Falun Gong Practitioner Wu Yueju Tortured in Brainwashing Centre

Name: Wu Yueju
Gender: Female
Age: 57
Address: Mahudao Village, Tiexi District, Pulandian City, Liaoning
Occupation: Housewife
Most Recent Date of Release: June 15th, 2009
Most Recent Place of Detention: Brainwashing Centre in the Luotai Mountain Resort in Fushun City, Liaoning Province
City: Fushun
Province: Liaoning
Persecution suffered: detention, forced labour, torture, sexual abuse, beatings, electric shocks, physical confinement, being hung up

Since the persecution of Falun Gong began on July 20th, 1999, Ms. Wu Yueju has been placed in detention centres and forced labour camps many times, and inhumanly tortured.

Tormented in a Detention Centre

In 1999 she was detained for seven months in the Pulandian Detention Centre because she went to Beijing to appeal on behalf of Falun Gong. Her hands and feet were kept in cuffs all the time, even when she went to the toilet. She was tortured on the Tiger Bench¹ for seven days, which caused her calves to swell up bigger than her thighs.

In April 2000, her 80-year-old father was deceived into paying 2000 yuan² for seven months boarding expenses, and then she was released.

Policeman Wang Qiang; community chief Chang Yue, female; the then manager of the Pulandian Detention Centre Guan Lijuan, female; and Wang, the director of the police security bureau, were involved in her case.

In September 2000, Ms. Wu again set out for Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong. She was intercepted and taken into Sanhe Detention Centre in Hebei Province. She was beaten and searched, and her money was confiscated. Numerous practitioners who refused to tell their names were numbered. Ms. Wu was recognised and escorted back by local police officer Wang Qiang and 610 Office³ agent Sun Mousheng. She was then taken to Dalian Forced Labour Camp in November 2000.

Tortured in Dalian Forced Labour Camp

In Dalian Forced Labour Camp, Ms. Wu was tortured with electric shocks, and she was beaten with a police club and locked up in the intensive discipline unit and a small cell. She was also tortured on the Dead Bed, tied to four boards, and left to freeze by open windows. They also poured cold water all over her in the winter, sexually abused her, hung her up, and so on. She was detained for over three years, and released on December 3rd, 2003.

After she had been home for a month, she was again taken to the Pulandian Detention Centre on January 6th, 2004. After the 2004 Chinese New Year, she was taken to Dalian Forced Labour Camp. Han Jianmin, the chief of the women's brigade, declared that she had to give Ms. Wu a fierce taste of what it would be like in the labour camp, because Ms. Wu had exposed her. She ordered criminal inmates to interrogate her, demanding to know whether she still practised. She said she did, and policewoman Fan Wei told the other inmates to drag her to a small cell, where they hung her up, pulled on one side of the hanging rope, and poured cold water on her from the neck down. Her left hand became disabled, as diagnosed by doctors at the Dalian City's Central Hospital, as a result of this torture.

Cui Jinnan, who was in prison for prostitution, poked Wu Yueju's private parts with a toothbrush. Encouraged by criminal inmate Zhang Xiujuan, she burned Ms. Wu's breasts with boiling water. Ms. Wu was brutally tormented. She was forced to swallow a nail and chopsticks and had to have an operation in Dalian City Central Hospital. Her husband's aunt could not recognise her as a result of the torture. When her relatives asked how they could have tortured anyone to such a degree, Wan Yalin, the deputy chief of the women's brigade, answered, "I will arrest you all for making so much noise."

Before the stitches were removed from Ms. Wu, Wan Yalin hurriedly took her back to the labour camp. Ms. Wu was beaten again before her incisions were healed and was not allowed to use the toilet. Prisoner Cui Jinnan put dirty socks and sanitary pads into Ms. Wu's mouth, hung her up, and put a big sign around her neck with words that slandered Falun Gong. They tortured and cursed her until her nose bled profusely, and her clothes were soaked with blood. They pulled off her clothes, pulled out her hair, poured porridge over her head and face, and then flushed it with cold water. They forced her to recite 30 prison regulations, otherwise they would handcuff her.

