The Persecution of Falun Gong Practitioners in Lingshi County, Shanxi Province

Since July 20th, 1999, people from the 610 Office¹ and the police bureau in Lingshi County, Jinzhong City, Shanxi Province, have been closely following the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to persecute Falun Gong. Under orders from Kong Yi, deputy chief of the police bureau; Zhao Xiuyun, manager of the Politics and Security Division; Xie Linsheng, former head of the Renyi Police Station; and other officials, police officers led by Wang Jianjun attempted to force Falun Gong practitioners to give up their cultivation practice. The means they used were very base and cruel.

1. The Persecution of Ms. Wang Linying

In spring 2001, Xie Linsheng, former head of the Renyi Police Station, stopped Ms. Wang Linying from doing the exercises. They arrested her and took her to the police station, where they ordered her to hand in her Falun Gong materials. They threatened Ms. Xie by saying, "If you don't hand them in, then we'll strip you."

In summer 2002, Ms. Wang was handing out distributing leaflets exposing the persecution and telling people the facts about Falun Gong when she was reported by people who were not aware of the truth. She was arrested and detained in the police station, where she was forced to hand in leaflets and tell where she got them. She was released that same day. The local police station handed over the Falun Gong leaflets from Ms. Wang to the police bureau. Three days after Ms. Wang's arrest, police officers Zhao Xiuyun and Xie Linsheng arrested her again and took her to the police station, where they forced her to "confess" by torturing her. They handcuffed her to a heating device, deprived her of sleep, didn't allow her to eat or drink, and even tried to force her to curse Falun Gong. The torture lasted for a day and a night.

Later, Ms. Wang loosened her handcuffs and managed to escape. To avoid further persecution, however, she had to leave home and move from place to place. In November, Ms. Wang was discovered by someone in Taiyuan City. Kong Yi and Zhao Xiuyun arrested her and took her back to the Lingshi County Police Bureau, where they put her in handcuffs and shackles and beat her. They used a wooden club to hit Ms. Wang on the back of her hands, face, and her entire body. She was beaten until she had bruises all over her body, her hands and face were purple, and the backs of her hands were swollen badly. It broke people's hearts when they saw her injuries. Later, Ms. Wang was detained at a detention centre.

A few days later, Zhao Xiuyun brought in a thug, and together they beat Ms. Wang until she had bruises around her eyes and was dizzy. Only when they were exhausted did they stop beating her. Later they sent Ms. Wang to a forced labour camp, where she was detained for three years. During that period of time, they didn't allow Ms. Wang's family to visit her. Zhao even told the labour camp to treat her harshly.

At the forced labour camp, Ms. Wang endured severe persecution. Her hair turned grey, and she suffered from serious anaemia and, eventually, severe mental instability.

2. An Account of the Persecution of Ms. Shi Xiuneng

In January 2000, because she went to Beijing to appeal to the government for justice for Falun Gong, Ms. Shi Xiuneng was arrested and taken to the Lingshi County Police Bureau. At the bureau, Kong Yi, Zhao Xiuyun, and a group of police officers tried to terrify her: they held her in a secret place and tried to force her to write the so-called Repentance Statement² and Guarantee Statement³. Later, they held her at a detention centre for 30 days, where she suffered inhuman torture.

On January 16th, 2001, Ren Zhaoting and personnel from the 610 Office broke into Ms. Shi Xiuneng's home without presenting any identification or reason. They searched every corner of her home and didn't find anything but a notebook. They forced Ms. Shi to go to the police station a few times, where they interrogated her and tried to terrify her. Ms. Shi was forced to leave home and move from place to place in order to avoid further persecution.

In mid-November 2001, Xie Lingsheng and Wang Jianjun from the Shiyi Police Station arrested Ms. Shi and took her to a police station, where they tried to force her to write the Guarantee Statement. They also threatened her, telling her to not speak out for justice for Falun Gong or contact fellow practitioners.

In November 2002, Xie Linsheng and Wang Jianjun broke into Ms. Shi's home again and deceived her by asking her to validate some materials at the police station. Instead, they took her directly to the Police Bureau. Politics and Security Division Manager Zhao Xiuyun swore at her with cruel words and beat her severely. He then held Ms. Shi in the detention centre. At the detention centre, Zhao Xiuyun instigated a few criminals to monitor, bully, and torture Ms. Shi. She was sentenced and detained in the forced labour camp for three years. The head of the police station boasted to others, "It was I who threw Ms. Shi in jail."

At the detention centre, Ms. Shi wasn't given enough food and she was not able to sleep. Inhuman torture triggered her old diseases. As a result, she was extremely weak, yet Kong Yi and Zhao Xiuyun still took her to Shanxi Women's Forced Labour Camp. Because of her poor health, Ms. Shi was denied admittance to the forced labour camp. Later, they forced Ms. Shi's family to hand over 3,000 yuan⁴ as a deposit before they released her.

3. The Persecution of Ms. Song Miaomiao

In early November 2002, a group of people led by Zhao Xiuyun broke into Ms. Song Miaomiao's home for no reason. They arrested Ms. Song and Cao Lihong and took them to the police bureau. Kong Yi and Zhao Xiuyun ordered a few robustly-built police officers to cruelly torture both of them. They struck them with clubs, beating them very badly, especially Song Miaomiao. She was beaten to the point where others could not bear the sight of her and hardly any place on her body was uninjured.

4. The Persecution of Practitioners Ms. Cao Shuangmei and Wen Changsheng

Around the 2006 New Year Ms. Cao Shuangmei and Wen Changsheng were arrested. Zhao Xiuyun beat them repeatedly, and Ms. Cao was beaten so badly that she lost hearing in both ears and her teeth were loosened, yet she was still taken to the detention centre.

Between November 3rd and 6th, 2002, six practitioners were arrested. They suffered from Zhao Xiuyun's cruel torture to different degrees. Zhao cursed Falun Gong and shouted that he would place female practitioners in isolated areas where only men resided.

Since 1999, police officials and officers under orders from Kong Yi and Zhao Xiuyun have been persecuting Falun Gong and Falun Gong practitioners. They have caused practitioners and their family members tremendous physical and mental torment. They have also caused considerable financial loss to their family members. During these past nine years, over 30 practitioners in this area have suffered from persecution to different degrees.

Practitioners who were fined: Qin Lixiang, Wen Changsheng

Practitioners who were held in Administrative Detention: Wang Linying, Han Lianzhi, Li Junmin, Hao Xiuping, Guo Genquan, Shi Yaoxian

Practitioners who were held in Criminal Detention: Li Guobao, Shi Xiuneng, Cao Shuangmei

Practitioners who were under surveillance: Zhao Baohuai, Zhang Laiwang, Shi Yaoxian

Practitioners who were detained in forced labour camps: Shi Xiuneng, Wu Wenlan, Wang Linying, Shi Yaoxian, Zhang Laiwang, Cao Caihong, Jiang Genglian, Cao Fuquan, Qin Linxiang, Zhao Anping, Cao Yihong, Song Miaomiao.

Note

1. "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.

2. Repentance Statement: In this 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.

3. "Guarantee Statement": A statement to declare that one is remorseful for practising Falun Gong and guarantees not to practise Falun Gong again, not to go to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong, and never again associate with any Falun Dafa 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.ca/mh/articles/2008/4/21/176921.html