Police Torture Kind Falun Gong Practitioners

Since July 20, 1999, Qiao Ping, Chen Liang, Chen Xianrui and other police at the Aimin Substation (Translator's note: Aimin means 'Cherishing people') in Mudanjiang City, Heilongjiang Province, have committed countless crimes of brutality and inhumanity in the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners.

Case One:
Practitioner Hou Lihua, female, 33, single, was reported to the police for making truth-clarification materials about Falun Gong and was arrested as a result in early November 2001. Chen Liang and other police at the Aimin Police Substation subjected her to inhuman torture.

The police first tied Miss Hou to a "Tiger bench" ["Tiger Bench" is a torture method where the knees are tied tightly to a small iron bench. Usually some hard objects are inserted underneath the practitioner's lower legs or ankles to make it more difficult for them to tolerate this abuse.]. They stretched her legs straight and kept adding bricks under her feet so as to force her knees to abnormally bend backwards, until after the sixth, they were not able to add anymore. At the same time, they pressed an iron shackle weighing more than 20-kilograms onto her abdomen. One police officer even sat on and squatted up and down on her chest. They put a piece of towel on the iron bench for fear of leaving visible wounds on her. Two policemen, one on each side, pulled and stretched Miss Hou's arms very hard. They used abusive language and kept laughing ferociously. When Miss Hou fell unconscious, they poured cold water on her to wake her up, and began to torture her again.

This small, thin woman only 1.5 to 1.6 meters tall, was the target of their abuse, but that was not the end of the story. Even more inhuman than these things, after seeing that she would not give in, they poured mustard oil into her nose, and they squeezed a burning cigarette stub into her nose. They covered her head with a plastic bag, calling it an "Astronaut's Helmet," such that she was not able to breathe.

The police tortured Miss Hou for 5 consecutive days without letting her sleep. Whenever she closed her eyes, they forced them open; and dirty words continually came out of their mouths. They even whispered warnings to each other not to beat her so as to leave visible wounds. However, the truth cannot be concealed.

In the end, the police sent Miss Hou, who was at her last gasp, to the detention centre. Even the jailers could not look at her. Some of them wept. Seeing her too horribly disfigured, all the practitioners detained in the No. 14 cell wept and submitted a joint letter of appeal for her. Everyone wanted to be a witness. In order to shirk their responsibility, the police substation tried to deny wrongdoing by shifting the blame to the detention centre. It is reported that all the staff of the detention centre signed a joint testimony and appealed to Li Fu, the Director of the Mudanjiang City Police Station, who also came and looked at Miss Hou.

Until today, Miss Hou continues to be detained at the detention centre, and is receiving intravenous drips. Her freedom has not been restored yet. For fear of being persecuted, Miss Hou's family members do not want to see anyone. Details are still under investigation.

Case Two:
Wang Huiqin, female, 51 years old, whose husband suffered from the after-effects of cerebral thrombosis, had her home ransacked by the police of the Aimin Substation in the middle of October 2001. Although they found nothing in the search, they forcefully arrested her.

Beating and cursing have become the habit of the police. They subject practitioners to severe torture in order to extort money and promises to give up the practice of Falun Gong. They punched Wang on the head, face, and eyes until she became all black and swollen. They blindfolded her and beat her on the back with a broom. When the broom broke, they used a mop pole to beat her on the hip and lower abdomen while they pinned her on the ground. When she lost consciousness, they poured water on her to wake her up, and then began to beat and interrogate her again. Wang was tortured half to death. Later one of the police learned from the archives that she had had a heart attack before she practised Falun Gong, and so they finally stopped in fear of causing her death.
Wang was covered all over with bruises. Her back was all black. Still she was detained for more than another 20 days. Her husband died because no one took care of him during her detention and he worried about her so much. The police finally released her, but they are responsible for the death of her innocent husband.

Case Three:
Currently, while this article is being written, another female practitioner is being persecuted. The police sexually abused her in the form of a body search. They pawed her and touched her randomly all over her body, assailing her with obscenities. It is reported that many female practitioners have been subjected to this kind of indecent body search.

Common people of China, are you really accustomed to such darkness, numbness, and heartlessness? Those who reside in Mudanjiang City who have read this article, will you not be moved to ponder these issues?

Source: http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2001/12/12/16744.html