Cruelly Tortured to Near Death at the "Judicial Enforcement Training Centre" in Beijing

The "Judicial Enforcement Training Centre" at Tiantanghe in Daxing District of Beijing claims to enforce courts judgements, but this is far from the truth. On December 5th, 2001, I was arrested without a warrant and taken to the Beijing Judicial Enforcement Training Centre. I was imprisoned for fifteen months, cruelly tortured and had to undergo forced brainwashing. Several times I was near death from the torture.

I did not cooperate with them, as I knew that it was not wrong to remain steadfast in the belief that taught me to be a good person.

Before I was taken to the centre, the police beat me with rubber batons in a secret interrogation room at the Beijing Police Bureau several times and detained me for one day. When I arrived at the centre, I was thoroughly checked over by a doctor from the Beijing Tiantanghe Hospital to ascertain the extent of my injuries. The doctor said that I was badly bruised on my back and thighs from the beatings and that the centre could not accept me. The doctor suggested that I be taken back to the Beijing Police Bureau. However, those in charge at the centre ignored his recommendation and detained me in a cell at the centre. I was monitored around the clock by military police. I was not given any privacy when I went to the toilet. I completely lost my personal freedom.

I knew clearly that the detention and beatings were illegal under existing Chinese law, so I went on a hunger strike in protest. On December 12th, 2001, guards from the centre sent in doctors from Tiantanghe Hospital to force-feed me. Several guards held me down on a wooden chair. Then, I was tied to a metal chair. Whenever I struggled, they beat me. Then they put a rubber tube through my nose and down my throat to my stomach.

The hose created a burning sensation in my nose. When the tube was pulled out, it was filled with blood. During one forced-feeding session, it took several tries to insert the tube. One guard said, "Don't you find it painful having the tube put to your stomach through your nose? We'll do this every day until you give in." I was forced-fed in this brutal way about 200 times during my detention at the centre. I suffered tremendous pain, both mentally and physically.

The day after I arrived at the centre, they began to brainwash me. Staff from the Nos. 2, 3 and 4 Teams from the Beijing Women's Forced Labour Camp and guards from the Brainwashing and Transformation Section of the centre, around twelve people, took turns trying to brainwash me. I had to listen to lies, slander and attacks on Falun Gong for a long time. They also forced me to read similar materials and listen to tape recordings maligning Falun Gong. They repeatedly said, "Don't ever think about getting out of here, unless you are "transformed¹"."

In January 2003, guards from the No. 2 Team ordered inmates to stick paper slips with remarks slandering Falun Gong on the wall, or put them on the bed, floor. They stepped on these slips and cursed at Falun Gong.

In January 2002, when I had been on hunger strike for over 50 days, I was very weak. At about 8:00 p.m., six guards came into my cell. They made me stand for a long time, while badmouthing Falun Gong. Then, they proceeded to pour cold water over my head and opened the windows and doors to let the cold wind in. I was freezing and my teeth chattered. They deprived me of sleep until the third day, when I began to vomit blood. Finally they let me sleep again.

In April 2002, I had been on hunger strike for over 120 days. The medical staff checked my blood pressure and found that it was only between 40 and 70, and my heartbeat was weak. I was in a dangerous situation. However, I was not released, nor did they advise my family about my situation. Instead, they took me to the Beijing Police Hospital. They wanted to transfer responsibility to the hospital. When filling out documents, they claimed that I was a criminal detainee. Ten days later I was admitted to the hospital. After they learned that my physical condition had improved greatly, they took me back to the centre.

In May 2002, I had been on a hunger strike for more than 150 days. I was extremely weak, and I was tied to a metal bed. The No. 4 team leader Li Jirong carried out brainwashing. Li ordered inmates to swear at me. She feared that I would shout "Falun Gong is great," so she ordered inmates to tie a bath towel around my mouth tightly. Then she poured water on the bath towel while hitting my nose very hard, causing excruciating pain. I almost fainted. She laughed and said, "I am supplying you with water." Realizing that I was not going to give in, Li Jirong and a few inmates dragged me around. Then she tied my feet to the bed, which caused excruciating pain.

They tortured me for 9 months. In April 2002, when they realized that they could not break me, they put me on a steel bed. They handcuffed my hands to one side of the bed and my feet to the other side. Then, Li said: "I just don't believe that I can't break you. You can be assured that when you are released from this bed, you will be "transformed." If this does not happen, be prepared to die on this bed."

Guard Hu Zihui and a few police officers from the Domestic Security Brigade beat me. They kept slapping my face, punched my chest and kicked the upper part of my leg. I was tied to the metal bed around the clock, and they would not allow me to go to the toilet. This form of torture is very brutal and causes excruciating pain. During the eight months that I was tied to that bed, I suffered mentally and physically. It was beyond description. Guard Hu Zihui often kicked practitioners. He yelled at me once, "You know who I am - I am the Devil!"

In December 2002, the centre staff called for doctors from the Beijing City Tiantanghe Hospital to check me over. I was extremely weak, and I was near death. My limbs had atrophied. If I had been tied up longer, I would have been paralysed. Only because the guards and authorities at the centre were too afraid of accepting any responsibility for my death, I was finally released from the bed. I could barely stand and my limbs could not function for quite some time.

I was detained for fifteen months, from December 5th, 2001 to February 25th, 2003. During that time, I demanded to appeal to the government and to hire a lawyer. They denied my requests out of fear that their crimes would be exposed in the process.

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")

Chinese version available at http://minghui.org/mh/articles/2004/11/30/90366.html