(Minghui.org) “Once, under Officer Wang Yajie's instructions, five inmates handcuffed me to some metal rings on the floor and shocked me with electric batons. One of the guards shoved a baton inside my clothes to shock my back, and I fainted from the pain. Then they pinched my acupuncture points to make sure I was awake so that I could feel every shock. I fainted again and they repeated the ordeal. It went on like this over and over.”
Such is the account of Ms. Han Liping, a 65-year-old practitioner in Chengde City, Hebei Province, after she was placed in the Gaoyang Labor Camp in May 2001 for a two-year term. Because of the torture that she suffered, her weight dropped from 140 to 79 lbs. When she was finally released, her family barely recognized her because she was so emaciated. She was constantly monitored thereafter.
In addition to the labor camp sentence in 2001, she was held in detention centers several times between 2000 and 2001, plus a four-year-long imprisonment starting in 2008.
Below is Ms. Han’s account of what she has endured.
Held at Detention Centers
After Falun Gong was banned in China in July 1999, local police officers often harassed me, although I only read the Falun Gong books at home. They told me that I either had to turn in my books or go to jail. I tried to talk with them sensibly many times, but they continued to harass me. I felt like I had no choice but to go to Beijing and appeal for the right to practice Falun Gong.
1) First Arrest
Another practitioner and I traveled to Beijing on January 5, 2000. Right after we arrived at the Appeals Office, police officers asked for our personal information and contacted my city’s liaison office in Beijing.
Local officers arrived the next day and put us in a detention center. My husband had to pay a 3,000 yuan fine, and Chengde Domestic Security Division Chief Lu Feng extorted 500 yuan from my family. I returned home after 25 days.
2) Second Arrest
I planned to go to Beijing again on the morning of January 23, 2001. However, Chengde police stopped me midway through the trip and told me that no one was allowed to enter Beijing that day. I was suspicious but did not change my plans.
CCTV later claimed that several practitioners had set themselves on fire in Tiananmen Square that same day. This allegation really confused me, as I knew that Falun Gong practitioners would never do such a thing, as it's specifically prohibited by the Fa teachings.
Since the Appeals Office in Beijing was no longer accepting petitions from Falun Gong practitioners, several practitioners and I decided to go to Tiananmen Square directly to clarify the facts with banners.
We arrived at Tiananmen Square on February 2 and unfurled several banners with the words “Falun Dafa is good.” Police then rushed up to us and began to beat us. They confiscated all of our belongings and threw us into metal cages.
The officers took us to the Liuliqiao Police Station and interrogated us that night. At 8 a.m. the next day, officers took another practitioner and myself to the yard. They removed our shoes and socks, and forced us to stand in the snow. Then they removed all of our clothes except for our underwear, and handcuffed us to metal poles. They even stuffed snow down our underwear. We were forced to stand outside this way from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m. After we came back inside, guards blew cold air on us with electric fans for several hours.
The guards interrogated us every day to find out where we came from. Two practitioners could not withstand the torture anymore and told the guards what they wanted. Local police then came, took us, and tortured us at the Liuliqiao Police Station for eight days. During those eight days, we were not allowed food or water. We returned home on the eighth day.
3) Third Arrest
When I told people about Falun Gong and gave them some informational materials on April 1, 2001, someone reported it to the police. Cheng Jinmao and local police officers then arrested me and took me to the Dalaohugou Detention Center. They also confiscated all of my Falun Gong books and lecture tapes.
Domestic Security Division Chief Lu Feng and Liu Mingcheng handcuffed me to heating pipes for 48 hours. They deprived me of food, sleep, and restroom use in an attempt to force me to give up my belief in Falun Gong.
Handcuffed to heating pipes
Guards in the detention center treated me even worse. Detention Center Head Xu Yafeng once came in with four guards to beat us with batons. As a result, all of the practitioners in the cell—more than 10 of us—were bruised all over. When we protested against the brutality, Xu had armed officers force-feed us.
Torture at the Gaoyang Labor Camp
Liu Mingcheng, Domestic Security Division Deputy Chief, sent seven other practitioners and myself to the Gaoyang Labor Camp on June 2, 2001. Our families were not notified, and we were not given any official notices. Because of our poor health, labor camp officials initially refused to accept us. After Liu bribed them, however, they agreed to admit us.
1. Shocking with Electric Batons
The Gaoyang Labor Camp is the one of the worst in Hebei Province. Officers there often transfer the most determined practitioners in from other places and try to transform them.
Two days after I arrived, manager Ye Shuxian pulled me into her office, where she shocked me with an electric baton for an hour. Several days later, two officers held me down on the floor and shocked me with electric batons.
Shocking with electric batons
For most of us, the officials did not notify our families when we were sent to this labor camp, nor did they allow us to contact our families unless we gave up practicing Falun Gong. In addition, we were not allowed to have the most basic of necessities.
