(Clearwisdom.net)

I am a Falun Dafa practitioner from Hengshui City, Hebei Province. I was illegally arrested and detained by the local police on October 19, 1999 for fourteen months, and then illegally sentenced to two years in a forced labor camp.

The "610 Office" [an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other political and judiciary systems] in the Hengshui City Police Subdivision brutally persecuted Falun Dafa and Dafa practitioners. On December 5 and 6, 1999, the Director of the Hengshui City Detention Center, Geng Zhanwu, and police officers Li, Guo, and Gao brutally beat Dafa practitioners with electric batons, police batons, and a big wooden board. Practitioners were also tortured using the "Tiger Bench" and a special restraining device called the "Cow-Nose Handcuff" [in the "Tiger Bench" practitioners are forced to sit on a small iron bench that is approximately 20 cm (6 inches) tall with their knees tied together. With their hands tied behind their backs or sometimes placed on their knees, they are forced to sit straight up and look straight ahead. They are not allowed to turn their heads, close their eyes, talk to anyone or move at all. Several inmates are assigned to watch over the practitioners and force them to remain motionless while sitting on the bench. Usually some hard objects are inserted underneath the practitioners' lower legs or ankles to make it harder for them to tolerate this abuse (see illustration http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2001/11/24/16156.html)].

The police forced practitioners to write guarantees to "not practice and not recite Teacher's articles." About fifteen practitioners were brutally beaten. One practitioner in his 50s was beaten especially badly, causing damage to his heart. He has not been able eat or use the toilet by himself ever since, but even so, both of his hands have been kept handcuffed behind his back.

My heart and back were also severely injured by the beatings. For three months, I could not eat because of severe pain all over my body. I could only sleep one hour every day, and I lost consciousness twice. But the Director Geng Zhanwu said that I was faking it and would not allow my fellow practitioners to take care of me. We lived in a room on the east side of the building, without heat, with temperatures around -15oC (approximately 5oF). But the police still would not release us. They said that we could go home only if we wrote the guarantee letter to "not practice, not appeal [on behalf of Falun Dafa], and not associate with practitioners." The police also extorted money from our family members, forcing them to pay before they were allowed to visit us.

Female Falun Dafa practitioner An Xiukun went on a hunger strike to protest the cruel torture. On the sixth day of her hunger strike, Director Geng Zhanwu and police officer Cui Deru from the South Detention Center brutally force-fed her, causing the food to go into her trachea. This weakened Ms. An severely and nearly resulted in her death. The detention center would not let Ms. An's family see her at this time, nor did they notify her family when she was sent to the hospital. They finally contacted her family after the rescue effort failed and she lay dying in the hospital. After Ms. An died, the police kept up the persecution by harassing people attending her funeral and illegally sending her husband to a forced labor camp.

Another Director of the Hengshui Detention Center, Si Xinkun, forced Falun Dafa practitioners to do hard labor and brutally beat them. Shan Shufang (female) was shackled with the Cow-Nose Handcuffs for almost a whole month. Policeman Li Ligang would not allow practitioners to talk, or else they would be handcuffed and beaten with police batons, or punished by being forced to stand for long periods of time. Under the direction of police officer Li Yibing, officers Zhai Qiming, Qu Guangsheng, He Zibao, and Li Qiang cruelly persecuted Dafa disciples. Policeman Zhai Qiming poured a mug of boiling water on Dafa practitioner Cai Yongcun's bare feet and then viciously beat him. Police brutally beat Falun Dafa practitioner Xiao Xin'gai and then forced her to stand with one hand up straight, one foot standing on a mop. They called this "golden rooster standing on one leg." Falun Dafa practitioner Hou Guorui was beaten nearly to death by the police from the First Office. Falun Dafa practitioner Cui Sufang was interrogated by policemen Qu Guangsheng and He Zibao. Qu injured Cui Sufang's leg, broke her wrist, and dislocated her lower back. Qu also viciously beat her head while grabbing her hair. Qu said, "As long as you're not dead, I want you to be miserable!" Policeman He Zibao said that it was fun to interrogate Falun Gong practitioners after drinking. Cui Sufang was beaten until she could not walk. She had to crawl back to the cell inch by inch at 1 a.m. She could no longer take care of herself. Her one hand that was not injured was handcuffed to the stone bed. Director Si Xingkun and policeman Li Ligang told the more than twenty prisoners in her cell that they should not help Cui, or else they too would be handcuffed or receive extended prison terms. Police officer Cui Deru forced Cui Sufang to eat. Because Cui Sufang could not swallow, Cui Deru slapped her face repeatedly. When Falun Dafa practitioner Xiao Xin'gai told the police to stop beating people, Cui Deru also slapped her face many times, making her mouth bleed. Xiao Xin'gai has since been tortured to death (see http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2001/6/30/11802.html).

On April 19, 2001, Falun Dafa practitioners Rong Dacui (female, over 70 years old), Zhang Jiuhui, Tian Guixiang (female), Li Jing (female), and Yin Chunmei (female) were abducted from their homes or work places and brought to the brainwashing class. Li and Yin were determined not to bow to the evil and absolutely resisted the brainwashing. As a consequence they were illegally detained for several months.

