An Unfinished Article by a Practitioner That Died as a Result of Persecution

Name: Li Xiuzhen
Gender: Female
Age: In her 50s
Address: Caojiadougou Village, Linghe Town, Anqiu City, Shandong Province
Occupation: Linghe Town Nursery School Teacher
Date of Death: October 2009
Date of Most Recent Arrest: June 13th, 2009
Most Recent Place of Detention: Jinan City Prison
City: Anqiu
Province: Shandong
Persecution Suffered: Electric Shock, Sleep Deprivation, Forced Labour, Brainwashing, Beatings, Imprisonment, Torture, Forced-Feedings, Home Ransacked, Interrogation, Detention

Ms. Li Xiuzhen, a practitioner from Anqiu City, was arrested at the entrance of the building where she rented an apartment by agents from the Anqiu City State Security Bureau and the local police on June 13th, 2009. The police took her apartment key, entered her home, and took away her personal property.

Ms. Li's whereabouts remained unknown until a month later, when her family found out that she was being held at the Anqiu City Detention Centre. She refused to give up her belief in Falun Gong and held a hunger strike to protest the persecution, but she was brutally force-fed. Later she was taken to a brainwashing session at the Anqiu City Party School. She was later taken to a brainwashing session organised just for her and was brutally beaten.

After this session, her whereabouts were again unknown. Ms. Li finally died as a result of persecution. In October 2009, a few days after her death, officials from Jinan Prison informed her family about her death. Her body was cremated without her family's consent.

The following unfinished article was discovered when her family went through her belongings that she left behind.

* * * * * * * * *

My name is Li Xiuzhen. I am a farmer from Caojiadouguo Village, Hongshaguo Town, Anqiu City, Shandong Province. I am 46 years old. I have been weak since I was little. In 1978, I was hit by a car. The Weifang People's Hospital said I had a avulsion fracture on my right knee. The accident also left a big dent on the corner of my right eye. I suffered long-term leg pain and headaches afterwards. I went to the Jinan Hospital for treatment, but I was not cured. In 1994, when my daughter was only six years old, my husband died in a car accident. The mental distress and the hard life made me even weaker. I had gastritis, gastroptosis, and gynaecological problems. By the summer of 1998, I was very weak and could not eat much. I went to the Anqiu City Hospital for an examination and brought home some medicine, but it did not work. In the autumn of 1998, I luckily found Falun Gong. After I started to practise, all my illnesses disappeared and I became a healthy person. I was happy again. Falun Gong changed my mind and body.

Shortly after the persecution of Falun Gong started on July 20th, 1999, I tried to go to Beijing to appeal since I wanted to tell the government that the practice of Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance is good. At the train station in Weifang City, Song Shuling, the Hongshaguo Town Party secretary, and Wang Jiaming, the director of the Hongshaguo Town Police Station, arrested me. I went on a hunger strike and was released two days later.

On December 18th, 1999, the town government officials detained me again. Practitioners Li Wencai and Shi Guirong were detained with me. We were put in three big classrooms with the windows broken. With the cold wind coming through, the place was really chilly. I once again held a hunger strike and was released after five days.

On January 29th, 2000, right before the Chinese New Year, town official detained Li Wencai, Zhao Fengying, Zhao Fengmei, and me in the town auditorium for two days. I could not understand why the town officials frequently detained us, because I had regained my health through practising Falun Gong and I was happier. The Constitution says that all citizens have freedom of belief. After I was released, I went to Beijing on February 3rd, 2000. I wanted to seek justice for Falun Gong and the right to freely practice. But I was arrested the same day and taken to the Anqiu City Detention Centre.

At the detention centre, all the detained practitioners went on hunger strikes. On February 15th, I was released. However, the next day, the town officials detained me again. The room they put me in was extremely cold. I held a hunger strike again and was released.

On February 20th, 2000, I was arrested again and held a hunger strike again. They released me three days later so that I could eat at home, and then immediately detained me again. At last, they saw that my health had deteriorated badly and sent me home. However, they came to my home. They changed the lock on my home and seven to eight people took turns watching me. At night, officials slept in my home. They also added sleeping pills in my meals.

On March 12th, 2000, they brought back my son from his high school and threatened that they would not let him continue to go to school or let my brother and my sister-in-law keep their jobs if I refused to renounce my belief in Falun Gong. Under all kinds of pressure, my family agreed to help them monitor me.

