My Experiences in Linxiang City Detention Centre

My name is Liao Baoqing and I am a Falun Gong practitioner in Chibi City, Hubei Province. When I was explaining the truth about Falun Gong to the people in my aunt's home in Linxiang City, Hunan Province, I was reported by somebody and was arrested on August 11th, 2008 by officers from the Police Department and the Domestic Security Department of Linxiang City.

The Police Department, the Domestic Security Department, and the Political Security Department formed a group of nearly ten people to interrogate me. They asked me what I had told those seven to eight people in my aunt's home. I thought that I should use this opportunity to save them. I started to tell them the facts about Falun Gong. I told them that Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good and I told them about my understanding of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.

Instead of listening to me, they threatened me, saying, "How dare you promote Falun Gong here. Do you know what this place is? If you keep talking, We will send you to the hospital for the mentally ill and kill you by injecting you with poisonous drugs!"

Then they demanded to know about the Falun Gong leaflets exposing the persecution I had with me. In the beginning, I did not acknowledge them. An officer slapped my face and then punched me in the jaw with all his might. It happened so fast, like the blink of an eye. They also trampled all over my chest. After they beat me for several rounds, my chin was swollen and I lost my hearing in my left ear. At that moment, I heard the domestic security personnel say, "Did you say that Truthfulness-Compassion- Forbearance is good? Then you should tell the truth and take responsibility for what you have done." I told them in an open and aboveboard manner, "Yes, I distributed the informational materials. All the content of that material is to teach people to be good. Only good people are rewarded."

When they pressed me for the source of the materials. I told them, "I don't want to say anything. I am too tired." Then I closed my eyes, sat back on the chair, and no longer spoke a word. The domestic security personnel said to me, "Do you want to say nothing? That is beyond your control and we have all the means to make you talk!"

After discussing among themselves, they took me to the detention centre. In the detention centre they interrogated me for eight hours and told me that they would interrogate me again the next day.

In the cell were more than 20 inmates. Their terms ranged from four years to six or even eight years. My heart ached and bled for them. They were detained in this place isolated from the outside world and they were not able to listen to the truth.

On the third day, someone unknown to me sent me three sets of clothes. On the fifth day, a police officer came to me with his legs trembling. He said, "Originally, it was planned to release you today, but because of the Olympic Games, the plan has changed and you have to be detained for one more month."

In the beginning, the head inmate of the cell did not allow any other inmates to talk to me. If anybody talked to me, he would be beaten. One night, the head inmate could not hold himself back anymore and called me to him. He asked me a series of questions and he wanted me to do the exercises to show him. Those who were listening to me explain the truth heard that I was going to demonstrate the exercises so they all sat up. The head inmate was scared and said in a hurry, "Don't watch, don't watch. Go to sleep!" I then did the fifth exercise, the sitting meditation. After I finished the exercise, I opened my eyes. I saw that everyone was staring at me. This was the opposite of what the head inmate had demanded. This also started my explaining the truth in the detention centre.

One month passed quickly, and the police transferred me to a more strictly monitored cell that contained about two dozen inmates. The head inmate and several of his followers kept asking me questions about the truth of Falun Gong, and they also asked me to do the exercises to show them. I told all the people in the cell, "Falun Gong saves people and I am telling you the truth, which is for your own good." In order for them to believe what I told them, I also gave them several examples. When I was with someone alone, I urged him to withdraw from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its affiliated organizations.

I had begun a hunger strike to protest my detention. On the 10th day of my hunger strike, I kept throwing up the gruel they force-fed into my stomach. The gruel was very salty and was as disgusting as pig feed. Under the instigation of the guards, some of the inmates in the cell kept punching me in the back fiercely. After beating me, they would take a piece of moon cake in their hand and ask me whether I wanted to keep on with the hunger strike. I told them,"I am being illegally detained and my wife does not have a job. My child needs to go to school and I am under intense pressure. I can't eat. I demand to be released, and I will then naturally start to eat." The inmates in the cell kept torturing me the same way. No one in the cell was able to continue watching, and they tried to persuade me to eat. I told several of the perpetrators, "I am not afraid even if you beat me to death. However, I have never offended you before, so why do you treat me this way?" The head inmate jumped at me and said viciously,"We will not kill you. I just want to make you suffer. Because you are not eating, they will not let you take a bath. The cell is hot and the terrible smell from your body makes our living conditions miserable. The smell makes us want to throw up. Also, the detention centre has started to pressure us. Our days are tough, too, so we have to treat you this way." All kinds of ordinary people's notions came to me, and I stopped my hunger strike.

Some days later, the court convened a hearing of my case. They claimed that if I acknowledged wrongdoing, they would give me a light sentence, otherwise they would sentence me heavily. I replied, "I did not do anything wrong." They sentenced me to three-and-a-half years. I said loudly and repeatedly, "What you have said does not count, and I do not acknowledge your sentence."

In the detention centre, there were also times that I did not handle myself properly. When I found out that there was something that I had not done well, I really wanted to cry and blamed myself for not being able to make every effort to do it right.

When I was imprisoned, many miraculous things happened while I was explaining the facts about the Falun Gong in the cell. Here, I list several examples.

Inmate "A" was detained for causing a traffic accident while driving a vehicle. After he agreed to withdraw from the Young Pioneers (a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) affiliate), he was sentenced to only one year and he was wild with joy.

Inmate "B" was detained for selling and using narcotics. After he agreed to withdraw from the Young Pioneers, he was sentenced to only three-and-a-half years. All the inmates in the cell said the sentence was really light.

Inmate "C" was also detained because of a traffic accident. However, no matter how I tried to explain the truth to him, he turned a deaf ear. He was sentenced to eight months and was fined 90,000 yuan¹. It was not difficult to imagine the pressure he was under when facing the people asking for the money. All the inmates said that he would have a very hard time.

Inmate "D" was detained for theft. I tried to explain the truth to him but he refused to listen. As a result, he was heavily sentenced to four years.

Inmate "E" had beaten a foreign investor so hard that the investor was hospitalized. His mother told him sadly when visiting him, "The official said that your case is terrible, and it has had very bad publicity. Not punishing you severely may have an adverse impact on foreign investments. As a result, you will probably be sentenced for three years." After "E" withdrew from the Young Pioneers, the court only sentenced him to one year. He was surprised and so happy that he sang loudly in the cell.

In a flash it was already the spring of 2009. On March 1st, the court sent an official to inform me, "You were sentenced to three-and-a-half years. The sentence is postponed for four years. So far, you have stayed for seven months in the detention centre. You need to pay 4,200 yuan for living expenses. Call your family and tell them to come to finalize the procedure." About 20 minutes after the court official left, the police opened the cell door. I did not give them a penny and they urged me to leave the detention centre.

At the beginning of my detainment, I was forced to do hard labour for 13 hours every day. If I could not finish my assignment, I would have to work overtime for about three hours. I was beaten almost every day, and it was a typical CCP tactic to force one group of people to be against another group. Whenever officials came to inspect, the police would make the inmates tell the officials, "We eat meat twice a week." It was a lie; the inmates are lucky if they can eat meat once in several months!

During the detention, my health was seriously jeopardized. Now I still have difficulty reading, and my hearing has not recovered yet.

Note

1. "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/2009/4/4/198298.html