The shoes I had were already worn out and I had blisters all over my feet. I could not catch up with others' work production, so the guards ordered inmates to beat me. Once when a guard saw that the inmates had not beat me brutally enough, he began to whip me over and over.
Once, under Officer Wang Yajie's instructions, five inmates handcuffed me to some metal rings on the floor and shocked me with electric batons. One of the guards shoved a baton inside my clothes to shock my back, and I fainted from the pain. Then they pinched my acupuncture points to make sure I was awake so that I could feel every shock. I fainted again and they repeated the ordeal. It went on like this over and over.
Torture illustration: shocked with multiple electron batons simultaneously
2. Sleep Deprivation
The guards did not allow us to sleep during the brainwashing sessions. To keep us awake, they forced us to stand in front a wall, sometimes with our hands stretched backwards. Sometimes they would have us squat for the whole night. The next day, however, we would still have to work as usual. Many practitioners were too tired and fell asleep while they worked. In those cases, the guards would beat them and force them back to work.
In addition to the forced labor and physical abuse, we also had to listen to brainwashing materials in the evening that defamed Falun Gong, often until 1 a.m. In such a harsh environment, some practitioners were partially unconscious after sleep deprivation, and they gave up their beliefs.
3. Forced-feedings
Force-feeding happened often at the labor camp. There were times when more than 10 guards and inmates would hold me down to force-feed me twice a day. They had to force open my mouth, and this lasted several hours each time. Because the guards used metal tools, many of my teeth were broken.
Torture illustration: force-feeding
4. Severe Beatings
During one session in August 2002, an inmate defamed Teacher Li Hongzhi, so several practitioners stood up in protest. Guards then took us to another room. One guard shocked me with an electric baton for half an hour. He then removed my shoes and stomped on my toes with his boots. It was very painful. He also slapped me in the face with shoes while another inmate grabbed me by the hair and slammed my head against a wall. I soon lost consciousness.
When I regained consciousness, I found myself lying in the cell. Other inmates in the cell were very sympathetic after seeing my injuries. They told me that my head was severely swollen from the beating, and they were worried that I might die.
At the Gaoyang Labor Camp, I was routinely force-fed for more than 8 months. Because of the severe torture in those two years, my weight dropped from 140 to 79 lbs. My family could hardly recognize me after I was released. Under instructions from the Chengde City 610 Office, local police officers then sent me to a brainwashing center for two weeks. They continued to harass me after my release.
Abuse at Prison
When another practitioner and I installed an NTD television dish for someone in January 2008, the Xinglong County police officers arrested us. They confiscated our minivan and all of our possessions. The Xinglong County Court sentenced me to prison for four years in December 2008, and I was sent to the Luquan City Women's Prison in February 2009.
1. Mental Abuse
Brainwashing was very intense in this prison. Officials first forced some practitioners to give up their belief, and then used these people to transform others. Several people took turns watching me. They also deprived me of sleep for several days in order to “transform” me.
It was impossible to write appeal letters since the guards did not allow us to have any pens or paper. An inmate, who knew the facts about Falun Gong, once gave me a pen and some paper. But officer Han Xiuxin found out and took them from me before I could finish writing.
Guards also did not allow practitioners to stay together or to speak with each other. One time someone saw three practitioners sitting together and reported this to the officials. Suspecting that they had passed Falun Gong materials among them, guards conducted full-body searches on them. In the end, the guards found nothing.
2. Physical Torture
Division 10, where practitioners were detained, was the worst division in the prison. Both division manager Li Chunhua and assistant manager Han Xiuxin were very active in their abuse of practitioners. When major holidays arrived, Han often tortured the most determined practitioners one month in advance.
Before the 2009 National Day, Han tortured both Ms. Gao Chunlian and myself in September. She forced us to stand for a long period of time and slapped us in the face. When I tried to stop her from shocking Ms. Gao with an electric baton, she beat me and started to shock me instead. As a result, my lower back felt paralyzed, my nose was bleeding, and one of my teeth was knocked out. When I tried to report the mistreatment to the prison head, Division Manager Li Chunhua said to me, “It will not work. Nobody will listen to you.”
I went on a hunger strike in protest, so Han ordered inmates to take me to another place for force-feeding. They dragged me from the first floor to the third floor. More than 10 inmates held me down for force-feeding, and my mouth and nose were bleeding. I soon lost consciousness.
Torture re-enactment: Brutal force-feeding
The above is what I experienced during the persecution. There are many more cases like this in Chengde City, Hebei Province.
Benefits from Practicing Falun Gong
Ms. Han was laid off from work in 1997, and she had a difficult family life. When she visited her parents-in-law in early 1998, she learned about Falun Gong and began to practice it. Within one month, all her illnesses disappeared, which included heart disease, high blood pressure, tracheitis, stomach pains, and neck pain. Her husband and daughter also benefited from her practice, and their family became harmonious.
