Wang Ailing's Firsthand Account of How She Has Suffered During the Persecution

Name: Wang Ailing(王爱玲)
Gender: Female
Age: Unknown
Address: Jinchang City, Gansu Province
Occupation: Unknown

Date of Most Recent Arrest: December 7, 2003
Most recent place of detention: The Women's Prison in Gansu Province (甘肃省女子监狱)
City: Lanzhou
Province: Gansu
Persecution Suffered: Detention, home ransacked, torture, interrogation, force-feedings, forced labor, forced to stand still for long periods of time, hung up, denied visitation, solitary confinement, illegal sentencing, sleep deprivation, brainwashing

(Clearwisdom.net) Ms. Wang Ailing started to practice Falun Gong at the end of May 1998. After Jiang's regime and the Chinese Communist Party launched the persecution of Falun Dafa on July 20, 1999, she was persecuted and brutally tortured. Her home was illegally searched, her personal property was ransacked, and she was illegally sentenced to detention centers and forced labor camps for a total of ten years. The following is Ms. Wang's personal account.

1. My Home Was Ransacked and I Was Illegally Detained

On July 22 1999, two officers from the Ningyuan Town Police Substation broke into my home. They illegally searched my home and took two copies of Zhuan Falun and one set of the Falun Dafa exercise tapes. They also forced us to give them the banner that we used for spreading the Fa.

On December 27, I took the train to Beijing. At Tiananmen Square, fellow practitioners and I held up a banner that said, "The Fa Rectifies Heaven and Earth." Armed and plainclothes police officers ran up to us from all directions. They grabbed our banner and slapped a practitioner. They asked where we were from, but we didn't say anything. They cursed us as they pushed us toward the police car parked next to Tiananmen Square. With Teacher's compassionate protection, we managed to mingle with the passersby and got home safely.

Soon afterwards, my father and my second eldest sister went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Dafa. The day after they left, I was at a fellow practitioner's home. Zhang Guojun from the Beijinglu Police Substation climbed over the fence, broke into the house, and took me away. Later, Liu Xingguo, the head of the Ningyuan Town Police Substation, took me to his police substation. For a whole day, they locked me up in a room without heat and handcuffed me to a wall. I had to squat and couldn't stand up. They didn't know that I had come back from Beijing. They were afraid that I'd go to Beijing to appeal to higher authorities, so they detained me for 15 days without giving a reason or going through any proper procedures.

2. Sentenced to a Forced Labor Camp

On August 23, 2000, three officials from National Security Bureau at Jinchang City threatened my brother-in-law and illegally arrested me and my second eldest sister. They interrogated us for three days and two nights.

The third day, Jia Jun and Xu Bin from the National Security Bureau told my father to get me out on parole. My father later picked me up and took me home. My second eldest sister was sentenced to a detention center.

After I got home, they still harassed me. On August 29, Meng Jiaxian and Li Xinhua from the Jinchang Municipal Police Station took me to their station. For a whole afternoon, three or four people took turns interrogating me and cursing at me. They didn't release me until that night.

On January 2 2001, Liu Xingguo and three others took me and my second eldest sister to their police substation. They showed us the "Detention Notice" that they had prepared and told us to sign it, but we refused. They took us straight to the detention center. When we got there, we found over a dozen practitioners that had been arrested that day.

On the afternoon of January 3, I was told that I had been sentenced to forced labor. I refused to sign the order and continued on a hunger strike. On the afternoon of January 4, they transferred me to a drug addiction rehabilitation center and separated me from the other Dafa practitioners. The next day, they force fed me. Police officers Liao and Li told a few drug offenders to hold me down on the bed. One man held my nose and mouth tightly. Another man used a spoon to open my mouth. A woman held my arms and legs down. About six or seven people in total were involved. Even several days later, I still couldn't open my mouth. My cheeks hurt very badly. I had an ulcer on my upper palate from them prying my mouth open with a spoon. At 6 a.m. on January 9, they held a so-called open hearing. I was sentenced and taken to Pingantai Forced Labor Camp in Gansu Province. Thirteen other practitioners were taken to the forced labor camp that day.

3. Mental and Physical Torture

In Pingantai Forced Labor Camp, I was forced to work like a slave. During the coldest winter days, we had to use a shovel to break up clumps of soil. When the shovel hit the frozen ground, it bounced back, making my arms numb. I had blood blisters all over my palms. The blood and my gloves stuck together. It was so painful that I'd wake up at night and couldn't straighten my fingers. There were cuts on my fingers that didn't heal up for a long time. During the scorching summer and the cold winter, we had to plow the fields, plant trees, pull out weeds, plant vegetables, pick fruit, etc. We had to do one thing after another and weren't allowed to rest on Sundays. In March and April when trees needed to be planted, we usually went out in the morning and came back at night. The food was buns and vegetables that were cooked the previous day. We drank water from hoses. To eat, we had to pick up the buns with our hands that were covered in mud.

