Persecution Cases Involving Falun Gong Practitioners from Pingshan County, Hebei Province

1. Persecution and Torture Involving Sun Sanlong

Mr. Sun Sanlong, 34, is a practitioner from Beiqiji Village, of Sanji Township, Pingshan County.

In July 2000, Mr. Sun went to Tiananmen Square in Beijing to appeal, and was arrested by the local police. He was sent to a police station in Shunyi County to be interrogated and tortured. This included being shocked with an electric baton for eleven hours. He was later sent to the detention centre in Shunyi County and detained for two days. He was then taken to the Shijiazhuang Liaison Office in Beijing. The officers there subsequently beat him so hard that his mouth was bleeding. They cuffed him to a chair for one night and sent him back to the County Police Department by bus. At the County Police Department, Sun Sanlong was interrogated and beaten by officers Xiao Suilong and Hu Yuetao. Mr. Sun was delivered to the County Detention Centre, and imprisoned for 26 days, and extorted out of 1200 yuan¹ before being released.

In May 2005, Jia Yanlong and another Chinese Communist Party (CCP) member, from Sanji Township Government, forced him to attend a brainwashing session. Because Sun Sanlong and other practitioners held hunger strikes to protest the persecution, the brainwashing centre staff forced them to stay in a squatting position, and do military training at the hottest time of the day. One day, Sun Sanlong suddenly lapsed into a coma. He was carried inside and given an injection. He was then promptly released. Upon returning home, Sun Sanlong was constantly monitored by CCP members Jia Yanlong, Chen Jianjun and Ma Yanfei.

In August 2006, while Mr. Sun Sanlong was taking his bee colony to Dongliang Township of Yu County, in Shanxi Province, he distributed leaflets exposing the persecution of Falun Gong ti people, and asked them to do the "three withdrawals" (withdrawing from the Communist Party, the Communist Youth League, and the Young Pioneers). Someone reported him, and on August 29th, he was seized by officers from the Dongliang Township Police Station. Sun Dajiang and Gao Junzhi, who were from the Yu County Political and Security Section, imprisoned him at the Yu County Detention Centre. Mr. Sun Sanlong went on a hunger strike to protest the persecution. Ma Sanhu brutally beat him, and other officers force-fed him. Eleven policemen and communist party members joined in the torture. They held down his arms, legs and head, pried loose a tooth with a spoon, and forcefully hit his head on a hardwood board. Because he refused to eat, an officer by the name of Zhang told the other criminals: "If he does not eat, none of you can eat." This intensified the torture Sun Sanlong received. Because he refused to give up his belief, Sun Sanlong was sent to fifteen months of forced labour at the Xindian Forced Labour Camp in Taiyuan, Shanxi Province in late September 2006. Due to Mr. Sun's poor health status, the Labour Camp refused to admit him. Officers Gao Junzhi and Sun Dajiang sent him to the hospital with handcuffs, and ordered that he be injected with some medicine. The injection caused him to sweat profusely, and feel pain all over his body. Under Sun's strong protest, the torture was halted. Sun was eventually sent to the forced labour camp.

Upon being detained in the labour camp, Mr. Sun's memory declined rapidly. His reasoning ability was also impaired. He experienced difficulty recalling events prior to his imprisonment. He vaguely remembered that police officer Wang Weidong, who was in charge of the persecution, was extremely evil. Wang arranged for a drug addict named Zhang Yusheng, who was from Shahe of Fanshi County, Shanxi Province, and a prisoner Guo Xiaolong, who was from Chengguan Township, Shenchi County to force Sun to watch videos that slandered Falun Gong. They beat and scolded him because he refused to watch them. Sun felt that his mind was going to collapse and he could not control himself. Under this duress, they attempted to force him to write the three statements, but he refused. Guo Xiaolong then held down his shoulder and forced him to face the wall. He drew out another paper that was full of slander against Falun Gong and ordered him to read it loudly. When Sun tore-up the paper, Guo Xiaolong wrote another one. He held Sun's hands to prevent him from tearing the paper again and ordered him to read it loudly. On another occasion, when Mr. Sun Sanlong did not follow Guo Xiaolong's orders, Guo took out a knife, given to him by Zhang Xinping (the criminal head of the third division, extremely evil) and put it up to Sun's throat. He threatened, "You tear this up, and you commit suicide. All deaths of Falun Gong practitioners are counted as suicide." In the meantime, they also forced him to clean the restrooms and corridor for more than a month. This did not stop until Sun's health noticeably deteriorated. Sun later felt increasingly unwell. He became absent minded, and his memory nearly vanished. Even after he returned home, his memory never fully recovered.

