(Clearwisdom.net) The persecution of Falun Gong practitioners, started by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in July 1999, has spread to Wangdu County in Hebei Province. A group of Falun Gong practitioners in Wangdu County conduct themselves according to the principles of Truthfulness-Benevolence-Forbearance, and have obtained good health after practicing Falun Gong. The CCP persecution has resulted in the practitioners being arrested, illegally detained, having their homes ransacked, and their personal belongings confiscated. Their families are harassed by the authorities whenever a sensitive date approaches. Specifically, during the time of the Beijing Olympic Games, many local practitioners were arrested, detained, and tortured. Below is a description of some of these persecution cases.
Ms. Zhang Rongge Arrested and Detained During the Olympic Games
Ms. Zhang Rongge is a worker in Wangdu County. She started practicing Falun Gong in 1999.
Ms. Zhang was arrested during the Beijing Olympic Games in July 2008. On the afternoon of July 12, two local government officials, one named Xiong Renzao and the other from Dongheibao Village whose name is not known, broke into Ms. Zhang's home. Several other officials from Chengguan Town arrived later. They searched her home without any legal documents or warrant and then arrested both Ms. Zhang and her husband.
Ms. Zhang's husband was later released after 24 hours of detention. Ms. Zhang was interrogated at Chengguan Town and then taken to the local police station. At that time, a total of 19 practitioners were being detained at the police station. During the detention, the authorities didn't allow the practitioner's families to visit or to send them clean clothes. The detained practitioners were forced to urinate and defecate in the cell where they were detained. They were also forced to buy underwear sold by the detention center, at twice the market price.
Detention center officials Wei Zhanguo and Zhang Xiaoli put handcuffs on the practitioners. After being detained there for 18 days, these practitioners were taken to Hanzhuang Brainwashing Center. Ms. Zhang Rongge was detained for a total of 70 days.
Ms. Gao Panzhi, in Her Sixties, Persecuted During the Olympic Games
Ms. Gao Panzhi, 67, is a resident of Fanjia Village, Wangdu County. She started practicing Falun Gong in 1998.
While the Olympic Games were being held in Beijing, on July 12, 2008, several persons from the county government and local police station, along with village authorities, broke into Ms. Gao's home and ransacked the home. They provided no legal documents or warrant. Ms. Gao was arrested and taken to Chengguan Town. After nine p.m. she was taken to the County Detention Center.
Ms. Gao was subsequently taken to Hanzhuang Brainwashing Center. She was detained for a total of two months.
Ms. Zhang Junru Persecuted by the CCP Multiple Times
Ms. Zhang Junru is a retiree of the Wangdu County Hardware Company. Since the persecution began on July 20, 1999, she has been persecuted by the local police and government officials.
While the Beijing Olympic Games were ongoing in 2008, Wangdu County Police, the Chengguan Town mayor, and the CCP local secretary, together with Fanjia Village official Zhang Baozhen and Beijing Police Department officials, went to Ms. Zhang's son's residence to arrest her. Although she was not there, the authorities confiscated her Falun Gong books, electronic books, and other Falun Gong materials.
On July 20, 2009, the local county officials went to her home to harass her.
Ms. Tian Minhua Arrested, Detained and Forced to Undergo Brainwashing Multiple Times
Ms. Tian Minhua, 56, is a resident of Wangdu County. She started practicing Falun Gong in September 1997.
On September 21, 2001, Ms. Tian was at work when her work unit officials assisted the local 610 Office in arresting her and taking her to a brainwashing center, where she was forced to stand upright facing a wall or squat down, as commanded. She given no food, denied use of the toilet, and was locked up in a cell by herself. She was the only detainee in the brainwashing center at the time. As she refused to cooperate with the authorities, local 610 Office director Shang Hongzhi grabbed her hair and yanked it. Shang Hongzhi also slapped Ms. Tian's face. A deputy director surnamed Wang ordered her to stand facing the wall while confessing to "criminal acts." When Ms. Tian told them that it was not a crime to believe in and conduct oneself according to the principles of Truthfulness-Benevolence-Forbearance, Wang said, "The CCP tells you not to practice Falun Gong. Yet you still do it. That is anti-CCP. Thus you are a common enemy of the people. You are a criminal to the people. You are a subject of the government dictatorship."
In June 2004, Ms. Tian was at work when Cao Jinyao led several policewomen to arrest her and take her to the local National Security Team. Several policewomen searched her body. On the afternoon of that same day she was interrogated by policeman Wang Zhenzhuang. Later, policemen Wang Zhenzhuang and Wang Zhiyong took her to Wangdu County Detention Center, where she was detained for a week. Her family was fined 3,000 yuan and her home was ransacked.
During the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008, Ms. Tian's home was ransacked again by several persons who claimed to be officials from the local National Security Team and local police station.
July 8, 2010
