The Persecution of Ms. Zhang Bo of Tonghua City, Jilin Province

On December 7th, 2006, police officers from the Xinzhan Police Station in Tonghua City, Jilin Province, including Zhang Xiaoxu (political instructor), Ma Qiang, Tian Kaiyuan, and Wang searched Dafa practitioner Ms. Zhang Bo's home. She was not there at the time, so Ma Qiang and the others went to her workplace, Luyang Kindergarten, trying to arrest her. She managed to escape. Qiao Libin and two other police officers from the Xinzhan Police Station waited outside Zhang Bo's home many times, trying to arrest her.

After 4:00 p.m. on April 3rd, 2007, Qiao Libin, Tian Kaiyuan and Zhou Fuyou drove an unmarked vehicle to a place near Zhang Bo's home. Ms. Zhang was picking up her 7-year-old son and a relative's 5-year-old child from kindergarten. As soon as they got off the bus, she was arrested by police officers Zhou Fuyou and Tian Kaiyuan, taken to Xinzhan Police Station, and body searched.

One morning during her detention, Zhang Bo sat with her legs crossed in the lotus (meditation) position at the Changliu Detention Centre. Police officer Li Xinchun saw this and brutally hit her in the face, causing her to feel dizzy. Li Xinchun then kicked Zhang Bo out of the cell, where she stood on wobbly legs in the corridor. Li Xinchun again assaulted her there.

Two days later, Ms. Zhang planned to hold a hunger strike to protest the persecution, but was reported by the head of the cell. Li Xinchun ordered Zhang Bo to go into the corridor, where he mercilessly slapped her in the face while verbally abusing her. He then forced Zhang Bo to put on a prison uniform and sent her back to the cell.

At 7:00 a.m. on April 27th, Zhang Bo was taken to the Jilin Province Women's Forced Labour Camp in Changchun City by Qiao Libin and other police officers from the Xinzhan Police Station.

Zhang Bo was locked up in the No. 1 Brigade. Policewoman Wei Dan was in charge of "transforming¹" Zhang Bo. She isolated Ms. Zhang in a room on the first day. Zhang Bo had no contact with other detainees and was watched by two prisoners, former practitioners who had written the "Four Statements²" to renounce Falun Gong. She was forced to watch videos that slandered Dafa and ordered to write down her "feelings." Ten days later, police officer Wei Dan ordered Zhang Bo to the guards' room and demanded to know why she did not write down her feelings. Wei Dan also ordered policeman Ye Qiong to curse at her, kick her in the chest, and slap her in the face. Wei Dan tortured Zhang Bo with an electric baton, and her heart contracted with every shock. Zhang Bo found it hard to breathe. After this torture continued for a while, the guards threatened Zhang Bo with another torture session if she refused to write down her feelings as a part of her "reformation."

On June 4th, Yan Lifeng, the head of the No. 1 Brigade, saw that Zhang Bo did not participate in the forced labour and ordered Sun Minghong, a collaborator³, to watch Ms. Zhang while she was forced to stand from 5:10 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. After twelve days of standing, Zhang Bo's legs were badly swollen and her feet looked like two steamed buns. The hospital prescribed 275 yuan⁴ worth of medicine, for which Zhang Bo was forced to pay.

On July 2nd, a guard found a Dafa article in the pocket of a non-practitioner (Cui Lin), who claimed it was given to her by Zhang Bo. The guards called Zhang Bo to the guards' room, where Wei Dan tortured her. Brigade head Yan Lifeng also pinched and slapped her face. Police officer Wang Lei and another officer surnamed Duan also slandered Dafa. Wei Dan tortured Zhang Bo with an electric baton and shouted words defaming Dafa, to which Zhang Bo responded, "Falun Dafa is good!" After half an hour, the electric baton ran out of battery. The guards let Zhang Bo go only after a second baton ran out of power after another half hour and told her to reconsider her steadfast stance.

At 9:30 a.m. the following day, they called Zhang Bo to the guards' room again and asked whether she had "cleared her mind." Zhang Bo said, "I did nothing wrong by practising Falun Dafa. I won't do anything against Dafa!" Wei Dan then tortured her again with an electric baton. Brigade head Yan Lifeng and police officers Wang Lei and Duan cursed at Zhang Bo. Again, Wei Dan only stopped torturing her after two electric batons ran out of batteries. After 2:00 p.m., they again tortured Zhang Bo with electric batons for an hour. Cui Lin, the non-practitioner who was implicated for possessing the Dafa article, also suffered torture with electric batons. An elderly Dafa practitioner, Yang Xiuhua, was locked up for an extra month before being released. Yang Xiuhua was also tortured with electric batons and as a result lost control of her bowels. Her heart was not good, and her face was blue and swollen for many days. In order to lighten their ordeals, Zhang Bo took all the responsibility, but guard Wei did not give up and insisted that Zhang Bo write an "introspection report," acknowledging her "guilt". Zhang Bo refused to write it or say that she was guilty of any crime. Once, when Wei Dan tortured Zhang Bo with an electric baton, Zhang Bo instinctively blocked the baton with her arm. The electric baton fell onto the police officer, who madly kicked Zhang Bo's legs with all his might before continuing the torture. Because of this incident, Zhang Bo's leg was severely injured for many days, and she could not bend the leg. The police officers tortured Ms. Zhang twice a day for around an hour each time for thirteen consecutive days, causing severe burns on her skin.

Wei Dan again ordered Sun Hongwei (40 years old, from Siping City), another collaborator, to watch Zhang Bo, deprive her of sleep day and night, and try to brainwash Zhang Bo in the daytime. After six days and six nights of this torment, Zhang Bo became emaciated. She was disfigured, her face was pale, she could only open her eyes slightly, and her thoughts were not clear. Wei Dan allowed Zhang Bo to sleep after midnight but sent four people to try to brainwash her before allowing her to sleep. They also made other people try to brainwash Zhang Bo in the daytime.

As a result of the ongoing torture, Zhang Bo often coughed, had a low fever, her bowel movements were dry, and she did not have her menstrual period for more than four months. Her body still carries scars from the electric shocks, and the hospital found some abnormalities in her lungs during an x-ray examination. On September 11th, Zhang Bo was sent to Tiebei Prison Hospital (also called Central Hospital or Police Hospital) in Changchun. Seven to eight other Falun Dafa practitioners were also being treated at Tiebei Prison Hospital at the same time, including Wang Yuhuan from Changchun, Zhang Dianrong, and Li Jing from Changchun.

Zhang Bo was released on bail for medical treatment on September 20th.

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. "Four Statements": Practitioners are coerced under brainwashing and torture to write the "four statements" as proof that they have given up their belief. Created by the 610 Office, they consist of "a letter of repentance," "a guarantee" to never again practise Falun Gong, a "Dissociation Statement" to declare a dissociation with Falun Gong and promise not go to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong, and a list of names and addresses of all family members, friends and acquaintances who are practitioners.

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. "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://minghui.org/mh/articles/2007/11/13/166475.html