On April 20th, 2000, Li Xuegang and Sun Jianyang came to my home and told me to go the town office. I refused. At night, I escaped from home but was arrested and detained in the Anqiu City Detention Centre. I was released on May 9th after 10 days of a hunger strike. On the morning of May 11th, 2000, Song Shuling, Wang Jiaming, Li Xuegang, Yu Jiangxi, and Sun Jianyang came to my home and carried me to the car. Later, they detained practitioner Zhao Fengying. She was released after eight days. Since I had been on hunger strike on and off for a long time, I was very weak and often vomited blood. I had difficulty walking as well. After 10 days of detention, I was released on the morning of May 20th. After I had my lunch and before it got dark, Sun Jianyang came to my home. He told me that he would come to pick me up after dinner. I told my son and daughter that I had to leave home to seek a free life. My daughter kept crying and did not want me to leave. My son understood better and said, "Mother, you can go. If you are detained again, you might lose your life." So I said goodbye to them and left home without a penny. I went to Beijing. I begged for food and water, slept by the road, and experienced many difficulties.

On the night that I left, the officials from the town government and the town police station panicked and sent out many cars to search for me, so that they would not be held responsible for a person going to Beijing to appeal. They went to my sister's home three times that night. After about 100 days away from home, I came back on the Autumn Festival Day. However, after just a few days, the town officials attempted to detain me again. I had to leave home again.

On October 27th, 2000, I was arrested while I was telling people the facts about Falun Gong. I was taken to the Anqiu City Detention Centre. Other detained practitioners and I went on hunger strikes to protest the persecution. On November 17th, four of us practitioners were sent to the Jinan City Forced Labour Camp, but the officials there refused to admit us and we were sent to the Wangcun Forced Labour Camp. I did not pass the health exam so the labour camp refused to accept me. I was taken back to the detention centre. On October 20th, I was released. The next morning, I discovered that someone was monitoring me.

At around 8 p.m. on November 22nd, 2000, the town officials came. Zhang Hongtao demanded that I open the door but I refused. They eventually broke in. Song Shuling, Wang Jiaming, and around a dozen others came into my yard holding police batons. They tried to break into the bedroom. My daughter was so scared that she started to cry. I asked them, "I want to be a good person. Is that not right? You guys came to my home in the middle of the night to harass me and broke into my home. Is that legal?" They had nothing to say. Later, they brought my son back home from his high school and also brought my brother to my home. They broke the window to break in this time. They took me to the police station around midnight.

The next morning, Song Shuling and Wang Jiaming went to the Anqiu City Police Department. Later, they and police officer Dong took me to the Jinan City Forced Labour Camp. Since I failed the health exam, the labour camp refused to admit me. Dong bought two boxes of gifts for the labour camp officials, but they still refused to accept me.

On November 24th, Song and Dong went to find their connections. At 7 p.m., I was sent to the Jinan City Forced Labour Camp. On the night of my arrival, the camp guards forced fed me brutally. I was in so much pain that my hands and feet cramped. Afterwards, they hung me up such that my feet were not touching the ground. I kept sweating. After 24 hours of hanging, I was taken down. By that time, I was so stiff that I could not move. There were blisters all over my body. The camp doctor said my life was in danger. They released me on November 28th.

To avoid constant harassment, I had to leave home again. On June 27th, 2001, officers from the Changle Police Department arrested me. I went on a hunger strike. They brutally forced fed me. After 37 days of detention, they released me on July 4th.

On November 29th, 2001, officers from the Weifang City Police Department arrested me and took me to the Changle Detention Centre. At the detention centre, police officer Song beat me and tied me to an iron chair to force feed me. Later, I was tied to a Dead Man's Bed¹ for forced-feeding. After two months of detention, the Changle Court sentenced me to seven years in prison. On January 31st, 2002, Li Qingguo, the director of the Changle Detention Centre, and doctor Wang (first name unknown) sent me to the Jinan City Prison. The prison doctor examined me and found out that I had high blood pressure, heart disease, and my pupils were enlarged, so the prison refused to accept me. However, after Li Qingguo insisted, I was admitted.