Later Ms. Wu's breasts started to fester, and she lost all feeling in her left hand and could not grasp anything. She was under intense discipline, had to squat in a small cell, and was handcuffed to the Death Bed⁴ with practitioner Qu Shumei. Some practitioners were handcuffed to windows, some were lying on the ground and could not get up, and others were handcuffed to a bed. The southern and northern rooms held practitioners that had been tortured. Officers told Ms. Wu to write a statement guaranteeing to observe prison regulations, but she refused.

After several rounds of torture, Han Jianmin assigned Ms. Wu Yueju to hard labour, and threatened her so she would not tell her husband that her hand had become disabled as a result of torture.

Many Practitioners Tortured

In Dalian Forced Labour Camp, many female practitioners were tortured in different ways. Practitioners Sun Yan, Chang Xuexia, Man Chunrong, Han Shuhua, Gong Xuerong, Chang Xueling, Zhong Shujuan, Chen Hui, Fu Shuying, Wang Lijun, Qu Shumei, Yin Guirong, Chen Hui, and others were tortured by having chili powder inserted into their vaginas. They also had their vaginas poked with a shoe brush, toothbrush, beverage bottle, cucumber, mop, and fists, which caused them to bleed. Afterwards they could not straighten up and walk. Elderly practitioner Fu Shuying and others were force-fed liquor. Li Hong from Zhuanghe had her clothes pulled off and was brutally tortured until she fainted. Then they poured water over her. After being sexually abused, she became mentally disordered. Chang Baohua had her lower body kicked and trampled on.

Because Ms. Yang Ming pointed out to Han Jianmin that by persecuting and torturing Falun Gong practitioners, she would suffer from retribution, she was dragged into small cell. Several prisoners towed her from the third floor to a small cell on the first floor with her head facing the ground. Her clothes were pulled up over her head, and her body was exposed. It was in the middle of December, and the window was left open to freeze her. She was in bare feet and wore very few clothes. On January 1st, 2002, of the Chinese lunar year, eight to nine practitioners were locked up in a small cell; Yang Ming was in a small cell until January 15th, 2002. Both her hands were cuffed and she was hung up with one leg hanging backwards, and the toe tips of her other foot barely touched the ground. She was also cuffed to the Dead Person's Bed, injected with drugs, and thus became mentally disoriented. Currently, she has a hard time moving about.

Han Shuhua was locked up in a small cell, where prisoners burned her feet with boiling water and then towed her around. Her skin broke open and she was covered in blood. Wang Binhua with subjected to "Five Horses Splitting the Body," the big hang up, and deprivation of sleep for five days and nights. Her entire body was swollen. Qin Shulan, Yang Ming, Wu Yueju, Li Yumei, Zhang Min, and others were tied to the Dead Person's Bed (on four boards). Their urine dripped onto the ground, and they opened the window in the winter to freeze them.

Gong Xuerong of Pulandian was tortured until she lost control of her extremities and was curled up in a pool of urine on the cement floor.

Prisoner Yu Yehong, an intermittent psychopath, yelled out panic-stricken calls in the middle of the night. Those in charge put her into the same cage with practitioners, in an attempt to make practitioners waver.

At that time, the prisoners who monitored practitioners were Yu Ling, Wang Fang, Zhang Xiujuan, Zhao Hui, Gao Binling, Sun Bo, Cui Jinnan, Li Jing, and Yu Yehong. They tortured practitioners under the instigation of Han Jianmin and Wan Yalin. Once, Wan Yalin bought fish, meat, and rice for Zhang Xiujuan's birthday. In order to repay her, Zhang used evil means on practitioners in a small cell. Once, she fiercely trampled with very hard shoes on the lower part of Gong Xuerong's body.

Practitioner Wang Guangfu, about 50 years old, wanted to flee the prison and had already walked out of the supervision area, but was arrested before she was able to leave the yard. She suffered inhuman torture in a small iron cage, which further damaged her already disabled right arm.

