Name: An Ling
Gender: Female
Age: 49
Address: Xinmin Village, Xinxing Town, Shuangcheng City, Heilongjiang Province
Occupation: Unknown
Date of Most Recent Arrest: November 5th, 2001
Most recent place of detention: Harbin Women's Prison
City: Harbin
Province: Heilongjiang
Persecution Suffered:Detention, home ransacked, severely beatings, imprisonment, torture, forced labour, sleep deprivation, electric shock, force-feedings, drug administration, brainwashing
Falun Gong practitioner An Ling was arrested at her home by local police in November 2001. She was sentenced to seven years in prison in February 2002. She was imprisoned in the Harbin Women's Prison and suffered from brutal beatings and torture. Below is An Ling's personal account of the persecution she suffered.
Arrested and Beaten by Police at Home
On November 5th, 2001, about 4 a.m., I had just got up. The deputy chief of the Xinxing Town Police Station, Kong Qingman, led a group that broke into my home. They claimed they needed to know my recent situation, and then they arrested me and Chen Shuli and put us in a police vehicle. They also searched my home and took away my Falun Gong materials, books, and audiotapes. At the Xinxing Town Police Station, officer Kong Qingman slapped my face many times and knocked me down. Then a police officer covered my eyes with black cloth because they were afraid that I would know who beat me. One person sat on my legs and others hit my feet with plastic tubing, while shouting and scolding me. I was tortured like this just because I practised Falun Gong. Later we were transferred to the Shuangcheng City Detention Centre and were detained for eight months. Then I was sentenced to seven years in prison, although no evidence was ever presented against me. I was imprisoned at the Harbin Women's Prison.
When I was detained in the Shuangcheng Detention Centre, all I had to eat was chicken feed, rotten buns with mouse droppings and insects, and muddy soup with frozen cabbage leaves in it.
Sentenced to Seven Years
In February 2002, Shuangcheng City Court tried me, my brother An Xing (he was arrested at the same time as I was), and practitioner Huang Ying. The evidence that presented was fabricated. I strongly protested and asked to speak, but the court did not allow me to. I said I had to be allowed to because it was my right. One judge said, “I will let you speak later.” After the judges finished pronouncing Chinese Communist Party (CCP) rhetoric, I said, “Falun Gong practitioners are good people. We cultivate Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. Falun Gong is good. The persecution of Falun Gong is extremely unjust. I ask for the restoration of my Teacher's reputation and Falun Gong's reputation.” The court tried to stop me. I said, “We had the agreement that I be allowed to speak.” Then I finished reading the defense that I had prepared. After I finished, one of the judges gave me a thumbs up and said, “Your Teacher has a worthy student.” The other two practitioners said, “This is also what we wish to say.” Even so, the court still sentenced me to seven years in prison.
In Harbin Women's Prison
On July 23rd, 2002, I was admitted to Harbin Women’s Prison. When I was first imprisoned, I was placed in the training team. I was forced to get up at five every morning and sit in the classroom all day. I was not allowed to move except to go to the toilet. I had to sleep between two prisoners. Because of prolonged sitting on the hard bench, I was very weak. My right leg was stiff and each step was very painful. Even so, guard team leader Zheng Jie told the prisoners to take me to the workshop in the morning and bring me back to the prison room at 8 to 9 p.m.
Brutally Beaten by Police
The Falun Gong practitioners in Harbin Women's Prison frequently suffered from all kinds of persecution. The guards forced the practitioners to do manual labour. They did not allow the practitioners to talk to each other. The police and the regular prisoners verbally abused them. On July 18th, 2003, over 30 practitioners started to protest the persecution because a regular prisoner persecuted practitioner Zhao Xin. Some practitioners sat in meditation. Other practitioners started a hunger strike. In August, a majority of the practitioners did not go to the workshop anymore and came back to the prison cell. The prison police divided us into two groups and told us to sort toothpicks. We kept protesting and did not sort the toothpicks, either. The prisoners who participated the persecution included criminal inmates Zhao Yan, Wang Fengchun, and others.
In prison, we tried to study the Falun Gong teachings, practise the exercises, and create our own cultivation environment. Guard Zhang Chunhua and prisoners Wang Fengchun, Zhao Yan, and others brutally tortured us because of this. The guards tied the practitioners up in a room and covered their mouths with tape to prevent them from speaking. I was tied to a bed leg, had to sit on the floor, and was not allowed to sleep. The next day, guard Zhang Chunhua took us to the training field. Suddenly many prisoners came out of nowhere, holding plastic tubes, sticks, and soda bottles. Some guards and riot team police stood outside and held police batons to surround the practitioners. They dragged all the practitioners inside and forced them to keep running. If any refused to run, they beat and kicked them. When the practitioners could not run anymore, they forced them to squat with their hands holding their heads. They also hung up some practitioners and hit them with electric batons. Practitioner Qin Shuzhen's ear had pus for a long time because of the beating. Xu Youqin fainted due to the beating. The weather in September was already cold, but the practitioners sweat profusely. The guards only gave us a bun and a piece of pickled vegetable for dinner.
