2. The Inside Story on the Brainwashing Class Held in September 2000 at Fengjia Village, Yishui Town
The Fengjia Village brainwashing class was organized by Liu (director of an office of the County Political and Judiciary Committee), Li Hongwei (director of the Town General Public Security Office), Wang (mayor of Zhuge Town) and Ruan Bo (director of Zhuge Town Police Station). Hao Guijin, one of the thugs they hired, is very cruel. Hao is a native of Cuijiayu Town of Yishui County. He was hired because he is extremely cruel in beating others. He is involved in nearly every incident of physical abuse of Dafa practitioners in the brainwashing class.
When they first began the brainwashing class, they drew up a timetable which required practitioners to run continuously for extended periods of time or "study" from 5 A.M. to 11 P.M. everyday, except during the 2 hours given to wake up, wash up and have meals. Their so-called "study" is reading articles that defame Dafa. Practitioners who refused to do so were made to stand with both palms flat on the ground and their legs straightened, forming a 90 degree angle [so that the buttocks are in the air]. When practitioners were too tired to maintain this position, they were made to run; when practitioners were exhausted from running, they were made to do push-ups; when practitioners were so tired that they could no longer do any push-ups, they were made to run again. The practitioners were tortured in this way with these repeated physical punishments until they collapsed in exhaustion onto the ground. The vicious thugs then dragged the practitioners inside and beat them terribly. A female practitioner around 50 years old was tortured so badly that she had serious high blood pressure, and had difficulty breathing and standing up.
The evil thugs slapped practitioners and punched at their temples. They deliberately put on heavy, hard-soled leather boots and violently kicked practitioners in the face, chest, and legs. They also violently whipped practitioners' bare skin with long narrow bamboo strips wound with thin iron wire. They even poured cold water or salted water onto practitioners during the whippings. The fingers, legs, and waists of practitioners were whipped especially severely.
Whipping the shanks [lower part of the legs] with narrow bamboo strips is just one example that illustrates the extent of physical abuse. Before the whipping, the vicious thugs forced practitioners to roll up their pants and ordered them to either lie flat [on their bellies] or sit on the ground with their legs outstretched. They then used all their strength while whipping practitioners in a frenzy. The practitioners' skin always became black and blue after the whippings. Their muscles were also seriously injured and would be swollen for a long period of time with blood clotted inside. They would feel severe pain each time they walked, squatted, or stood up. After being beaten repeatedly with various vicious means, many practitioners had gaping holes on their skin that looked liked an unidentifiable mess of flesh and blood.
The vicious thugs separated each practitioner from the others before beating them, but required the family member who accompanied the practitioner [to "study" the articles that defame Dafa] in the brainwashing class to be present. Witnessing the brutal acts of the vicious thugs, the family members were indignant but they dared not speak out against the brutality. Not only did the vicious thugs abuse practitioners' bodies, they broke the hearts of practitioners' loved ones. Yet they claimed that their brutal acts were for "saving" practitioners.
Pang Guizhi, almost 60 years old, is a female practitioner from the countryside of Zhuge Town. She is very thin and her family is in poverty. She once brought with her several dozens of Yuan [Chinese dollars] while appealing for Falun Gong and safeguarding the Fa in Beijing. This time, she was taken to Fengjia Village brainwashing class. She was also severely beaten by the vicious thugs and suffered injuries on various parts of her body. Ma Xinhua is a male practitioner around 20 years old. On the first afternoon that he was taken to the brainwashing class, he was kicked in the chest by the vicious thugs with hard leather boots. He was injured so severely that he vomited blood. For a long period of time, he felt such sharp pangs of pain in his chest that he had to hold onto his shoulders [and cross his arms across his chest to hug his chest] when walking. The vicious thugs beat practitioners who are steadfast in their Dafa cultivation severely anytime and anywhere, whenever they felt like it.
In order to oppose the vicious thugs' persecution of practitioners, female practitioners Hu Fanxia (from Xiawei Town), Liu Jingfen (from Zhuge Town), Liu Lijun, Wang Guixiang, and Miao Defang went on hunger strike to safeguard the "Truthfulness, Benevolence, Forbearance" of Dafa with their lives. The vicious thugs were not only indifferent to the hunger strike, they intensified the persecution of these practitioners. Once, the vicious thugs, Li Hongwei, Ruan Bo, and Hao Guijin whipped Liu Lijun in front of Liu Benshan. (Note: Liu Benshan is the father of Liu Jingfen and Liu Lijun. He has two other daughters and one son who were being persecuted at the same time at the Gaozhuang brainwashing class. He is a practitioner himself and this time he was captured and sent to the brainwashing class as a family member to accompany the practitioner for the "study" sessions). The vicious thugs knocked Liu Lijun flat onto the ground, lifted her pants and shirts and whipped her all over with long narrow bamboo strips and triangular belts wound with thin iron wire. They were especially cruel in whipping the area around the legs and waist. Liu was whipped until she fainted. When she regained consciousness, she found that she was unable to move. As the vicious thugs dared not let the other practitioners get in contact with her, only her elderly father was around to carry her on his back when she needed to go to the washroom. On the 8th or 9th day of her hunger strike, the vicious thugs violently beat her on the head and temples. She fainted once again. It was only then that the vicious thugs sent her to the hospital.
