[Tianjin City] Officials Misleading Each Other on Falun Gong Appeals
Several practitioners from Tianjin City went to Beijing to expose to the world the injustice against Falun Gong. On the way they were escorted back, the staff members told practitioners: "You have caused a big trouble. Even the central leaderships know your names. As a result, the officials of the Tianjin City, the district, and your workplaces would be reprimanded." They also told practitioners: "In the future, you should not go to Tiananmen Square. If you want, you can just go to Yongdingmen # Jia 4." Practitioners asked them why. They said: "Because the officials there are on our side. However, if you get detained in any detention center in Beijing, your cases will be reported to the central government departments, so the central leaderships will know that people from Tianjin City come to Beijing to appeal."
Later, practitioners learned that the officials from Tianjin City set up a petition office in Beijing Yongdingmen # Jia 4 to receive the appealing practitioners from Tianjin City. After practitioners filled up the petition forms, they then took the forms away instead of submitting them to high authorities. Thus the central leaderships did not know how many practitioners had come to Beijing to appeal.á
[Shijiazhuang City] More Practitioners Sent to Labor Camps
Sun Bingfang, female, 57. Home address: Tangu Small District Building # 50, Unit # 4, Apt # 203. On April 2000, she went to Beijing to unfurl banners on Tiananmen Square, in order to tell the world that Falun Dafa is righteous. Consequently, she was sent to the Detention Center of Lancheng County to serve 30 days of criminal detention. In late June, the officials in Yudong Police Station received the order from higher authorities that they should sentence some local practitioners to forced labor because there had been too many of them who had gone to Beijing to appeal. As a result, Ms. Sun was taken away from home by local police without any legal justification, and was sent to the Labor Camp of Shijiazhuang to serve one year of forced labor.á
Zheng Ping, female, 60. Home address: Tangu Small District, Building # 50, Unit # 3, Apt # 501. She went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong in May 2000. After she was arrested, she refused to tell the police her personal information. Consequently, she was detained in the Dongcheng Detention Center of Beijing City for more than 10 days. On July 1, 2000, she was arrested at home, and later sent to the Labor Camp of Shijiazhuang for three years of forced labor.á
Lu Ran, female, 21. Home address: Tangu Small District, The Second Residential Area, Building # 4, Unit # 3, Apt # 501. She went to Beijing to appeal this May, and unfurled banner on Tiananmen Square. After she was taken back to Shijiazhuang City, she was detained 30 days in Luancheng County Detention Center. After that, she was under home arrest. On July 1, 2000, she was sentenced to three years of forced labor without trial.á
[Beijing] Police Brutality in Qiaozhuang Detention Center Before July 20, 2000
The Tongzhou Detention Center continued to force-feed practitioners on hunger strike. For those who refused to be force-fed, the police handcuffed them and put shackles on them. Practitioners were handcuffed and shackled until they finished serving their detention terms. For those who practiced Falun Gong exercises and who refused to recite the rules in the detention center, police ordered the convicted criminals to punish them physically. Practitioners were forced to "stand", "squat", and "fly" (i.e., bowing down to 90 degrees while stretching two arms to two sides horizontally). They were also cursed and beaten. If practitioners refused to "fly", the cell-head would order the inmates to beat them. If the inmates refused to beat practitioners, they were also forced to "fly". Some inmates would rather "fly" instead of beating practitioners.á
Once a cell-head demanded five practitioners to recite the rules of the detention center. The practitioners felt that they were not criminals so they should not recite the rules. They should only recite the teachings of Falun Dafa. Thus, the cell-head ordered practitioners to "fly", which was refused by practitioners. As a result, the cell-head ordered an inmate to beat practitioners using shoe-bottoms. Practitioners realized that they should not give in to the evil force although they should not use violence to fight back. So they held each other together and bore the torture together. After the criminals beat up them for some time, they pushed a few practitioners down to the ground. However, these practitioners still continued to hold each other tightly. The cell head then said, "You should separate with each other." The practitioners then said, "If you stop beating us, we would separate with each other." "We stop beating you. You may separate with each other", the cell head then said. The practitioners said, "We would abide the rules that we should abide. We would behave well in any circumstances. We would not abide those rules that we should not abide. We are not criminals." Later, the cell head and inmates no longer mentioned the matter of reciting the rules in jail, neither did they beat up practitioners frequently.