The police tortured us for three days and nights. In the evening, we were not allowed to wash ourselves. Our hands and feet were all tied up. The prisoners fed us our food. Even when we went to the toilet, the police did not untie us. There were over 20 practitioners. When we went to the toilet, the police only untied one of us and told her to undo the others' trousers, lift up their trousers, and to change sanitary napkins for those who had their period. In the night, the police put our hands behind our backs and tied them together. They also tied up our feet and left us to sit on the cement floor. Then they tied two practitioners up together back to back. The police and the prisoners did not allow us to sleep. As soon as we closed our eyes, they used thick sticks to beat us. Some prisoners also put toothpicks between the practitioners' eyelids. We were tortured nonstop for over ten days.
Prisoners Wang Fengchun, Zhao Yan, Li Guixiang, Zhu Yuhong and others did not allow us to sleep, and used a coke bottle to hit my face. A prisoner grabbed my hair and used a square stick to hit my mouth. My mouth started bleeding, and my whole face was a mess. Others could not even recognize me. My face and body were black and blue. My right leg would not work anymore. Even so, they forced me to go to the training field. Guard Ge used an electric baton to hit the back of my head. Guard Zhang Xiuli used an electric baton to shock my neck and then shocked other practitioners. Guard Zhang Chunhua said, “Since you cannot walk, let's do acupuncture for you.” Then she told a prisoner to stab my feet and toes with needles. A 66-year-old practitioner, Ms. Wang Shulan, had been suffering the same torture. The guards also forced her to run. If she stopped, they beat her. In the night when we were taken back to the prison room, they did not let us go to bed. Instead, they forced us to sit on the floor and covered all the doors and windows with paper. Then a few prisoners started to beat the practitioners in turn. They used shoes to hit Ms. Xu Youqin's hip and neck, while talking about putting salt into her wounds. A few days later, prisoners Wang Fenchun and Zhao Yan used a big needle to stab my feet. I strongly resisted. Then they went to stab practitioners Ms. Zhang Shuqin, Ms. Wang Jianping, and others' feet. They also stretched practitioner Ms. Wang Aihua's arms and tied them to window bars, forced her to stand and tied up her feet, and then used wooden sticks to hit her feet. Ms. Wang Aihua cried out because of the terrible pain. A elderly practitioner, Ms. Zhou Chunzhi, asked prisoner Wang Fengchun to stop. Wang Fengchun kicked her in the lower back very hard. Ms. Zhou fell down and could not stand up anymore. The sounds of shouting and crying echoed around the prison.
In order to protest the persecution, practitioners Ms. Wang Hongjie, Ms. Li Yushu, Ms. Guang Yingxin, and Ms. Ding Yu went on hunger strike for over two months. On the last day, practitioners Ms. Liu Liping and Ms. Zhao Xin started to shout after they arrived at the training field, “Fellow practitioners, please stand up. Falun Gong is good!” Because of this, practitioners Ms. Zhao Xin, Ms. Liu Liping, and Ms. Zhang Shuzhe were detained in confinement cells.
It lasted for over ten days. Later the police forced the practitioners to march outside. They had prisoners walk behind the practitioners and told them to kick whoever they wanted. Once prisoners Zhao Yan and Wang Fengchun suddenly kicked me in the back really hard. I felt my insides go upside down. I could not breathe for a very long time. It was extremely painful. When it was raining, we were still forced to stand outside. In the night, we were forced to sit on the small bench until midnight. Because we were forced to sit on the hard bench and keep the same posture for prolonged periods, we could not stretch our legs, and some practitioners' hips were worn out badly.
Once guard Dai Ying asked me if I still practised Falun Gong. When I said I did, she kicked me in the chin and slapped my face. In November, in order to fight for the environment to practise the exercises, the practitioners practised the Falun Gong meditation. Guards Zheng Jie and Zhang Chunhua ordered prisoners Song Libo, Zhu Yuhong and Wang Fengchun to tie us to bed legs with rope. In the night, they dragged us to the hallway and tied every two practitioners together. The guards and prisoners also shouted constantly, “Let's drag all of them outside and let them freeze to death. If you are not afraid of death, I am not afraid of burying you.” The prisoners then opened all the windows to freeze us for over ten days.
