Falun Dafa practitioner Mr. Zhao Huanzhen is a resident of Shanhaiguan, Hebei Province, and he is in his fifties. He began to learn Falun Dafa in 1996. Since then he has tried to conduct himself according to the Falun Gong teachings and improve his xinxing to become a person with high morals and good health. He had a harmonious family and was responsible and diligent at work.
On July 20th, 1999, Jiang Zemin abused his power by suppressing and persecuting Falun Gong. However, Zhao Huanzhen held on to his belief. He spoke up for Falun Gong and related the benefits he gained from the practice to the government and fellow citizens. However, for his selfless deeds he suffered brutal persecution.
In December 2002, Zhao Huanzhen went to Beijing to appeal. After he was taken back by agents from the Shanhaiguan Police Department, he was detained in the Shanhaiguan Detention Centre. Policeman Zhao Peng conducted eight hours of brutal, torturous interrogation.
They removed Zhao Huanzhen's coat and sweater during the winter and left him wearing only a shirt. They used a thin nylon rope to tie up his neck, shoulders and arms from behind. Then they inserted liquor bottles into the gap between his arms and back. Moreover, Zhao Peng ordered two of his subordinates to each lift one of his arms to make him feel more pain. At the same time, persecutor Zhao Peng repeatedly slapped the practitioner's face so violently that his mouth filled with blood. The policemen cursed him constantly, claiming that they often interrogated death row inmates. Their language was extremely filthy. When the food came, Zhao Peng kicked over the dish, forbidding the practitioner to eat. Furthermore, after they untied the rope, Zhao Peng braided the rope into several strands and ruthlessly slapped his forehead with it, making Zhao Huanzhen disoriented. He had not recovered even after two weeks passed.
Mr. Zhao Huanzhen was sentenced to three years of forced labour on January 19th, 2001 and sent to the Hehuakeng Labour Camp in Tangshan city, where he was placed in the "sitting class." Victims of this torture had to sit on a stool for fifteen hours daily, according to a dictated sitting posture; otherwise they would suffer verbal abuse and other physical abuse. They had to keep their head and neck straight with eyes looking forward and hands behind their backs. With the arms backward, all fingers crossed, palms face up, calves vertical and still, feet as wide apart as shoulders, and the posture stiff. The police even shamelessly called it "meditation and recollection."
Moreover, prison guards often shouted, "Keep straight!" The practitioners would begin to sweat within ten minutes. Their clothes would be soaked within half-an-hour. This went on from 5 o'clock in the morning until 8 o'clock in the evening, during which time they could only stand up to eat or use the toilet. They were physically exhausted and in a lot of pain when the day was over. The buttocks felt a burning pain from contact with the stool. When sleep time finally arrived, the bed that two people had to share had barely enough space. They had to lay on their sides, but still felt crowded. On the fifteenth day, Mr. Zhao's buttocks seeped blood and stuck his shorts, trousers and sweater together, which caused unbearable pain. When using the toilet he had to carefully peel off the clothes. This felt like being stabbed with a blunt knife.
In addition, the detainees did not have enough to eat. Thus, all the victims there became extremely weak, and their weight quickly dropped.
One month later Zhao Huanzhen was assigned to a division to do physical labour.
On June 17th, 2001, large-scale forced "reform1" effort was under way. Zhao Huanzhen was taken to Division 6 for intensive "reform." Guards Wang Ying and Han Dongqi supervised the sessions. First, they attempted to force him to write the so-called three statements to renounce Dafa. They did not let him sleep throughout the night. The next day Wang Yin saw that coercion did not work. He ordered Zhao Huanzhen to read a book that slandered Dafa and Teacher [Teacher Li Hongzhi, the founder of Falun Dafa]. Mr. Zhao refused to cooperate. The guards started to shock him with electric batons. The first baton ran out of power. They brought in two higher-voltage batons and shocked his neck, lower body, and inner thighs. They also hit him until he fell down and his head hit the floor.
