The Persecution of Dafa Practitioners in Hebei Province

The police in Yanshan County, Hebei Province closely follow the persecution policies against Falun Gong initiated by former leader Jiang Zemin and his regime. They illegally search Falun Gong practitioners' homes, brutally beat them, and subject them to all manner of painful tortures including burning practitioners with cigarettes, nailing bamboo spikes into practitioners' fingernails, and beating them with electric batons. In the authorities' efforts to try and "reform" Falun Gong practitioners, practitioners are severely tortured both physically and mentally. Some have been forced to leave home to avoid persecution.

1. Police Abuse: Carrying out the Communist Party's Policies

On January 1st 2002, Yanshan County police searched Dafa practitioner Liu Huanjie's home for no reason. They stole many of Mr. Liu's possessions, including his sewing machine, television, leather suitcase, watch, and other valuable items. On September 29th 2002, a plain-clothed policeman entered Liu Huanjie's yard by climbing over the wall. Without a warrant, he arrested Liu Huanjie along with his entire family, which included a child, and took them to Yanshan Police Station. The police inflicted cruel tortures on them for four days and three nights. Seven days later, more than 10 policemen tied Mr. Liu onto an iron chair to "stew the eagle." When Liu Huanjie became sleepy, they poured cold water on him and whipped his face with wet towels. Wang Yixin used keys to scratch Mr. Liu's ribs and claimed that they would remove his clothes and injure his testicles to make him suffer further. Nonetheless, the tortures could not make Liu Huanjie change his mind about Dafa.

Police officers burned female Dafa practitioner Liu Shuzhen's body with cigarettes in 20 places. They covered her head with a metal bucket and struck the bucket from the outside. Their tortures could not "transform"¹Mr. Liu, so they tried nailing bamboo spikes into her fingernails. Practitioner Li Yuxia also suffered the bamboo spike torture. Blood spurt out from their fingernails, but the practitioners refused to be transformed. The two practitioners were brutally beaten and their bodies were covered with bruises. When they returned home after their release, one of their relatives was so traumatised that he suffered a relapse of a prior mental illness.

2. Torturing to Obtain Lies

Liu Huanjie's brother, Liu Huanjun, was brutally tortured at the Yansha Detention Centre. He never gave up his belief in Falun Dafa and was sentenced to 4 years in prison. He was sent to Baoding Prison and was continuously persecuted there.

Liu Huanjie's sister-in-law, Li Xiuling, was illegally detained at the Gantong Town Police sub-station in Yanshan County. The police beat her brutally, removed her jacket and handcuffed her outside for twenty-four hours in minus 10 degree Celsius temperature [14F]. In order to try to force practitioners to "transform," they arrested all the practitioners in town and took them to the detention centre to torture them. They locked everybody in a cold and dark garage, beat them with electric batons and bench legs, tortured them with pincers, and poked their feet with iron sticks to force practitioners to lie and say, "We won't practise any more." This is the truth about the government's so-called "transformation" success.

3. Escaping from the Brainwashing Centre and Not Being Able to Return Home

The brainwashing centre of Yanshan County was established in July of 2001. It is located at Cao Village, west of the town. Practitioner Ms. Li Xiuling was with the first group that was illegally detained. The very first day, she was brutally beaten by the squad leader, Zhang Wenzhi. He threw her into the ditch by the road. Dafa practitioners were forced to watch videos attacking Dafa. If they didn't listen carefully, they would be punished and forced to stand under the hot sun. If one did not show remorse for not listening, one would be tortured non-stop. The brainwashing centre also forced Dafa practitioners' employers to submit 50 yuan²each day for room and board. This way, the brainwashing centre not only increased their income, but also stirred up hatred and conflict for practitioners from their employers. In order to persecute practitioners, the authorities thought up many tricks. One day Li Xiuling finally escaped, but she was unable to return home since the government officials were looking for her to arrest her again.

There was a female practitioner who was arrested because she had appealed for justice for Dafa. She was released after her family submitted 15,000 "yuan". The government officials found another chance to arrest her. She then went on a hunger strike to protest. After two weeks, this practitioner was persecuted until she nearly died, but the authorities still didn't want to release her. After two months on a hunger strike, the practitioner was finally released with the help of her employer. After that, government officials still tried to arrest her. Finally, she was forced to leave home to avoid further persecution.

4. Acting Madly to Arrest People and Collect Illegal Fines

Since January 2001 many local police sub-stations in Yanshan County have tried to arrest people whenever there was a holiday or whenever a "sensitive date" approached. If a person had so much as ever read a Dafa book, they would become a target whether they were a practitioner or not. And they wouldn't be released until the police received money from them.

Liu Yingjie's sister and brother-in-law were arrested on May 12 because May 13 is Teacher' Li's birthday. When they were arrested, two Dafa books were found. Because they refused to be "transformed," the two practitioners were detained at the Yanshan Detention Centre for four months. Only after paying a fine of 1,000 "yuan" were they finally released. Because these practitioners were the main source of income at home and they were illegally detained, it caused financial hardship for their families.

Liu Huanjie's older sister refused to be "transformed" in the brainwashing class. After two months, she was the only one who had not compromised her belief under pressure. The brainwashing centre asked her family to pay some fines, but the family didn't have the money. The brainwashing centre again asked her relatives for money, but they didn't comply. At last, people from the brainwashing centre said, "Nobody wants this old lady. Don't arrest people like this from now on."

5. Interrogation and Torture at the Brainwashing Centre

When Yanshan County started their 4th session of brainwashing classes, Dafa practitioners realised the lies and evilness more clearly. At that time, the persecution also intensified.

One female practitioner was handcuffed to a bed for over one month. Every day, she was forced to listen to other practitioners being beaten, sounds from the various instruments of torture, the yelling and shouting by the government officials, and the screaming of practitioners being tortured.

6. Using Psychotropic Drugs

There was an elderly female practitioner who firmly believed in Dafa. She was arrested three times. The government officials used all of their tricks on her yet they were unable to "transform" her. One afternoon, they sent her to stand out in the hot sun. All of a sudden, she fell straight to the ground and lost consciousness. They immediately carried her inside. When they saw that she was still unconscious, they whispered, "Was it because of the psychotropic drugs?" The practitioner heard them say this very clearly. After that she never drank the water provided by the government officials. She also paid special attention to her food.

Note

1. "Reform or Transform" Implementation of brainwashing and torture in order to force a practitioner to renounce Falun Gong. (Variations: "reform", "transform", "reformed", "reforming", "transformed", "transforming", and "transformation")

2. "Yuan" is the Chinese currency; 500 yuan is equal to the average monthly income of an urban worker in China.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2005/9/16/110521.html