How a Doctor Suffered from Persecution

My name is Pan Qi. I am a single woman and was born on June 26th, 1974. I am a physician of internal medicine and live in Ganjingzi District, Dalian City, Liaoning Province. I was weak and unhealthy since childhood. In 1996, when I was in my third year of college, I began practising Falun Gong. From then on, I have been following the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, and I have become a very healthy and happy person.

Persecution at Yaojia Detention Centre

On July 20th, 1999, Jiang Zemin's wicked regime began openly persecuting Falun Gong. In order to defend Falun Gong, some practitioners and I went to the Dalian municipal government to appeal on July 20th. The police harassed us and took us far away to a school by bus. During the day, they did not allow us any food. By 10:00 p.m., the officers had registered each of us before releasing us.

To resist the lies and persecution, on August 9th, 1999, I and seven other practitioners openly did the Falun Gong exercises in the Haimao 523 Factory Elementary School. Policeman Wang Guoyu of Haimao Police Station led a group of officers and arrested us. They later sent us to Yaojia Detention Centre, where we were detained for seven days. During this detention, I refused to stop practising. To punish me, the guards locked me up with rusty shackles. They said that these shackles had not been used for a long time. They chained my hands and feet to a frame. I could not lie down, nor could I stand up. When I tried to move a little, my wrists and ankles hurt badly. After 24 hours, my body could not stop shaking. An elderly lady in her 70's was also tortured the same way. She looked younger than her real age because of her Falun Gong practice. When she had her period, the police did not let her wash, so she was soaked with blood. A guard even cursed her.

My older sister Pan Ling was also detained. She and another practitioner were handcuffed together back to back. When one of them used the toilet, the other had to go along. It was very painful.

Detained practitioners occupied an entire floor of the building. It was so crowded that we could hardly find a place to sleep. Some practitioners recited Teacher Li's books from memory. To stop them, the guards beat them. After that, they assigned one or two people to monitor each practitioner. Because the place was overcrowded, we did not eat meals or ate less to avoid trouble. We had to sleep on the bare floor with no bedding.

After seven days, I returned home and found that my house had been ransacked by the police. They had confiscated all of my Falun Gong books. My family members were very scared.

In late October 1999, I went to Beijing to appeal. When I arrived at Tiananmen, a soldier asked me who I was. I said that I was a Falun Gong practitioner and I wanted to visit the government appeals office. I was taken to Qianmen Police Station. The police officers refused to listen to my appeal and just wanted to know my name and address to send me back to my hometown. I refused to tell them my name and address. To punish me, they handcuffed my arms behind my back, one from above and another from below. After 20 minutes, they opened the handcuffs and questioned me. When I refused to cooperate, they handcuffed me again. After several rounds, my hands turned purple for lack of blood circulation. They then changed their tactics and hung me up by my hands to a steel cage. My toes could barely touch the floor. The officers closed the door, turned off the light, and left me there alone. With my body weight on my hands, I felt as if I was being deformed. My body felt like it was being torn to pieces. After a long time, the officers lowered me down. This torture did not stop until the next morning. I could not move my hands for a long time.

One of the police officers lied to me. He said that if I told them my name, they would give me the Falun Gong books they had confiscated from practitioners, and I could take as many as I wanted. Otherwise, they would destroy the books. I believed the lie and told them my name. They immediately took me to the Dalian City Liaison Office in Beijing. From there I was sent to Jinzhou Detention Centre in Dalian.

The food in Jinzhou Detention Centre was terrible. A meal usually consisted of hard corn bread and a piece of salted turnip. Toilet breaks were very short and only at designated times. As a result, some of us suffered from constipation. After six days, the guards sent me to Masanjia Forced Labour Camp without informing my family.

Persecution at Masanjia

In Masanjia Forced Labour Camp, I suffered all kinds of mistreatment. I was monitored and tortured, forced to do hard labour, punished physically with electrical batons and sleep deprivation, and forced to stay in very cold place. After all this, the guards still could not force me to renounce Dafa. Frustrated, four guards (Wang Naimin, Wang Suzheng, Zhang Xiurong, and Huang Haiyan) placed Teacher's picture on the floor and carried me to step on the picture. They then told me to say bad things about Teacher and Dafa and threatened to shock me again. They wanted to destroy me physically and mentally. Under the high pressure, I compromised. Afterwards, I no longer wanted to live, but I also knew that committing suicide was a sin for a practitioner. However, at the time, I wanted to end the difficult situation and protest the persecution with death. My plan failed. Detention Centre director Su Jing had an interview with me after I was "reformed¹." I told her about my thoughts of suicide. After that, the officials gave up the plan to have me appear on TV to glorify their "success."