In the prison, five to six inmates held me down on a bed to force feed me. I lost consciousness afterwards and had difficulty breathing. I could only breathe with the help of an oxygen tank. They force fed me this way three times a day. Sometimes they had to try five or six times to insert the tube inside me or pry my mouth open if needed. An inmate, Wang Li, inserted and pulled out the tube repeatedly to torture me. My nose kept bleeding after the forced-feeding. The prison guards ordered the inmates to beat me. Inmates Wang Cheng'ai, Xing Suyun, Li Xunying, and Li Guiju actively persecuted me. Together they beat me five to six times a day. Sometimes, they forced me to "ride the airplane"², smashed my head against the wall, or dragged me on the floor. I was tied to an iron chair during the day and tied to the bed at night. I was confined in the solitary cell. If I cried out "Falun Gong is good," they taped my mouth shut and put me under the scorching sun.

At around 3 p.m. on May 9th, 2002, the inmates were beating a practitioner. To help and encourage the fellow practitioner, I cried out loudly, "Falun Gong is good!" Several prison guards came into my cell holding electric batons. They shocked me at the same time, on my face, hands, ears, neck, and back. My body was covered with blood blisters afterwards, and I was in a lot of pain for several days. This was the third time that I was electrically shocked. Since I was emaciated, they sent me to the Shandong Province Police Hospital for further torture. They would leave the force-feeding tube in my nose after force-feeding. I weighted only about 70 pounds and was too weak to walk. I vomited blood frequently. The blood that the doctor took from me for testing was very dark. The doctor said that I might die at any time.

While I was in prison, my daughter, brother, and cousin were brought into my cell. When my daughter saw me so emaciated and tied to the bed, she cried very hard and passed out. My cousin and my brother also kept crying. The two kids were left at home without anyone to take care of them. My 12-years-old daughter was forced to drop out of school and go to work to make a living. When she missed me, she would hold my photo and cry.

During my ten months in prison, my daughter visited me three times. She sobbed each time. My elderly mother missed me and cried everyday. She often went to the road, hoping to see me coming home. When she heard that my life was in danger, she made funeral clothes for me. She fell sick several times because she missed me so much.

On September 24th, 2002, prison officials had to release me because I was so weak. On November 6th, Wang Ziqing from the Anqiu City 610 Office(an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong) ordered Song Shuling and Zhang Hongtao to arrest me. Four or five people broke into my home and carried me to their car. I was taken to the Anqiu City 610 Office. They handcuffed me to a bed. When I cried out "Falun Gong is good," they slapped me until I started bleeding. My face was swollen all over. Later, they handcuffed me to an iron chair. Hu Shaoqun poured water on my face to keep me from sleeping. They also taped my eyelids open. Song Yanshan rubbed a frozen wet towel on my face. It was very painful. They also took off my shoes to freeze my feet.

On March 6th, 2000, practitioners Li Cuiping and Zhao Fengying went to Beijing to appeal for an end to the persecution of Falun Gong. They were taken back to Anqiu City on March 8th. At around 8 p.m that night, Song beat the two of them until 11 p.m. Then he pulled their hair and burned their faces with cigarette butts. Both of their faces had several burns. Practitioners Li Yanxiang, Li Xiuhua, and Shen Ming were sent to the 610 Office. Practitioners Li Wencai, Shi Guilan, and Li Zhaoju were arrested and sentenced to three years of forced labour. Shi Guilan and Li Zhaoju are still under detention. Li Cuiping was sentenced to five years in prison.

These are the crimes committed by Song, Yang and other town officials in Hongshaguo Town against practitioners.

610 Office agents....(not finished)

Note

1. "Death Bed" torture: A practitioner is tied to a bed with his hands handcuffed above his head to the bed rails, and his legs tied with thin nylon ropes. The rope is then tightly wrapped around the practitioner's body and the bed, from his legs to his chest. The rope is wrapped so tightly that the practitioner has difficulty breathing and eventually loses consciousness.

2. Flying an airplane - In this torture, the head is bent down until it cannot go down any further, while the hands are pulled up and held up to the highest point. The hips have to point up. One is forced to keep this position unchanged for a long time. The body in this position looks like an airplane, from which it gets its name. See illustration on http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2004/9/29/52921.html.

Related reports:

Ms. Li Xiuzhen Dies in Custody after Being Tortured, (see http://www.clearwisdom.net/html/articles/2009/10/26/111844.html)

Practitioner Ms. Li Xiuzhen Cruelly Tortured at Jinan Women's Prison (Photo Re-enactments), (see http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2005/1/19/56709.html)

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2009/10/30/211281.html