1. The actual situation in the county jail of Bayan

Bayan County Jail is a Grade 2 facility of Heilongjiang Province which has received numerous commendations from higher authorities. But what is the actual situation in this county jail?

The Bayan County Jail supplies each inmate with two meals per day, which is not enough for most of them. The foods supplied are all greasy or spoiled. To extract more money, the jail sells a box lunch every noon. The box lunch contains very little food and is purchased with "property certificates" bought by the inmate's family members or relatives. Everything sold here is at least twice as expensive as the same thing sold on the outside. The jail policy specifies that whenever the inmates' family members visit them, they must buy something from the jail. According to people who know the inside story, the jail makes money this way.

In June of this year, right before the anniversary of the government's crackdown on Falun Gong, the police from Bayan Public Security Bureau arrested over 40 Dafa practitioners. They were taken away either during their appeal in Beijing, or on their way to Beijing, or from their homes. Male practitioners were detained in the "tight cells" on the second floor, which also houses the inmates who have committed serious crimes such as murder, arson, and robbery. There were about a dozen inmates in each cell. Every morning the inmates get up at around 6 am and have to sit there facing inwards until 8 or 9 pm, when they can go to sleep. As they sit, they are allowed to take a break only for meals, and are not allowed to talk with each other; otherwise they will be beaten and cursed by the wardens. Here, the wardens beat up inmates routinely. More often, the cell-heads beat up their cellmates. Because the cell-heads are mostly murderers, whenever new cellmates come, they will be beaten up right away. The purpose of the beating is to force the newcomer to ask for money or "property certificates" from their families and then give them to the cell-heads. Since there were not so many male practitioners, only one practitioner was allocated to each "tight cell" on the second floor. Upon their arrival, the practitioners started to promote Dafa to the inmates. Some inmates had heard of Falun Gong but did not know much about it. Some inmates have been in jail for nearly 9 years and have never heard of Falun Gong. Now they all got to know Falun Gong through the Fa-promoting activities of the practitioners.

There is no sunlight inside the jail and the inmates of the tight cells must remain indoors all day. Some inmates have internal injuries from the beatings of wardens or cell-heads, so it is common for inmates to catch all kinds of illnesses. Every few days an inmate will die in the jail. When the inmates catch an illness, if their family members do not supply money, the inmates will not be treated and can only wait for death. After the arrival of the Dafa practitioners, the inmates saw for themselves that the practitioners were all healthy, even though none of them took medicine or injections. Thus, many inmates have a good impression of Falun Gong. Some even started to learn Falun Gong, and exchanged their addresses with practitioners, saying that they will definitely learn after their release from jail. Some cell-heads refrained from beating and swearing at people after learning Falun Gong. In the past, sounds of beating and cursing never ceased in the "tight cells" on the second floor. Ever since the arrival of Falun Gong practitioners, the sounds of beating and cursing became markedly reduced. Some cell-heads and inmates said that the Party was just poking and prying in that it permitted corruption while specifically controlling good people. Even the superintendent and the wardens of the jail had to admit that Falun Gong is indeed very good and has magnificent effects in dispelling illnesses and improving health.

Detained on the first floor were mostly male inmates, with only one cell holding female inmates. As there were quite a few female practitioners, the number of female cells was increased to three. Except for several inmates on criminal charges in each of these three cells, the rest were all Dafa practitioners. After Fa-promoting, almost all inmates here started to learn to practice Falun Gong. One inmate was put in shackles as a result of transcribing Teacher's articles. Here one could only get up and practice exercises at night, as anyone who practiced during the day would be punished. Dafa practitioner Zhang Xiuru practiced during the day, and was beaten and scolded by the deputy superintendent. She was placed onto a "tiger stool" to be tortured. Practitioners Fei Menglin and Yu Lihua were shackled for several days as a result of practicing during the daytime, making their daily lives extremely difficult. There was no response from the superintendent and wardens even though practitioners raised this issue again and again. Under this situation, almost all Dafa practitioners went on a hunger strike in July of this year to gain the right to practice in jail. After several days of the hunger strike, the prison authorities agreed to this request, relieved Zhang Xiuru from the "tiger stool," and took the shackles off Fei Menglin and Yu Lihua. However, the Bayan County Police Station and Bayan County Prison still planned to keep Falun Gong practitioners in custody for a long time. Some had been in custody for three months. Hence, female practitioners asked Bayan County to release all Dafa practitioners free of charge, and this request was unreasonably rejected by the Bayan County Police Station. Because of this, female practitioners went on a hunger strike again. On August 3, Fei Menglin lost consciousness. The prison authorities forcibly administered an injection to her, and the next day she was released. But the prison authorities made phone calls to Fei Menglin's parents to falsely claim that her box lunches cost 500 Yuan. This is the authorities' usual way to cheat people out of their money.

