Victim: Zhao Shurong, female, 51-years-old, from Xutun, Nanshi District of Bozhou City.
Perpetrators: Shi Xinmin, Yuan Lei, Wu Xianbin, and "610 Office" (1) of Bozhou City Political and Judiciary Committee.
The following is Ms. Zhao's account:
On the morning of March 20, 2002, I was walking on the street when Song Baowei and Wei Jianquan from the Nanshi District Political and Judiciary Committee grabbed my mobile phone from me and threw me into a police van. They took me to the Qiaoling Police Station, where they handcuffed me for at least four hours and then sent me to Bozhou City Custody Centre for months of detention. On June 12 of that year, they sent me again to the custody centre, along with practitioners Ms. Gao Hongying and Ms. Yang Jinying. I have been continuously held since then.
From August 6 to 9, 2002, Shi Xinmin and Yuan Lei tortured me for three days and nights in a room on the third floor of Hanjin Hotel in Bozhou City. During the daytime, four or five of them took turns torturing me. At night, they (Yuan, Wu, Shi, and Hu) set the air-conditioner to a very low temperature and slept in blankets. They handcuffed me by both hands on the clothes rack, with my feet barely touching the ground. Then, a man named Li Gang hit my head heavily. They hung me like that from 9 p.m. to 8 a.m. the next morning. After they ate, Yuan Lei, Li Gang, and others handcuffed me to the iron window, leaving my feet off the ground. I was shaking all over. I was about to lose consciousness before they let me down. Because I was hung up for such a long time combined with the weight on the handcuff, the handcuff could not be opened. They brutally pulled my hands out of the handcuff. As a result, my hands were numb and didn't recover until three months later.
These authorities tortured me again for an entire day. On that evening, it was windy and rainy. They opened the window and turned the air-conditioner to a very low temperature. They handcuffed me and hung me up on the iron window. The windowsill was beneath my back. It felt like my spine was going to break. I tried very hard to turn my body to face the window to alleviate the pain against my spine, but Wu Xianbin discovered me. He then opened the handcuffs and cuffed me again, with my back facing the window until the next morning. Thus, they tortured me for three days and nights. I couldn't walk steadily afterwards. The authorities discussed taking my daughter and torturing her too. On the fourth day (August 9), at about noontime, they sent me back to the custody centre.
Before I started practising Falun Gong, I used to be a teacher. Because I had several ailments, I couldn't work for many years. After I practised Falun Gong, I became healthy again. So, I created a day care centre at my home to care for the neighbourhood children.
On the afternoon of March 9, 2001, while I was conducting a class for the children, several people from the Nanshi District came to my home. They asked me to go to Nanshi District Office for a meeting. Yet, they sent me by police van to the school for training agricultural officials and psychologically tortured me there for over 40 days. In addition, they extorted 800 yuan from me which they called a fine (2). After that, people from the "610 Office" often telephoned me or came to my home to harass me. Because of this, I lost my business, which supported my daughter and me. So, I took a temporary job in a pharmacy. On July 17, 2001, more than ten people from the "610 Office" came to my home again, attempting to take me away. I was forced to leave home to avoid their unlawful arrest and harassment.
Even so, the authorities from the local "610 Office" wouldn't stop persecuting me. They told me the following while they tortured me from August 6 to August 9 in 2002: In September of 2001, they sent two vans full of people to my home, trying to arrest me, but failed. Several days later, they went to my home again on a dark night. There were more than ten people, including Shi Xinmin, Yuan Lei, and Li Gang. They climbed over the wall into my courtyard. They broke the lock on the house to get into my room and took a tape recorder, two pieces of stereo equipment and one cassette radio. They searched for my personal savings and bank accounts in my drawers and threw blankets and clothes all over. They confiscated my ID and have not returned it thus depriving me of my ability to work, travel or rent a residence. They even took away the color fabric left over from decorating my classroom.
On November 9, 2002, my husband Shi Lingfa died in a mining accident at the Taoyuan Mine of the Huaibei Mine Administration. On November 11, his workplace notified me of his death, but agents of the "610 Office" of Bozhou City Political and Judiciary Committee didn't allow me to handle his funeral. On November 13, some people from the mine administration went to talk to the "610 Office" on my behalf, asking them to allow me to say farewell to my husband. Yet, "610 Office" members used this and tried to blackmail me into give up the practice. After my strong request and negotiations with the mine administration, they allowed me to go to the funeral home on November 18 to bid farewell to my husband. They only gave me two minutes before forcing me back into the van, then taking me back to the custody centre.
Notes:
(1) "610 Office": a bureau specifically created by the Chinese government to persecute Falun Gong. It has absolute power over each level of administration in the Party, as well as over the political and judiciary branches.
(2) Yuan: Chinese currency, the monthly salary for an average Chinese urban worker is about 500 yuan.
Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.ca/mh/articles/2004/6/3/76275.html
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