I then wrote a letter of "My Declaration" to indicate my resolve to continue cultivating. After I gave it to police team leader Wang Naimin, three months were added to my term. The guards also said that I had a mental problem and took me to a hospital. Using 400 yuan² of my money, they bought some drugs and forced me to take them. I told Wang Naimin that I had no mental problem and there was no need to take the drugs. She said, "You couldn't sleep." I said, "But that doesn't mean I have to take these." In fact, they did not allow me to sleep regularly. Wang said, "These drugs are expensive." I told her, "It's not good to take them." She said, "You can do whatever you want. You can lie down or sleep, as long as you take them." Several collaborators³ pinned me to the floor. One sat on my body and they pinched my nose so I had to open my mouth to breathe, then they dumped the drugs into my mouth. Afterwards, I often felt dizzy and could not stand still. They said, "Once you are 'reformed,' then everything will be over." Fellow practitioner Su Juzhen was also forced to swallow some drugs.

Three months later, I was still not "reformed." The detention centre told me that I would either remain there indefinitely or go to Dabei Prison to serve a sentence. After my family members' efforts, I received a medical parole after four months in Masanjia. I left Masanjia in February 2001.

Detained in Dalian Forced Labour Camp

In June 2001, my sister and I went to Dalian Finance College to explain the facts about Falun Dafa. The security and police officers arrested us and sent us to Yaojia Detention Centre. In the detention centre, I told the officials that I did nothing wrong. To punish me, guard Lu Yimei (female) chained me with handcuffs and foot shackles. She also tied the cuff and foot shackles together with a short chain, so that my back could not be straight. In their "normal" practice, this torture should not be used on anyone for more than 14 days. Otherwise, it could cause a permanent handicap. However, they chained me that way for 40 days. To protest this torture, I went on a hunger strike twice, for a total of 14 days. Each time, the prison doctor and some assistants force-fed me with salt water and porridge. Later, the guards took me to Dalian Forced Labour Camp. After a physical exam, a doctor declared that I was too sick to serve the hard labour. At the time, I could not even stand freely. When I walked, I had to lean on the wall and walk slowly. Finally after 15 days, they released me.

Morally Declining Society Rejects Good People

Repeated detention caused severe damage to my life. I lost my job, I was physically hurt and exhausted and was mentally distressed. My family members were unhappy and people tried to stay away from me. Not long after I was released, I took a qualifying exam for chief physicians and passed. I would have become a doctor if not for the persecution, but now these basic rights were not available to me.

After I returned home, I worked in an Internet cafe, a family business. However, the officers from Haimao Police Station said that Falun Gong practitioners are not allowed to run an Internet cafe. In the end, we had to close the business.

Because I speak out for justice and insist on my belief in Falun Dafa, I have been repeatedly arrested by the police and dismissed by quite a few employers. These employers are: Ganjing District Hospital, Dalianwan District Hospital, Ganjing District Beishi Group Hospital, Nanguanling District Hospital, Dalian New Century Hospital, Dalian New Development District Hospital and Moushi Hospital. The heads of these hospitals tried to pressure me to give up Falun Dafa cultivation. They also assigned people to watch me and forbade me from talking about Falun Gong with anyone. They were afraid of being fined, or their bonus being affected. They also feared that the police might harass them.

Some hospitals ended my employment because I was detained. For example, when I was in Beishi Group Hospital, chief of staff Zhang destroyed my chance to get training. He said that if I was arrested again, my training was wasted and that he would rather send a nurse for the training. During the Chinese New Year, I sang a Dafa song. For that, he fired me. Another time, when I was an ER doctor in the New Development District, I picked up a patient with a driver. The patient gave us 300 yuan in cash. The driver wanted to share the money with me but I told him that I am a Falun Gong practitioner and would never take this kind of money. The driver was upset and he reported me to the chief of staff Li. Chief Li told me to write an apology statement, but I refused, so they fired me. The communist rulers in China encourage people to lower their morals, and in the meantime, they attack good people. Ms. Zhang Xilian, the director of the ER, witnessed this incident.

The Wicked CCP Wants to Kill Solid Practitioners

On April 5th, 2004, policeman Liu Hui and more than ten other people from the New Development District came to my dormitory in Dongte Clinic to arrest me. To protest their conduct, I decided to start a hunger strike. The police pushed me into a chair and started to force-feed me with a soup that contained drugs and salt. It tasted awful and I felt dizzy immediately afterwards. Dr. Wang said that they gave me some medicine for dysentery to treat my diarrhoea, but their activity was very suspicious. Ten days later, I experienced kidney failure symptoms. Officer Liu Hui asked my mother to take me home after she paid a 5,000 yuan fine. My mother saw my dangerous condition and refused to pay. Liu Hui was so scared that he ran away without a word.

