(Minghui.org) In June 2012, local police took Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Wan Jiuyun to Honghu First Female Detention Center, where she was detained for 51 days. She was handcuffed, tortured and beaten. Below is Ms. Wan's firsthand account of the persecution she suffered in the detention center.

Background of the case

On June 5, 2012, Ms. Wan Jiuyun (also known as Ms. Wan Dajiu, from Wuhan City, Hubei Province), Ms. Han, Ms. Feng, Ms. Lei Yongzhen and several other practitioners were illegally arrested and detained for speaking to people about Falun Gong. Ms. Han, Ms. Feng and Ms. Lei were released that night, but Ms. Wan was sent to the Honghu First Female Detention Center.

While in the detention center, Ms. Wan wrote two letters--one to the detention center's director and the other, an open letter, to the Honghu City police--advising them not to persecute Falun Gong practitioners. Soon after the letters were delivered, Ms. Wan was released, along with three other practitioners. However, by that point, she had been detained for 51 days, mistreated and tortured.

Ms. Wan's partial account of her experience in the detention center:

On June 13, 2012, while I was meditating, inmate Zhan, who was assigned to monitor me, threatened: “Don't you dare to practice the [Falun Gong] exercises. If you don't stop, I'll have you handcuffed!” I ignored her, so she called for handcuffs. Once the guards arrived, they pulled me off my bed and handcuffed my hands behind my back. I said, “You're not supposed to treat us [practitioners] this way. This practice [Falun Gong] doesn't adversely affect others, and it is beneficial to people around us.” However, the guards ignored me, and one of them hit my head and face with his shoe. They deprived me of sleep and basic personal hygiene.

By June 16, 2012, my hands and feet were swollen, so they took off my handcuffs. One of the guards told me, “Killing one or two people is not a big deal in a detention center.”

The guards were afraid that we [practitioners] would practice Falun Gong exercises, so they monitored us at all times. We hadn't committed any crime, so we refused to wear the prison uniform and didn't answer when called by the assigned number. As a result, the guards and inmates punched and kicked us.

One local practitioner passed out after she was handcuffed and beaten. We tried to explain the facts about Falun Gong to the guards and collaborators, but they refused to listen.

On the morning of July 23, 2012, I refused to respond when my number was called during a roll call. Inmate Liu Yonghong slapped me four times, and inmate Wang slapped me two times. Back in the cell, Wang continued to slap me and abuse me verbally. Director Deng of the detention center witnessed the beating but turned a blind eye. Beating practitioners was a common occurrence in the detention center. On July 27, 2012, Liu Yonghong beat me with her book.

When other practitioners and I went on a hunger strike to protest the persecution, we were injected with unknown drugs. We were also mistreated if we talked to each other.

I told the guards: “You shouldn't treat practitioners like this, as we are not criminals. If you treat practitioners well, you will have a good future.”