My name is Lu Tong, and I am 50 years old. I started practising Falun Gong in 2005, when a practitioner told me about the greatness of Falun Gong. On September 9th, 2005, the police from Huxi Police Station arrested me when I was distributing the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party 1 VCDs and materials containing facts about the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) persecution of Falun Gong in Suzhou Industrial Park, Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province. The police imprisoned me in Suzhou Detention Centre and kept me in handcuffs. On November 22nd, 2005, I was transferred to Fangqiang Forced Labour Camp, where I was held at the No.1 Squadron of the No. 4 Team. There I suffered the most inhuman torture. The policemen participating in the torture were Wang Fei (secretary of the CCP Branch), Wei Honghui (captain), Jiang Xinhai, Pan Yuehua, Gu Yili, Division Chairman Ding, Captain Cao and four other policemen. The prison inmates who participated in torturing me were Dong Biao, Lei Hanxiang, Jiang Guozhang, Ning Jun, Zhou Feng, Chen Xiaoxiang, Li Shuangcheng, Wang Xiang, Peng Haijun, Li Hongjian and two others.
1. Imprisonment at Suzhou Detention Centre
When I was arrested on September 9th, 2005, the police found my business card along with materials exposing the persecution in my bag, so they quickly found my home address. That night, seven policemen arrived unannounced at my home and ransacked it for nearly two hours. My wife and daughter were terribly frightened and went sleepless for the rest of the night.
The police confiscated all of my fliers, Falun Gong books, two PCs, two printers and two removable hard drives. The police also stole my daughter's hard drive containing her personal files and education materials. My daughter went to Huxi Police Station repeatedly to get her hard drive back, but a policeman named Zhao Lei told her that it was missing. To this day, the police has yet to return my daughter's hard drive.
At Suzhou Detention Centre, I was forced to perform hard labour, plant flowers and make battery caps from day to night. I was held there until October 10th, 2005. At 5:00 p.m. on October 5th, the police from Huxi Police Station took me to a forced brainwashing centre on Shangfang Mountain in Suzhou City, which was operated by the local 610 Office2. I was subjected to brainwashing for three days and constantly monitored by two guards. The guards followed me when I ate, slept, used the toilet or even during brainwashing sessions.
On the third evening, the police suddenly transferred me back to Suzhou Detention Centre. I was locked in cell No. 305 without dinner that night. I was held for six weeks. I had to wake up at 6:00 a.m. daily, clean the cell and then do hard labour. I had to manually straighten the lead wire of a diode. The daily quota was 8,000 diodes. If I failed to reach the daily quota, I would be forced to stay up until I finished it. The second job was to cap batteries. As the result of the poor conditions and constant overtime, my hands blistered and discharged pus within a few days. Despite my festering wounds, I worked day and night for six weeks at Suzhou Detention Centre.
2. Incarceration in Fangqiang Forced Labour
At 6:00 p.m. on November 22nd, 2005, I was shoved into a police car before breakfast and transferred to Fangqiang Forced Labour Camp in Jiangsu Province, where I was put into the No.1 Squadron of the No.4 Team.
A group of inmates ordered me to remove my clothes and frisked me outside a building. They stole my winter coat, underwear, two blankets, shoes and other personal items. I was left with inadequate clothes despite the winter weather. By the time they took me to the No.1 Squadron of No.4 Team, I had nothing left but the clothes on my body. Everyone under the watch of this squadron was a Falun Gong practitioner. At the time, there were 32 practitioners there. I was locked in the No. 4 cell.
Noticing that I had nothing, my fellow practitioners gave me a lot of things, including a cup, soap, laundry detergent, new underwear, turtleneck sweaters, soybean milk formula, new shoes, new socks, and so on. Later I found that they had very little, but they had saved these things and gave them to me. I feel so touched that when I think of it, tears fill my eyes. When they learned I had practised Falun Gong for only one month, they treated me like family and helped me enhance my understanding of Falun Dafa. They took good care of me.
At Fangqiang Forced Labour Camp, each practitioner is monitored by two to four inmates. The inmates were allowed to verbally insult us and use violence. The criminal inmates enjoyed a great degree of freedom. All day long, they smoked, gambled, spoke in profanity and read pornographic materials.