In July 2005, official Luo Gan came to Dalian. To please Luo, Dalian's National Security Police system headed by Chen Xin started an intensive harassment of practitioners. They monitored our phone calls, followed us, and made arrests. One day after work, they arrested me, along with fellow practitioners Tian Yunhai, Sun Liwen and Zang Lianmei.

In the detention centre, I refused to eat or drink. The guards deprived me of sleep and guard Wang Tao asked doctor Su to force-feed me. They inserted a hose in my windpipe which caused me to cough strongly and spit out the food. Suddenly I heard the sound of heavy rain and could not hear another sound because I was almost dead from suffocation. They stopped the force-feeding and sent me back to my cell and the rain stopped. After that, I reported the incident to director Meng, guard Wang Tao and other police officers, but no one cared to listen to such a horrible act.

Fellow practitioners Chi Yulian and Li Xiumei died of force-feeding. I believed that if I did not survive this, the officials would probably issue a "death from illness" statement like they did for Chi Yulian and Li Xiumei. The next day, doctor Su came to force-feed me again. He fixed the feeding hose to my hair and tied my limbs to the bed. To avoid further damage, I agreed to eat some food and the force-feeding stopped. However, my stomach and mouth were both badly hurt. My family picked me up 15 days later.

I later went to the Ganjingzi Procuratorate to investigate the tortured-to-death cases in the detention centres, and asked them to protect the innocent; however, after they heard the cases, no one wanted to help.

Persecution of My Fellow Practitioners

Fellow practitioner Mr. Tian Yunhai received a ten-year sentence by Ganjingzi Procuratorate and Ganjingzi Court, headed by chief judge Wang Lijuan. Mr. Tian is detained at Team Six, First Division of Panjin Prison. In prison, Mr. Tian once wanted to stop the guards from beating practitioners. As a result, guards headed by Zhang Guolin and Wu Fenggang assaulted him with punches and kicks, they also used electric batons and the tiger bench⁴ to torture him, and they tied him to a iron chair for over 50 days. On August 19th, 2006, Mr. Tian started a hunger strike to protest the detention and persecution. The hunger strike lasted more than six months. Guard Zhang Guolin did not let his family see him, saying that they don't even care if he dies. Now Mr. Tian has been transferred to a special prison hospital. The head officer in the hospital, Zhang Huiyu, said that Mr. Tian's health is deteriorating. The hospital chief, Zhang Yawei, and Doctor Gao Junman continue to force-feed him and perform involuntary infusions. They said that they are not sure about his safety. He is unable to walk and has to be carried on another's back. He also cannot speak.

I went to see the prison politics section chief, Hu Meifa, to report Mr. Tian's situation. Hu called some guards from the Xinsheng Branch to intimidate me, and they searched my bags and threatened to arrest me. After my strong resistance and others' intervention, they failed to make an arrest. Moushi Hospital's chief Liu Rulin had several talks with me to try to force me give up Dafa. After I refused, he fired me.

Practitioner Sun Liwen is being detained at Dalian Forced Labour Camp. Zang Lianmei is detained at Shenyang Prison Area. They are both very diligent practitioners.

Because I have been followed, when I have seen other practitioners on the street, we could only exchange a glance and move on. Because of the repeated detention and mistreatment to which I have been subjected, my physical condition is not as good as before. The right side of my body feels numb all the time. My strength and weight have not recovered. The local police officers often come to my house to harass me. They forced my family to sign some documents and fill out forms, and they often make threats of arrest. My family members are all afraid of them and have a short temper.

The red terror is all over China. All Falun Gong practitioners are facing arrest, prison terms, torture and even death. They face possibly being sent to concentration camps and having their vital organs harvested.

My sister went to Japan in late 2005. I planned to visit her there, but the government refused to issue me a passport. They told me to get a "not a Falun Gong practitioner" statement from our district police branch. I asked them, "Why do you refuse my passport application?" They did not answer this question. In fact, they are worried that the persecution in the prison would be exposed to the world.

Note

1. "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")

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

3. "Collaborators": Former practitioners who have turned against Falun Gong under brainwashing and torture. They are then made to assist in brainwashing and torturing practitioners.

4. "Tiger Bench": Prisoners are forced to sit on a small iron bench that is approximately 20 cm (6 inches) tall with their knees tied together. With their hands tied behind their backs or sometimes placed on their knees, they are forced to sit straight up and look straight ahead without movement for long periods of time.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2007/2/24/149590.html