Issued by Clearwisdom Net
Content
Many practitioners have suffered from savage persecution in Sanhe Detention Center in Hebei Province during the past seven years.
The most recent round of arrests began as of February 25, 2006. Sanhe City Police Department, the “610 Office” and the National Security Bureau arrested more than 20 Falun Gong practitioners and their family members. Those arrested include married couple Zhou Chuanzhong and Wang Shuhua (both practitioners) and their son Zhou Jia (non-practitioner); Zhang Deli and his second son Zhang Guangliang (non-practitioner), practitioners Ma Weishan, Zhou Zaitian, Bai Yanxia, and Du Fucang.
Practitioners Liu Shujuan, Zhang Zhiping, Tian Fengling and Liu Cuirong were released after one year in a forced labor camp. Nine practitioners, though -- Zhang Deli, Ma Weishan, Zhou Zaitian, Di Wenzhu, Zhou Chuanzhong, Bai Yanxia, Zhang Liancun, Liang Baotian and Du Fucang -- are still being held in Sanhe Detention Center. Some of them have been detained for over a year. On January 11, 2007, some people in the city's law branches tried to convict these nine practitioners but failed.
1. Three generations of Zhou Chuanzhong's family members suffer arrest and persecution
Around 9:00 a.m. on February 25, 2006, two groups of agents from the Yanjiao Police Precinct set out in six or seven police cars. One group went to a rented house where they confiscated a copy machine and other personal belongings valued at more than 100,000 “yuan” and arrested a non-practitioner surnamed Bai. The other group went to Zhou Chuanzhong's home. They confiscated a PC, a tape player and many other personal items, even a small cotton bed cover for his grandson. Zhou Chuanzhong and his wife Wang Shuhua practice Falun Gong, but the police even arrested their son, their daughter-in-law and their three-year-old grandson and took them to the police precinct.
2. Zhang Deli and his family members arrested and suffer persecution
Around 8:00 a.m. on February 25, 2006, officers in four police cars arrived at Zhang Deli's home. They also thoroughly searched Mr. Zhang's oldest son's home and his second son's home. They confiscated a TV, DVD player, Falun Gong books and Master's picture. They arrested Zhang Deli and his second son Zhang Guangliang, not a practitioner. The police beat Zhang Guangliang with a water-filled Sprite bottle on his back, feet and hands in the detention center. Such a beating leaves no surface marks but causes severe internal injuries. Zhang Guangliang is still unable to work, even now, because of the beating. When police were questioned as to why they arrested non-practitioner Zhang Guangliang, they told Mr. Zhang's family that he was implicated because of his father. Zhang Guangliang was held for one month in the detention center.
Zhang Deli's wife Hu Baozhen was not at home when the arrest happened. Later on, police were looking for her everywhere, including their relatives' homes. Plainclothes police agents constantly patrolled in front of Mr. Zhang's home, and his family members were often harassed. Hu Baozhen decided to leave home to avoid further persecution.
Zhang Deli suffered brutal torture in the detention center. In the chilly February weather the guards poured cold water on him and incited the inmates to beat him. His over-70-year-old mother often cried for her son. His elderly father and other family members often went to the detention center and wished to see him but were always refused a visit.
There were “forced brainwashing classes” at the detention center, and inmates assigned to be so-called “educational assistants.” Two inmates were assigned to monitor Zhang Deli. He was forbidden to leave the room and had to make wreaths. The police tried to send him to a forced labor camp, but the camp refused their request. However, Sanhe Detention Center authorities still refuse to release him.
3. Ma Weishan arrested and taken to Sanhe Detention Center
Around 8:00 a.m. on February 25, 2006, many police officers rushed into Ma Weishan's home, searched it and arrested Mr. Ma. Police officer Li Liandi took 66-year-old Ma Weishan away and sent him to Sanhe Detention Center. Ma Weishan protested the “illegal arrest” with a hunger strike. He is not in good condition.
Ma Weishan had been arrested before, on October 26, 1999, and was sentenced to two years of forced labor. He served time at the Kaiping Forced Labor Camp and later in the notorious Gaoyang Forced Labor Camp.
Police officer Li Liandi was from Caigezhuang Village in Yanjiao Town. He was called “smiling tiger,” meaning that he seemed friendly but was indeed vicious. Around 3:30 p.m. on February 28, 2003, Li Liandi and three other police officers passed through Ma Weishan's residential compound. Noticing two cars in the yard, he immediately questioned Mr. Ma's oldest son and stopped by Ma's own home. Seeing other practitioners in Ma Weishan's home, Li Liandi called for reinforcements. Many officers arrived in five or six police cars and thoroughly searched the home. They confiscated a TV, a tape player, other home appliances and all of the Falun Gong books. Ma Weishan and two practitioners were arrested. The cars in the yard were taken away as well. Yanjiao Police Department head Zan Qingcai was also involved in the search and arrest.
