from the Falun Gong section to the original third team because he was doing the exercises. There he was brutally beaten by inmates specified by team guard Wang Jun and he almost died. They beat on his kidneys until they were bleeding and they beat his head using a wooden board with nails which left him with scars. The longest scar is 7 centimeters long. When they took him to the hospital, he was on the verge of dying. After intensive treatments, he finally recovered. Later, because of long term tortures, he developed sepsis and almost died again. He had to pay more than 30,000 yuan for the medical bills in order to cure the disease.

At 10:00 p.m. one night in October 2003, the guard on duty, Li Xiangdong (Title: instructor of the Falun Gong district) got very drunk. He used an excuse in order to talk with practitioner Chen Xiu, who did the exercises during the day, and lured him into his office. He shut the door and together with another two inmates they beat Chen Xiu and used electric batons to shock him. The torture continued for nearly an hour. When Chen Xiu said that it is against the law to beat people, guard Li Xiangdong shouted crazily, "I am the law!" A few days later, in order to prevent this incident from being exposed, they took Chen Xiu and more than ten practitioners from the Falun Gong district to several other teams.

Once in a while, the guards will let inmates search our bodies and our belongings. They even break the quilts and mats. Once they find Falun Gong articles, they confiscate them immediately. The inmates either openly grab them or secretly steal them and then submit them to guards for rewards. Telling inmates to search our bodies or belongings is against the jail rules.

If we want to write letters, we need to have the agreement of the guards, and let inmates give us paper and pen. After the letter is written, inmates will take back the paper and pen.

Our letters written to prosecution departments, the court and to jail officials describing our situations are held back by the guards in the district. They do not submit them. Practitioner Zhen Shijie even received intensified torture treatment for writing appeal letters to the prosecution department. Nonetheless the jail law clearly states that materials regarding appeals, suing and other reports should be transferred by the jail immediately and should not be withheld.

When our family members visited us we were monitored during the entire time. At the beginning we were allowed to dine with family members, which meant we could sit together and have a meal while talking with each other for as long as one hour. However, a guard would be sitting with us during the entire time, listening to the conversations between us and our family. We were not allowed to say anything related to Falun Gong, nor were we allowed to tell our family members about the persecution and torture by jail personnel towards us and the severe violation of human rights. Using their words, it was not allowed to expose the secrets of the jails. While other criminals do not have guards listening in at all while they have family visits, and they were allowed to say anything to their family members. Since 2005, they have not even allowed us to dine together. We are only allowed to talk via phone through the glass and it can only be half an hour, and with guards listening and the whole phone conversation is being recorded. Recently, some practitioners refused to wear prisoner name cards. This is a paper card worn by criminals, with a photo, job, and the name of the district he belongs to. These practitioners are no longer allowed any visits from their families. One practitioner's mother came from another city far away and wanted to see her son, however she was rejected by the guards with the excuse that no family visits are allowed without wearing a name card. The mother had to leave without seeing her son and she was very disappointed and sad.

Except for family visits and occasional outside duty, all of our life is restricted to the inside of the Falun Gong section. We are cut off from all outside contacts, we do not even have a chance to talk with inmates from other districts. In 2004 and 2005, we were not even allowed to go to the jail market to purchase daily necessities. If we need anything, the inmates who are watching us would have to buy things for us. After 2006, we were allowed to purchase by ourselves, however, each room can only send one representative to do the purchase for the whole room. And during the process they send many inmates to watch us, not allowing us to contact or speak with inmates from other districts.

If we do not obey the so-called management, which means being persecuted and tortured by the guards and inmates, we will be sent to a strict treatment, which means being locked in a cell. The jail set up a strict treatment team for criminals. It is used to punish those criminals who disobey orders or violate regulations. So the strict treatment team is called by inmates the prison within the prison. People who have to undergo the strict treatment are confined to individual isolated cells. Each cell is about 2.5 meters long, about 2 meters wide, with a narrow space and dim light. They are cold and humid. Each cell usually detains two people. They receive two meals a day. Each meal contains a small corn bread (about 1 oz.), a small scoop of corn porridge, and several slices of salted vegetables. Recently, each meal only contained a small scoop of porridge, and no corn bread.

