What I Experienced in Huairou Detention Center

I am Hu Lijuan, female, 48 years old and from Huairou County, Beijing. I have practiced Falun Gong since 1997.

After hearing the news on October 25, 1999 that Jiang Zemin had labeled Falun Gong a XX (pejorative term), I went to Beijing to appeal peacefully. I was arrested on the second day and detained illegally in Hairou County Detention Center for 15 days. During the detention, I was handcuffed with my hands behind my back for 26 hours by female police guards Yu Zhonghui and Chu Liqun because I would not admit to making a mistake and would not recite the prison rules. Dafa practitioner Wang Yan (pseudonym) and I were shackled together and thus could not sleep at night. We recited Lunyu (the 'Statement of Comments' in Zhuan Falun) in our prison cell. The Director of the center came in and beat and kicked us, and made us stand with our hands on top of our heads.

On December 7, 1999, I went to Beijing again to appeal to the appealing office of the State Department. I was caught and detained for 10 days.

On the morning of February 5, 2000, I practiced Falun Gong exercises in a park in the Capital Town of Huairou County. I was arrested and detained for a month. For the first 13 days I did not get any supplies for daily use, such as tissues, tooth brushes, tooth paste, detergent, quilts, or a cotton-pad mattress.

On April 17, 2000, my sister and I went to Tiananmen Square to appeal peacefully because there were no longer any appeals office to accept appeals for Falun Gong. I was arrested again and detained for another month. My sister Chen Li (pseudonym) has been sentenced to forced labor at the Tiantanghe Labor Camp. After I was escorted back to Huairou Detention Center, a prison guard found that I had hidden a copy of Zhuan Falun inside my clothes and asked me to hand it over. I refused. The group leader Ma Zhize slapped my face several times. The center Director grabbed my ears and held me to the ground. The prison guards Chu and the Director Huan ordered two criminal prisoners to bring heavy handcuffs and shackles and attempted to put them on me. I resisted with all my might and almost fainted. Then two armed policemen held my head down and asked me to keep my arms back higher than my head. Prison guard Li Hongxia, female, took my precious book away, tore it to shreds, slapped my face with the book and cursed me.

We held a hunger strike to protest the inhumane treatment. On the fifth day of our hunger strike, we were held by five armed policemen and force-fed with hot pepper oil, concentrated salt solution, and corn gruel. Chinese balm oil (a kind of Chinese medicine that has a strong irritating odor) was used as the lubricant on the feeding tubes. When inserting the tubes through the nose, prison guard Yu Zhongqun moved the tube back and forth intentionally. As a result, my head and face were filled with the hot pepper oil and balm oil, which caused stinging pains and intense discomfort. I could not open my eyes. After being force-fed, I was not allowed to go back to my cell. Prison guard Zhang tied my chest with a wide belt, which was so tight that I could not breathe easily. She tied my hands on top of my head and asked me to bend over. She would beat and kick me if I did not keep the same position even if I bent just a little higher or lower. At the same time, other practitioners like Wu Ping, Mi Lan, Liu Li, and Yu Jing (all are pseudonyms) were also made to bend over. Each one was held by an armed policeman. My legs were kicked until they were black and blue. We stayed bent over until late in the afternoon and then we were escorted back with our arms held backwards by police. We were tortured to exhaustion.

During this detention, the other three (Mi Lan, Liu Li, and Li Junmei) and I were detained in a tiny room. There was only one large wooden board, which was not wide enough to hold four people. We had to take turns to sleep on the bare board. During the first three weeks, except bowls and spoons for meals, no other items for daily use were provided even when we had our periods. Daily necessities were not provided until the last week of our detention. For the whole month's detention, we did not have quilts or cotton-pad mattresses. It was even worse that prison guards opened the roof window of the room on purpose. It was so cold at night that we could not sleep.

On July 18, 2000, we were taken from our homes and detained for 18 days in the detention center without cause. During the detention period, the Director Huan used an electric baton to give electric jolts to the four of us who were kept in the same cell, including Chen Xiaozhen, Lu Min, Zhang Yenyu, and me. Lu Min and I were handcuffed and shackled. In the height of summer, it was hard to withstand the stifling heat. We suffered a lot of extreme hardships and torture.

The description above is my personal experience of persecution inside the detention center. Dafa practitioners do not retaliate when beaten or cursed, and we withstand extraordinary hardships.

November 28, 2000