Ms. Zhang Hejun Severely Tortured: Feet Fractured, Fingers Burned, Force-fed Hot Peppers

At the end of November, agents of the Zhuzhou City Court planned to try 10 Falun Gong practitioners. The agents of Lusong District Procurator had submitted the indictment to the court. At present, these ten practitioners are being detained at the Zhuzhou City First Detention Centre, the Second Detention Centre, and the Zhuhou County Detention Centre. Two practitioners were released on bail and monitored at home.

Previously I worked at the Piston Pin Factory at Hetang District, Zhuzhou City, Hunan Province. I suffered poor health and took many prescription drugs. I tried to achieve good health by practising many methods of Qigong but with no results. Just when my body and mind were exhausted, I discovered Falun Gong and immediately after I began to practice, I regained my health. Practising Falun Gong further made it clear to me that the genuine goal in life is to return to our original, true selves. I feel confident about my life now.

I was arrested in 2000. Police officers told me, if I wrote "give up practising" three times, I would be released and if not, I would be sentenced to prison. I did not agree so I was sentenced to five years in prison. After five years of torture, my faith in Falun Gong is still steadfast and I still practise Falun Gong. After my release, I was deprived of a retirement pension and I have to make a living doing temporary jobs. The police also frequently harassed me so that I was forced to leave home for a year to avoid being arrested. During this year, they mistreated my family. My son could not go home, leaving my senior mother in the countryside alone. She has been threatened many times so she stays in hiding for fear of returning home. My husband's telephone is bugged.

On April 11th, 2008, I was arrested by police officers of National Security Division of Hetang District and taken back from Heyang City to Zhuzhou City. They were afraid that I would escape so they broke my right foot.

When I arrived at the National Security Division office, four strong men stripped me of my clothes and handcuffed my hands to the back of a chair. They force-fed me something that immediately made my lips swell and become numb. To prevent me from crying out, they covered my mouth with a rag. Then, they force-fed me chilli pepper powder, red flower oil (burning herb extract), boiling water, and inserted dirty water through my nose. They also used toothpicks to put chilli pepper powder up my nose, which hurt very badly.

I was in so much pain and could hardly breath, then these four men grabbed my legs, two men on each side and pulled them apart. I endured the pain that felt as though my body was torn. Then, they used a whip to beat my legs. Then they stepped on my legs. They beat and stepped on me until the backs of my feet were extremely swollen. They handcuffed my hands and feet to a bench and insulted Falun Gong, forcing me to stand on Falun Gong articles. They lit a photo on fire and put it on my hand and used a towel to cover the handcuff. They photographed me and declared that they would download the photos to Internet. They also called some reporters at some TV stations and said, "Big news. Valuable. Promise you will make a lot of money." I said, " You are fabricating stories." They said, " We can do whatever we want to Falun Gong practitioners. If practitioners die, they are considered to have committed suicide. A Falun Gong practitioner doesn't have the worth of a dog. Just because you are a Falun Gong practitioner!" I said, "It is Falun Gong that teaches me 'Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.' Because of practising Falun Gong, my diseases are gone." They did not allow me to speak anymore. After they hung me up and handcuffed me to a window, they took a break and left someone to watch me. That man poured cold water over my head every ten to twenty minutes. I was so cold that I was shivering.

During the day, there was repeated interrogation. Without any proof, they forced me to admit I was a director of a Falun Gong Assistance Centre in Zhuzhou City. At night, they again hung me up with a single handcuff locked to a window. They shackled my wrists so tight that they bled. Then I was hung up with my hands cuffed behind my back. They used a metal clip to clamp all ten fingers. After that, they burned my fingernails with a cigarette so that eight of my nails were burned and did not recover for two months. They fiercely struck my face, head, and ears, causing a severe headache. Then they poured a ladle of cold water in my ears which caused hearing loss. They ripped my skin and I was bleeding all over my body. I suffered so much pain that I cried miserably. They said, "Do you feel pain? I will help you to deal with it and then you will not feel pain." They pinched the tendons on my hand. I cannot describe how painful it was. I still do not have the use of my right hand .

They stripped me of my clothes with the intent of burning my nipples with a cigarette. I said, "If you try to do this, I will commit suicide by biting my tongue. " They stopped. They bent my legs upwards and lifted them to my head, two people on each side, I felt so much pain I cried out. While I cried, they, pinched and kicked my stomach and lower body. After a few hours of torturing me using so many cruel methods, they again hung me to a window frame until the next morning. I was congested, swollen, bleeding, and experiencing difficulty walking.

On April 13th, 2008, I was taken to the Second Detention Centre in Zhuzhou City. I was turned away by the guards in the detention centre because I was so severely injured. I was the most severely tortured case since the detention centre was established. After I arrived at the detention centre, I continued bleeding from the rectum for more than a week. After five months, I still do not have use of my hand and have not regained my hearing.

Descriptions of some of the tortures endured by Ms. Zhang Hejun are listed below:

(1) Hot pepper powder is stuffed down the throat of the practitioner and the throat becomes severely burned.

(2) Pull four limbs in four directions, until very tight, then beat the practitioners, making them experience pain as though their body is splitting apart. See illustration on http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2005/3/9/58287.html

(3) With both hands cuffed behind the back, feet not touching the ground or only toes touching, one is hung onto the basketball support or house beam with handcuffs. Both hands and arms will soon lose feeling and use from lack of blood circulation. See illustration on http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2004/8/31/51910.html

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2008/11/2f4/190402.html