Each cell is equipped with a monitoring camera. Outside of the cell, there are inmates watching people day and night. As soon as something happens, inmates will rush in and start beating people. However, this place became the most evil location at the Second Jail for us. In the Falun Gong district, if we do the exercises, or refuse to join the forced labor work ordered by them, or refuse to be ordered around by criminals, or to wear inmate suits etc., guard Li Jianguo takes us to the strict treatment team to be tortured. Most of the practitioners here had been detained in the strict treatment team before. In the strict treatment team, if we continue to do the exercises, there will be a group of inmates and guards rushing in, who beat us violently. They use electric batons and force us to wear a back cuff and foot cuffs, which are tools for punishment.

Before 2005, each time we had to undergo strict treatment it lasted two or three months, and sometimes as long as half a year. Some of us received this strict treatment multiple times. However, the Chinese jail laws clearly indicate that the length of a strict treatment should not exceed 7-15 days. Most of the strict treatments for criminals were dismissed after fifteen days, except in rare cases. Because of long-term mental and physical abuses, as well as long term malnutrition, our practitioners usually become extremely weak and thin after coming out of these strict treatments. Some of them could not even walk, and they had to hold on to the wall while walking. After 2005, because of the pressure from outside, they no longer dare to openly break the law, and gradually shortened our strict treatments to one month, and eventually to fifteen days.

In 2002, practitioner Liu Mingjie wanted to go to the washroom in order to wash his food container after a meal. The inmate watching him did not allow him to go. He did not obey the inmate, thus received strict treatment by guard Li Jianguo and was inhumanly tortured for six months. During this time, he had to be hospitalized for a while. Guards and inmates beat him, shocked him with electric batons, and tortured him using various tools. Eventually he became mentally disoriented due to the tortures.

In 2003, practitioner Zhen Shijie was taken by guards for a conversation. Guard Zhang Lei cursed Master Li. While Zhen Shijie tried to stop him, he accidentally touched his body. He was accused of beating guards, and received strict treatment for more than six months. Long-term strict treatment and malnutrition caused him to have severe anemia and not even mosquitoes could get blood from his body. Doctors said that this kind of detention is life-threatening to this person. Because he feared that he would die, guard Li Jianguo had to let Zhen Shijie return to the district and release him from strict treatment. While he was in strict treatment, the jail personnel lied to all inmates through a cable system saying that Zhen Shijie had broken three backbones of a guard.

In May 2003, practitioner Huang Gang received strict treatment for doing the exercises. While there, he was beaten by inmates specified by guards. They opened his arms, stuck both his hands in two iron rings attached to the wall, and hung him up. At night, they tortured him with other tools. They held him down on the ground, handcuffed him with iron rings, and tightened them around his wrists. Each iron ring has an iron chain. They held both of his arms over his head, then stretched the two iron chains, causing his body to be stretched very straight and then they secured the chains to the wall. This torture lasted 17 to 18 hours and was extremely painful. In late 2004, practitioner Sun Qian refused to join the forced labor and consequently received one month of strict treatment. After he came back, he suddenly started coughing frequently. He was previously very healthy and also became extremely thin. After they sent him to a hospital, he was diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis. After staying in the hospital for more than two months, he passed away in March 2005. He was only 30 years old.

In March 2003, practitioner Sui Xin refused to perform forced labor and received strict treatment. In strict treatment, in order to prevent him from doing the Falun Gong exercises, guards ordered inmates to stick an iron pipe through his sleeves behind his back and tie his hands on the two ends of the pipe. Thus his two arms were spread out in a horizontal shape, and tied tight to the pipe, so he could not put them down. They then inserted two wooden sticks into his pant legs and tied both of his ankles to the sticks. Thus he could only sit with both legs straight and could not bend them. The stick torture lasted for more than ten days. In June 2006, practitioner Zhao Jiyuan received strict treatment for refusing to wear an inmate uniform. They put him in handcuffs and foot cuffs for fifteen days continuously. Even people who visited the jail from the outside were shocked and said, "Look at the tortures Falun Gong suffer from."

