Dafa Practitioners Beaten and Tortured by Laishui County Police Department in Hebei Province

Ever since the cruel persecution of Dafa practitioners began on July 20th, 1999, just as with most practitioners in China, I have repeatedly been detained, deceived, and fined by local agents. My house was searched and property was confiscated. I was often deceived into going to the town government office, and each time I was detained for ten, fifteen, or even twenty days. My family had to provide my food, and I was even watched when I was sleeping or using the toilet.

During the People's Congress in March 2000, my spouse and I went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong. In Beijing we saw a lot of plainclothes agents from the police department. They were there especially to arrest the protesting Falun Gong practitioners. A group of plainclothes agents came over to us and asked whether we practised Falun Gong. When we said that we did, they immediately pulled us over to a car and pushed us in. We were caught and sent to a hotel, and our identification cards and over 400 yuan¹ in cash were confiscated. Afterwards we were brought back home by officials from the Town Government of Laishui County and our village. Agents at the town government beat us and "illegally detained²" us for fifteen days before releasing us.

Facing unreasonable persecution, in April 2000 I once again went to Beijing to appeal. I was arrested by police in Beijing and sent to the Tiananmen Police Substation. My hands were cuffed behind my back. It was so painful that drops of sweat fell to the ground. The police continued to tighten the handcuffs until I finally passed out. Then they removed the handcuffs, and my hands were black and blue. I couldn't move them they were so numb.

Later I was escorted from Beijing to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) School of Laishui County where I was brainwashed. There were already more than seventy Dafa practitioners being persecuted there, and the sounds of beatings and screams incessantly filled the air. Some practitioners were tortured until they became crippled, and some were so severely tortured that their eyes became black and their faces became swollen. Some were dishevelled, and there were many blisters on their mouths from cigarette burns. One time, to achieve their goal of "transformation³," the guards bought 1000 ropes. The ropes were used up in just a few days. Later they twisted electrical wires to scourge us. Some Dafa practitioners were beaten so severely that their lower thighs were all black and they felt like stone when touched. Someone pushed me down on the concrete floor and made me kneel with both my head and knees on the floor. Those in charge used stool legs to beat my thighs and buttocks. Even several months later the muscles of my thigh and buttocks were still stiff. They removed my belt and clothes and whipped my back with my belt. Even after two weeks, I still could not lie down.

In July 2000, after I was "illegally detained" by the town government for several days, I was transferred to the detention centre in Laishui County. I was detained there for over forty days. As soon as I was out the door of the detention centre I was again arrested and sent to the CCP Brainwashing Centre in Laishui County. During the more than forty days in the brainwashing centre, I was severely tormented, cruelly beaten, and abused. My personal freedom was restricted, and I lived in terror.

In August 2000, I was transferred to Laishui County Detention Centre, where I was detained for over twenty days. I was again detained at the notorious Gaoyang Forced Labour Camp until April 2001, when I was released to go home. When I returned home people could not recognise me. My skin had become very dark due to the lengthy labour, and I was so thin--the result of starvation over a long period of time--that my face looked longer.

Forty days after I had returned home, I was again arrested for no reason by the police department of Laishui County and sent to the detention centre in Laishui County. Four months later I was again detained at Baoding Forced Labour Camp without reason. In the Baoding Labour Camp, if one refused to be "transformed" his/her arms and legs would be cuffed to a bed for a long time. This torture was very vicious. One's sweat kept dripping, and every second seemed longer than a year. This kind of torture was used on Dafa practitioners for twenty eight days and nights. After being removed from the bed, both hands were cuffed to a metal door for about two weeks. The wardens laughed and said, "This is for your own good."

Note

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

2. Illegally arrested: Contrary to what former Chinese leader Jiang Zemin, who initiated the persecution, and the Chinese Communist Party would like the world to believe, practising Falun Gong is NOT illegal in China. Although the Public Security Department issued an unconstitutional set of restraints on the practice at the onset of the persecution in 1999, no laws have been passed by the only legislative body in China, the People's Congress, banning Falun Gong or granting the police the authority to arrest Falun Gong practitioners for practising the exercises or distributing flyers. For a more complete discussion of the illegality of the persecution of Falun Gong, please refer to the article "The Ban on Falun Gong—A Dictator's Whim, Not the Rule of Law". (Variation: "illegally sentenced")

3. "Reform or Transform" Implementation of brainwashing and torture in order to force a practitioner to renounce Falun Gong. (Variations: "reform", "transform", "reformed", "reforming", "transformed", "transforming", and "transformation")

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2006/7/4/132152.html