Ms. Li Bin Recalls How She Was Tortured and Shocked by Guards in the Beijing Labour Camp Dispatch Office

On August 8th, 2000, the courtyard of the Beijing labour camp dispatch office appeared well guarded.

It is usually hot in Beijing at that time of the year. Against the background of dead silence, one could hear a threatening voice and the sizzling noise of electric shocks. Even when no one violates the rules they set, the guards are all equipped with an electric baton at their waist. Some keep it in their hands to show off their power. Once in a while they discharge electricity into the air, making a sizzling noise to frighten people. It is a horrendous sound.

One day, the police sent several new "forced labour members" (practitioners sentenced to a forced labour camp). One of them was a girl named Li Bin. She wore a white T-shirt and grey trousers. As she entered the courtyard, she immediately sensed the atmosphere of terror. A person in a blue uniform came and led her to a small dark room. It may have been a storage room. Then she heard a shout, "Squat! Hold your head!" She was being told to squat with both hands behind her head. Then the person stripped and body-searched her. Completely unprepared for this, Li Bin raised her head a little. Suddenly, she was slapped in the face and heard the shout, "Do not raise your head!"

Dear readers, you may think that this person was a police guard. Actually she was an inmate that was sentenced to forced labour camp for stealing. Insiders call her "Xiao Shao." She was encouraged by the authorities and did whatever she pleased, thinking that she had been given an "important mission."

After torturing Li Bin for half a day, Xiao Shao threw her a blue uniform, exactly the same as the one she wore. She shouted, "Put it on!"

That afternoon, all the newcomers were treated by Xiao Shao like slaves. She rapidly repeated the orders, "Squat, get up, squat, get up!" A woman over 70 years old received the same treatment. Xiao Shao also ordered her to shout, "Report! Present! Yes, Madam!" Because she had received an order from the guards, Xiao Shao beat up whomever she thought was not obedient. After finishing the training, everyone had their hair cut off, both young and old.

After this Li Bin experienced ruthless torture, especially electric shocks, which nearly killed her.

Everyone was taken individually into a small room with the doors and windows sealed. When it was Li Bin’s turn, two female guards interrogated her and took notes. Then they started the barbaric "training." Each of them held an electric baton, 70 centimetres long, and ordered Li Bin to squat with both hands behind her head. They then started to shock her.

When I first heard Li Bin describe her experience, my deepest sympathies were aroused. I was shocked that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was capable of such atrocities. How was she able to endure such ruthless torture? To find out, I interviewed her. The following is the record of that interview:

Reporter: It frightens me to even imagine an electric baton, but I have never seen a real one used in a labour camp in China. Can you describe it?

Li Bin: Every electric baton is about 70 centimetres long. It is black. There are two electrodes at one end and an insulated handle at the other. I have heard that the sparks they emit are blue. Because I was ordered to squat with both hands behind my head and tortured until I was close to fainting, I did not have the chance to see what colour they were. I only heard the sizzling noise and later found out that everyone in the courtyard had heard it. I then realised why they had ordered others to close all the doors and windows. I screamed because of the excruciating pain. Only by crying out could I relieve the pain a little. The guards order all the instructors, "Close the doors and windows immediately!" Then I heard the sound of closing doors and windows.

Reporter: How did it feel when you were shocked by electric batons?

Li Bin: At that time it was really hot in Beijing. One could sweat even without moving around. When the guards us shocked me, I sweated all over and my clothes were wet. I first felt pain, as if I was being pierced with needles. I heard the sizzling noise. It was truly horrendous. I could also smell the burning of my hair and skin.

Sometimes the electricity went to my brain. That was even worse. It felt like I was having a seizure because the nerves were stimulated on top of the pain. You can only try to imagine what kind of feeling that is.

Reporter: Where did the police shock you?

Li Bin: When they shocked me on my back, they picked the most tender parts. Where the limbs connect to the body are the most tender. They shocked me on those parts. Meanwhile, they shouted, cursed, threatened, and humiliated me. They did not allow me to speak. I suffered both physically and mentally.

Reporter: Were you squatting while they shocked you?

Li Bin: I fell to the ground several times. The two female guards then dragged me up by the arms and ordered me to continue to squat. In addition, they ordered me to keep the correct position, which was to squat with both hands behind my head. They continued to shock me. I do not remember how many times I fell. I only remember that I sweated all over. My back was very painful, as if stitched by needles. I also felt numb.

Reporter: If it does not bother you too much, can you describe the pain?

Li Bin: How should I put it? Let’s say, when the electricity goes through you, you feel pain and numbness and your brain twitches. At that moment, you would not even fear someone stabbing you with a knife. However, you are alive and you are feeling the pain. You can say that every cell and every nerve feels pain and is struck by the powerful electric current. Furthermore, although I felt as if I was close to fainting, I could clearly feel the pain. Every nerve in my body was sensitive to the pain. At that moment, I knew the meaning of "living is worse than dying." I cannot describe it adequately in words. I am just trying my best. You cannot believe how painful it is.

Reporter: We can only imagine it through your description.

Li Bin: You know, they shocked you one part after another, bit by bit. At first they shocked you on the tenderest parts. Then they shocked me all over my body, and I could not even tell which part they were shocking. I only felt that my brain, the back of my neck, and the parts where my limbs connect to my body were especially painful. When I came to, I realised that they had shocked my entire back. My entire back was burned. But I could not feel it. I only felt that my brain, the back of my neck, and the parts where my limbs connected to my body were especially painful.

How should I describe the pain? It is just painful, like being poked by needles. If one needle pokes you, you feel the pain. If two needles poke you, you feel double the pain. When they shock you with electric batons, it's as if they are poking you with many needles. Can you imagine how it feels? Of course, electric shock is much worse than being poked by needles. It is a formidable electric flow. Some people may have experienced being shocked with electricity. However, that is only for a second. It doesn't last. Electric baton shocking lasts for a long time, until your skin is burned. The sizzling noise alone is very frightening.

At last, even the guards were too tired to hold the batons. Can you imagine how painful it is for the victims?

I was shocked by two electric batons simultaneously. Others were shocked by many more. It was much worse. Some were shocked with seven or eight electric batons. Some guards even inserted the electric baton directly to a victim’s mouth. The victim fainted immediately and fell unconscious. One girl who was a Falun Gong practitioner and was one year younger than me fainted right away.

Reporter: How do people who were sent the the labour camp later respond to the torture you suffered?

Li Bin: After shocking me, police put me into the 2nd class. There were eight classes in the courtyard. When I first entered the room, they looked at me in surprise. Later they told me secretly, "Do you know when you first entered, your face was pale and your lips were blue. We were all frightened for you."

Many people know this fact: In China, some police use torture to force suspects to confess. This has resulted in many false accusations and unjustified cases. How do the police do that? Why did people admit that they committed murder while in fact they did not? Did they not know that they would have to pay with their own lives? It is because they couldn’t withstand the physical torture and admitted to things they had not done against their will. Even though they know that once they confess they will have to die, they still do it. The torture the CCP uses in their interrogations is truly cruel. Many people could not withstand the feeling of "to live is worse than to die."

Dear readers, please do not think that Ms. Li Bin must have committed a crime to be tortured like this. She only told the truth about Falun Gong and appealed to the Chinese government, explaining that Falun Gong practitioners are kind people. As a result, she was arrested and tortured.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2006/10/21/140684.html