Issued by Clearwisdom Net

Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Zhang Xiumei from Heshui County, Gansu Province, was illegally sentenced to four years in prison in 2001 for persisting in her belief. She is still held at the Jiuzhou Development Zone Prison in Lanzhou City, Gansu Province. The guards coerced her to write a guarantee statement and frequently brainwashed her, shocked her with electric batons, and beat her.

Ms. Zhang Xiumei came from Heshui County, Qingyang City, and started practicing Falun Gong in 1998. She previously suffered from severe hepatitis B, stomach disease, reproductive system problems, and frequent colds. All of her illnesses disappeared several months after she started practicing Falun Gong. She then persisted in clarifying the truth about Falun Gong and validating Falun Gong during the persecution.

Zhang Xiumei was arrested on November 7, 2001, when she was distributing truth clarification materials with other practitioners. She was sentenced to four years in prison and incarcerated at Ward 5 in Jiuzhou Development Disctrict Prison, Lanzhou City, Gansu Province. She was forced to do slave labor and was often shocked with electric batons and also savagely beaten.

During the SARS epidemic in 2003, Ms. Zhang clarified the truth to the inmates, but the guards shocked her with electric batons for more than thirty minutes, until blisters appeared on her face and neck. Deputy Political Intructor Luo from Ward 5 held a brainwashing session particularly for Zhang Xiumei for about two weeks, during which time she was forced to read slanderous documents that viciously attacked Falun Gong. They demanded that she relate her understanding of Falun Gong after each brainwashing session, but they could not "reform" her.

Zhang Xiumei made a minor mistake when sewing carpets on August 12, 2003 of the Chinese lunar calendar. The officials took her to a small torture chamber. Guards Li Wenping, Luo Zhihong, and Wang Dongmei shocked her with electric batons for more than thirty minutes. They tried to make her admit her mistake and write a guarantee statement. Zhang Xiumei lost consciousness. She agreed to write a statement when she was semi-conscious and the guards had finally stopped shocking her. The guards took her to an office and forced her to write the guarantee statements. They they told her to read them at a prison-wide meeting. Ms. Zhang became extremely fearful and agreed to the officials' conditions and wrote a repentance statement.

The next morning the guards didn't make her work but instead took her to the third floor and made her read a Falun Gong-slandering book. She was in anguish and deeply regretted having written the guarantee statement. Ward head Wu Hongyu went to Ms. Zhang at 3:00 p.m. and asked, "A lot of us talked to you in the past and you refused to "reform." Why did you agree to write the statement just now?" Zhang Xiumei said, "You forced me! I didn't do it of my own free will. If I didn't write it, you would torture me in horrible ways."

Guard Li Wenping called Ms. Zhang to Ward head Wu Hongwu's office at 8:00 a.m. on August 14, 2003. Wu Hongyu, Luo Zhihong, deputy political head Luo, and Xue Yanyan were also present. Li Wenping and Xue Yanyan asked her, "Did you write the statement willingly or did we make you do it?" Zhang Xiumei answered, "You forced me! I did not do it willingly." Guards Li Wenping and Xue Yanyan flew into a fury and ordered Zhang Xiumei to squat. Li Wenping kicked her to the floor, and both guards simultaneously shocked her with electric batons. They shocked her neck, face, head, and entire body. The level of violence escalated. They kept asking her if she would repent and write a guarantee statement.

This time Zhang Xiumei did not follow the guards' demands. She said, "I won't write it, because I didn't do anything wrong." Several other guards present screamed, "Are you going to repent? Are you going to write a guarantee statement?" The guards kept shocking her until she rolled on the floor. The guards immobilized her and put their feet on her back. They forbade her from screaming or crying and tortured her for one hour before taking her to the office and continuing to beat her. They again shocked her with electric batons and kicked her.

Ms. Zhang fell to the floor, hitting her head. Instantly an egg-sized bump appeared on her forehead. Her face looked deformed, but the officials continued the abuse. They stopped shocking her after about fifty minutes. Guard Wu Hongyu said in a cold voice, "Our superiors said we must use torture tools on you this time. Go and memorize the prison regulations really well. Think about it!" Guard Li Wenping and inmate Chen Li took Zhang Xiumei out and hung her from a door frame on the third floor by her handcuffs, with her feet on the ground. Her arms were stretched out. They left her hanging her for an entire day.

She was still hung up when the other inmates went to sleep. Her face became even more swollen than in the morning, and she suffered from severe headache and nausea. Her face became so swollen on the fourth day that she looked like a completely different person. Her face turned black and blue, and her eyes were so bloodshot that they resembled red beads. People were afraid to look at her.

Government inspectors came for an inspection about nine days later. The camp officials hid Ms. Zhang Xiumei in a small room and wouldn't let her out, day or night. The officials handcuffed her to the head of a bed.

About five days later deputy political head Luo returned Zhang Xiumei's guarantee statement to her and said, "You didn't really want to write this, so we don't have much use for it. Just take it back."

By a kind-hearted person from Hunan Province

Two years ago, I heard from a friend, a policeman involved in the persecution of Falun Gong, about how the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) persecutes Falun Gong practitioners. Before that, I had only heard about Falun Gong and the crackdown from the CCP-controlled television media, but I did not know any details. After listening to my friend, however, I understood how brutally the persecution was conducted and how the CCP and its followers had done such a thing to destroy people's humanity.

He told me how Falun Gong practitioners were arrested and forced to attend brainwashing "classes" and to pay fines. For those practitioners who went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong, the police would not only extort money from them, but also extort money from their family members and relatives. Referring to mental persecution, he talked about how in a brainwashing class, the police would use enticements to break down the practitioners. The practitioners were forced to watch propaganda videos, and to read and study material that slandered Falun Gong. They were also forced to write three statements to break from Falun gong. Brainwashing centers have become another form of forced labor camps in China.

