By Wang Chunhua, Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province
Our whole family practises Falun Gong. It includes my daughter, son-in-law, one-year-old grandson and myself. For several years we have been suffering from the persecution by Jiang Zemin's political gang. We were arrested many times; after each time we were brutally tortured. Both of my parents died one after another because of the severe pressure caused by the persecution, which was beyond what they could bear. My husband also could not bear the pressure and came down with several serious illnesses. The following is my account of the persecution I have been subjected to for my belief in Falun Gong:
One night in July 1999, several police from Shijiazhuang City Taoyuan Police Station, led by Zhang Jianliang, broke into my home. I was not at home at that time. My daughter was kidnapped for resisting the persecution, while several policemen pushed my son-in-law down to the ground.
In October 1999, our family of four went to Beijing to appeal since we wanted to speak out on behalf of Falun Gong. There, we were arrested and brought back to Shijiazhuang. Police officer Zhang Jianliang started to swear at us as soon as he saw us. He called to my husband and said, "Divorce her! She does not want her home, so why keep her?" He also yelled at me, "See how I will retaliate against you? I will publicize you badly for sure!" The next day we were brought to the subdivision where we live. All factories in the village were made to stop production. We were handcuffed and each of us was escorted by two persons in a manner that was reserved for people charged with dangerous crimes or murder. In order to use us as an example and incite hatred against us and Falun Gong, the authorities announced publicly to everyone in our subdivision that we were to be put into detention. During our detention period, my working unit ordered me to write a guarantee letter of giving up cultivation and threatened that my pension would be withheld if I refused to comply.
In the evening of February 4, 2000, I was arrested for going outside to practise the Falun Gong exercises together with others. Taoyuan Police Station head Zhang Guohui took me and another Falun Gong practitioner from a neighbouring village away and left us outside in a yard in the cold weather until dawn. The next day was the first day of the Chinese New Year. They ransacked my and other practitioner's homes. After we were taken back to the police station, they shackled us to a basketball stand and then left us there until midnight. They even said, "Why have you two not died from the freezing cold?" In the morning of the third day of the Chinese New Year, we were sent to Shijiazhuang City No. 2 Detention Centre where we were illegally detained for 30 days. While we were detained in the police station, we were not given any food to eat. Our home phones were tapped. My husband could not bear the tribulations and his health began to deteriorate. He had no choice but to retire early.
During that one-month detention I was subjected to all kinds of torture. After I was released from the detention centre, the police station enforcers detained me for over 20 days. I was not allowed to sleep. I was handcuffed around the clock. My lower legs became swollen and as thick as my upper legs, so I could not bend my legs. Police chief Zhang Guohui and political instructor Zhang Jianliang extorted 5,000 Yuan from my family members before they released me. After I was tortured for over two months my father, who was over 70 years old, saw me and he was filled with grief and indignation. On the ninth day after my release, he passed away.
On July 13, 2000, my son-in-law was arrested when clarifying the truth to the public. He was sentenced to two years of forced labour. He endured all kinds of inhuman tortures in the camp. When he was released, he often showed symptoms of being mentally disorientated. He also frequently suffered from severe stomach pains. He became thinner every day. In 2003, he almost died of gastric perforation.
I was shocked to learn what had happened with my family. My elderly mother could not bear the heavy stress and died during this injustice, so I was only able to see her remains. On July 20, my daughter was also unjustifiably arrested. Only my husband, two-year-old grandson and I were left at home. After finishing taking care of the funeral affairs, my husband and I went out everywhere to ask about the whereabouts of my daughter. To get their hands on more money, the police sent my daughter to the Shijiazhuang City No. 1 Detention Centre and claimed that they would release my daughter only after we paid them 5,000 Yuan. One month later, people from my daughter's work unit took her back.
On December 31, 2000, they came again to arrest me. They kept pushing and pulling my two-year-old grandson and me while they took us to the police station. Several fellow practitioners had already been detained there. Because we all staged a hunger strike, the police believed that it was me who led the hunger strike. That night I was handcuffed to the window frame in the west side of the hallway. My upper body faced the windowsill and my feet could not reach the floor. The cuffs, which were already very tight, started to slowly cut into my flesh. Both hands were swollen and became black and blue. The police also left the window open so that the cold wind would blow on me. For several hours I was not allowed to go to the toilet.
From October 1999 to February 2001, I was arrested five times. My husband could not bear the pressure and developed high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes and other illnesses.
On October 28, 2002, Party Secretary Li Changxin and section chief Li Binggang from my work unit abducted me into a brainwashing center. Because I refused to be brainwashed, a woman named Cui Yanfang led a group of people and physically tortured me. To torture those Falun Gong practitioners who refused to be brainwashed, Cui and her gang cuffed their hands from behind their backs, shackled their feet and force-fed them alcohol to degrade them [Falun Gong practitioners do not smoke or drink]. Cui and her gang wrote Master's name on the floor with chalk, tied Master's photos to the soles of the practitioners' shoes, and then dragged the practitioners around on the floor in attempts to force them to disrespect the founder of Falun Gong. Whenever night came, the police would start beating the practitioners. Since I could not stand the torture anymore, I complied with the police and copied the four guarantee letters [which are used by the police to indicate the practitioners' giving up of their cultivation] from others. I had done what a practitioner should not do and compromised my belief.
In the afternoon of March 3, 2003, the neighbourhood committee came to my home twice to harass me. In the evening of May 10, Zhang Jianliang and others cut the electricity to my house and then broke into my home. They kidnapped me again and took me to the police station where I told them in a dignified manner, "I am still practising Falun Gong. I was writing it down to expose the facts of the persecution." Forty-eight hours later, I returned home.
Taoyuan Police Station, 86-311-6839048
Address: Beihuan Dong Road, Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province, P.R. China, Zip Code 050000.
Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2004/3/21/70525.html
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