4. Police continue to arrest and persecute practitioners
Di Wenzhou, an engineer employed at the No.1 Metallurgy Bureau, was arrested on March 2, 2006. He has been detained for nearly one year.
Around 8:00 a.m. on March 4, 2006, about 20 or 30 Yanjiao Police Bureau and Sanhe City Political and Security Section agents took Zhou Zaitian to Sanhe Detention Center. He has been detained there for nearly one year now. According to inside information, former village director Yang He was involved in this arrest.
Around 12:00 p.m. on March 16, 2006, several officers from the Yanjiao Police Precinct and from the No.1 Metallurgy Bureau Police Station, including police station head Wang Hong, arrived at practitioner Guo Zheng's home. Guo Zheng refused to open the door. Three hours later, the police broke the door down and forcibly arrested Guo Zheng. Guo Zheng was released eight months later after having been abused and mistreated until he was on the brink of death.
Around 10:00 a.m. May 26, 2006, police in two vehicles from the Yanjiao Police Precinct arrived at Zhang Liancun's home. They jumped over the wall and broke into Zhang's home. Zhang Liancun was not at home. On July 20, 2006, they went to Pinggezhuang in Shunyi County and arrested Zhang Liancun, who was working there.
On June 29, 2006, agents from the Liangfang City Police Department, from the Yanjiao Police Precinct and the Gaolou Police Station arrested practitioner Liang Baotian. Mr. Liang was from Liujihe Village, Gaolou Town. His home was searched and personal belongings such as a PC and printer were confiscated. Prior to starting the practice, Liang Baotian had been unable to work because of poor health. In 1998 he attended a nine-day of “Fa” lectures series, and miraculously recovered completely and regained his life. Liang Baotian's own experiences showed people how great Falun Gong is. However, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) cannot tolerate those who strive to be good people. The nearly 60-year-old man was arrested and taken to the Langfang City Brainwashing Center and later to Sanhe Detention Center.
On the afternoon of June 29, 2006, practitioner Du Fucang, employed at the Yanjiao Base of the Zhonghai Oil Corporation, was forcibly sent to the Langfang Detention Center. His home and work PC were confiscated. He was compelled to undergo brainwashing. The authorities claimed he would not be released if he refused to be brainwashed. His work place also stated that Mr. Du would be fired if he refused to give up his belief. Du Fucang is still being held in the detention center.
Around 3:30 p.m. on February 27, 2006, six plainclothes police officers arrived in two cars and stopped at the hotel owned by the family of practitioner Ms. Bai Yanxia. Two of these agents pretended to be potential customers. Bai Yanxia was just returning from a food market and was going to prepare food. The two police rushed out to grab her and took her into the hotel. They searched the hotel but didn't find anything. They were going to take Bai Yanxia to the police department, but Ms. Bai and her family members reasoned with them. Two hours later, Bai Yanxia managed to escape. Around 12:00 p.m. on June 29, 2006, a mere three days after Bai Yanxia's return home, she was arrested at the family's hotel. The police searched the hotel again, as well as her home. They confiscated a tape player, Master's picture and other items. Bai Yanxia was first detained at the city detention center and was later transferred to the Langfang Brainwashing Center. She is still detained there now.
At 9:30 a.m. on November 9, 2006, officers from Sanhe Police Department, the 610 Office and from the No.1 Metallurgy Bureau Police Station, including police station head Wang Hong, arrived at the Jingri Company to arrest practitioner Zhang Yanming. Zhang Yanming kept “clarifying the truth” to them, to no avail. At 1:40 p.m. they sent Zhang Yanming under force to the Langfang Brainwashing Center. Later on, four or five police officers led by Wang Hong came to Zhang Yanming's home. They searched it and took away a desktop PC. Zhang Yanming's whereabouts are unknown.
Practitioners Ma Weishan, Zhou Chuanzhong and Zhang Deli have been gone for over a year. Zhou Zaitian and Di Wenzhu have been detained for nearly one year. Practitioners Bai Yanxia, Du Fucang, Liang Baotian and Zhang Liancun were arrested over eight months ago. They were sent to Sanhe Detention Center, the Langfang Brainwashing Center and Xianghe to endure brainwashing, but these efforts to make them renounce Falun Gong failed. They were eventually sent back to Sanhe Detention Center.
Since September 2006, several agents in Sanhe City law
branch offices have tried to sentence these practitioners. On January
11, 2007, they held a trial of all nine practitioners. Many police
officers were stationed inside and outside the courtroom. The
practitioners denied all of the false charges against them. The court
session, lasting from 8:00 a.m. until 3:30 p.m., ended in a mistrial.