On August 4, Yu Lihua, who was elderly, was released as well. The rest continued their hunger strike. As a last resort, the authorities started force-feeding them through tubes inserted into their stomachs. Some practitioners were injured in the pharynx and larynx. The authorities called in strong male prisoners to help insert the tubes. Also, local anesthesia was applied to the mouth area, and after a practitioner's mouth was open, tubes were inserted to feed milk powders. During the process of force-feeding, practitioners were severely abused physically and mentally. Male criminal prisoners made indecent moves against female practitioners in broad daylight, and the superintendent and wardens turned their backs on this. In their mind, as long as the force-feeding was successful, it didn't matter how Falun Gong practitioners were treated.

In early August of this year, Dafa practitioner He Miao from Bayan County was detained for 15 days for going to Beijing to appeal. She was then transferred to Bayan County Prison. The day when she was transferred in, her books were confiscated. She protested by smashing her head against the wall. At this moment, Deputy Superintendent Ren of Bayan County Prison happened to be passing by. Upon learning what was happening, he slapped He Miao several times in the face while yelling and shouting so loud it could be heard in cells that were far away.

On July 3 of this year, Fujiang Village Police Substation arrested Dafa practitioner Jiang Zhi on charges that he distributed Dafa materials. He was sent to the labor cell on the first floor. When prisoners heard that he practiced Falun Gong, they asked him if he was going to practice in the cell. He answered that he would. Immediately, five criminal prisoners, Zhao Xing, Liang Liwei, Zhang Baocheng (released as of now), Liu Hongwei (released), and another prisoner of last name Song (released), hit and kicked Jiang Zhi madly. Jiang Zhi's face was swollen like a steamed bun. The prisoners claimed that the warden had ordered that if anyone practiced in the cell, they had to beat him.

Bayan County Police Station gradually released Dafa practitioners by November of this year. Yet upon their release, their family members were ordered to pay a guaranty fee ranging from 1000 to 5000 Yuan. They also charged several hundred Yuan for meals for each person. According to regulations, the prison should not charge for meals. During custody, the prison authorities did not allow any of the practitioners family members to meet with them. Yet the family members of other prisoners were allowed to visit (even those on death row) as long as they paid 30 Yuan.

2. Suspension of salary, dismissal from jobs, and harassment of even distant relatives

Bayan County in Heilongjiang Province adopted the policy of suspending salary, dismissing from jobs, coercing for money and property, and harassing even distant relatives if one practices Falun Gong.

At the beginning of this year, two teachers had their salary suspended by Bayan County Government for expressing their determination to practice Falun Gong. One of them was even thrown into prison and illegally detained there for over two months.

Fei Menglin of the Third Middle School of Bayan County went to Beijing to appeal last May. After she was released from the detention center, the Education Commission of the county pressured the school to suspend her salary. Her parents' and her elder brother's salaries were suspended as well.

Liu Zhipeng, who was employed by the Office of Bayan County's Party Committee, was dismissed as a result of going to Beijing to appeal last May. The reason given was that he was the first one in all the county committees across Heilongjiang Province to go to Beijing to appeal on behalf of Falun Gong. For this reason, leaders of Bayan County were severely criticized by leaders of Harbin City. Li Zhipeng's colleagues and superiors all agreed that he worked very hard, never complained about any assignments, and received good comments from all around him.

Bayan County resident Wu Chengfang (alias) went to Beijing to appeal in June of this year. Police from the Second Police Substation of Bayan County went to her home to demand travel expenses. Wu Chengfang's father, who was over 70 years old, told police that they could just feed themselves, because he had no extra money. Police then took her elderly father away and locked him up for one day, and were about to throw him into prison. It was only because of public and media pressure that the police finally released the elderly man later that night.