Long-term tortures severely damaged us, mentally and physically, leading to severe diseases in some of us and early death in others. Some of the cases include:

Yu Fei became hemiplegic from stroke, Liu Mingjie became mentally disoriented, Li Quanchen contracted pulmonary tuberculosis, Han Liguo died from a heart attack, Sun Qian died from pulmonary tuberculosis, and Fan Weihuai was released from jail after being diagnosed with end-stage intestinal cancer and died soon after that.

Falun Gong practitioner Fan Weihuai, male, 74 years old, was from Chaoyang City, Liaoning. He retired from the Northern Mechanical Factory in Zhaoyang City, Liaoning Province. He started practicing Falun Gong in 1994, after joining a Falun Gong workshop in Guangzhou. In the following years, he practiced and lived by the standard of "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance," and he had been very healthy. After the persecution began on July 20, 1999, local policeman Lu Xiaofei from the Northern Mechanical Factory district in Zhaoyang City, forced practitioners to write the three statements. Whoever refused to write them would be arrested and sentenced to jail. Because of the constant harassments since September 2001, the 70-year-old couple Mr. and Mrs. Fan Weihuai were forced to leave their home.

No matter where they went, the older man continued to clarify the truth about Falun Gong, and introduced Falun Gong. On March 17, 2002, Mr. and Mrs. Fan Weihuai came to Beipiao. On April 17, Li Zhu from the Beipiao Police Station arrested and extorted nearly 4,000 yuan from them. After that their family members went to question this incident, but the police station refused to return the money. The couple were both illegally sentenced to long jail terms and sent to the Dabei Jail in Shenyang.

During their detention, family members went to visit them in the jail in Shenyang multiple times. They pleaded with the guards and asked them whether it was possible to get a probation for medical treatments, since the couple was of old age. However, they replied that without writing the so-called "transformation statement," which means giving up their belief against their will, there was no way out.

On December 7, 2005, because of losing the practicing environment in jail for a long time, and not being allowed to do the exercises, Fan Weihuai's health condition was very bad. He requested a physical examination. The jail guards did not care about his life, they even threatened that there would be no physical examination without a "transformation." Because the old man's body could not hold up any longer, he wrote the transformation statement in order to receive the physical examination. However, it turned out that he already had late-term liver cancer and there was no time for treatment. At that time, the old man was already very weak, but they still refused to release him. They used the excuse that they could not allow him out on probation for medical treatments until all the paperwork was completed, thus delaying him for another month. The jail personnel was sure that he would not live for more than a couple of days. To shirk their responsibilities, they released him. On December 12, 2005, Fan Weihuai passed away.

Everything listed above are just a few typical cases of the brutal persecution and human rights violations that the Second Jail in Shenyang did to us during the past seven years. During these years, the persecution and tortures happened every day and never stopped. We cannot help but ask: Why is the CCP treating kind-hearted people in such a brutal way? Whenever we question the persecution and tortures, the guards always reply with arrogance, "This is jail! This is the place to punish people!" It meant that here is jail, thus all the persecution and tortures towards us are normal. However, the jail, the execution department of the law, and the guards as people who are supposed to execute the law, should they not strictly obey and act according to the law? How could they openly break the law and do all these bad deeds?

Although the persecution is so evil, we still strongly believe in Falun Gong from the bottom of our hearts. We strongly believe in "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance" and we never hesitated. Are we wrong for being good people? We did not break the law, nor did we commit any crime. While in the Second Jail, we held hunger strikes multiple times in order to protest the persecution. We also asked that they stop the persecution and release us unconditionally. Actually there are more places besides the First Department of the Second Jail in Shenyang were Falun Gong practitioners are being detained and tortured. The jails, labor camps, detention centers and police stations all over mainland China have been systematically and nationally committing persecution. Many kind-hearted people were killed, injured, disabled, illegally detained, and suffered from inhuman tortures. Here again, we appeal to human rights organizations and kind-hearted people all over the world, to pay attention to the evil persecution which is currently happening in mainland China. Let's stop the persecution together, defend human rights and freedom of belief, defend public value and justice! At the same time, we also ask the CCP regime to immediately stop the persecution towards Falun Gong, restore the reputation of Master Li, unconditionally release all the detained Falun Gong practitioners, and legally punish those criminals who killed, injured and persecuted Falun Gong practitioners.

From all Falun Gong practitioners who are illegally detained in the Second Jail in Shenyang, Liaoning Province.

