(Clearwisdom.net) On April 20, 2002, Hegang City's [Heilongjiang Province] regular cable TV broadcast was pre-empted by Dafa truth clarifying videos. Hegang City Party Secretary Zhang Xingfu immediately began a campaign to arrest all Falun Gong practitioners in the city. Using the tactic of "Arrest 1,000 innocent people rather than let anyone go," the city police assigned a quota to each branch department and used all deceitful and illegal means to kidnap and arrest nearly 600 people in three days. The mass arrests overcrowded Hegang City's Second Detention Center. Due to manpower shortages, the detention center officials assigned criminal inmates to guard and monitor the practitioners. Among those detained and implicated in the mass arrests were practitioners' family members, classmates, and other non-practitioners. Even senior citizens up to 80 years old were arrested. The Hegang City police, who paid no attention to the right of due process, sentenced all those arrested into forced labor camps. Non-practitioners were sentenced to two years in forced labor camps and practitioners were sentenced to three years.

One month later, the Heilongjiang Provincial Party Committee decided to sentence 47 people to jail terms. To meet their quota, the Hegang City Party Committee identified 47 "leaders" among those arrested and submitted fabricated cases to the prosecutor's court to obtain illegal arrest warrants. Later, they transferred these 47 people to the First Detention Center to be imprisoned, waiting for formal jail sentencing. [Note: Practitioners are denied the right to legal representation. Lawyers have been notified by the government they are not allowed to represent Falun Gong cases without pre-review and approval of their evidence, legal briefs etc. effectively denying practitioners of any way to obtain a fair trial]

From April 21 to 24, under Party Secretary Zhang Xingfu's direct supervision, the police erected roadblocks on major streets. They interrogated people and searched cars. They even went to the extreme of forcing people to curse Falun Gong in order to single out Falun Gong practitioners. Anyone refusing to utter curse words would be arrested on the spot and accused of being Falun Gong practitioners.

One evening, the police from the Nan Daying Police Station broke into Deng Xiangyun's home. They ransacked her house and sent her to the Second Detention Center. The police in the detention center knew that Ms. Deng had a brain tumor. However, that didn't stop them from keeping her in detention. The harsh treatment caused Ms. Deng's condition to rapidly deteriorate. Three months later, Ms. Deng lay dying and was sent home. She died on the second day after her release.

Wang Yan, 54, a non-practitioner, is currently detained at the Second Detention Center. Her only "crime" was to have read a Falun Gong flyer found near her home. To meet a quota assigned by the detention center's superiors, they sentenced Wang Yan to 3-years in a forced labor camp.

Wang Shuqin is an elderly lady almost 70 years old, who lives in Xingantai. She survived a stroke and had trouble walking. One day she was home alone. Officers from the Xinjian district police department broke into her house, kidnapped and then took her to the local police station. Later she was sent to the Second Detention Center.

Practitioner Wang Shusen was arrested by the city police and detained at the Second Detention Center. The police severely tortured him. They put sticks, and shackles on his feet, and then hung him up in the air and beat him. He fainted three times. Many other practitioners suffered similar tortures. They include Zhang Jingliang, Li Changjin, Tan Yanjun, and Liu Qingfu.

Over 40 female Dafa practitioners did Falun Gong exercises in the Second Detention Center. After the police found out, they put sticks and shackles on the practitioners' feet. They also deprived the practitioners of sleep. Some practitioners were forced to sit for nine days without sleep. The police also asked the criminal inmates consisting of prostitutes and criminals to monitor the practitioners. The police used plastic hoses to whip female practitioners in private. They would whip each practitioner 30 times. The practitioners' entire bodies were badly bruised.

In October 2001, Dafa practitioner Gong Guihua was kidnapped and taken to the Second Detention Center. Even though Ms. Gong was extremely weak, they still sentenced her to three years in a forced labor camp. The labor camp refused to take her due to her physical condition so as to avoid any liability should she die in custody under the harsh environment. The police at the Xinhua police station demanded 5,000 Yuan [10 months salary based on the average urban income] from her family as a condition to release her. Having paid a similar ransom before, Ms. Gong's family could not afford this. She was then sent back to the Second Detention Center. She has been transferred and imprisoned at the First Detention Center.

The female practitioners detained in the Second Detention Center are locked up in five cells according to their ages. About 50 to 60 people are jammed in a 20 square meter [approximately 200 sq ft] cells.

Now, among the people who are detained at the Second Detention Center, there are over 50 people who were returned by the labor camps because of poor health. The Second Detention Center refuses to release them, and it does not permit them to seek treatment. Authorities at the detention center have required their staff to continue to look for other labor camps where these practitioners can be detained.

In this arrest campaign, the Gongnong District Police Department and Xingantai District Police Department were the most vicious. The Xingantai police detained a 70-year-old person who was recovering from a stroke. They also used stretchers to carry some people who were too weak to move into the local police station. The chief of the District Police Department, Li Shujiang and Policeman Li Xiuping extorted money from Dafa practitioners. When family members tried to reason with them, they threatened, "Are you a practitioner? How about if we throw you into detention at the police station?"

Practitioner Liu Guiqin was imprisoned in Xingantai. Her nephew is the newly promoted local police station chief. His boss told him that his job was in jeopardy if he did not perform well in persecuting practitioners. To protect his job, the nephew personally sent his own aunt to the Second Detention Center. Liu Guiqin has since been transferred to the First Detention Center.

Some police officers expressed their own disapproval in private. Some have said, "Falun Gong practitioners do not kill, do not rob, do not embezzle, do not commit wrong deeds, do not have improper sexual behavior." People have no illusions about who is right and who is wrong.

Kind-hearted people, let's stand together to defend justice and stop the evil!