Practitioners including Hu Fanxia and Liu Jingfen were even sent to the Psychiatry Section of the Yishui County People's Hospital for so-called electrotherapy. The stench of burnt flesh and skin could be smelled each time they received the "electrotherapy." Some of them were shocked with electricity until they fainted on the spot.
In November 2000, practitioner Hu Fanxia's body became extremely weak after she had endured torture beyond her physical limit. Yet her faith in Dafa is still as solid as a rock. She is determined to protect "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance" with her life. The vicious thugs were extremely ferocious, beating her cruelly when they felt like it. One morning, villains Ruan Bo, Hao Guijin and another thug again demanded to know if Hu would continue practicing [Falun Gong]. Hu firmly replied, "I will persist in practicing!" They brought her to another room and made her lie flat on the ground, rolled up her trousers, sweater and underwear. Together, they cruelly used long bamboo strips from the broom to whip her. While whipping her, they poured cold water on her. At intervals they asked, "Are you still going to practice [Falun Gong]?" Whenever she replied, "Yes, I will persist in practicing," or if there was no reply, they would continue their cruel whipping and stopped only when they became too tired. At this time Hu Fanxia's legs and back were already black and blue, and she was unable to move on her own. They then dragged her back to the original room.
In the afternoon that same day, villains again demanded to know if Hu Fanxia would continue with the practice of Falun Gong. Her reply was still, "Yes, I will continue to practice." These villains used the same method as was used in the morning to cruelly whip her until they were so tired that they panted heavily. In the evening it started to rain; the weather was cold and somber. The ferocious and inhuman villains again came to ask Hu Fanxia whether she would continue to practice Falun Gong. Hu Fanxia firmly replied, "Yes, I will practice." The vicious ones dragged her out of the room for a cruel beating again. When they became tired and were panting heavily, they threw several buckets of cold water at her. At this time, other practitioners came up to assist her, but were stopped by Ruan Bo and Hao Guijin. Hu Fanxia lay in the mud for a long time. Finally, the thugs let the other practitioners carry her into the room.
As the old wounds had not healed before Hu sustained new wounds, the flesh on her legs and back festered and in some places stuck to her clothes. Her muscles were so swollen that her trousers could not be taken off when she tried to change out of her clothes. She tried to use scissors to cut off the trousers but gave up as she found it too unbearable. Villain Hao Guijin rushed to the room when he learned about this. He brutally tore her trousers off, along with the flesh. Hu Fanxia felt such pain that she let out a heart-splitting and blood-curdling scream. After this, Hu Fanxia could not move for over a week, could not lie on her back and could only lie flat on the straw mat everyday. Because of her strong determination in Dafa cultivation, villains Ruan Bo and Hao Guijin often kicked and stepped on her and peeled off the scabs of her wounds to torture her and force her to give up the Dafa cultivation of "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance." The local residents near the brainwashing class frequently heard the practitioners' miserable screams. They helplessly scolded the ruffians behind their backs for being ferocious and inhumane.
In other brainwashing classes, the villains persecute and torture Dafa practitioners with equal brutality and inhumanity. Villain Li Hongwei, known for his brutality in beating people, was assigned to sit in turn in each brainwashing class, to persecute and torture practitioners. The villains not only persecute and torture the practitioners during the classes, they also send people to practitioners' and their relatives' homes to ransack, rob, and extort fees and deposits for these so-called classes.
For example, practitioner Wang Guixiang (female) of Zhuge Town was arrested in Beijing and sent back because she went to Beijing to appeal. Since she persisted in Dafa cultivation, even after she was sent back from Beijing, she was imprisoned and tortured by the town government for an extended period of time. She was fined and had her home ransacked many times, even though she had almost nothing but walls. As one villain said, "She has only three stones under a cooking pan at home [to make a simple stove]." Her teenage child was at home without food and no one to take care of her. Even so, they still forced Wang Guixiang's husband to borrow from relatives to hand money over. Finally, because of the extortion, her husband dared not go home.
The villains originally planned to diminish kind practitioners' belief in the cosmic characteristics of "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance" through their brutal brainwashing classes. They thought they could deter Dafa practitioners from appealing in Beijing and speaking out words of justice for Dafa. But "Never in history has someone who persecuted those with upright faiths ever succeeded" [Teacher's article "Coercion Cannot Change People's Hearts"]. On National Day, October 1, 2000 in Huangshanpu Town of Yishui County, three Dafa practitioners went to Beijing to appeal for justice and to safeguard Dafa. Later, another couple of Dafa practitioners from Zhuge Town also went to appeal in Beijing. The officials of Yishui County, with devil's hearts, sent the three practitioners from Huangshanpu Town to a labor camp and detained several others, sending them to brainwashing classes to be tortured.
October 1, 2001