Since he refused to give in, Mr. Zhao Huanzhen was once again taken to the discipline class on June 2nd, 2002. This time the team consisted of six people. Wang Yin led the team. Members included Liu Fuxing, Li Jianzhong, Gu Shiqing, Zhang Jingmin and Yi. First, Liu Fuxing spoke to him. Seeing that it did not work, he ordered inmate Zhao Zhijun and others to punch and kick Mr. Zhao until he could not get up. At that point he could barely breathe. When the guards found that the beating was still not producing results, six of them tortured him with electric batons and attacked him. When evening came, they still did not let him sleep. He lived with such terror for six months.
On June 20th, 2003, Zhao Huanzhen and four other practitioners were once again taken to the discipline class for brainwashing in the name of "fighting SARS." Beginning at 5 o'clock each morning, the practitioners had to endure the physical torture of sitting on the stool. They had to look straight ahead and listen to information that slandered Dafa. Moreover, their living conditions were really bad. Breakfast and dinner consisted of only one steamed bun per person; lunch contained two steam buns. Their water ration was less than one cup per day. The weather in Tangshan during June, July and August was extremely hot and humid. At night they were packed close together, and it was difficult to sleep. Each day seemed like a year.
The situation continued like this for more than one hundred days. In late September, after a long period of persecution, Mr. Zhao's health deteriorated each day. He initially lost bowel and bladder control and then had no bowel movement for more than 20 days. Subsequently he had an infection in his rectum and a fever higher than 39 0C [about 102 0F].
The police just gave him one fever tablet every so often. However, Zhang Jingmin made Mr. Zhao sit on the stool, although he was no longer able to drink or eat. Three days later the police reluctantly agreed to let him see a doctor. They told him to walk to the hospital. Later on, when they saw him indeed unable to walk, they ordered two inmates to hold him up and help him walk.
The hospital found swelling in his rectal area, requiring infusion, catheterization, and enemas. Policeman Gao Hai only gave permission for catheterization and enemas and then took him back to the labour camp.
Mr. Zhao's fever remained high. On the 4th day he had severe rectal swelling. Following examination at the hospital the doctor requested to admit him for immediate treatment. Policeman Wang Yulin brought him in this time. Wang lied, saying that no one was available to watch him, so he asked the doctor to use a catheter. Doctor said frequent insertions would lead to urethra infection and did not want to perform the surgery. However, after finishing the enemas, the doctor, with Wang's insistence, no longer refused to use a catheter. This time Zhao Huanzhen strongly resisted because it was so painful. Wang Yulin was angered and wanted to do it by force. Considering that this was not the labour camp, he was afraid of others watching him. He said viciously, "I'll do it when we get back."
On the fifth day, having been unable to drink or eat, in addition to being unable to urinate or have a bowel movement, Mr. Zhao was close to death. Fearing to bear the responsibility for his death, the police quietly sent him back home.
His family members were unaware of what was going on. The police dropped him off and quickly left. His family found that he was dying and quickly took him to a hospital for emergency care. The diagnosis was swelling in the rectal area and gangrene in the testicles. A witness described a large indentation in the rectal area that had affected the testicles, making them gangrenous. A doctor in charge commented that he had never seen such a serious case in his twenty years of medical practice. He said that had Zhao Huanzhen been brought in two days later he would have lost his life. These injuries were deliberately caused.
Although Zhao Huanzhen survived, three major surgeries that he had to undergo permanently disabled him. The hospital fee alone was over 20,000 yuan2.
This is a glimpse into the persecution of Dafa practitioners at the hands of Shanhaiguan police officers and labour camp guards.
Zhao Huanzhen went to Dingwuzhai in Shanhaiguan on February 14th, 2007 to inform people about the persecution of Falun Gong and dispel the state propaganda attacking the practice. Agents from the Shihe Town Police Station unlawfully arrested and interrogated him. They sent him to the Shanhaiguan Detention Centre on the afternoon of February 15th, 2007.
We ask everyone to please offer your support to help stop the persecution, and we call for the release of Zhao Huanzhen.
Shihe Town police station head, Pang Wenge: 86-335-5052856
Shanhaiguan Police Department: 86-335-5051154
Shanhaiguan Detention Centre: 86-335-5021427
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.
Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2007/2/24/149601.html
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