Those practitioners that had succumbed to the torture and renounced Falun Gong were allowed to sit on the bench for a while. However, they were still required to attend brainwashing "classes" and do "homework." The so-called homework was to defame Falun Gong in writing. To attend "classes" was to watch hate propaganda that defamed Falun Gong. After class, practitioners that were forced to renounce Falun Gong were required to curse Falun Gong every day as "homework assignments."
Practitioners who refused to renounce Falun Gong were forced to stand in the corner facing the wall from 6:00 a.m. to 1:00 a.m. or 4:00 a.m. the next morning. Sometimes practitioners were forced to stand all night. Inmates took turns to monitor us around the clock. We had to ask for permission to drink something, or even to put on or take off our clothes. We also had to get their permission before we could go to the toilet to urinate while they watched. Sometimes they denied the requests. If a practitioner asked to use the toilet after the request was rejected once, an inmate named Liu Guosheng would verbally insult him or use violence.
In this vicious environment, physically abused and injured practitioners were forced to clean the floor on their knees [because they no longer could stand after standing for long hours.] Fifty-eight-year-old Zhao Jinquan's ankles were so swollen that they became as thick as his calves. However, an inmate Dong Biao ordered Zhao Jinquan to bring him water to wash his feet, to take the dirty water back to the toilet, and to bring him tea. In addition, Dong Biao forced another practitioner named Pan Helin to fold his bed cover for him. Practitioners were strictly forbidden to speak to each other. They might be in the next cell, yet were forbidden to communicate.
Some practitioners had been forced to stand daily for five months or a year. I was forced to stand still daily for over three months. The practitioners' legs were swollen after suffering this torture. I used to wear shoe size 39, but now my feet are three sizes bigger. My feet have become severely deformed. To this day, I still have difficulty walking.
Because I refused to give up practising Falun Gong, a policeman named Jiang Xinhai ordered Dong Biao to make me sit next to a toilet bowl from 8:30 a.m. on May 29th, 2006 to August 7th, 2006. I was surrounded by a toilet bowl and a spittoon, and forced to sit on a small bench daily. The space between the toilet bowl and the spittoon was so small that I couldn't move at all once I sat down. An inmate named Ning Jun was ordered to monitor me. In addition, Jiang Xinhai told him to deny me to urinate or defecate in the toilet bowl. I had no choice but had to urinate. Every day at breakfast, I did not have rice porridge or water. The thirst was unbearable in the middle of summer. My lips were cracked because of thirst. I endured the thirst until noon and when the inmates were taking a nap. A toilet bucket was available in each cell for two hours during the noon break. I took the opportunity to urinate at noon. However, the afternoon hours were very long. I had no choice but to urinate on a towel and washed the towel at night.
Ning Jun would shout at me and force me to squat, but forbade me to defecate. I defecated in my trousers twice. On both days, Ning Jun forbade me to wash and change my trousers. Ning Jun reproached me ferociously for defecating in my trousers. But Jiang Xinhai awarded Ning Jun with one point for it. (One point is equal to one day deducted from an inmate's prison term.)
After I defecated in my trousers, Jiang Xinhai summoned me to his office and verbally insulted me. He said, "Why don't you take off your shirt and trousers? It would be more convenient to defecate naked. In my eyes, you look like an animal. In fact, you are an animal in my eyes."
A guard named Wang Fei put drops of feng you jin in my eyes. [feng you jin is a popular off-the-shelf salve and insect repellent in China that should be kept out of eyes.] He also poked at the nape of my neck, my temples and my philtrum (vertical groove in the upper lip) with a feng you jin bottle, which caused a lot of pain. While poking me with the bottle, Wang Fei said, "I want you to kneel down and beg me. Kneel! Kneel down and beg me to save your family!" Meanwhile, he unbuttoned my shirt, forced me to kneel and kicked the backs of my knees.
Despite the torture, Wang Fei failed to make me renounce Falun Gong. At a general meeting, he announced a warning and my punishment. He issued the warning because I refused to attend the "re-education class" or do "homework." Wang Fei and Jiang Xinhai also held a private trial where they forced an inmate named Sha Yu to make false accusations and put them in writing as "evidence." They accused me of distributing the Nine Commentaries in the cell and recommending Falun Gong to Sha Yu.
