Practitioners From Qitaihe City, Provide Evidence of Widespread Atrocities and Demand Justice

Since Jiang Zemin began to demonize, frame and persecute Falun Gong, on July 20, 1999, he has instigated the "610 office", public security branches, legal organizations, people's courts and special National Security agents to illegally arrest Falun Gong practitioners, send them to labour camps and jails and brutally torture them. Many practitioners have been persecuted to death.

In December 1999, five Dafa practitioners of Qitaihe City, Heilongjiang Province, including Liu Jinfeng, Wei Jianqiang, Wang Yahui and Zhang Liping, were sentenced to three years' forced labour -- simply because they had gone to Beijing to conduct a peaceful appeal on behalf of Falun Dafa. Qitaihe City authorities unjustly detained 92 Falun Gong practitioners in November 1999 and 106 practitioners in December 1999.

Qitaihe City detained 189 Falun Gong practitioners in January and February 2000 and 118 practitioners in March and April of the same year. In April 2000, practitioners were discharged from their jobs. The head of the Qitaihe Taoxi Police Station shouted, "Do you know? The government has an order, there is no responsibility even if we beat you to death!" After that, he began punching Shao's face and kicked Shao in the leg. When he kicked Shao, he threatened, "I'll make you unable to stand up!"

This head of the police station kicked Shao so many times that he ruined his shoes. Afterwards, Shao's two hands were forcibly pulled behind his back: one hand was pulled behind over his shoulder and the other hand was pulled behind from his lower back and two were pulled tightly and handcuffed together, causing him to suffer immense pain. He was hung up while handcuffed this way for up to 4 hours and he suffered so much pain that he fainted several times.

The police also jabbed Shao's face with cutting tools and then yanked his handcuff in four directions: up, down, left and right while his hands were still painfully pulled back to increase the pain he would feel. They also struck his head with electric batons. After that, 8 policemen interrogated him in turn and did not allow him to sleep for 40 hours.

These sadistic police also psychologically tortured him by holding an empty pistol to his temple and pulling the trigger to make him fear he would be executed. In addition, they directed that the criminal inmates beat up the Falun Dafa practitioners. Practitioners' heads and entire bodies were beaten until they were severely bruised and swollen.

Between March and September 2003, the Qitaihe City Police Department, all its branches and police stations, as well as the local "610 Office," joined forces together and started another round of intense persecution targeting Falun Dafa practitioners and they began mass arrests. More than 40 Dafa practitioners were arrested during this period. Zhou Chunmian and Liu Guihua were tortured to the brink of death and then carried back home, and Di Lanmei and Li Bo were sent to a forced labour camp. Pang Shixing was persecuted to the point that Pang had to leave home in order to avoid further persecution and unlawful arrest. On November 8, 2003, Pang was picked up by police and sentenced to three years' imprisonment.

On April 14, in just two days, police beat Zheng to death. Fang Cuifang, Zhang Changming, Liu Xin, Lin Limei, He Ping and Yan Xiuzhong were sent to the forced labour camps and systematically tortured to death simply for telling the public, "Falun Dafa is Good" and exercising their constitutional right to appeal.

Before the Qitaihe City authorities illegally sentenced Falun Dafa practitioners, the public security branches broadcast an award celebration on state-run TV where they gave out 100,000 yuan in 'bonuses' to various public security personnel for their service.

The following are some of the specific means that Jiang's political group uses to persecute Falun Dafa practitioners:

1. In order to oppress and persecute Falun Gong practitioners, Jiang's political group invented many criminal laws and instruments of torture, such as using sharp, steel wire to pierce women's' nipples; pressing burning cigarette butts against practitioners' faces, mouths - even women's breasts and genitals. They shocked practitioners on the face or inside their mouth, holding 30,000-volt electric batons on the area for extended periods, which caused permanent wounds to Dafa practitioners faces, and resulted in disfigurement. The authorities sadistically used even more indecent and malicious torture methods by using high-voltage electric batons to electrically shock practitioners genitals and rectums.

2. Falun Dafa practitioners had their two hands handcuffed behind their back. A rope was tied from the handcuffs to the ceiling and then pulled hard to lift up the practitioner and hang them up by their back cuffed hands. This torture causes the practitioner's entire body weight to be born by the backward handcuffed hands. Some practitioners were hung for several days or even weeks. Some were beaten up while they were hanging up. A torture like this can tear shoulder ligaments, dislocate and permanently disable a practitioner's arms.

3. Dafa practitioner have been beaten for extended sessions until he or she lost consciousness. Cold water was poured on the practitioner to revive him and then the beatings would commence again. When cold water does not revive the unconscious practitioner, the authorities would use the trick of dipping a high-voltage electric baton into the puddle of water that the practitioner had collapsed in and delivering an electric jolt to the soaked practitioner. When a practitioner still did not revive after being electrically shocked then it was a sign that the practitioner had been electrocuted and was dead.

4. Those Dafa practitioners conducting a hunger strike as a last resort to protest the brutal treatment they received were force fed with human faeces by the police. The police wrapped human faeces in a dirty cloth, strapped it across the practitioner' mouth using duct tape and handcuffedf practitioner's two hands to a metal bar.

5. Practitioners were detained in specially made steel mesh cages. The cage is so small that it is impossible for a practitioner to stand or sit. Some practitioners were detained in these types of small cages for several weeks and even had to relieve themselves while locked in the cage.

6. In the dead of winter, Dafa practitioners had their clothes stripped off leaving only their underwear. The police poured ice-cold water over the practitioners and threw him or her onto the snow covered ground. They also shouted abuses such as, "Killing you is like killing a dog! The higher-up authorities have given the order that killing you is to be reported as a suicide."

7. Practitioners were forced to stand at attention for eight days and eight nights and not allowed to move, sleep nor go to the toilet.

8. Practitioners' homes were searched and their personal property confiscated at will and without any legal document or record of the seizure. In fact, the police often take these opportunities to steal practitioners' personal assets for themselves.

9. Falun Dafa practitioners were tied onto cold metal beds known as the "Dead Person's Bed, and subjected to tortures known as the "Big Hang Up" [With both hands cuffed behind the back and only toes touching the ground, one is hung by a rope that is tied to the metal window frames], and the Tiger Bench [Practitioners are forced to sit on a small iron bench that is approximately 20 cm (6 inches) tall with their knees tied together. With their hands tied behind their backs or sometimes placed on their knees, they are forced to sit straight up and look straight ahead. They are not allowed to turn their heads, close their eyes, talk to anyone or move at all]. The police also scalded practitioners with boiling water, jammed toothpicks under practitioners' fingernails, jab their feet with sharpened nails, pound their feet with bricks, twisted their bodies and pulled out their fingernails with pliers, etc.

We appeal to all international courts upholding justice, please accept our evidence and investigate this case. Jiang Zemin, the primary architect of the persecution of Falun Dafa must be brought to justice and these atrocities against kind people must end.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.ca/mh/articles/2004/4/10/72036.html