Bayan County resident Zhang Ping (alias) went to Beijing to appeal in June of this year. Police from the Bayan County Police Station went to her home several times to demand travel expenses. Since her family was short of money, the police failed to extort any. Then they turned toward her older brother and nephew, threatening that if they did not pay, her brother's salary would be suspended, her nephew would be dismissed from his job, and would not be allowed to join the Communist Party. Thus, her brother and nephew had to turn over 5000 Yuan. The county police station did not send anyone to Beijing to arrest Zhang Ping who was detained in the Harbin Liaison Office in Beijing until they extorted the 5000-Yuan. By then Zhang had already been held there for 13 days.

As reported by Dafa practitioners from Bayan County, police there would volunteer to go to Beijing as soon as they heard that any local practitioners had gone there to appeal. They know well that they can take advantage of this favorable assignment to tour the city, and get paid by extorting money from the family members of those practitioners who went to appeal. Besides covering the cost of tickets and other travel expenses, there would still be some money left over to put in their own pockets.

3. Police in Bayan County, Heilongjiang Province swindle practitioners out of their money

On February 9 of this year, three female Dafa practitioners from Bayan Town of Bayan County, Heilongjiang Province went to Beijing to appeal and were escorted back home. The policeman in charge told them on the train that if they had money with them, he could keep it safely for them and would return it after their release from jail. Otherwise, they might be searched and have their money taken away when they were sent to jail. Thus, the three practitioners gave him all of their money in the amounts of 1550 Yuan, 1400 Yuan, and 650 Yuan, respectively. (One dollar equals about 8 Yuan. The average monthly salary in China is less than 50 dollars.) They were released after being detained for nearly three months in jail. Afterwards, they found this policeman and asked him to return their money. He refused and has not returned their money to this day.

4. Dafa practitioners from Bayan County were arrested and body-searched while walking the streets

Chang Zizhen (alias), 54 years old, went to the Bayan County Committee to appeal on June 19 of this year. Her arms were injured from beatings by Yao Guojun, the superintendent of the First Police Station of Bayan County. Chang Zizhen went to the Procuratorate of the County and asked the officers whether it is a violation of the law to beat people. Unexpectedly, the officers of the Procuratorate of the County replied that, beating people is not a violation of the law--but appealing is.

Fei Menglin is a 31-year-old teacher from the Third Middle School of Bayan County. She went to the Bayan County Committee to appeal on June 19 of this year with her husband. Her husband has since been secretly jailed by Bayan County on the charge of being an "organizer." He went on a hunger strike in jail.

Fearing that Chang Zizhen and Fei Menglin would appeal to higher authorities, the county government dispatched personnel to monitor them day and night after they returned home from appealing. They have lost their personal freedom.

They left their homes on the night of June 23 and walked to Harbin City. Here, they came across several other practitioners on their way to Shuangcheng and decided to appeal with them in Beijing. On their way to Shuangcheng, the police from the station at Xingfu Village stopped them without cause and ordered them to swear at Teacher Li. One of the practitioners said: "Why should the government instruct people to swear? We will not do that." The police dragged them into a vehicle by force and transported them to the police station of Xingfu Village.

At the police station, the police body-searched them and confiscated 2000-Yuan in cash, one necklace worth of 1900 Yuan, one wristwatch and four beepers. After the police called the 610 office of Shuangcheng City, they sent the practitioners to the Public Security Bureau. The police took the Teacher's article from one female practitioner, and when she tried to argue with them, a cadre from the Public Security Bureau brutally beat her so that her face and mouth were black and purple. Another practitioner said, "Don't beat her!" Utterly discomfited, this cadre tore up the article and called in a gang of policemen to beat this practitioner. Afterwards, the practitioners were put into a temporary detention room for criminals. That afternoon, the police from Bayan Public Security Bureau took them back and put them in jail again at 10 pm that night. Several days later, their family members heard about this after extensive probing. They called the police station in Xingfu Village to ask about the personal property that had been seized from the practitioners. In the beginning, the police said that they would not return them. Later, they said that the practitioners must come together, and each practitioner must submit 500 Yuan before they would return their goods. However, two of the seven Dafa practitioners had been sentenced to labor education camps and could not come with the others to the police station. Currently, the practitioners' property remains at the police station.

Compiled by practitioners in Mainland China

November 2000