On March 28, 2006, 21 days after Zhuozhou City rape victim Ms. Liu Jizhi and her daughter were illegally detained by Baoding police at the Xishan Hotel in Mancheng County, they were taken back to Zhuozhou. The daughter, Ms. Wei Meiling, was released. Ms. Liu Jizhi was taken to Nanma Brainwashing Center by Zhuozhou City police. Ms. Liu was closely watched by four people during the day and three people during the night, all taking turns. Ms. Liu's health condition significantly worsened within thirteen days. She did not move or eat and drink for three days, and her blood pressure was almost zero, and infusions did not turn her condition around. Gao Xuefei, head of the Nanma Brainwashing Center, called the Zhuozhou City 610 Office for instructions. On April 13, an ambulance took Ms. Liu to the Baoding Second Central Hospital (located in Zhuozhou). After emergency treatment, she was detained again by people from  Zhuozhou City Procuratorate, City Court, City Police Department, 610 Office, Taoyuan Police Station, Qingliangsi Police Station, and Shuangta Police Station. They were divided into three groups, with four to five people in each group. They guarded the room on the inside and outside, around the clock.

On May 5, two people from the Baoding City Procuratorate, a man by the name of Yao Zhi, and a woman, questioned Ms. Liu. The woman asked questions and the man recorded the interview. Ms. Liu wept and told them what happened. The woman said, "We will definitely seek justice," and she took 100 yuan from her pocket and handed it to Ms. Liu. Ms. Liu refused to take the money. They told Ms. Liu that the court would be held in ten days. Ms. Liu Jizhi asked, "Should I attend court?" The woman answered, "You don't need to attend. You are the victim and the government is filing the lawsuit for you. If you would like to get a lawyer we can help you to get one. If you don't hire a lawyer the government will get one for you."

On May 10, two men from the Baoding City Intermediate People's Court delivered a subpoena and notified Ms. Liu to attend court at 9:00 a.m. on May 15. After they left, Ms. Liu asked Chen Guiting of the Zhuozhou City 610 Office, "How should I get there if I want to go?" Chen said, "You don't have to worry about that. Our chief will arrange it."

On the evening of May 12, Gao Xuefei was on duty. Gao asked Ms. Liu to get into his car, in the presence of Li Jianglan of the Law Enforcement Department of the Police Station. Gao said to Ms. Liu, "Don't attend court. What should we do if someone wants to kill or abduct you on your way there?" Ms. Liu said, "That's impossible." Gao said, "That is possible." Li Jianglan said, "It's the same whether you go or don't go. The government will take care of the case for you. Our country is fair." Ms. Liu asked, "Can they conduct the trial according to the written statement?" Li Jianglan said, "They won't change it. Don't worry."

On the evening of May 13, Bai Jianjun, a policeman from the Zhuozhou City Shuangta Police Station, Wang Peng, a officer from the 4th Criminal Team of the city police department , and another policeman handcuffed Ms. Liu for the entire night. Bai Jianjun threatened her, saying, "You can't change anything!"

On the evening of May 14, Chen Guiting was on duty. Chen asked Ms. Liu, "How will you get there?" Ms. Liu said, "How do I know? Didn't you say that your chief will arrange it? I have been waiting." Chen was quiet. Ms. Liu asked Zuo Zhen, who works at Zhuozhou City 610 Office, to call Gao Xuefei and ask. Gao said he was in Baoding and approaching home. A short time after, Ms. Liu asked Zuo to call Gao again. Gao said he was with the Zhuozhou City Governor. That night, Ms. Liu cleaned up, packed her things, and prepared to attend court.

