(1)
On June 25, 2000, some fellow practitioners and I went to Tiananmen Square to tell the world that Falun Dafa is righteous. Consequently, we were arrested and taken back to the local police station. After suffering verbal and physical abuses there, we were transferred to the Qiaozhuang Detention Center (in Tongzhou County of Beijing) where we were detained in different cells.á
As soon as we entered the cell, the cell head (i.e., the strongest inmate) gave us a "lesson".á The lesson included "squatting" (i.e., bending two legs while stretching two arms forward), "flying"(i.e., bowing down to 90 degrees while stretching two arms backward to touch the wall), and "going through boards" (i.e., being beaten by every inmate with a shoe-bottom).
On the second day, we told the guards that according to the rules in jail, it was prohibited to curse, beat, punish, humiliate, and mistreat prisoners. But as a result, two practitioners were handcuffed and chained with shackles, which made it very uncomfortable for them to sleep and forced them to bow down while walking. Some of us were beaten by the cell head after returning to the cell.á
To defend our rights and dignity, we decided to stage a hunger strike. But the guards became even more brutal. They used electrical batons of 2000 Volts to shock our faces, teeth, mouths, eyes, necks and chests etc. Sometimes, we could smell the burning flesh. Some of us had our faces disfigured by the high voltage electric shocks.
For those practitioners who refused to reveal their names and addresses, the guards ordered the cell head to slap their faces with a shoe-bottom. The marks left by the shoe-bottom could be seen on the facts of some practitioners. The facial skins of some practitioners were broken by the slapping. When they hit practitioners' bottoms, they wouldn't stop until blood came out. The black and purple bruises could be found all over practitioners' bodies. Moreover, they even pinched the nipples of some female practitioners.
(2)
I was detained in the Qiaozhuang Detention Center for 30 days under the accusation of "being suspected". I was detained in the West Cell Number 5. During these 30 days, I witnessed and experienced the darkest side of the human world.á
The day I entered the detention center, a few other practitioners and I were taken to the West Cell Number 5 by a female guard whose surname was Tian. On the way to the cell, a practitioner said a few words. Then officer Tian went over to beat the practitioner. While beating the practitioner, she said: "I am not beating you. I am teaching you the way you should behave yourself." As soon as we entered the cell, officer Tian told us, "take off all your clothes." The two cell heads also echoed the demand. A practitioner did not know what was going on and did not take off her clothes. Officer Tian gave her a kick immediately while swearing at her. They found 20 Yuan from the pocket of one of us. Officer Tian said, "We will not register this money. We will confiscate it." After all of us were searched, Tian told the cell heads, "Go ahead and give them a good lesson." The lesson included various physical punishments such as "squatting" (i.e., bending two legs while stretching two arms forward), "flying" (i.e., bowing down to 90 degrees while stretching two arms backward to touch the wall. One could easily faint after some time), "going through boards" (i.e., inmates taking turns beating people), and so on. As soon as Tian left, the second cell head said, "Go outside and stand there." It was noon at that time, and the temperature was about 38 Celsius degree. They forced us to stand in the baking sun for one to two hours. A practitioner who was slightly overweight fainted. A practitioner tried to help her up but the two cell heads prevented her. They said, "It would be fine as long as she does not die." In the following days, we suffered all kinds ofá abuses and ill treatments from the two cell heads and the police.
Not only did the detention center officials ask the criminals to beat up practitioners, but they also invented the following torture devices in violation of the law.
1. Chain.á
A torture device that combined the handcuff and the shackle. The shackle
was self-made. It was made of iron bar of 16 mm to 18 mm in diameter. The
iron bar was bent into two circles, one for each ankle. Each circle was
sealed by a screw bolt or a lock. The two circles were connected to each
other by an iron chain of about 250 mm long.
The handcuff was also self-made. Two circles were made of iron bars of about 8 mm to 10 mm in diameter. Each circle was also sealed by a screw bolt or a lock.á
There were many ways to chain the practitioners.á
1) The feet were chained and shackled. The arms were handcuffed from
the back. In this way, one could not sleep during the night, nor could
one take care of oneself at all. After only one to two days, one's hands
would become swollen like a bread. One's feet would also bleed due to frictions.
