A Practitioner Describes Her 6 Years of Persecution

On April 26th 2003, the Lixia District Court of Jinan City in Shandong Province secretly sentenced seven practitioners including Ms. Liu Hongmei. In court, Ms. Liu Hongmei warned the judges, "Your trial is illegal and violates human rights. Someday, you'll be held responsible for what you have done." Ms. Wang Wei told the court that citizens have a right to freedom of belief and that telling the facts about the persecution is legal. Ms. Liu was determined and refused to be brainwashed. She was sentenced to 7 years in prison.

The following is an excerpt from Liu Hongmei's appeal after sentencing. In it, she explains the facts of the persecution she suffered.

I, Liu Hongmei, want to describe my suffering over these past years. I want others to know who is really damaging the application of Chinese law and how Chinese law is currently improperly applied.

On January 28th 2000, Jinan City's Keyuan Street Police Station fined me 5,500 yuan¹and seized my I.D. They didn't follow any legal procedures or give me a receipt. This was all against basic accounting practices. The police officers have fined citizens at will, withheld citizen ID cards, harassed practitioners' employers and family members, denied use of computers and Internet access, coerced promises to give up their constitutional right of appeal and prevented them from going to Beijing to make an appeal on behalf of Falun Gong. There was no legal basis for doing any of these things. They took away my rights given to me in the Chinese Constitution. The 610 Office²made their own "law" and took control of the government institutions, just like they did during the Cultural Revolution. This seriously disturbs citizens' normal lives, while violating their personal freedoms and human rights.

On October 24th 2000, officers from the Keyuan Street Police station tricked me into coming to the station. Once I got there, they detained me at the Licheng Detention Centre. The detention centre took our food allotments, gave each of us one blanket and forced us to sleep on ice-cold concrete. We were already cold and uncomfortable, yet the officers still tortured us in other ways at the same time. When we asked them why, they replied, "We have orders from upper levels. It's OK as long as you are not starved to death." We suffered a lot, mentally and physically during the persecution.

On November 24th 2000, the detention Centre asked me to sign a release notice, but I was not released. They detained me for another month before moving me to a brainwashing centre set up at Guodianyi Sports School Hostel. At the brainwashing centre, we were deprived of our personal freedom and our family members were forced to pay 3,000 to 10,000 yuan for our room and board. That is over 100 yuan per day. This is organised robbery. Young men monitored us 24 hours a day. They came into our living quarters at will and took away our quilts at will to see how we positioned our legs. This insults us and violates a woman's basic privacy. The officers frequently curse and beat us to keep us terrorised. All of those officers have committed serious crimes by doing so.

Near the end of November, police officer Zhang Guisheng of the Keyuan Street Police Station arrived. He cursed us fiercely and ordered the use of more violence and torture during the brainwashing sessions. Police officer Liu Feng asked me, "Do you choose Falun Gong or your family?" I said, "Practising Falun Gong does not conflict with my family." He jumped up saying, "No! You can choose only one!" I was totally confused. Who gave him the right to force me to make such a choice? Police officers forced citizens to get divorced and involved their family members as a means to threaten us. Such mental abuses are illegal.

On June 8th 2001, police officers from the Tianqiao District Police Station in Jinan City arrested me and beat me very cruelly. They handcuffed my hands tightly by twisting them. This caused my hands to swell terribly. A physical checkup at the detention centre showed injuries to my nose and knees.

On July 8th 2001, after they had detained me for one month, the Keyuan Street Police Station continued to detain me even though a release notice had been written. What's amazing is that they detained me in a secured room overnight with a man who was hired temporarily to monitor me. Is this the way Chinese laws should be applied?

On September 28th 2001, a police officer from Huaiyin arrested me without having a reason. They severely injured my arms, my face and temple. It took over 20 days for the injuries on my face to heal. On September 29th, police officers from the Keyuan Street Police Station forced me to have a physical checkup at the Provincial Women and Children's Centre. I insisted that they should tell me why, but they did not. Later, they sent me into the Shandong Province First Women's Forced Labour Camp without using any legal procedures. They did not inform my family until ten days later.

Police officers detained me many times. Although it is required that they notify my family within 24 hours, they never did. Sometimes it would be a month before they informed my family of my whereabouts. I was on a hunger strike for about half a year and still groups of people continued to try to coerce and brainwash me. I was not allowed to sleep until well past mid-night and for over 8 months, I never saw the sun.

On May 26th 2002, police officer Yang Jiazhong came from the Keyuan Street Police Station to ask me to sign a notice. I refused. Later, Director Tian of the Management Section had Yang sign it for me and dated it as the end of 2001. The judgement said, "Released from forced labour camp on February 4th 2002." I did not get any notice. They made up entrance documents after I had been detained in the forced labour camp for over four months. They did not release me after a release decision had been made. Throughout all of these procedures, where was the law?

On June 14th 2002, police officer Song from the Lixia Police Station talked with me. During our meeting, the people in the forced labour camp packed up my belongings. They told me that I was being transferred. I asked brigade captain Niu Xuelian of the 5th Brigade where I was being sent. She said, "For people like you, it is not going to be a good place!" A police officer from the Lixia Police Station then asked me to go. I refused. They said they would ask their boss where I should go. After about 40 minutes, they said, "Just moving you to another place." I still refused. Director Jiang of the forced labour camp and Yang of the management section pushed me. They said angrily, "Liu Hongmei leave here as quickly as possible. We never accepted you over here." They pushed me into a police car and drove me to the Jinan City Detention Centre. They told me that I was under arrest. They didn't tell me at the forced labour camp because they didn't want me to resist.

How sad it is! Police officers did not abide by the law and then used weird statements to cover up their illegal acts. They know that how they handle the Falun Gong issue is wrong, so they have no right thing to say. Once a police officer said, "Even if you receive redress in the future, that has nothing to do with me. I am only a lowly police officer following orders. So I can deny responsibility when that day comes."

From September 28th 2001, to March 29th 2002, for half a year, I did not eat any food. Since those officers beat, punished, arrested us and did not follow any legal procedures, I went on a hunger strike in protest. I have appealed through legal channels and spoken face to face with the authorities. This did not solve the problem. The persecution has become more and more violent. Because I was on a hunger strike, they brutally force-fed me, injuring my mouth, nose and stomach. They often caused me to bleed or they choked me, almost killing me. While I was on a hunger strike, they still forced me to do cleaning, did not allow me to sleep and forced me to sit 19 to 20 hours a day. For over 8 months, two people monitored me and they did not allow me to leave the room. Police officers ordered the inmates to beat me, curse me, and keep the newspapers and other people away from me. They deprived me of all basic human rights. I began to understand why people detained during the Cultural Revolution committed suicide, because living is no better than death.

Jiang Zemin's regime, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)and forced labour camp staff have committed huge crimes in the persecution of Falun Dafa practitioners. Those are bad memories I do not want to think about. I hope the appeal court will make a fair judgement based on the law and investigate who is really damaging the application of the law.

I also want to remind you that my appeal will be recorded and will be evidence in the future. What choice will you make? The decision you make will affect your fate in the future. That is your personal issue.

Note

1. "Yuan" is the Chinese currency; 500 yuan is equal to the average monthly income of an urban worker in China.

2. "The 610 office" is an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other political and judiciary systems.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2005/10/2/111624.html