On the morning of May 15, Ms. Liu Jizhi got up at 5:00 a.m.. By 5:30 a.m. she had finished breakfast and was waiting for her ride. No one came until 8:07 a.m. Ms. Liu asked Zuo Zhen to call again and Zuo refused. Gao Xuefei, who was supposed to be on duty, did not show up. Ms. Liu realized it would be too late to go, so she said angrily: "I will not go!" Zuo Zhen immediately called officials. Within fifteen minutes, Zhang Shun of the Zhuozhou 610 Office arrived with Gao Xuefei and Chen Guiting. They brought with them paper, pencil and an ink pad. Zhang Shun asked Ms. Liu, "So you won't go?" Ms. Liu answered, "No." Then she asked, "Isn't it the same if I go or not to go?" Zhang Shun said, "It's the same. Don't worry." Chen Guiting told Ms. Liu, "Write a statement and say you don't want attend court." Ms. Liu said, "I don't know how to write." Chen wrote it and asked Ms. Liu to sign her name. Ms. Liu doesn't write her name well, so Chen wrote Ms. Liu's name, "Liu Jizhi," on another piece of paper and told Ms. Liu to copy it. Ms. Liu copied it and applied her fingerprint as asked. That evening, Gao Xuefei of the Zhuozhou 610 Office lied to Ms. Liu. He told her that when the court was opened, Han Yuzhi and her husband Liu Jian were missing. He said that they might have been "abducted by Falun Gong practitioners or the Chinese Communist Party." Ms. Liu believed him.

On May 17, people from the Baoding City Intermediate People's Court delivered a subpoena to Ms. Liu. She didn't believe them and refused to sign. They deceived her and she signed.

After the trial was over, on May 22, three people from  Baoding City Intermediate Court sent the written judgment to Ms. Liu. Since Ms. Liu doesn't read, she asked them to read it to her. A tall man said, "We don't have time." Li San, a police officer from the Zhuozhou City Taoyuan Police Station said, "I will read it to you." Then Ms. Liu signed and the three people from Intermediate People's Court left with smiles on their faces.

Later, Li Jianglan, of the Law Enforcement Department of the Zhuozhou City Police Station, explained to Ms. Liu that He Xuejian [the policeman who raped Ms. Liu] was not sentenced for raping her, but for indecency instead, since there was no proof. Ms. Liu asked what indecency was. Li told her it's almost the same as rape and it is also a serious crime. Ms. Liu said, "That is not justice!"

On June 5, when the verdict from the Hebei Provincial High Court was to be announced, Ms. Liu decided to attend. Gao Xuefei called the Zhuozhou 610 Office and a woman answered the phone. She said that no one responsible for the case was there. If Liu Jizhi insisted on going, she thought she needed to sign and say she wanted to go voluntarily. Gao Xuefei wrote the statement for Ms. Liu and Ms. Liu signed it. Wang Cunliang, head of Taoyuan Police Station and a officer  Tian from the 2nd Criminal Team of city police deprtment also signed as witnesses. After this was done, Ms. Liu asked Wang Cunliang if it was necessary for her to go. Wang told her it was not necessary since the appeal time had expired. Then Ms. Liu gave up.

At 9:00 a.m. on June 8, the Hebei Province High Court issued the final judgment at Baoding City Intermediate People's Court. Before 1:00 p.m. they delivered the verdict. Afterward, Ms. Liu was illegally detained for seven days and finally released on June 15. Well before she was finally released, her family members had asked for her release, which was denied.

[Editor's note: Ms. Zhang Lianying is the wife of Mr. Niu Jinping, one of the two practitioners who were interviewed by EU Vice President Mr. Edward McMillan-Scott.  Previous report: /emh/articles/2006/6/3/74060.html.]

Since April 20, 2006, Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Zhang Lianying has been held at the Beijing Women's Forced Labor Camp. Ms. Zhang is from the Chaoyang District of Beijing and was illegally arrested. The labor camp officials call her husband, Niu Jinping, every month demanding up to several hundred yuan each time for "expenses." They claim that Ms. Zhang is on a hunger strike, so they need to buy nutritional injections to maintain her health. They have spent the 1,000 yuan Mr. Niu deposited in his wife's private account and refuse to provide any receipts.

After a few months, Mr. Niu objected to this financial extortion. He asserts that the brutal force-feeding is done to force Zhang Lianying to give up her hunger strike. Therefore, the expense shouldn't be placed on the Zhang family. The labor camp director threatened, "If you owe us too much money, we will accuse your family. It is of no use to refuse the charge. The court will forcibly carry out the ruling to withdraw the money directly from your bank account." As long as Ms. Zhang's family sends money to her account, it will be withdrawn to carry out force-feeding and further persecution. If there is no money, Ms. Zhang can't buy even basic daily necessities, such as toilet paper.