Under such condition, one would also suffer physical and verbal abuses,
and electrical shocks. Sometimes, 6 to 7 police officers shocked one practitioner
together.
2) The feet were chained and shackled. One hand was handcuffed, and
the other hand was cuffed to the feet. In this way, one could not straighten
up one's back while walking. One had to keep a fixed position during sleep,
and one would not be able to carry on normal daily life. But were still
forced to work. In addition, one often suffered beatings, cursing and electric
shocks.
3) The feet were chained and shackled. One hand was handcuffed to another
hand through the bottom of the feet. In this way, one could hardly walk.
A torture also came along with this type of chaining. That is, the chained
practitioner was dragged out of the bed and fell down to the ground, which
often caused knee injuries.á
á
There were also other ways to make practitioners suffer. The officers claimed that the director of the detention center conferred them the right to chain practitioners.á
2. Electric shocks
Once, a female practitioner was tortured by many people together. These thugs included the deputy director of the detention center, Pan Changchun, an officer whose surname was Ma, a female guard, an officer called Zhao, 4 police officers and 4 male convicted criminals. The female guard, the officer Zhao, and the 4 police officer each took an electrical baton. They ordered the 4 male criminals to throw the female practitioner down to the ground, then the 4 police officers started to shock the face, teeth, neck, head, armpits, arms, and legs of the female practitioner at the same time. They even lifted her clothes up to shock her, claiming that this was to shock the acupuncture points. The deputy director even said that every 15 minutes constituted one "course of treatment". The practitioner was shocked for two hours. The face of the practitioner was burnt and her two eyes became swollen to such an extent that she could not open them. She also lost control of her urine. Her hands were still handcuffed and her feet were put on shackles. There was not a single piece of good skin on her body. If I had not witnessed such hideous crimes, I could never have thought that they were committed by "people's police".á
In the morning, I was dragged out from the cell without having breakfast. I was forced to stand in the hallway with my head pressing against the wall. Several inmates were asked to watch me. If I could not maintain that position, they would come over and hit me. I stand there until 3pm, not being allowed food and water.á
3. Plugging pipe
It was clearly stated in the Chinese law that it was prohibited to plug pipes into the bodies of hunger striking prisoners. However, it happened in the detention center. Such torture was again committed by the deputy director of the detention center, Pan Changchun.á
Led by Pan Changchun and officer Ma and another officer called Zhao, 5 male criminals took a practitioner on hunger strike to the hallway. 4 male criminals forcefully threw the practitioner down to the ground. Two male criminals then stepped forcefully on the legs of the practitioner; two other male criminals stepped on the arms of the practitioner. While a thug dragged the hair of the practitioner, another thug plugged a pipe into the practitioner's nose. When the practitioner vomited, they used a rope to wrap the mouth of the practitioner and tied up the rope behind the head. They threatened that they would take what the practitioner vomited back using a tube and re-feed it to the practitioner. When force-feeding the practitioner, they used a tube of 100 mm long and 3pm in diameter. In general, a practitioner on hunger strike would be fed 10 to 12 tubes each time. Some practitioners were fed 3 times a day. They simply did not care about people's lives. What they fed were milk and "10 drops" (a popular medicine for summer ailments) etc., with excessive salt added. One's stomach would not bear that density of salt.á They even charged 20 Yuan for each force-feeding to cover the cost of the tube and the milk. Some practitioners did not have money. Therefore, they used one tube to feed a dozen of practitioners. After being force-fed, the practitioner would be forced to work after returning to the cell. The inmate criminals would punish the practitioner according to their "rules" at any time. There were monitors installed in each cell. The police knew well the situation of each cell.á In addition, the guard and the director of the detention center also taught the cell heads how to torture the practitioners.á After the cell heads returned, they wouldá beat up the practitioners madly without any fear. The cell head claimed, "It is not that I want to beat you up. I am simply following the rule of the detention center. It is my job to beat you up. I am also a prisoner. I have to follow their instructions."á
The 30 days in the detention center was like a nightmare.á
Practitioner from Beijing, August 2000.
