(Minghui.org) Continued from Part 1
Persecution Exposed Through Writing
Noise from beatings and cries of practitioners were often heard from within the cells at Tai'an Prison. To cover up their crimes, guards often took Falun Gong practitioners to designated rooms in building number one for torture at night, because nothing could be heard from that far away.
More severe tortures were carried out in another torture room located outside of the ward. Falun Gong practitioner Wang Zi from Laiwu City was beaten and put into solitary confinement countless times. Mr. Wang was beaten so badly one night that the stool he was sitting on was destroyed in the process. He was eventually sent to Shandong Provincial Prison.
Cao Guozhen from Heze was often beaten as well. He was deprived of restroom use and forced to empty his bowels on his own bed. He was also sent to Shandong Provincial Prison. Mr. Liu Yongjin was beaten and put into solitary confinement several times. Bruises subsequently covered his face and body, and he could hardly walk. After a years of torture, he was unrecognizable.
All these forms of torture and abuse were done under the direction of Liu Xinrong and Gao Lingshan, and carried out by Yu Zhijun and various inmates. Yu berated and reported Falun Gong practitioners' monitors if they were too lax with the rules.
Mr. Yang Pinggang wrote an article called, “The Righteous and the Wicked,” which described Falun Gong practitioners' righteous behavior amid Yu's wickedness and corruption. He also wrote “Request for Compensation from Injuries due to Yu Zhijun's Abuse.” The article declared that Mr. Yang's pursuit for compensation would continue to the end unless Yu ceased his persecution.
Sun Shide was later assigned to monitor and “transform” Mr. Yang. However, Sun had witnessed the lofty character of Falun Gong practitioners, so he did his best to provide space for Mr. Yang's writing. Mr. Yang wrote three more articles between November 2008 and January 2009, “Degenerated Lives Deteriorating; Lives of Purity Rectify All,” “Is It Right to Do Evil in the Name of National Interest?” and “Survey of Monitors.”
His articles pointed out people's moral degeneration from a historical point of view. He pointed out that the introduction of Falun Gong gave people hope to rectify the degeneration, and he condemned the crimes of Jiang Zemin's regime under the name of national interest. In the “Monitors” article, he analyzed the despicable crimes and pitiful end of monitors.
Falun Gong practitioners' belongings were targets for searches in prison, and practitioners could be searched at any time. During one search, Mr. Yang's articles were found before they could be submitted. Prison leaders Liu Xinrong and Gao Lingshan were furious, so they changed Mr. Yang's monitor from Sun Shide to convicted murder inmates Li Zhongxin and Xia Nianming, as well as drug dealer Du Shanhui.
Steadfast Amid Hardship
Mr. Yang was not allowed to leave his cell or write a single word. Two monitors followed him everywhere, even when he used the restroom. Mr. Yang was not allowed to speak or make eye contact with other Falun Gong practitioners. He was not allowed to take his bedding out to the sun to dry after being hosed down by guards, and after nine months, mold began growing on the bedding.
The prison leaders primarily used Li Zhongxin to torture Falun Gong practitioners. One morning, when Mr. Yang tried to get his food at the entrance of his cell, Li asked, “Who told you to come out here?” Mr. Yang said, “There won't be food for me if I don't come out,” to which Li replied, “You simply don't eat if there isn't food for you.” He often called Mr. Yang an “anti-revolutionist.”
Falun Gong practitioners constantly endure abuse and torture in prisons across China. Mr. Yang realized that both the guards and the inmates had a poor understanding of Chinese law. He always tried to reason with them from a legal perspective, and they were always speechless.
When asked by prison authorities about these types of conversations, Mr. Yang instead recounted his treatment by the monitors. He asked that the problem be solved professionally and in accordance with the law. That same day, his monitors were repositioned. A few days later, prison authorities punished the two monitors. This was the first time that monitors were punished due to a conflict with Falun Gong practitioners.
“Transformation” Fails
On June 13, 2011, three months before Mr. Yang's term was due to end, he was transferred to the No. 8 Team and assigned new monitors. The leaders of the ward, Zhu Xuhu and Lu Wenfeng, attempted to advance their careers by launching a round of intensive “transformations” of the most steadfast Falun Gong practitioners, which included Mr. Yang, Liu Yongjin, Tian Xinfang, and Liu Nailun.
The prison warden set up a special reward for monitors. Whoever could transform Mr. Yang would earn 20 points, which was worth three months of term reduction.
However, the monitors did not treat Mr. Yang as cruelly as they treated the other practitioners. Liu Yonglin, Liu Nailun, and Tian Xinfang were deprived of sleep and beaten. They became bruised all over and had trouble walking.
The monitors tried to remind Mr. Yang of the brutality he experienced in the past, and they implied that the only remaining step was a violent “transformation.” The number of monitors was increased to five, and Mr. Yang was forced to watch videos that slandered Falun Gong. However, Mr. Yang took the opportunity to refute the distorted theories and prove the greatness of Falun Gong through his own personal experiences.
Three days before his release, Mr. Yang was threatened again by Zhao Yong. Zhao asked Mr. Yang to sign a repentance statement; otherwise, the 610 Office would not leave him alone after his release. Mr. Yang replied, “I won't change my mind no matter where I go.”
Mr. Yang was scheduled to be released on September 5, 2011. His wife and sister went to pick him up, but the prison demanded that his wife obtain written permission from the 610 Office. Because she had no notice from the 610 Office, the prison refused to release Mr. Yang. However, the director of the 610 Office soon showed up and gave permission. Mr. Yang walked out of the prison without any compromise and returned home with his family.