I was transferred from the Shijiazhuang Center to the Gaoyang Forced Labor Camp along with twenty other practitioners on April 8, 2001. Because I recited Master's poems that night, I was accused by the evil of violating the labor camp regulations and punished with electric batons. Twenty to thirty guards took turns beating us. They tried to force us to write guarantees that we would not practice or spread Falun Dafa in the labor camp. Haiqin was tortured until she became completely incapacitated and fell unconscious. Four or five practitioners refused to write the guarantees and went on a hunger strike to protest. Afterwards they were force-fed with human excrement. They were then shocked with electric batons and passed out many times.

The Gaoyang County Forced Labor Camp in Hebei Province is the most vicious in its persecution of Falun Dafa practitioners. Their torture means are extremely cruel and base. Falun Dafa practitioners were all illegally locked in the Fifth Team, with the female practitioners forming a sub-team. The police used all sorts of methods to beat Dafa practitioners. Practitioners were not allowed to talk at all. The camp used prisoners who were prostitutes and drug addicts to monitor Dafa disciples. The team leaders ordered these prisoners to torture Dafa practitioners using despicable means. In the brainwashing center, they used electric batons to force practitioners to read materials slanderous to Dafa. If we refused to read, we would be shocked for prolonged periods of time. Policeman Li said to me once, "I want you to be reformed. If you refuse, I will use all sorts of means to torture you. As long as you're not dead, you will be miserable. I will make you both physically and mentally disabled, until you totally collapse."

That was how the team leaders tortured us. Finally there were around fifteen of us that refused to give up our belief. We were forced to watch videos and read materials slandering Master. We were forced to squat in the tall grass during the night, with our sleeves rolled all the way up for the mosquitoes to bite us. We were forced to carry heavy loads of dirt in temperatures of 40oC (104oF) all day long, but not allowed to shower, or even to wash our faces and hands! They would not allow us to sleep at night, but would punish us by forcing us to stand or squat all night long. Another torture method they employed was to make us squat with our hands handcuffed to the floor for three days and nights, or even longer. Fellow practitioner Li Wenping (former nursing manager in the Zhangjiakou Second Hospital) lost the feeling in both her feet because of this torture, and has not been able to walk ever since.

These police officers tortured us individually. Some of the male team leaders acted like beasts, putting electric batons inside female practitioners' clothes, shocking their private areas while shouting verbal abuse. They tried hard to force practitioners to renounce their belief, so that they could collect bonuses from their superiors. The team leaders in the Fifth Team would celebrate their "work," taking turns to go out on the town. There was a group of collaborators [former practitioners who have gone astray and renounced Falun Dafa due to extreme physical and mental pressure] who still had some conscience in their hearts, but who in reality were helping the evil police to persecute steadfast Falun Dafa practitioners even more wildly. The male Falun Dafa practitioners in the Fifth Team were treated even worse. They were hung up with ropes, and their entire bodies were shocked with electric batons. It was truly an evil den. Our lives under this torture were filled with pain and agony. These criminal acts were the result of orders from Jiang and his regime.

The Hengshui Police Station "610 Office" illegally extended my term by 7 months. However, I was released 50 days early from the Gaoyang Forced Labor Camp in April of 2002. Fifteen of us were able to break through this trial and broke free from the labor camp.

In September 2001, the Hengshui City "610 Office" established a brainwashing center. They systematically abducted Falun Dafa practitioners from their homes and work places. The police arrested practitioners and illegally searched their homes, even breaking down burglar doors to gain entry. Each brainwashing session lasted fifteen days, and practitioners were forced to pay 3,500 Yuan [seven months' salary for an average urban worker) per session, which amounted to over 230 Yuan per day. If someone refused to betray their faith, he or she would be continuously detained. The Hengshui City brainwashing class director Wang Changxin and the head of the "610 Office" Zheng Genqi tortured steadfast Dafa disciples with continuous sleep deprivation for as long as seven days straight, sometimes even longer. Sun Xiumin (female, more than 50 year old) from Zhaoquan Town, Sun Yanyun (female, over 40 years old) from Jing County, and former employee of the No.4 City Middle School, Yuan Qin'gai (female, 40 years old, released from No.4 team of Shijiazhuang Forced Labor Camp, but sent directly to this brainwashing class) were all tortured with continuous sleep deprivation. They were forced to listen to fabrications and slander from collaborators Ma Guiyu, Zhang Junzhe, Xu Jie, Zhang Fengjiang, and Shan Shufang. Police officer Wang Changxin beat these three Dafa practitioners many times.

The Dafa practitioners who succumbed to brainwashing in the Hengshui City brainwashing class have awakened now, and have published their solemn declarations on the Clearwisdom website, stating that the results of brainwashing is null and void. They are once again actively involved in clarifying the truth and saving sentient beings.

Criminal Officials in Hengshui City, Hebei Province:

Secretary of the Political and Judiciary Committee, Tian Jieshi.
Director of the Police Station Liu Guangying.
Police Station First Section Chief Li Yibing; Officers He Zibao, Zhai Qiming.
First Detention Center Director Si Xinkun; Officers Cui Deru, Li Ligang, Li Xiangshuang, Zhao Guizi.
Detention Center Director Geng Zhanwu; Officers Xu Xiulai, Guo Yangying, Li Jinliang, Shen Zhongshan, Wen Zengwen.
Hedong Police Station Director Qu Guangsheng; Officers Zhang Shuqing, Li Qiang.
Director of Hengshui City Brainwashing Class, Zheng Genqi; Deputy Director Wang Changxin.
Renmin Street Police Station Deputy Director Liu Yanming.

Written on December 27, 2002