Since the evil Chinese Communist Party (CCP) began the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners, Zhang Lianying has been arrested several times, detained, severely persecuted and narrowly escaped death. She was imprisoned at the Jiamusi Women's Forced Labor Camp in Heilongjiang Province in 2001. There she suffered unbelievable physical and mental persecution to force her to give up her belief in Falun Gong. The police tied her on a bench for long periods of time and then to a death bed for more than forty days. They shocked her with electric batons, beat her cruelly, force-fed her savagely, among other torments. Mr. Niu Jinping, her husband, was also cruelly persecuted by the CCP. He was even sent to a mental hospital, where they forcibly injected him with unknown drugs.

On June 14, 2005, when Ms. Zhang Lianying was feeding her daughter, Wang Jing, the head of Xiangheyuan Police Station, along with a dozen policemen broke into her home and took her away. On June 30, 2005, she was sentenced to two years and six months of forced labor. Her husband, Niu Jinping, had to bring their daughter along while he went to various offices looking for justice. Instead, he was threatened by the CCP's National Security, Police, 610 Office and the neighborhood watch.

Mr. Niu Jinping was fired by his workplace sometime ago. He can barely provide for his family with minimal savings from selling an old house.

Hangzhou City Detention Center has actively persecuted Falun Gong practitioners. Here are some examples:

Ms. Liu Shijie, 55 years old, and Ms. Huang Yu, 26 years old, are mother and daughter. They are practitioners from Heilongjiang Province.

In July 2005, the mother and daughter were abducted by the National Security Team of Xihu District, Hangzhou City, and were jailed at the Hangzhou City Detention Center. During their detention, the officials kept the two separated at all times. Ms. Liu Shujie refused to wear the prison uniform. Xu Xiaping, who was the deputy section chief and guard for the surveillance section, said no one would be allowed to have hot water despite the cold weather and would have to sit silently if Ms. Liu Shujie didn't wear the prison uniform. Ms. Liu Shujie's right to correspond with her family was also denied.

Currently, Ms. Liu Shujie and Ms. Huang Yu have been sentenced to six years and three years respectively. They have been transferred to the Zhejiang Provincial Female Jail for further persecution.

Ms. Zhou Zhongbi, over 70 years old, and Ms. Chen Lei, 30 years old, are also mother and daughter. They are practitioners from Shanghai.

Mother and daughter were abducted twice in January and June 2006 respectively, and they were detained at the Hangzhou City Detention Center. During their detention the police did not allow the mother and daughter to see each other. Ms. Zhou Zhongbi was punished by a guard named Fu Jia and kept in confinement for calling out "Falun Dafa is great" and "Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance is great." Both her hands and legs were cuffed to the floor, and her four limbs were pulled apart for one long cold night. The elderly lady could hardly endure the wind and cold, and the next day she could not walk and had to be kept in the cell.

There was a drug-addict who was transferred from the cell where Ms. Chen Lei was jailed to the room where Ms. Zhou Zhongbi was jailed and incidentally told her about her daughters' practicing the exercises. When Fu Jia found out, she made the drug-addict squat in the washroom for the whole night and punished her by requiring her to keep surveillance over Ms. Zhou Zhongbi and prevent her from doing the exercises. Fu Jia also punished the whole cell by forbidding them from ordering food, and forcing them to drink the soup provided by the detention center.

Ms. Chen Lei was handcuffed many times for practicing the Falun Gong exercises in the cell, calling out "Falun Dafa is great" and refusing to wear the prison uniform. After Xu Xiaping threatened to take away their right to use hot water and correspond outside the detention center, the prisoners forcefully tied Ms. Chen Lei up, squeezed some dirty socks into her mouth and sewed the prison uniform on to her clothes. They also threatened to send her to the An'kang Mental Hospital.

The Hangzhou City Detention Center forcefully deducted over five thousand yuan for "medical expenditures" from the mother and daughter's salary and pension (one thousand yuan was deducted from Ms. Zhou Zhongbi and four thousand yuan was deducted for Ms. Chen Lei.) When their family went to ask for the money back, the section chief of the financial department (last name Zhang) found all kinds of excuses to delay paying them back. It is said that their computer, printer, movable hardware, and CD burners are still being held by the National Security Team of Shangcheng District even though the staff of the National Security Team verbally agreed to give them back. Most of the six thousand yuan that was confiscated from the practitioners and handed in to the detention center was tagged "medical expenditures."

