Name:Liu Guiqin (刘桂芹)
Gender: Female
Age: 47
Address: Jiamusi City, Heilongjiang Province
Occupation: Unknown
Date of Most Recent Arrest: September 19, 2009
Most recent place of detention: Jiamusi Detention Center (佳木斯看守所)
City: Jiamusi
Province: Heilongjiang
Persecution Suffered: Detention, interrogation, long-term standing, beatings, forced labor, torture, forced labor, extortion

(Clearwisdom.net) Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Liu Guiqin had many diseases, which were cured after she started practicing Falun Gong. Since the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) began persecuting Falun Gong on July 20, 1999, Ms. Liu has been illegally arrested twice and sent to a forced labor camp once. At the Xigemu Forced Labor Camp in Jiamusi, she was forced to do manual labor, and subjected to denigration and humiliation by guards. Her family members were blackmailed by local police officers.

The following is Ms. Liu's account of her persecution as relayed to her husband Mr. Liu.

1. Torture and Forced Confession at the Haolianghe Police Station

On August 1, 2005, two Falun Gong practitioners, Mr. Zhang Qingyu, Mr. Cui Deli and I went to Haolianghe Fertilizer Plant to hand out truth-clarification materials. At around 11:30 a.m., I was handing out flyers in a residential building when a young police officer arrested me and took me to the Haolianghe Police Station for questioning. Mr. Zhang and Mr. Cui were also arrested, and Mr. Zhang's taxicab was confiscated. We were separated from one another during the interrogation. A male guard grabbed my hair and smashed my head very hard against the wall. During the interrogation, which lasted the entire afternoon, I clarified the facts about Falun Gong to them. They didn't listen to me, and instead they chose to slander Falun Gong.

Torture re-enactment: Head thrown against the wall

2. Forced Labor at Baoquanling Detention Center--Family Members Blackmailed

Ms. Zhang, Mr. Cui and I were taken to Baoquanling Detention Center in Haolianghe at 6:00 p.m. At the detention center, we were body-searched by police officers. Our food consisted of half-cooked steamed buns and thin soup, and we were forced to sit in a row the entire day, every day. I was also forced to do manual labor.

Soon, my husband brought our child and some relatives to see me. People from the detention center didn't want to release me, and my family was afraid that I was suffering there. The deputy director of the detention center extorted my family members out of 1,000 yuan by making them believe that it would make my life easier. Other officers from the detention center extorted another 600 yuan for the cost of daily necessities for me.

On September 14, 2005, when I had been detained for 45 days, police officers from Haolianghe took us to Xigemu Detention Center, where I was held for one year.

3. Torture Suffered at the Jiamusi Forced Labor Camp

On the same day that I was transferred to the Jiamusi Forced Labor Camp, male team leader Wang Xin tried to make me squat and face the wall. I refused and remained standing. They tried to force me to write a statement of "transformation" letter, but I refused to do that, as well. When they threatened to hurt my child, who has a mental illness, I was forced to write the statement of "transformation."

I was forced to do manual labor every day. I was working in a machine shop, knitting sitting mats for use in cars. My shifts were eight very intensive hours every day. Our meals were severely lacking in any semblance of nutrition. I didn't eat well, I had to do a lot of manual labor, and I suffered repeated humiliation and cursing from the guards every day. As a result, I fell into a deep depression.

At the labor camp, we were forced to sing the evil CCP's songs and write weekly journals of our thoughts. Some practitioners refused to write the journals, and they suffered even more. I felt like I was living in hell.

We had to get up at 5:00 a.m. every day. There was no privacy at all. We were not allowed to walk together or talk to each other. We were cursed at if we didn't wash our faces quickly, and rushed in everything we did. This created a constant state of anxiety, and often someone ended up soiling his or her pants. We had to line up to use the toilet, and even if someone needed to use the bathroom quickly, you could not jump the queue.

Four people were put into each group. These four people always had to use the washroom together. At night, when we were in bed, if only one person wanted to use the washroom, all four in the group had to get up at the same time and go. The sleep of the entire group was constantly disturbed in this way. If someone in the group didn't follow this stipulation, his or her term was extended.

4. Arrested by Nangang Police--Extorted Out of 20,000 Yuan

Fifteen practitioners, including Ms. Chuang Jin, Ms. Wen Ying, and myself, were at the home of Ms. Song Jingjuan in Jianan District on September 19, 2009. We planned to study the Fa and do some experience sharing.

At 8:00 a.m., I heard someone knocking at the door and shouting, “Water is overflowing. Let us get in to take a look!” As we opened the door, four police officers rushed into the house. They were Liu Jinshan, the deputy chief of Nangang Police Station, police officer Fang Baolei, police officer Ge Yanjun, and another police officer whose name I didn't know. They blocked the entrance and began yelling at us and ordering us not to move.

Officer Liu made a phone call, and quickly a female police officer named Wang Xia, police officer Pan, and another unknown female officer arrived, along with a few other officers. We were all taken to Nangang Police Station at around 10:00 a.m.

It was extremely cold in Jiamusi City that day. I was wearing only thin clothes since I had been inside, and I was shivering with cold after being taken to the police station. A police officer wanted to take a photo of me. When I refused, he shoved my head and forced me to have a photo taken.

That same evening, Ms. Chuang Jin, Mr. Zhang Qingyu, Ms. Zhang Chunying, and Ms. Ren Shuxian were detained at Jiamusi Detention Center. There were five practitioners who had been released that day. In the evening, there were only enough beds for five to sleep. Another five practitioners, Ms. Wen Ying, Ms. Wang Jinxia, Ms. Wang Yuxin, Ms. Song Jingjuan, Ms. Dingxi, and myself took turns on either a cold desk or chair.

The next day, we were taken to Jiamusi Detention Center. Guards ordered collaborators to conduct body searches. At the detention center, we had very hard corn-based food, which gave me a stomachache. We had very salty soup without any oil or vegetables in it. I was forced to be on duty at night. One shift lasted an hour, and I couldn't sleep. The grocery prices at the forced labor camp were extremely inflated. My family had to spend 300 yuan, and all I was given was a luggage case and some toothpaste and a toothbrush. I was forced to do manual labor, including packing toothpicks and folding up paper shopping bags. We worked from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

As my child couldn't take care of herself, and my husband had to work out of town, I was very worried for her. Out of concern that I would be tortured again, my family paid more than 20,000 yuan in exchange for my release. I had been detained for 62 days when I regained my freedom.