The forced labor camp doesn't allow Falun Gong practitioners to talk to others. Two drug offenders were assigned to closely monitor each practitioner. Practitioners are ordered to memorize the rules and regulations of the forced labor camp. When I refused to, they made me stand up and didn't let me go to sleep until after 2 a.m.

I had to work in the morning and stand still the whole afternoon. One month after that, they found that I seemed fine, so they changed their strategy. They forced me to take the dirtiest and most tiring jobs, which was pulling carts and cleaning a cesspool. Dafa practitioners, including seniors in their 60s, had to work in a cesspool that was 2 meters deep and 6 meters wide. Drug offenders watched us from above.

In the afternoon, we had to "study." They forced us to watch movies that slandered Falun Dafa. Police officers at the forced labor camp gave speeches at the podium. The drug offenders made sure practitioners were taking notes. They'd curse and hit those who didn't take notes. They dared to do this since the policemen encouraged them to. They also forced practitioners to write "self-reflection" reports on a weekly basis.

In April 2001, Gu Yanling, the Squad head, called me to her office. She tried to "transform" me. I told her it would be impossible. She then handcuffed my hands behind my back and used a rope to hang me up from the top of the window railing. Soon my hands turned brownish purple. Sweat poured down and soaked my clothes. She didn't let me down for two hours. Then she ordered me not to tell anyone else about what she had done.

In May, they tried to force me to give up my practice of Falun Dafa and hung me up again. After that, I couldn't move my arms.

My father saw on the news on TV that I was imprisoned at Pingantai. He came from thousands of miles away and brought me clothes, but the forced labor camp didn't allow him to see me. When he went home he was illegally detained as well. My third eldest sister had terminal cancer. Still they didn't allow my father to pay her a last visit. They told my father that they'd let him see my third eldest sister if he publicly said on TV that he gave up practicing Falun Gong. I didn't know my third eldest sister had passed away until several months later. I didn't know my second eldest sister had passed away until one year later. During my imprisonment, my family came several times, but the forced labor camp never let them see me even once.

4. Forced to Move Frequently

When I came home from Pingantai Forced Labor Camp in 2002, officers from the Ningyuan Town Police Substation often harassed me. They ordered me to report to their substation every week. I refused and went elsewhere to find jobs. Before the evil Chinese Communist Party held their sixteenth meeting, I got a phone call asking where I was working. I hung up and immediately left the store where I was working. When I left the store, I saw someone following me. Eventually I managed to loosed my "shadow" and went to a friend's home. After that, I had to move frequently to avoid further persecution. In the end, I went to Lanzhou.

5. Secretly Arrested and Illegally Tried

On December 7, 2003, my second eldest sister, another fellow practitioner, and I were planning to go out. We didn't know that policemen were waiting outside. They were from the Lanzhou City National Security Bureau, and they broke in to our house. Seven or eight men held us down on the ground. They covered our heads with a black cloth and searched us and the whole room. Half an hour later, they shoved us into a police car and took us to a hotel at the Safety Bureau of Gansu Province. They then handcuffed us to the bed frame and we had to sit on the floor. Meanwhile, they turned on the air conditioning to make us cold.

At 10 p.m. the next day, they locked us up in the detention center of the Safety Bureau. They humiliated us as they searched us. They stripped off all our clothes and we could only put on the clothes they threw to us. They even took our coats. We were forced to wear prisoners' clothes and yellow jackets. They also confiscated our shoes and gave us a pair of men's shoes size 42. We were then locked up in a freezing cell without any winter clothes. The interrogations went on and on. I threw up every time I ate anything. At 10 p.m., they took me out and gave me an IV against my will.

Thirty-four days later, they issued the arrest notice, but I refused to sign it. They then detained me separately in a cell for more than three months. I didn't see anybody during that time except for the person who delivered food to me and the head policeman.

In August 2004, we were put in handcuffs and shackles. They took us to Qilihe District Court in Lanzhou City. Ten of us practitioners sat together. Behind us were over 60 police officers. They didn't even notify our families about the trial. During the proceedings, we stated that Falun Dafa was good. The judge stopped us from defending ourselves. Halfway through the trial, practitioner Bai Jinyu asked for her son, also a practitioner, who was tortured to death at the No. 2 Detention Center in Lanzhou City. The judge couldn't say a word and hurriedly announced a recess. We were then taken back to the forced labor camp.