Now Ms. Zhou Zhongbi has been illegally sentenced to four years, and has been transferred to the Zhejiang Provincial Female Jail for further persecution. Ms. Shen Lei was illegally sentenced to four years and has now been bailed out for real medical treatment in Shanghai.

Ms. Yang Jie, around 40 years old, is a practitioner from Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province. She was abducted by Xihu District Police Department at the end of 2005 and has since been jailed in Hangzhou City. During her detention, she was handcuffed to an iron pole. Despite the severe winter she had only very thin clothes and was handcuffed for fifteen days. If she wanted to eat or drink, she needed help from people in the cell. Her cuffed hands were injured and bleeding. However, they still did not release her. The guards threatened that the detention center had a "death quota" and that it is legal for them to torture practitioners to death. Yang Jie was sentenced to seven years and has been transferred to the Zhejiang Provincial Female Jail to be further persecuted.

Ms. Xu Juan, a Falun Gong practitioner from Chongqing City, was also illegally detained in April 2006. Compared to the detention centers, jails and labor camps in the north, the violence applied to the practitioners is less, but the deceit is worse. They use an even more secretive way of financial persecution. They don't directly use fines; they seize and confiscate the practitioners' property through the courts. They charge detained practitioners very expensive "medical expenditures" to persecute the practitioners financially. In this way, they justify the persecution and deceive the public.

I am a Falun Gong practitioner who wanted to say a fair word for Falun Gong after the persecution began on July 20, 1999. I went to Beijing for appeal in 2001, but was forcibly arrested by agents from Beijing City Police Department. Later I was escorted back by the local police. I was illegally sentenced to forced labor for one year and detained in Wanjia Forced Labor Camp in the Seventh Team. I witnessed the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners at the camp. As long as practitioners studied the Fa or practiced the exercises, they would be hit with stools and thermos bottles on their heads and faces. They were detained in solitary confinement to suffer. One practitioner was beaten for reciting the Fa. He was beaten and it caused bleeding on his face. They also poured boiling water on him.

In 2002, I left the Wanjia Forced Labor Camp. Shortly after I had returned home, the local police came and harassed my family. They forced me to be fingerprinted. They also threatened that I would be arrested and sentenced to two years if I refused. I opted to lead a homeless life for two years to avoid further persecution.

Later I returned home. Before long the one who was assigned to monitor me reported me. Local police led many people who surrounded my home. They entered the home and turned everything upside down. All Falun Gong books were confiscated, and a tape recorder and pager were taken. I was held at a detention center for several days. They told me I could be released if I revealed other practitioners' names. I adamantly refused their irrational request. I was again sent to the Wanjia Labor Camp. On the way, a male police officer said insidiously to me, "I want to kill you."

After I had arrived at the labor camp I was sent to the Training Team. That is the den of evildoers whose job it is to make practitioners "reform." They attempted to force us to write the so-called three statements. I refused, and they forced me to squat for a long time. This can lead to paralysis, and it leaves big blisters on the thighs. Later, two male guards, Yao Fuchang and another, again attempted to force me to write the three statements. I clarified the truth to them. Yao Fuchang went crazy and shocked my temples with a newly equipped, high-energized electric baton. I was shocked so severely that I fell down twice. He shouted crazily, "I am an evil spirit! I came to torture you!" He made me squat for one day and one night. As I still refused to write the statements. He handcuffed me behind my back with the smallest handcuffs and hung me from the bedpost. My arms were raised high, and my lower body had to squat. It was extremely painful. I was deprived of sleep at night. Eight people monitored me in turn. My hands turned black. I had big blisters all over the back of my hands. The metal handcuffs tore my skin and eventually exposed bleeding flesh.

A practitioner surnamed Wu also refused to write any statements. The severe beatings at the hands of female guard Qui Yang had made her legs and face swell.

On March 16, 2006, with the excuse that Sun Yanzhi and Ma Guiyun had refused to write the three statements and a summary, the Twelfth Team, led by team leader Guo Qiuli, commenced another round of persecution on Falun Gong practitioners, which they claimed to the outside was "reorganization."