In October 2007, Mr. Sun Sanlong felt very ill. He could not stop trembling and his face was paralysed. According to other practitioners who were imprisoned at the same time, even the police noticed that Mr. Sun had a mental problem. They nonetheless carried on with the brutal torture, and forced him to write the "three statements²."

The Xindian Forced Labour Camp in Taiyuan has a very low living standard, and many people detained there suffer from malnutrition.

Mr. Sun Sanlong returned home on October 13th, 2007.

2. The Persecution and Torture of Zhao Xiuhua and her Son

Ms. Zhao Xiuhua, 46, and her son Tian Chenlong, 24, were practitioners from Shangsanji Village, Sanji Township, in Pingshan County. They started practising Falun Gong in 1998, and benefit greatly from the practice.

On December 30th, 1999, they went to Beijing to appeal and were arrested by the police. They were imprisoned at the Hebei Province Liaison Office in Beijing, and handcuffed for one day and one night. Each of them were extorted out of 50 yuan.

Later, they were arrested and taken to the Pingshan County Police Department by Feng Qingfang and Xiao Suilong, who were from the Political and Security Section. The officers extorted 600 yuan from them. Feng Qingfang and Hu Yuetao carried out an interrogation, during which Mr. Zhao was beaten. The officers slandered Falun Gong, and they beat Tian Chenlong with a wooden bat (at that time he was in middle school and only 15 years old) until the bat broke. Later the mother and son were detained at the County Detention Centre. Because Zhao Xiuhua did the exercises at the detention centre, she was handcuffed for four days. Zhao Xiuhua held a hunger strike to protest. She was detained for more than 20 days and extorted out of more than 2000 yuan before being released.

In July 2000, Zhao Xiuhua went to Beijing to appeal again and was arrested. She was sent to the Hebei Province Liaison Office in Beijing. Her hands were cuffed for two days. She was sent to the County Police Department. After the police interrogated her in vain, they took her to the detention centre. During this period, An Mingliang and Yang Lianzhong, who were from Sanji Township Government, went to Zhao's home and extorted 2000 yuan from her family. Feng Qingfang also extorted 500 yuan from her family, stating it was for a transport fee from Beijing to Pingshan City.

One afternoon in October 2000, the Sanji township government head Zhao Zhengfang, lead Yang Jianli and Jia Yanlong arrested her. Ms. Zhao was taken to the Sanji Police Station and imprisoned until the next afternoon. During that period, An Mingliang and other officers forcibly brainwashed her. They tried to force her to read the articles that attacked and slandered Falun Gong. Ms. Zhao Xiuhua rejected all requests from Chinese Communist Party members. For this, Tian Xinlong deprived her of food and water.

In May 2001, Ms. Zhao Xiuhua was arrested and sent to a brainwashing centre by Tian Xinlong and members of the Sanji Township Government. She had been detained five days and then released. Whenever there is a holiday, someone from Sanji Township Government goes to Zhao's home to monitor her. Sun Congli, Yang Huili and Chen Jianjun have taken turns in this surveillance and restricted her personal freedom. When so-called sensitive dates near, she is not able to lead a normal life and is often monitored around the clock.

Note

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

2. "Three Statements": Practitioners are coerced under brainwashing and torture to write "Repentance Statement," "Guarantee Statement" or 'Dissociation Statement" as proof that they have given up their belief. In the 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.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2008/5/21/178899.html