(Clearwisdom.net) Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Li Guiqin lives in Heilongjiang Province. When she was illegally imprisoned at Jiamusi Labor Camp, she suffered from all kinds of vicious torture and abuse from the guards, including being forced to wear "large handcuffs behind the back." (1)Recently, Ms. Li Guiqin filed a criminal and civil lawsuit against the labor camp at Jiamusi City Intermediate People's Court regarding her suffering.

Below is the text of her complaint.

I, Li Guiqin, was illegally sentenced to three years at Jiamusi Labor Camp on October 30, 2002. During the period when I was in the labor camp, the labor camp law enforcement officers committed criminal actions that seriously infringed upon my human rights as a citizen. I hereby file this criminal and civil lawsuit to the Court.

Plaintiff: Li Guiqin, 49 years old, researcher at Heilongjiang Province Agricultural Science Institute, and Falun Gong practitioner.

Defendants: Jiamusi Labor Camp and its responsible guards

1. Wang Tiejun, male, guarding section
2. He Qiang, male, director
3. Li Yongbo, female, guard
4. Mu Zhenjuan, female, guard
5. Yu Wenbin, female, guard
6. Chen Chunmei, female, guard

1. Investigate defendants' criminal responsibilities according to the law; require them to apologize to plaintiff and family members publicly and in writing.

2. Defendants to compensate plaintiff for medical expenses and health problems caused by defendants' criminal actions.

On October 31, 2002, at 1:00 p.m., in order to force me to write a "Repentance Statement" (2) to renounce my belief in Falun Dafa, I was forced to wear "large handcuffs behind the back," with my right hand crossed over my shoulder and left hand behind my back. I was handcuffed in this painful position continuously for six hours. On February 27, 2003, I was again forced to wear "large handcuffs behind the back" in order to force me to write the so-called "Five Statements"(3).

On December 14, 2002, guards Li Yongbo and Mu Zhenjuan forced me to make up a journal of group study in which I never participated. They threatened to extend my prison term otherwise.

On February 17, 2003, I was forced to wear handcuffs all the time because I protested the illegal extension of my prison term. I was cuffed to a metal bed frame while sitting on an icy cold floor in a room on the second floor during daytime. At night, I was cuffed in a warehouse on the third floor. I was also forced to stand still continuously from morning until 10:00 o'clock at night and was only allowed to sit on a chair after 10:00 pm. Such tortures continued for four days and three nights.

At 2:00 p.m. on February 20, 2003, when I was asked whether I was a criminal, I answered that I was "illegally sentenced." Wang Tiejun from the Guarding Section viciously tortured me for this answer; he kicked my face, head and body with heavy leather boots until I lost consciousness. When I woke up, I found that I was bleeding and had lost two teeth from the torture, yet the guard was laughing about it.

Later, guards cuffed me and 11 other practitioners on metal bed frames to continue the torture. They shocked us with electric batons. Guard Mu Zhenjuan tried to force us to say that we were criminals and instructed male guards to continue the beating. Practitioner Zhang Guiyan called out "stop the beating" and was kicked in the head by guard Wang Tiejun. The beating left bruises on Zhang's face for more than 10 days. Guard Mu Zhenjuan announced on the scene that the reason they beat us was that Gao Cuilan refused to recite slogans, Cao Xiuxia did not follow instructions, Li Siju refused to sign an "assisting agreement," Xu Xianghua read Master's articles and Xie Xuepu recited Master's articles.

Among the practitioners who were tortured, eight of us were around fifty years old, and the oldest one was 57 years old. As a result of the torture, Xu Xianghua suffered a heart attack and lost consciousness, yet her handcuffs were not removed. Chen Xiuling refused to curse at others when being instructed to do so and was thus not allowed to sleep and was cuffed for five days.

It was around 2:00 p.m. when I was tortured until my nose began to bleed, yet the prison doctor did not even offer me cotton balls or anything to help stop the bleeding. It was not until 8:10 p.m. that I was allowed to lay my head on a table in order to stop the bleeding, and all I had to clean my bleeding nose was two small packages of tissues.

For five days after the beating, the guards forced us to sit still from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. and to recite the curses they wrote down. If we refused to curse, they would shock us with electric batons or put handcuffs on us.

After the torture, I lost two front teeth and I lost a lot of blood. As a result, I could not brush my teeth or eat any food. The torture and physical abuse made me extremely weak. My heartbeat became uneven and I could not even walk by myself. However, guard Chen Chunmei claimed that I was just pretending.

Because I could not walk by myself, I was often dragged around by guards. One day in March, guard Yu Wenbin dragged me for more than 20 meters in front of all practitioners, and then I was thrown onto the floor.

In addition to the two lost teeth, my four other teeth also became loose due to the beating. I was not allowed to see my family members for four months since the bruises on my face were horrifying. Several days after the beating, Director He Jiang came and talked to me. He claimed that I was making trouble for them on purpose.

The criminal conduct of guards in Jiamusi Labor Camp caused great suffering for a dozen Falun Gong practitioners including me. We lost our basic rights and dignity as a human being in the labor camp, and we lost all of the citizen's rights that are supposed to be protected by law. When inhumanly persecuting innocent Falun Gong practitioners with criminal and violent means, how could "governing the nation according to the laws" be achieved? Where is the protection of our human rights?

Hereby I would like to raise [two] questions. First, all Falun Gong practitioners are legal citizens, why is no one held responsible for illegally sentencing and torturing us? Second, how do government officers have the privilege of breaking the laws in the name of enforcing the law?

I hereby file criminal and civil lawsuits, in order to maintain the human rights of citizens, and to stop criminal conduct by the law enforcement officers. I request that officials involved in criminal deeds be held responsible for their own conduct.

Notes:

1. "Large handcuffs behind the back": Practitioners' two hands are handcuffed behind the back with one hand crossed over a shoulder. First, the police push practitioners down to the ground on their stomachs and then step on practitioners' backs. They then forcefully pull the two handcuffs to lock them together. This causes great pain to the practitioners.
2. "Repentance Statement": Statement expressing remorse for having practiced Falun Gong and promising to no longer practice.
3. "Five Statements": Created by the "610 Office," they include a "Letter of Repentance" stating that one is remorseful for having practiced Falun Gong, a " Guarantee Statement" to never again practice Falun Gong, appeal, or distribute information about Falun Gong, and a "Dissociation Statement" to declare a dissociation with Falun Gong, which includes a list of names and addresses of all family members, friends and acquaintances who are practitioners

August 17, 2004