At the end of 2004, Dalian Forced Labour Camp was disbanded. On October 28th, 2004, Wu Yueju and fellow practitioners Wang Ling, Qu Shumei, Fan Jinghua, and other practitioners were towed into the first prison van and taken to Masanjia Forced Labour Camp; Wang Guangfu was taken separately to Masanjia Forced Labour Camp, and on the way Ms. Wu Yueju loudly shouted, "Falun Gong is good!"

Ms. Wu Yueju was detained for two and a half years and returned home on April 29th, 2006.

Arrested and Persecuted Again

On April 9th, 2007, two women smashed open the door of Ms. Wu Yueju's home, claiming they were there to collect a water fee. Afterwards, a group of men from the Pulandian 610 Office, Tiexi Police Station, and the community broke into her home. They put her in handcuffs, made a mess of her property, and confiscated Falun Gong books, a paper cutter, a photocopier, discs, and materials.

They put Ms. Wu into a police car and took her to the Tiexi Police Station and then to the public security bureau. The officers dragged her by the handcuffs, which cut into her flesh, to the third floor. Ms. Wu shouted, "Persecuting Falun Gong is sinful! Falun Gong is good!" They then hit her face. A 610 Office agent with the surname Zhang clipped her neck, until she nearly couldn't breathe and then dragged her to Zhang's office. Many people threatened her, then took her to another room and handcuffed her to the Tiger Bench. Dalian security division spy Chen Xin personally hit her face, grabbed her by the hair, and said, "Do you know me? I am Chen Xin, that hoodlum spy that is named on your Falun Gong website."

He also asked, "Who knows Li May?" Ms. Wu Yueju only said, "Persecuting Falun Gong is a crime." He kicked her and sent her to Pulandian Detention Centre that night.

In the detention centre, Ms. Wu started a hunger strike and was force-fed. Manager Guan Lijuan ordered the prisoners to cover her mouth to make her stop shouting "Falun Gong is good!" Dr. Yan restrained Ms. Wu's hands and feet to a bed and force-fed her.

The brutal torture plus the force-feeding left Ms. Wu emaciated. She had internal bleeding, so the detention centre did not want to take responsibility. On April 27th, Manager Guan Lijuan suddenly said to release her, told her to pack up her things, and she was sent home. In the night, community chief Chang YuE asked the clinical staff to put Ms. Wu on an intravenous drip. She spat out lots of blood and they had to call an ambulance.

Because she was being strictly monitored, Ms. Wu Yueju left home. The authorities still guarded her residence day and night, and the community arranged that property owner Lu monitor her home. On June 20th, 2007, she returned home to see relatives and was reported by Lu and Wang Min. Local 610 Office agents broke into her room and took her to Masanjia Forced Labour Camp for the second time.

Brutality in Masanjia Forced Labour Camp

At Masanjia Forced Labour Camp, Ms. Wu was forced to give her fingerprints and signature, but she tore up the paper. Two officers tried to cut her hair, but she did not co-operate, so they tied up her arms. Later, she conducted a hunger strike. Geng Li and Zhang Min from Dalian were tortured with a mouth opener when they were on hunger strikes. Their mouths became infected. Practitioners were first cuffed to the Dead Person's Bed, the mouth opener was inserted into their mouths, and they could not shout or call anyone for help. When the mouth is opened to the maximum, the jaws become dislocated. Force-feeding is actually a method of torture, involving pouring food in, causing them to choke until they nearly suffocate. Every force-feeding is like going through the gates of death--it is extremely difficult to remain on a hunger strike for several days. Ms. Wu Yueju was cuffed to the Dead Person's Bed, her head was covered with a towel, and food was poured into her mouth. This was extremely painful. Seven to eight police women participated in this horrendous procedure, and Shi Yu sat on Ms. Wu during the force-feeding.

After the force-feeding, Ms. Wu was isolated for a long time and supervised by one person. The door and window were closed during the daytime, and they only left a thin slit of the glass door open for monitoring.