In the seven years of the persecution, the evildoers had used various ruses under the guise of "reorganization." What they had actually done over and over again was to subject practitioners to physical torture and mental torment. This kind of "reorganization" included the illegal use of torture instruments and they continued to try and justify their actions of torturing practitioners. Normally, this needed permission from the administration section. (Administration section head was Liu Tao, male. He was the main person on duty during the period when excruciation instruments were used on Falun Gong practitioners for forcible conversion at Wanjia Labor Camp in 2002.)

The Twelfth Team agents forced practitioners to work longer than ten hours per day. After returning to their cells, they were made to say break-off words against Falun Gong. The practitioners who refused to make the statements were punished by having to stand till midnight. When the guards found out that they didn't yield after standing until midnight, Guo Qiuli led guards Sui Xuemei, Wang Meiying and Li Peihuan, brutally beat them. Falun Gong practitioner Shi Guizhi shouted, "Falun Dafa is great!"

 Li Peihuan kept slapping her in the face, and Shi Guizhi kept shouting. Guo Qiuli, Sui Xuemei, and Li Peihuan beat practitioner Shi Guizhi rampantly. They dragged her from the second class to the first class to continue the persecution. That night Shi Guizhi's face was swollen, and she was barely recognizable. Her eye sockets were black. Her shoulders to the neck were bruised. This older lady could not raise her arms. She could only move slowly and could not take care of herself after being beat for more than thirty minutes.

Falun Gong practitioner Song Wenjuan also shouted loudly, "Falun Dafa is great." Guards Cong Zhili pulled her out and hung her up outside. She was also handcuffed to a metal chair for sixty days.

The guard also hung practitioner Bai Xia by the handcuffs. This punishment is extremely brutal and can lead to crippling paralysis. One is hung by the arms to the top-rungs of two bunk beds. Then two beds are pushed by two groups of people into the opposite direction (similar to the ancient "splitting" torture). The victim's body was stretched straight and the feet leave the ground because of the pulling force from the opposing beds. The suffering is excruciatingly painful.

Later electric batons were used to shock and beat. Song Wenjuan could not lift her hands after this abuse. During the time Song Wenjuan sat on the metal chair, in mid-March, it was the coldest period of the year in the northeast region. The police took off Song Wenjuan's shoes and her cotton-padded jacket. They made her sit barefoot on the floor, wearing only skimpy clothes. Her feet swelled. Bai Xia could not raise one of her hands after having been hung up. However, she was still forced to do heavy labor for more than 14 hours per day.

Falun Gong practitioner Yu Xianna was slapped in the face by guards Xie Chunyan and Wei Benzhi. Guard Tong Yingfan used a baton to beat practitioners. They beat practitioners so hard that the string on the baton flew off. Guard Tong is the wicked head in this persecution. He supplied ideas and did many wicked things. Another person who actively joined the persecution is one that gave up practice. Her name is Wang Meifang, from Harbin City. She also recited articles that slandered Falun Gong as well as an article written by the guards at the Changlinzi Labor Camp, and caused much upheaval.

What Sun Xiangjie experienced during this round of persecution is more astonishing.

In the morning around 10:30 a.m. on March 20, 2006, guard Cong Zhili called Sun Xiangjie to the 12th Team building. Because she refused to follow the order, Cong Zhili electrically shocked her three times in a short time. Cong also stepped on Sun Xiangjie's fingers and grinded on them. Later she forcibly took off Sun Xiangjie's coat and had her handcuffed to a metal chair, while wearing only thin clothes. On March 21, 2006 at 9:00 a.m., guard leader Zhang Aihui carried out another round of hanging and electrical shocking on Sun Xiangjie. After the fourth round of torture, Sun Xiangjie was in a coma. She could not move. A week later she recovered a little bit, but was barely able to take care of herself.

The Twelfth Team forced her to do heavy labor every day. Guard Zhou Yingfan said in an odd tone, "It is just a hang-up that you went through. What's the big deal? Don't use this as an excuse for not doing the labor."

Officials at the Wanjia Forced Labor Camp have set a quota to force the practitioners to work, often excessively. The police have enforced this tactic for several years. Guard Zhou Yingfan played an extremely bad role during this persecution.