Two Cases of Forced Labour and Extortion in Shenzhou City, Hebei Province

High-ranking officials ordered the arrests of over eighty Falun Gong practitioners in preparation for the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) 17th Congress.

Ms. Bai Ruixian Sentenced to Forced Labour

Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Bai Ruixian, 48, is a resident of Xi'anzhuang Village, Dong'anzhuang Township, Shenzhou City. In October 2007, Ms. Bai and other residents of the village went to Tianjin City to work. They distribute leaflets exposing the persecution of Falun Gong to people at the Shenzhou City Railway Station while they were waiting for the train to arrive. Police officers at the railway station noticed, and searched her. They then confiscated seven leaflets. The practitioners were taken to the Shijiazhuang City Railway Station where police officers tried to force them to make a so-called "confession" and tried to get Ms. Bai to tell them the source of the leaflets. When she refused to do so, some of the police officers beat her about the face and shocked the rest of her body using electric batons. She was also forced to sit on an iron chair¹. At night, police officers put a mask on her head and put her in a car. After driving a long distance, they pulled her out off the car and pulled the mask off. They placed her in front of a pit and threatened her, "Even if we bury you alive today, no one will ever know. Are you going to jump into the pit on your own, or should one of us push you?" Ms. Bai said, "Although you are the ones who should be enforcing the law, you are actually violating the law. The Heavens will not permit you to treat good people like this forever."

When the police officers realized that she would not reveal the source of the leaflets, they took her back to the railway police station. They then changed tactics and tried to find out where the brochures came from by not allowing her to eat for many days. She was also forced to wear shackles. Approximately 20 days later, she was taken back to the Shenzhou City Detention Centre. The police tried to collect a bribe from her family in exchange for her release, but the family refused. Eventually, they sentenced Ms. Bai to a term at the Shijiazhuang City Forced Labour Camp.

Police Demand and Extort Money From Mr. Yu Lianhe

On October 13th, 2007, more than ten plain-clothes police officers and security guards, headed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) secretary of Bingcao Township in Shenzhou City, and the director of a police station, went to Mr. Yu Lianhe's home in Puluo Village and ransacked it. Mr. Yu Lianhe was out of the town at the time and only his wife and child were at home. The police contingent entered the door, ordered the family to leave, and started a search. They took a satellite dish, Falun Gong books and materials. They also took a certificate of deposit worth 8000 yuan², a residence permit, and ID cards. Before they left, they threatened Ms. Yu's wife, "If you don't tell us where you got the Falun Gong materials you shouldn't even think about getting back the residence permit, the ID cards and the certificate of deposit."

A couple of days later, township and village officials ordered Mr. Yu to come to the government office and notified him that he would have to pay a 10,000 yuan fine, but Mr. Yu did not cooperate. More than ten days later, at least ten officials in three cars, coming from different directions, intercepted Mr. Yu, who was on his way home from work. Mr. Yu was taken to the township government office and was told he needed to pay 10,000 yuan before he would be allowed to return home. Mr. Yu had already gone to the credit union and claimed that he had lost the certificate of deposit, so the officers were not able to access the money. However, the credit union required a certificate issued by township agents in order to give him the money. He had to agree to pay the township agency 8000 yuan to receive the certificate. Using this ruse, the officials managed to extort 8000 yuan from Mr. Yu before allowing him to return home.

The incidents listed represent only the tip of the iceberg, and the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners continues to this day. We appeal to all kind people to pay attention to the nine years of ongoing persecution in China.

Note

1. Iron chair - The arms and legs of victims are shackled to chairs made of metal pipes for long periods of time. See illustration on http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2002/1/9/17577.html.

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://minghui.org/mh/articles/2008/5/3/177726.html