Baimalong Women's Forced Labor Camp in Zhuzhou City, Hunan Province is one of the key centers where a lot of Falun Gong practitioners are "illegally imprisoned." Every practitioner imprisoned there is subjected to both mental and physical tortures. The following are stories of how several practitioners I know were persecuted to death.
Ms. Cao Jianzhen, 50 years old, was a farmer in the Ruanjiang of Hunan Province. She weighed 62 kilograms (137 pounds) when she was first taken to the forced labor camp and imprisoned there. After suffering numerous tortures, she weighed only 47 kilograms (104 pounds). The guards, led by Guard Xiao, frequently beat and kicked Ms. Cao, and broke three of her ribs and injured some of her internal organs. As a result of the torture, she vomited pus and blood. When she was unable to eat, the guards dragged her off to be force-fed. In addition, they attempted to brainwash her by forcing her to watch slanderous videotapes against Falun Gong. Ms. Cao was so injured that she could not sit up or stand. Once she lay down she could not get up. She was taken back to her hometown when the authorities found out she was dying. Ms. Cao Jianzhen died soon after she was taken home.
Ms. Zuo Shuchun, 38 years old, was from Changsha City, Hunan Province. When she was first imprisoned at the forced labor camp, seventeen guards tortured her with the "hanging up in the air" torture. As soon as she moved slightly, she experienced severe physical pain. If she cried out, they would tape her mouth and nose and then use electric batons to shock her whole body. One day, they took Ms. Zuo out and force-fed her. Soon after, we saw a bunch of guards and some drug-addict inmates quickly carrying a person out, who was entirely wrapped up in a blanket, including the head. Later I learned that Ms. Zuo had died during the brutal force-feeding.
Ms. Cao Sanyuan, in her fifties, was a lecturer at Hunan Teachers' College. During her imprisonment at Baimalong Forced Labor Camp, the guards shocked her with electric batons, handcuffed her, put her in small cells many times, and hung her up and beat her. They force-fed Ms. Cao so cruelly that her nose often bled and finally she collapsed mentally. Ms. Cao Sanyuan died soon after she was taken home.
Ms. Peng Meiren, who was in her fifties and from North Zhen Street of Ningxiang County, Hunan Province was a retired worker at the County Meat Plant. After suffering brutal persecution and forced brainwashing, she died soon after returning home.
Ms. Li Rong was nearly seventy years old. Ever since the persecution began on July 20, 1999, Ms. Li has been constantly persecuted. She previously suffered from many illnesses and nearly died before she started practicing Falun Gong. But her illnesses all disappeared and she became a healthy person again after beginning her practice. Ms. Li was illegally imprisoned twice in a forced labor camp, and altogether she spent over four years at the Baimalong Forced Labor Camp. After that, she was under house arrest in the countryside for almost two years. The authorities withheld her entire pension, so Li Rong did not have any income. No one knows her whereabouts now. During her imprisonment at the Baimalong Forced Labor Camp, the authorities tortured her with various means, including shocking her with electric batons, hanging her up in the air, clamping her mouth with fire tongs, and stuffing her mouth and throat with dirty rags. They beat her, shook her, and broke three of her teeth. Using the torture of "hanging up in the air" for an extended period of time, they nearly suffocated and killed Ms. Li. The guards struck her foot and nearly broke her foot in half. They forced her to sit on the tiger bench and shackled her in a painful posture all day long. They shocked her with electric batons and then dragged her out under the sun in the scorching heat of summer or in the freezing wind in winter. The "monitors" constantly watched Ms. Li, stopping her from either doing the Falun Gong exercises or reciting Falun Gong teachings. They grabbed her head and smashed it against the wall whenever they pleased. They brutally tortured Li Rong by punching her and stomping on her.
Zhang Lihua, a drug addict around thirty years of age, was an especially vicious woman at the forced labor camp. Under the instruction of the authorities, she injured numerous Falun Gong practitioners at the forced labor camp. Good is rewarded and evil is punished. Later I was told that she suffered two kinds of cancers, became very emaciated, and was no longer as active in the persecution.
The above persecution stories are what I personally witnessed at Baimalong Forced Labor Camp. Because of the physical and mental persecution, I cannot accurately recall the time and further details of these facts or write about the persecution of many other Falun Gong practitioners.
Falun Gong practitioners Xi Zhaojun and Zhang Decai were clarifying the truth in Gaojiagou Village, Mandetang Township, Kangbao County on February 24, 2007. The village CCP secretary, Feng Quan, saw them and threatened to call the police. The practitioners clarified the truth to him and warned him that persecuting practitioners would bring him karmic retribution. Feng Quan said, "I am not afraid of retribution."