Two months later, we were taken to the court again. This time, we weren't allowed to say anything. The judge sentenced us straightaway. I was sentenced to eight years of imprisonment. We protested, and all refused to sign or accept the sentence. When we came back, we wrote appeal statements. One of the practitioners was inhumanely beaten because he wrote about the persecution of Falun Gong by the Jiang regime in his statement. The police hit him very hard with electric batons.

On April 2 2005, one by one we were called into the interrogation room. Our appeals were denied and the original sentences were upheld. I was then taken to the Women's Prison of Gansu Province.

6. Locked Up in a Small Cell and Forced to Work Like a Slave

On April 7, 2005, after I had been imprisoned in the Safety Bureau Detention Center of Gansu Province for one year and four months, I was transferred to the Women's Prison of Gansu Province.

The day after we arrived, I was taken to the office of the Life and Sanitation Squad. I had to take off all my clothes. They searched me all over, including my underwear. They opened up my quilt and even searched the cotton fill-ins. They rolled out all the tissue paper. They opened up detergent powder bags, dumped the powder out, and searched all through it. Eight days later, I was sent to the squad for newcomers. Everyday I was forced to watch movies that slandered Dafa. Thirteen days later, I was assigned to the Second Imprisonment Area.

On November 26, after coming back from work, I was called to the office just after I stepped into the cell. Zhang Ni, the officer who was specifically responsible for "transforming" me, locked me up in a dark room. In the room was only one bare bed and nothing else. Paper was glued to the window, and the door was locked from the outside. The heater was covered with thick cotton curtains and the light was on 24 hours a day. Four people took turns monitoring me. In the dark room, I started a hunger strike to deny the persecution. For several days, I didn't get to brush my teeth or wash my face. They also limited how many times I could use the bathroom.

On the fourth day at 9 a.m., with permission from Gu Hongying, the leader of the squad, four prisoners force-fed me. They held me down on the bed, and Shi Xiulan put her knee against my chest and held my cheeks tightly while using a spoon to pry open my mouth. Yao Chunling pushed my head down while pinching my nose shut. Zhang Youdi held my legs and Ma Yulan grabbed my feet. The force-feeding was very brutal.

They force-fed me again in the afternoon and I wasn't allowed to sleep. Once my eyes closed, they'd punch me. They didn't give me winter pants or shoes and my feet were numb. Ma Yulan let me sit on the bed. She tried to keep my legs warm by putting my legs between hers. Yao Chunling then reported her to Gu Hongying, and Ma Yulan then got a warning on her record.

During the first ten days in the dark room, I didn't get to wash my feet or change my underwear. In the morning, those prisoners brought me water so I could wash my face. Then they'd take the water away. Forty-two days later, they let me out of the small cell.

On July 6, 2006, I was locked up in the cell again. Everyday, others went out to work while I was taken to the office of the officer was on duty. They tried to make me watch TV programs that slandered Dafa. I refused and threw aside the books that they tried to use to get a practitioner "enlightened" along an evil way. Later on the Education Department found three prisoners that had committed financial crimes. Ren Li, Mou Xiaoli, and Liang Liping had all graduated from college. Everyday they read the books that slandered Dafa and tried to argue with me based on what they had read. I refused to listen. Zhu Hong, the head of the office that specialized in persecuting Dafa practitioners, called collaborator Xian Deying. They tried to work on me, but I made them stop. The separation ended on December 25.

While we were imprisoned, we suffered not only mental persecution but also physical abuse. We had to get up at 5:50 in the morning and work till 9:30 at night and sometimes even later. When I first got to the Second Imprisonment Area, I was ordered to use a sewing machines to process clothes. I had never used a sewing machine before, so I often got my hands stabbed. The intensive labor made me dizzy and my body swelled up. Also, we had to work the regular hours, too. We didn't have Sundays off. One Sunday, I asked to take a rest but they didn't approve it, saying if I took a rest, the prisoners that were responsible for monitoring me would take a rest, too. Then they wouldn't be able to finish their workload and the whole squad wouldn't be able to finish the work assigned to them.

7. The Persecution Is Still Going On

On December 7 2009, five people from the National Protection Squad of the Jinchang City Public Security Bureau, the police substation, and Ningyuan Town took me to the committee of my village. My father then took me home. Four days later, after 10 p.m., police officers from the substation drove to my home and said they'd take me to finish some procedures at the substation. I didn't open the door and refused their request.

In August 2010, people from the Ningyuan Town Legislation Department came and said they would help "educate" me. They told my father to sign the agreement but he refused. Three days later, they went to my workplace. I told them it was no use trying to "educate" me and they left.

On September 8, officer Wu from the Ningyuan Town Police Substation came to the store looking for me. He stopped by three times in one day, but I wasn't at the store that day. The next day, he came again in the morning and left his phone number. After I came to work, I called him and told him not to repeatedly harass me at my workplace. He told me to submit two pictures to get my ID, but I refused.