3. The Violence in Fangqiang Forced Labour Camp
On August 7th, 2006, I was secretly brought to an air-conditioned room [a torture chamber] that they must have prepared in advance. Wang Fei, Secretary of the CCP branch in the camp, instigated this torture. His accomplices were Jiang Xinhia (Captain of the No.1 Squadron), Pan Yuehua, Gu Yili, Chairman Ding, Captain Cao, Captain Zhu and four other policemen, as well as 12 inmates.
After they shut the window curtains, they became violent. They slapped my face fiercely and repeatedly with shoes. To this day, my ears still ring like a cicada chirping, especially at night, and my head is swollen with pain, which makes me sleepless at night. The severe beating deformed my face. My teeth became loose and my gums were swollen. At the height of the torture activity, there were eight inmates beating me at the same time. They would press me against the floor while inmate Zhou Feng stepped on my hands, inmate Li Shuangcheng kicked me in the rear end, inmate Lei Hanxiang stomped on my inner thighs and inmate Zhang Guozhang stepped on my back. Afterwards, I coughed up blood for two days. They stuffed my mouth with a dirty rag used to clean the toilet to prevent me from screaming. They took turns stomping on my head. I was forced to squat for long hours. The injuries to my legs were the result of squatting for long hours and the violence of these inmates.
They kept physically abusing me until 3:00 a.m. They would take a short break each time they became tired from beating me. An inmate named Chen Xiaoxiang pinched and pulled my eyelids while he verbally insulted me. The eyelid pinching was particularly painful. It made me burst into tears involuntarily on top of the agony. They also twisted and pulled my ears. During the process, they scraped a layer of skin off my ears with their fingernails. They wiped my blood and body tissue on my body, my face and my nose. They stripped me naked and exposed me to the air-conditioner. I shivered in the cold air. Meanwhile, they kept slapping my face with a flyswatter. When they broke the flyswatter, they continued to hit me with the broken handle. My face was so swollen that I had difficulty eating. The beating left me with over 60 visible lumps on my head and forehead. I still can feel the lumps of various sizes.
Next, a thief named Wang Xiang from Suzhou started to beat me fiercely. He kept punching my face and my head while verbally insulting me. He repeatedly slapped my face violently and knocked me to the ground. When I got up from the floor, he continued to slap my face. At the time, my face, arms and legs had become terribly swollen. To this day, my ears ring loudly, especially at night. I have difficulty sleeping and wake up with my ears ringing. My toes, as well as the bottoms of my feet, are numb and in pain. I have difficulty walking. The muscles and nerves of my feet seem to have been permanently injured.
Inmates Chen Xiaoxiang and Lei Hanxiang went to bed in the early morning. They ordered me to kneel down in front of their beds. I refused and kept the squatting position. Chen Xiaoxiang then slapped my face, ears and neck hard with his shoes. Next he slapped my face with another flyswatter. After breaking the flyswatter, he continued to slap me with the broken handle. Then he twisted and pulled my eyelids again. I really could not bear to squat any longer and was knocked to the ground.
Inmates Chen Xiaoxiang and Lei Hanxiang began to curse me. They pulled me up from the ground and shoved my head into a toilet bowl. Next they shoved my face in a basin of water to suffocate me. I ingested a lot of water during the torture.
My entire body had become soaking wet, Chen Xiaoxiang and Lei Hanxiang stripped me naked and put me in front of the air conditioner. I shivered in the cold air and my teeth started to chatter involuntarily. I had slept in damp clothes for less than two hours when Lei Hanxiang woke me up to massage the feet of another inmate named Li Shuangcheng, who arrived in the torture chamber to take his shift.
I got up from the floor, but found it difficult to stand. I was in a lot of pain. I felt as though my entire body was about to break into pieces. My legs had become so swollen that I couldn't squat any longer. When I was forced to clean the bathroom, do the dishes or clean the windows, I had to kneel down. When inmate Lei Hanxiang (in his 30's) saw me doing the chores kneeling down, he verbally insulted me again.