Soon after the two practitioners left the village, a car pulled up to them. Two township policemen and CCP secretary Feng Quan and the driver started punching Mr. Xi Zhaojun. They tied him up with a rope and savagely beat him for about 40 minutes.
After two hours, a vehicle from Kangbao County Police Department arrived. Some police officers took the two practitioners to the police department. They handcuffed the practitioners, and one officer kicked practitioner Zhang Decai until he fell to the ground. The officers stripped both practitioners naked and brutally beat them. They then ordered them to get dressed and took them to Kangbao County Detention Center where they ordered the inmates to beat them. The police department head Hao Yanfei screamed, "The police department is where beatings take place!"
Police officers Zhang Jianwu, Ren Daxiong and Dong broke into practitioner Zhang Decai's home on the morning of February 25. They confiscated all Falun Gong books, cassette players and other items. One week later, Zhang Decai was released after the police extorted over 5,000 yuan from him. Practitioner Xi Zhaojun was sent to a custody center where he went on a hunger strike to protest the persecution. While there, the guards force-fed him salt water and forbade his family from visiting him. It has been two weeks since he was first taken there. The officials submitted some fabricated documents about Xi Zhaojun to the procuratorate and claimed they would sentence Xi Zhaojun to prison. Xi Zhaojun is now very weak and in critical condition.
Xi Zhaojun was a teacher at the 2nd Middle School of Buzi Township, but was fired after the persecution began on July 20, 1999, because he refused to renounce Falun Gong. He became homeless to avoid being illegally arrested, but officials constantly harassed his family. Their relentless persecution traumatized his parents. They also harassed his sister. His family has been persecuted mentally and financially.
Xi Zhaojun's parents learned that he was held at a detention center, so they went to the police department and knelt before the officers, begging to see their son. The police told them, "If you cooperate with us and say whatever we tell you to say while we videotape you, you can see your son."
His parents were so anxious to see Xi Zhaojun that they said untruthful things [against Falun Gong and Falun Gong practitioners] as the officials demanded. After achieving their goal, the officials went back on their promise and refused to let them see Xi Zhaojun.
Mr. Li Xuejin, a resident of Wafangdian in Dalian City, Liaoning Province, started practicing Falun Gong in 1995. Very soon he went from being a quick-tempered person to becoming a person who is helpful, considerate and well-liked by others.
After the persecution began on July 20, 1999, Li Xuejin went to Beijing to appeal on behalf of Falun Gong. He was arrested on Tiananmen Square and transfered back to Dalian City, where he was “illegally detained” for over a month. During his detention, Li Xuejin was beaten and tortured by criminal inmates.
After his release, Li Xuejin continued to explain the true situation about Falun Gong to others. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) deployed a lot of manpower trying to arrest him but failed at first.
In 2001, Li Xuejin was arrested at a relative's home. During his detention he resisted the demands of his captors but was subjected to various tortures and was later sentenced to three years of forced labor.
When he was detained in the Dalian Forced Labor Camp, he conducted himself righteously. In an attempt to further intimidate him, the guards transfered him to the infamous and dreaded Guanshan Forced Labor Camp. During his detention at the Guanshan Forced Labor Camp, Li Xuejin was tortured with various methods including "wearing a boxing cap," and the “death bed” torture. He was also exposed to temperatures of minus 10 degrees Celsius (14°F) while wearing only his underwear, for an entire day.
In the face of these cruel tortures, he still refused to compromise with the demands of the CCP. Together with other practitioners, he changed the environment of the labor camp such that eventually the criminal inmates even admired practitioners.
In order to achieve their goal of "transforming" Li Xuejin, agents of the CCP once sent him to Masanjia Forced Labor Camp, where he was surrounded by “collaborators” who attempted to brainwash him. However, Li Xuejin was not fooled and instead managed to open the eyes of some of the collaborators so that they realized their mistakes. Eventually, the guards at the Masanjia Forced Labor Camp told the staff at the Guanshan Forced Labor Camp to take him away immediately and not bring him back again. Li Xuejin never signed any statements renouncing Falun Gong, and in the end his forced labor term expired and he was released unconditionally.
Most recently, on February 6, 2007, Li Xuejin was arrested
once again by officials from Falun Gongng Township Police Station, in
Ganjingzi District, Dalian City. He is currently detained at the
Yaojia Detention Center of Dalian City. According to trusted sources,
the CCP authorities plan to sentence him to two years of prison and
Ganjingzi District Police Department has already approved the
sentence. His sentencing is now awaiting final approval at the Law
Enforcement Division of Dalian
City Police Department.