The police used an isolation approach to question Falun Gong practitioners. They would book a room in a hotel and torture the practitioner without letting any other people know. The persecution was carried out in secret and took place at anytime. My friend told me of an incident where a Falun Gong material-production site was destroyed in 2002 and described how those arrested were tortured. I felt very sad after listening to this story and had tears in my eyes. I said to him, "You have to control yourself in this kind of environment. Be a person with humanity and conscience. Don't be a dog in your job. You have to hold onto your dignity." My friend was reluctant and said, "Yes, I hate my dirty job. What we did was not what normal people would do. We've already become hatchet men and tools. The CCP uses the Chinese law as a veneer to cover itself in front of foreign countries. We are serving the law, but at the same time, carrying out things against the law. I think we'll have bad luck soon by doing these inhuman things."

This year, I obtained some inside information that several Falun Gong practitioners had been arrested and forced into a brainwashing center around the time of the third CCP Chenzhou Conference. Confirming the location and time, I took six days of vacation and observed the brainwashing myself.

On October 23, the first day of the conference, four Falun Gong practitioners, two males and two females, were arrested and forced to stay at the Party Academy located at Beihu Region of Chezhou City. Persons in charge of the event were officials from Su Xian and Beihu regions and the county 610 office, police from the National Security Bureau, and four security guards. They told the Falun Gong practitioners, "You are coming here for study and it is free of charge, unlike the $30 fee per day of the previous class." I heard the practitioners interrupting them immediately and shouting, "Stop it!You are a bunch of liars!"

The 610 officials then asked for the practitioners' names, but none said a word. They sought their names by asking other practitioners and had a response of "I don't know him/her." This brainwashing "class" was formed by using taxpayers' money, tens of thousands of Yuan in room, board and equipment. After the class ended, the 610 officials took the leftover stuff home, such as thermos bottles. They arranged for one practitioner per room with one or two guards. The doors would not be closed at night during sleep hours. No visits were allowed for the practitioners. Anti-Falun Gong posters were posted in the hallway with a lock blocking the entrance; this was no different from jail. During the daytime, the 610 officials and security guards tried to brainwash the practitioners and forced them to write the "three statements." However, the practitioners did not cooperate with them at all. They practiced the exercises, silently read Master's articles, and sang songs composed by other practitioners.

From my observations over several days, I saw that the practitioners firmly held onto their faith. They were kind and dignified. They were different than regular people. From conversing with the 610 officials, I learned that the four practitioners were either arrested or deceived by the police from the National Security Bureau. They arrested several practitioners from their workplaces. For the ones who were not working, the police had the residential committee head knock the door and break into the practitioners' homes. The 610 officials treated the practitioners very badly. They told the security guards, "Don't be too nice to them. Handcuff, beat or torture them if they do not give up Falun Gong." However, the practitioners were not moved at all. I really respect their determination.

On October 25, I heard some 610 officials saying, "The provincial 610 officials will come tomorrow for an inspection. You (practitioners) should not practice and sing. If you do, you'll be sent to the labor camp." In the hallway, I saw there was a "transformation" list. It said that they had achieved their goal two weeks ahead of schedule. Actually, four practitioners were arrested, but their report said five. One had signed the three statements and went home, indicating progress they could report to their higher-ups. The provincial 610 officials only stayed for 10 minutes. After they left, the brainwashing session was quickly ended on October 29.

Later, I met with my police friend and told him about my experience. He said to me, "More and more countries are coming out and supporting Falun Gong, and the CCP's persecution of Falun Gong will hardly remain. According to a secret document, the persecution has to be conducted underground. However, from inside information, it's said that there were different opinions within the CCP. It would be impossible to have such a large scale persecution as was conducted a couple years ago. They keep the persecution secret, because they fear the exposure of their evil acts. Some of them, who used to mistreat Falun Gong, went onto the Internet to write an apology for their wrongdoings after they learned the truth."

This conversation made me think. I realized that I had spent the most significant six days of my life. It could be the turning point of my life. I do not even know why I did it and what made me do it, but one thing is for sure: I understand more about Falun Gong and have witnessed history. I now want to become a Falun Gong practitioner.

Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Cheng Huazheng, 64, from Anshun City, Guizhou Province, went to his local police department on East Street to clarify the truth about Falun Gong on December 3, 2006, when he was once again arrested. He was secretly taken to the Anshun Second Municipal Detention Center (Heishitou Detention Center). He has remained on a hunger strike to protest his treatment ever since he was arrested.

Cheng Huazheng had only recently been released from the notorious Zhongba Forced Labor Camp after having been "illegally imprisoned" for three years. While he was imprisoned, he was frequently deprived of sleep for as long as two weeks and frequently and mercilessly beaten for several hours at a time. He suffered multiple bone fractures and internal injuries from the savage beatings. Mr. Cheng was tormented until he came close to a mental breakdown, and to this day, he is often disoriented. His white hair is so sparse that his scalp is visible. His skin has turned dark, he has an emaciated appearance, and he is extremely weak. He needs to hold on to the wall to steady himself as he walks; all of his teeth have become loose from the merciless beatings and many have fallen out. He has not been able to chew and eat normally for a long time. His mouth starts to bleed when he tries to chew. Since he has suffered serious internal injuries, he has to spit a lot of blood everyday. His condition is extremely serious.

Since Jiang Zemin's group started to persecute Falun Gong seven years ago, Cheng Huazheng's entire family has been victimized. Even his youngest daughter, who does not practice, was taken away by the police as a hostage. His wife Wu Guiying has been threatened repeatedly. His oldest daughter Cheng Mei is in her 20s. Her right leg was crippled after her long imprisonment at the detention center.