Practitioners staged a hunger strike to demand for unconditional release of all detained practitioners. They therefore were force-fed. The force-feeding was operated by some male criminals and the guards. Because there were too many practitioners on hunger strike, they even did not know who had been force-fed or not. A practitioner was taken out to be force-fed again after she just received force-feeding. She refused. Then her two hands were cuffed to her legs. She was put on shackles at the same time. She could not stand up. This practitioner was even required to be on duty at night. Two other inmates who were convicted criminals tortured her and forced her to squat. She refused and sit on the ground. Then these two inmates poured cold water on her body, and fed her the "ten drops" (a popular medicine for summer ailments) through her nose. She bore the torture silently in order not to disturb other's sleep. Another practitioner who was also on duty went to report to the guard. However, the guard scolded her instead. As a result, these inmates became more reckless. Later, they were stopped by the cell head who could not bear to see the suffering of the practitioner any more.
In a cell, the detained practitioners who were not put on shackles practiced Falun Gong exercises together. Then, the guard ordered some male criminals to drag them out of the cell and forced them to stand facing the wall. The male criminals bumped their heads against the wall by holding their hair. The practitioners were forced to stand there for over 6 hours. A practitioner sit on the ground meditating. The male criminals lifted her off the ground by holding her hair.á When the practitioners were asked whether they would continue to practice Falun Gong, they always gave an affirmative answer. In the end, they were all freed from the "standing" punishment.á
Two female practitioners in their 20s shared one handcuff and shackle. They could still stand up. Later, they practiced Falun Gong exercises by cooperating with each other. Then they were put on one more handcuff, while their feet were still chained together. They could not stand straight and had to bow down as a result.á
Practitioners faced these tribulations with no hatred or anger.
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On July 19, 2000, a dozen of practitioners who refused to reveal their names and addresses were transferred to the Wujing Detention Center of Tianjin City.á
[Tianjin] Practitioners Detained in Beijing who refused to reveal their personal information were transferred to Tianjin City in Order to Alleviate the Pressure in Beijing
On July 19, 2000, in order to alleviate the pressure in Beijing, the practitioners detained in Beijing who refused to reveal their names and addresses were transferred to detention centers in Tianjin. The police vehicles taking the practitioners to Tianjin formed a long line on the highway from Beijing to Tianjin.á
The 58 practitioners formerly detained in the Mentougou, Fangshan and Tongzhou detention centers were transferred to the Wujing Detention Center in Tianjin.á
In the beginning, the practitioners who continued to practice Falun Gong exercises were put on shackles and forced to walk back and froth under the baking sun, besides being beaten up and cursed. Some practitioners fainted and fell to the ground. Later, more and more practitioners started to practice Falun Gong exercises. The police then ran short of manpower to deal with them. The detention center force-fed the practitioners on hunger strike in the beginning, later, they imposed force-injections instead. The expenses were to be covered by the hunger striking practitioners themselves. The practitioners realized that they should not cooperate with the evil force and refused to pay the money.
The police persuaded the practitioners to provide them their names and addresses. They claimed that it was also fine for the practitioners to provide their addresses only or to provide the names of their relatives or friends, who could come to pick them up and who must carry their Ids when picking them up. Some practitioners cooperated with this plan and were picked up by friends or relatives. Later, the police started to threaten the practitioners that they would be sent to labor camps or detained for an indefinite term if they still refused to provide their names and addresses. In the end, the police started to torture the practitioners. Several police officers beat up one practitioner together. They slapped the faces of the practitioners and shocked the practitioners using electric batons. A 56 years old lady had bruises all over her body including her face. Some practitioners saw that her two hands were cuffed to a bench. She still said, "I would not tell you even if you beat me to death." Later, she was carried back to the cell.
The police wanted to know the names and addresses of the detained
practitioners because they needed to alleviate the pressure in Beijing and to let the
local police deal with these practitioners.á
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