4. The Torture in the Makeshift Torture Chamber
Before I even finished the chores, Wang Fei asked to see me. Inmate Lei Hanxiang took me to a makeshift torture chamber. Wang Fei, Captain Cao, Jiang Xinhai and Pan Yuehai were already waiting for me in the chamber. With an electric baton in his hand, Pan Yuehua said, "I am going to shock him until he dies! He is lying. Inmate Sha Yu has already told us that you wrote and showed him the content of the Nine Commentaries. He also told us that you recommended Falun Gong and Falun Gong's principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance to him. We have already made a record based on his testimony. Now we will punish you for all the offences. You have refused to attend 'class' and do 'homework.' I can report these offences right now and extend your prison term by six months."
Once they let the curtain down, they started to shock me with the electric baton. Wang Fei repeatedly slapped my face and shocked me. After he tore my clothes off with the baton, he stood on my body and shocked me with the electric baton.
After having endured the torture for a year and cleaning metal doors, barred windows and metal beds daily, I could barely stand. I could not take it any more. I finally compromised my belief and agreed to renounce Falun Gong. I was forced to do it. I did it against my conscience. However, I never betrayed my fellow practitioners. Nevertheless, I wrote the "Three Statements3" and renounced Falun Gong in writing.
All the policemen dismissed my writing about Falun Gong. They said that I was pretending to renounce Falun Gong in writing, but I did not really want to do it. This was true. I did not want to write it. I told them, "I only finished the third grade in elementary school. This is as good as it gets." Wang Fei responded to my explanation with verbal insult. Next inmate Chen Xiaoxiang started a new round of violence and curses. He demanded that I produce a new one, but I refused. In the end, Wang Fei, Chairman Ding and Captain Cao modified the statement nine times. Four policemen and three inmates took turns forcing me to transcribe the modified statement. They made me read it at a meeting. Then Chairman Ding dictated a new statement to inmate Chen Xiaoxiang. They changed my statement so much that it became almost a rewrite. Wang Fei alone modified it twice. It contains blasphemy against Falun Gong, as well as false descriptions to present the camp and the policemen as my benefactors. Under the coercion of over 20 policemen and inmates, I read the statement they modified and rewrote 19 times to renounce Falun Gong in a brainwashing class at the No.1 Squadron of No.4 Team at 2:30 p.m., August 23rd, 2006. (The end product I read was written by Wang Fei, Chairman Ding and Chen Xiaoxiang.) The entire reading was videotaped.
Right now my heart is bleeding and wrenching in agony. I am so ashamed of what I have done.
5. My Solemn Declaration
I solemnly declare that coercion did not change my heart for Falun Gong. I solemnly declare that the Three Statements and the "homework" I have written to defame Falun Gong and the statement renouncing Falun Gong that the torturers have written for me is null and void! They were written against my will. I wrote them against my conscience under the coercion of the guards and inmates after having been subjected to their torture for long periods of time.
I solemnly declare that all of what I did, said, and wrote against Falun Gong, including the Three Statements, are null and void! From now on, I shall protect and validate Falun Gong. I shall expose the facts of the persecution I have suffered and use my personal experience to help the world's people understand the truth about Falun Gong.
I was released at 11:00 a.m. on September 9th, 2006 and returned home to Suzhou at 5:00 p.m. I have difficulty walking at present. The muscles and tendons in the bottoms of my feet and toes have been damaged. They are numb and in pain. My hearing is failing. My ears ring around the clock and I have difficulty sleeping at night. I often wake up to the sound of ringing in my ears.
This experience caused me to see through the atrocious nature of the CCP and its accomplices. They are the most hypocritical, most evil, most violent and most thuggish elements in history. The CCP does nothing but the most despicable crimes.
Note
1. Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party: Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party is a series of essays published in late 2004 that reveal the true nature of the Communist Party. The Nine Commentaries have led millions of people to renounce their membership in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). "A book that has shocked all Chinese around the world. A book that is disintegrating the Communist Party." http://ninecommentaries.com
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.
3. "Three Statements": Practitioners are coerced under brainwashing and torture to write "Repentance Statement," "Guarantee Statement" or 'Dissociation Statement" as proof that they have given up their belief. In the statement, the practitioner is forced to admit remorse for practising Falun Gong, promise to give up Falun Gong, and never again associate with other practitioners or go to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong.
Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2006/10/3/139258.html
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