Stripping Our Clothes Off to Humiliate Us
In March 2004, the practitioners protested the persecution by refusing to wear the prison uniform or report their numbers. Guard Zhang Chunhua led prisoners Song Libo and Zhao Yanhua to strip off all of our upper body clothing, including our bras. Then we were forced to wear the prison clothing and were tied to the bed legs. Practitioner Ms. Lu Yujun faced the monitor naked in order to expose the crime that guards had committed. Zhang Chunhua dragged Ms. Lu Yujun to the bathroom and handcuffed her. Then she grabbed and pulled her hair. She sent one prisoner for each practitioner to watch her 24 hours a day. When we went to the toilet, we were not allowed to go inside at the same time. The prison also forced us to stand outside in the sun after we went on a hunger strike for five to six days, without any food or water. Then they handcuffed all of us to a bed. They put our hands behind our backs, with one forced down from over our shoulders and the other forced up from our lower backs. Then they wrapped the handcuff chain around the horizontal bar of the bed. This was a very cruel torture. Some fainted within a few minutes. I was cuffed in this posture for over three hours. I almost fainted and lost control of my bowels. Only then did they let me down.
Brutally Force-Fed
In August 2004, over 30 Falun Gong practitioners went on a hunger strike together and asked the prison to release us unconditionally. Three days later, the prison police started to force-feed us. The staff from the prison hospital had prisoner Shang Xiaomei force-feed us. They did not force-feed us in the regular way. Instead, they used a very hard tube. When they pulled the tube out of my mouth, it had a lot of blood on it. They also pulled out a lot of blood from the stomachs of practitioners Ms. Wu Meiyan and Ms. Du Yuling. Ms. Wu Meiyan shouted, “If you dare to do this anymore, I will sue you after I get out.” Later the guards used a regular force-feeding tube. After the forced-feeding, some practitioners spat up blood. One day the police put some unknown drugs in the food. After they fed us, we felt very dizzy. We shouted, “You are persecuting us!” The prison police force-fed us every day like this. In the end, our noses were so swollen that the police could not push in the tube anymore. Guard Zheng Jie said, “If we have a hard time pushing the tube in, we will leave it once we get it in there.” On the 27th day of the hunger strike, the police handcuffed the practitioners to the bed for the whole night. My hands were handcuffed behind my back and I could not straighten up my back anymore. If I raised my head, my arms hurt terribly. I had to lower my head until the next morning. Practitioner Ms. Wu Meiyan fainted and was let down. But when she came to, the police handcuffed her again. They tortured all the practitioners like this. We went on hunger strikes four or five times. This was the longest one, which lasted for 28 days.
Another Round of Persecution
In November 28th, 2006, Harbin Women's Prison began a new round of persecution. Former deputy warden Liu Zhiqiang wanted to “transform” all the practitioners in order to get the “civilized prison” award. He gave orders to all the prison sections to persecute practitioners brutally. The police in the second prison section covered the workshop with a curtain and did not allow anyone to see inside. Inside the workshop, they led a group of prisoners to persecute the practitioners at will. The prisoners tried everything. They forced us to sit on the small bench, one foot away from the bed and all facing the monitors. We had to get up at 5:30 a.m. and were persecuted continuously until 9 p.m. Speakers were installed in all the rooms and played horrible music to distract us. When we went to bed, we were not allowed to sit and were forced to lay on the bed. The prisoners who were sent to watch us monitored us in turn. The police did not allow the practitioners to talk to each other. Two prisoners were assigned to watch each practitioner all day long. The prisoners on night duty recorded everything in the monitoring log. The prison gave the prisoners notebooks and had them record everything the practitioners said and did.
The women's prison also built three new sections, all of which were used to persecute Falun Gong practitioners. The 9th, 11th and 13th sections were the concentrated training team and served as brainwashing centres. The prison moved the practitioners here to persecute them.
Brainwashing
In March 2007, I was moved to the 13th section of the prison. I was forced to read books and watch videos that slandered Falun Gong every day. The team leaders of the 13th section Wang Xiaoli and Jia Wenjun told the prisoners to watch the practitioners. They did not allow us to talk and followed us closely even when we went to the restroom. The prisoners even watched us at night. To keep us from studying the Fa and practicing the exercises, they slandered Falun Gong and used fake articles to try to deceive us. They used both soft and hard tactics to persecute us. They forced us to listen to audio that slandered Falun Gong and Falun Gong practitioners. From morning until night, several prisoners were sent to surround one practitioner. They used all kinds of improper words and actions to distract us and did not let us concentrate. The prisoners did not let us go to the workshop. Instead, they persecuted and threatened us at the prison rooms. We were persecuted from five in the morning until nine at night. Sometimes, the police and prisoners extended the hours to 1 or 2 a.m. It was really terrible to have to endure all this, and it seemed to last a very long time.
In August 2007, I was sent to the 5th prison section. Two prisoners were sent to watch me and follow me all the time. Two months later, they transferred me to the 4th section. They also forced me to sit on the small bench and sent prisoners to watch me all the time. Since we did not give up our belief in Falun Gong, they kept transferring us all the time to torture us. The persecution continued until I was released from prison.
Related articles:
http://www.clearwisdom.net/html/articles/2003/1/31/31526.html
http://www.clearwisdom.net/html/articles/2005/2/6/57225.html
http://www.clearwisdom.net/html/articles/2005/4/11/59488.html
Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2011/2/26/236807.html
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