On the 2008 New Year's Day, because she was found with a Falun Gong article, Ms. Wu was stripped of her clothes, clutched on the neck, and could not make any noise. Her mouth was sealed with tape, and officers Zhang Zhuohui, Zhang Jun, Zhang Huan, and Huang Haiyan dragged her into a storage room--actually a room especially for torturing Falun Gong practitioners. They tightly tied her legs with white cloth, cuffed her hands, and hung her up for an entire night. Her hands and feet lost all feeling. (Temperatures in Shenyang in January are minus ten to minus twenty degrees. In addition to the hanging up, the brutality is beyond imagination.) Police officers told Ms. Wu to reconsider, but she still said that she was not wrong, and Zhang Jun trampled on her lower back and said they would freeze her in another place.

On April 1st, 2008, Ms. Wu was sent to the normal team. Officers Liu Hui and Wang Shuzheng instigated prisoners to pull off her clothes in the washroom and searched her for Falun Gong articles. Ms. Wu loudly shouted, "Falun Gong is good!" She was again cuffed to the Dead Person's Bed. One time when she shouted, she was hit with a mouth opener and was bleeding. They forced open her mouth for a long time, didn't allow her to close her eyes, and poured sewage water on her face.

In the cell, Ms. Wu did not wear prison clothes. When she performed slave labour to make clothes, she sang Falun Gong songs every day. Even when she was tortured with electric batons and lost control of her bowels, she still shouted, "Falun Gong is good!"

On March 3rd, 2009, Beijing practitioners Zhang Yuxian, Zhang Xiaoyue, Qi Hongyu, and Lang Dongyue were slapped in the face by officers Zhang Yu and Wang Shuzheng, who also grabbed their hair. Because Ms. Wu shouted, "Falun Gong is good!" Zhang Yu and Wang Shuzheng attempted to deceive her into having a conversation, but she refused to go, so they dragged her into the office. They pulled off her clothes and searched for Falun Gong articles and slapped her face numerous times, which caused her teeth to fall out and her left eye to swell.

In Masanjia Forced Labour Camp, officers Wang Yanping, Zhang Huan, Zhang Zhuohui, Huang Haiyan, Zhang Jun, manager Zhou Qin, commissar Wang Naimin, chair Yang Jian, Rong XiuE, Zhang Xiurong, Wang Shuzheng, Zhang Yu, Ren Huaiping, and others directly participated in the mistreatment of Falun Gong practitioners, forced them to do hard labour, and extended their forced labour terms.

On May 4th, 2009, after 25 days of detention, Ms. Wu was taken in a police car by the Pulandian 610 Office personnel to the Luotai Mountain Resort (which, in reality, houses a brainwashing centre) in Fushun. In the brainwashing centre, Ms. Wu refused to co-operate. At that time, the manager of Masanjia Forced Labour Camp, Su Jing, was at the Luotai Mountain Resort and warned Ms. Wu not to expose her on the Internet again. She suggested that the more the persecution was exposed, the more serious the persecution would be.

On June 15th, Ms. Wu was taken home, accompanied by seven people, including Pulandian 610 Office agent Gao, officer Wang, the Tiexie Police Station manager Song, Jiang Qing, and Yu from the community.

After returning home, she should have had a chance at a normal life. However, people from the Pulandian 610 Office, the police station, and the community unceasingly harassed her. After she left home, her family members went downstairs at 5 a.m. and saw several people from the community watching her building. They have not loosened up on the persecution of Ms. Wu Yueju.

Note

1. "Tiger Bench": Prisoners are forced to sit on a small iron bench that is approximately 20 cm (6 inches) tall with their knees tied together. With their hands tied behind their backs or sometimes placed on their knees, they are forced to sit straight up and look straight ahead without movement for long periods of time.

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

3. "The 610 office" is an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other political and judiciary systems.

4. "Death Bed" torture: A practitioner is tied to a bed with his hands handcuffed above his head to the bed rails, and his legs tied with thin nylon ropes. The rope is then tightly wrapped around the practitioner's body and the bed, from his legs to his chest. The rope is wrapped so tightly that the practitioner has difficulty breathing and eventually loses consciousness.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2009/9/2/207586.html