Persecution of Mr. Yang's Wife, Chang Lijun
Mr. Yang's wife Chang Lijun has been placed in forced labor camps twice for a total of six years since 2000. However, she has remained steadfast in her belief and continued to cultivate in Falun Gong.
Her parents were terribly saddened by the persecution. Their health deteriorated greatly under the constant stress and fear for their daughter. Her father passed away in 2007, and Ms. Chang was not allowed to attend his funeral. By the time Ms. Chang was released in 2008, her mother's health was so poor that she could no longer recognize her own daughter.
Fired, Monitored, and Harassed
After Ms. Chang was thrown into a labor camp, her workplace fired her. The Daishan District Government did not regard the sentence as legitimate, but they nonetheless refused to restore her status as a government employee. They gave her the status of a new business employee instead, and after her release her salary was only one-fourth her normal salary.
After she was released, all communication in her home was made accessible to the authorities through wire tapping. The CCP's continuous harassment and monitoring caused Ms. Chang and her family to further lose their normal way of life. She soon went to live with a relative in another province to avoid persecution. However, the 610 Office sent agents to harass her relatives. They also forced her relatives to take pictures with them, as proof that they had done their jobs.
Abduction in 2000
Ms. Chang was abducted from her sister's home in Beijing in January 2000, and sent back to Tai'an. The police shackled her, locked her in a cage, and left her outside during winter. She was soon transferred from the Feicheng Detention Center to the Daishan Detention Center for a 15-day detention, and eventually to the Shandong Provincial First Women's Forced Labor Camp on March 13.
Tortures in Labor Camp
Ms. Chang and other Falun Gong practitioners in the labor camp were abused for practicing Falun Gong. Guards and inmates beat them and shocked them with electric batons. If any practitioners did the Falun Gong exercises, they were deprived of sleep for an entire night and given more intensive labor tasks the next day.
Ms. Chang once refused to write a monthly report. She was dragged into the restroom and beaten by five people. They slapped her and beat her with wooden planks until she was covered with bruises.
Ms. Chang and other practitioners refused to do forced labor on July 7, 2000, to protest against the persecution. They all shouted, “Falun Dafa is righteous! Fellow practitioners, don't be fooled by the lies!” They did the Falun Gong exercises in a group, and camp authorities were in a frenzy. All male guards were mobilized to beat the practitioners, and the noise of the beatings, shouting, and protests filled the camp.
All Falun Gong practitioners were soon pulled into one room. They began to recite the Fa together, so guards Zhao Jie, Sun Xiuying, and Wang Ning shocked their faces and mouths with electric batons. Some guards clutched them by their throats and stuffed rags into their mouths.
Ms. Chang and other practitioners refused to attend a transformation speech in September 2000, given by a group from Beijing. The camp director ordered several male guards to handcuff Ms. Chang and take her to the conference room. They knocked her down to the floor, stepped on her handcuffs, and shocked her with five or six electric batons simultaneously for over ten minutes.
Force-Fed with Liquor
Officers from the Taishan District Domestic Security Division and the Dongguan Police Station broke into Mr. Yang and Ms. Chang's home on the morning of September 6, 2005, and arrested them, along with another practitioner. They were all taken to the Tai'an Detention Center. The three practitioners then began a hunger strike.
Several inmates force-fed Ms. Chang. They tied her to a bed, pried her mouth open, and violently fed her with corn paste every couple of days. During her hunger strike, Ms. Chang was once force-fed with liquor, and the leftover liquor was poured all over her body. Despite the forced feedings, she lost 50 pounds during the hunger strike.
When Ms. Chang was sent to the labor camp the second time, she was in such poor condition that the camp initially refused to admit her. Officers ended up bribing the camp authorities to accept her.
Three Years of Solitary Confinement
Weak and injured, Ms. Chang was imprisoned in a small cell by herself in the labor camp. She was not allowed to sleep regularly or use the restroom when needed. Her family sent her a thick blanket for the winter, but the guards did not allow her to use it. She was instead provided with only a very thin blanket, and slept on a wooden board. She also was not allowed to take a shower for nine months.
Ms. Chang was moved to a slightly smaller cell after six months, with three guards monitoring her during the day, and two at night. They allowed her to sleep only after midnight, and woke her up at 3:00 a.m. She was punished with extended standing and sleep deprivation for refusing “transformation.” As soon as she closed her eyes, a guard would pinch her eyes. They even used needles to stab her in the back so that she would not fall asleep.
Falun Gong practitioners in the camp were forced to take blood tests in 2006, and the amount drawn was so large that many practitioners felt nauseated and had a hard time breathing.
During the entire three years of abuse, Ms. Chang remained steadfast in her belief in Falun Gong. She was eventually released around the time of the Moon Festival in 2008.
Persecution of Mr. Yang's Son, Yang Kemeng
Mr. Yang's son, Yang Kemeng, has been practicing Falun Gong since he was a teenager. When both of his parents were put into labor camps, he had to take care of himself. He was later interrogated by police while he was in middle school. While visiting his mother at the labor camp, guards held him in custody for a three-day brainwashing session. However, he did not waver in his belief in Falun Gong.
Yang Kemeng was admitted to the Harbin Institute of Technology in July 2003. He was a great student in college and served as president of the student council. However, police abducted him during his junior year and sent to the Wangcun Forced Labor Camp for three years. He was expelled from college.
Despite the threats and abuse, Yang Kemeng refused to give up Falun Gong. After his release, he left home and made a living by doing odd jobs.
Yang Pinggang was released from prison a week after the Moon Festival. This was the first time the Yang family was able to see each other in six years.
