Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Dai Zongzhen from Weifang City, Shandong Province was arrested on April 18, 2007. She was sent to Wangcun Forced Labor Camp where she has been severely abused. One source indicated that due to the mistreatment she had to endure, she is on the brink of death. While incarcerated at the labor camp, Ms. Dai's family tried to visit her five times, but their requests were rudely denied.
Ms. Dai Zongzhen, 52, used to suffer from serious heart and kidney disease. The doctor said her heart could stop beating at any time. Her kidney disease made her unable to work a normal schedule. She needed frequent hospitalization. She was mentally weak when facing pressure. In addition, Shanghai hospital doctors diagnosed her as having gynecological problems as well. Ms. Dai started to practice Falun Gong in 1995. Soon her illnesses disappeared. Ms. Dai is well known as a very kind person.
After the persecution of Falun Gong began on July 20, 1999, Ms. Dai Zongzhen, her husband and child remained determined in their belief. They went to Beijing to request justice for Falun Gong several times and as a result were harassed and persecuted by persons from their workplace and the police at different levels.
As a result of the persecution,the family became homeless and went through great tribulations. Weifang City National Security Team illegally arrested Ms. Dai Zongzhen on April 18, 2007 at 7:00 p.m. on her way back to a rented home. Then the police ransacked her home and took away a TV set, a DVD player, a computer, Falun Gong books and about 8,000 yuan cash. Police seized Ms. Dai's daughter Wang Peng and her brother Dai Zongqiu that same day.
Following a one-month detention, the local perpetrators from the 610 Office took the three of them to Wangcun Forced Labor Camp, where Ms. Dai was detained in the 3rd Ward of the Women's Camp. Wang Peng was detained in the 2nd Ward. Dai Zongqiu was detained in the Men's Camp.
Ms. Dai's relatives have tried five times during the last six months to visit her in Wangcun Forced Labor Camp, but the family's visitation rights were denied. The labor camp officials found different reasons to forbid the family visits. In the end of September, Ms. Dai's two aunts and one uncle (all in their seventies) traveled 75 kilometers in rainy weather to visit Ms. Dai in the labor camp. The labor camp officials still refused their request. One guard tried to cover up the persecution that Ms. Dai has suffered, saying, "Dai Zongzhen did not practice Falun Gong well; her practice didn't heal her illnesses. Her illnesses recurred. She cannot even get her own food."
Ms. Dai's sister and several relatives went to the labor camp on October 9 and asked to see the critically ill Ms. Dai. They petitioned the officials to immediately release Ms. Dai, but were not even permitted to see their loved one. Their request for Ms. Dai's immediate release were also denied. The family asked to meet with the labor camp leaders, but that request was denied as well. A deputy political head even commanded the staff in the office to make the family leave.
The family worried so much about Ms. Dai Zongzhen. They wrote many letters to Wangcun Forced Labor Camp officials, to Weifang 610 Office and to the Police Department, requesting Ms. Dai's release, but never heard back.
At noon on October 17, 2007, when Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Deng Xinyue from Changsha City, Hunan Province, Ms. Zhang Weili from Nanmeikou, Changsha City, and Ms. Bao were shopping for clothes in Zhuzhou Department Store, they were followed by several unknown individuals. When they began clarify the truth about Falun Gong to some people, six or seven police officers arrested them. The police refused to listen when the three practitioners tried to tell them the facts too. Instead, the officers handcuffed the practitioners, pushed them into a police car and took them to the National Security Team, Hetang District Police Department, Zhuzhou City.
In the National Security Office, several police officers isolated the practitioners in separate rooms and began interrogating them. Head of the National Security Team He (first name unknown) interrogated Ms. Deng Xinyue. Officer He pulled her hair, violently shook her, and used all of his strength to beat her head and face. When He was worn out from beating Ms. Deng, he forced her to kneel on the floor and instructed another big, strong police officer to continue her interrogation. The big police officer kicked and punched her, leaving her covered in bruises. Officer He continued beating her until all her teeth were loose, and she had difficulty walking and breathing. After the beating, the police forced her to remain in a kneeling position on the floor and did not allow her to move or go to the bathroom. Her hands were cuffed so tightly behind her that the cuffs caused lacerations across her wrists and hands. She nearly lost her life from the abuse.
At noon the next day, Ms. Deng Xinyue escaped and had to abandon her home and become homeless to avoid further persecution.
Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Liu Xiaoqin, an employee of Tali Power Station, Huayuan County, Jishou Prefecture, Hunan Province (West of Hunan), was arrested on September 30, 2007 by the police from Longshan County and agents from the Huayuan County 610 Office. Her house was ransacked and she was taken to Longshan County where she was tortured brutally. She was hung in the air while handcuffed. She was beaten with a leather whip and later forced to walk on sharp thin bamboo sticks that were stapled to the floor. The pain was excruciating and she lost consciousness a few times.
There are scars all over Ms. Liu's body. Her feet were badly swollen with bloody pierce marks on the soles.
There are three other practitioners who were arrested along with Ms. Liu Xiaoqin. All of them were tortured by agents of the Longshan County 610 Office. The agents used torture as a brainwashing method including tying up, beating and kicking practitioners, pulling their hair and forcing them to kneel on bamboo poles.
These practitioners are now detained at the Huayuan Detention Center.