Evidence for Lawsuit against Jiang Zemin: Female Practitioner's Experience in a Beijing Labour Camp (Part 1)

In 1992, while I was giving birth, there were two instances when I began bleed seriously because of medical malpractice. My life was in great danger during both incidents. Later, I was infected with hepatitis C during a blood transfusion. I couldn't work for four years and spent over 50,000 yuan for medical expenses [an average urban worker makes about 500 yuan a month in China]. My body felt weak all of the time and I had to take medication.

In July of 1997, I started practising Falun Gong. Not long after that my hepatitis C went away and I could leave the hospital. I became healthy and could work again.

On July 20, 1999, Jiang Zemin's regime started a large-scale persecution of Falun Gong. I went to Zhongnanhai to appeal. I was hoping that the officials would carefully reconsider their policies toward Falun Gong. As soon as I stepped onto Fuyou Street, policemen asked me if I practise Falun Gong. My answer was of course "yes." They arrested me immediately and put me into a bus parked on the street. The policemen took away my two copies of "Zhuan Falun" [book of Falun Gong teachings] as well. When the bus was filled with people, they drove us to the Shijing Mountain District Gymnasium and locked us there for one day. The number of people locked in the gym that day was at least 3,000.

In early November of 1999, I wrote letters to the chairman of China, the premier, and the chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. They were appeals to the government, asking that they stop the persecution against Falun Gong. I wrote my real name and address on the letters. These letters were sent to the police department and became "evidence." The police then arrested and interrogated me. They recorded the interrogation and forced me to sign my name to verify the "evidence."

On December 26, 1999, I heard that Beijing's First Intermediate Court was going to try ex-Falun Gong Association members. I wanted to witness the trial, but as soon as I arrived at the courthouse the police asked me if I practise Falun Gong. They arrested me as soon as I said "yes." They sent me to the Beijing Chongwen District Detention Centre, and locked me up with prisoners for 48 hours. On that day they arrested over 1,000 Falun Gong practitioners in front of the courthouse.

On February1 8, 2000, I was arrested again because I attended an experience sharing conference. The Chongwen District Detention Centre illegally detained me for 28 days. On March 16, my husband signed a bail letter to get me out.

At 2 a.m. on April 13, 2000, the police broke into my house while I was sleeping and arrested me. They took me to the Chongwen District Detention Centre. For the next few days, they refused to tell me the reason for the arrest. While I was on trial they produced an email. It was an email that I wrote to my in-laws explaining why I practise Falun Gong. The police had done some hacking and intercepted the email when it was being delivered.

They unjustly sentenced me to one year of labour camp because of the email. There is no opportunity for Falun Gong practitioners to appeal regarding their sentencing. Three days after the sentence, on June 1, 2000, they sent me to the Bejing Laboru Dispatch Department in Daxing County, Beijing. This dispatch department was newly built since there were too many practitioners unjustly sentenced to labor camp in Beijing, and they ran out of room in the existing dispatch departments.

On my first day in the department, they forced me and another 24 newcomers (20 of whom were practitioners) to squat down and stay exposed under burning sun from 9 a.m. until late into the night, for a total of 15 hours. They wouldn't let us move. Many people couldn't stand it and fell to the ground. As soon as they fell, they had to get back into the squatting position immediately; otherwise, the guards would beat them with electric batons.

Starting on the second day, we had to cross our arms in front of our stomachs and stare at our feet every day, 16 hours a day. At the same time we had to recite the labour camp's rules over and over again. I felt that this was an intolerable, personal insult. This indignation combined with extreme physical exhaustion, made me almost have a mental collapse.

On the third day, I couldn't take it anymore. So I requested paper and pen from the police to write a letter of appeal. The leader of the guards Wang Zhao started swearing and sent me to squat under the hot sun. I refused to cooperate and she and official Sha Xuemei dragged me to the ground and beat me with two electric batons. With every strike of the baton my body felt like it was burning. I couldn't help but convulse. Later, Wang Zhao and Sha Xuemei each held a baton and pressed them against my body for a prolonged period of time. One of the batons was pressed against the sensitive part of my neck. They continuously increased the voltage. I closed my eyes to endure the awful pain, and finally, I passed out.

I don't know how long I was unconscious. As soon as I woke up they forced me to squat underneath the sun, hold my stomach and stare at my feet. They made one of the prisoners keep an eye on me. If I moved even slightly she would kick me. I continued squatting from 2 p.m. until 9 p.m. As the day wore on, whenever the sunlight no longer touched me, the prisoner watching me made me move into the sunlight, so that I was always exposed to the hot sun. During June, it was 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) in Beijing. It only took about two seconds for the sweat dripping down from my forehead to evaporate. My sweat ran out soon, but they still made me squat underneath the sun. If I moved she would kick me, and they didn't give me any water to drink. I squatted until 9 p.m. and finally they let me stand up. My legs were numb by then and I couldn't move for a long time. The mental pain cannot be explained in words.

To be continued

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2003/10/6/58449.html