Practitioners Persecuted in Guandong Village of Laishui County, Hebei Province

Police from Laishui Town Police Station raided the homes of Mr. Xia Hongmin and Ms. Xia Hongrui at around 5:00 p.m. on September 17th, 2009. Their homes were located in Guandong Village, Laishui County. Police had previously (on September 14th, 2009) harassed Mr. Xia Shulong and Mr. Xia Shudong at the same village. The following are the accounts of how police mistreated Falun Gong practitioners in Guandong Village.

Ms. Xia Hongrui

A group of police officers from Laishui Town Police Station intercepted Ms. Xia Hongrui's mother, who was just ready to go out, at around 5:00 p.m. on September 17th, 2009. They forced her to open the door and let them in, and then thoroughly ransacked the entire house. Clothes, as well as other things in the house, were thrown everywhere, and Falun Gong books were taken from the home. This kind of search has been done many times.

Ms. Xia Hongrui has been wandering around, working as a temp for years. Before the persecution of Falun Gong, Ms. Xia Hongrui had her own barber shop. The following is some history of the persecution she has endured.

Police from Laishui Town Police Station, led by deputy Su Shen of Laishui Town Party Committee, broke into Xia Hongrui's home at around 1:00 a.m. on December 22nd, 2000. They searched her home and threatened her. The next day they came to her barber shop and ordered her not to go out and hand out Falun Gong materials. The cadres in the village also often walked in front of her shop and checked out who was inside.

Under these circumstances, Xia Hongrui decided to go to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong. She was later arrested and detained at Laishui County Detention Centre. They paraded her through the streets with a sign hanging around her neck on December 28th, 2000. Under orders from deputy Sun Guijie of the Laishui County Party Committee, Xia Hongrui was detained at the Laishui Detention Centre for 22 months.

At the detention centre, heat was provided for only ten or more days throughout the entire winter. The cells were always cold with wind blowing through the doors and windows, over which the detainees were not allowed to hang any curtains. The inmates were forced to do slave labour, such as embroidering. They worked from early morning until late at night to finish the quotas. It was so cold that they often could not close their hands to form a fist, and some the inmates' hands were cracked and bleeding due to the cold. Every evening inmates had to do a two-hour post near the door, which made inmates shiver due to the cold. The inmates couldn't even stamp their feet because the cell was filled with people. Only two meals were provided in the winter. The dinner was one bowl of gruel and some pickles. Sometimes the pickles tasted bitter and smelled bad. Dead mice were often seen floating in the vats with the pickles. Frozen potatoes were often cooked and provided at lunch, which tasted bad. Those working at the dinner hall sometimes sold the guards' leftovers to the inmates.

Guards took and kept for themselves the money and other things that the inmate's families sent for the detained family members. Detainees were also over-charged for the daily items sold at the detention centre. The centre did not sell sanitary pads to women practitioners, and they were forced to tear off pieces from their clothes to use as a substitute.

In 2002, Ms. Xia Hongrui was sent to Nanma Brainwashing Centre in Zhouzhou City, by Wang Fucai and Wang Shurui from the Laishui County 610 Office¹, at a cost of 2000 yuan² per month as a "transformation³ fee."

Xia Hongrui was brutally tortured at Nanma Brainwashing Centre. People at the centre who were involved in her torture included Gao Xuefei, Du Yonglu, Zhang Ruibao, Zhao Yinjiu, Wang Lei, Guo Jianpo, and Zhu Jianhua. Once at midnight, Gao Xuefei and others took Ms. Xia to a dark room, and Gao continuously slapped her face while holding her by her clothes. Others joined in and kicked and pinched her. Ms. Xia fell into a coma during the brutal beating. For the following three or four days, she was not fully conscious.

The brainwashing centre was indeed a hell in the human world, and every day the sounds of beatings and painful screaming were heard. Practitioner Sing Xiuqin died there due to torture. Guard Gao Xuefei openly admitted, "This is not a prison. But we can use any tools that are not allowed in prison. It is more than a prison."

Mr. Xia Hongmin

Practitioner Mr. Xia Hongmin was arrested on December 24th, 2008, in Hujiazhuang Township, Laishui County, for distributing Falun Gong leaflets exposing the persecution. He was detained at Laishui County Roundhouse and transferred to Laishui Detention Centre on January 1st, 2009. He was allowed to go home on January 31st, when his life was in danger from holding a hunger strike.

On his way from home from work on March 5th, Mr. Xia was seized by police officer Liu Jinbao and others from Laishui Town Police Station, and was immediately sent to Gaoyang Forced Labour Camp.

Xia Hongmin's home was raided in the afternoon on September 17th by officers from the Laishui Police Station. Xia Hongmin was arrested and is currently detained at the Gaoyang Forced Labour Camp in Hebei Province.

Mr. Xia Hongmin was a construction worker from Dongguan Village, Laishui County. One day he went to a clinic to get treatment for his lumbago and learned about Falun Gong. He subsequently improved himself physically and mentally and followed Falun Gong's principles to be good person. He was highly respected by his co-workers and the manager.

Mr. Xia Shulong

Mr. Xia Shulong was a respected doctor in Dongguan Village. Because he refused to renounce Falun Gong, his licence was revoked.

Mr. Xia's wife Cao Xiaolin was previously very sick with multiple diseases including vasculitis, and she improved a lot after practising Falun Gong. However, after the persecution of Falun Gong began, she suffered extreme pressure. Her husband (Xia Shulong), their son, and their daughter had all been arrested, as had her younger brother, her sister-in-law, and her nephew. Officials from Laishui County and Laishui Town, and officers from Laishui Town Police Station often came to harass and threaten her. Her physical condition worsened, and she passed away in May 2007.

Mr. Xia Shulong is now home by himself. His children had to move to other regions to avoid the persecution. Officers from the Laishui Town Police Station came to harass him again on September 14th, 2009.

Mr. Xia Shudong's Family

Mr. Xia Shudong previously practised Falun Gong, but after the persecution of Falun Gong began, he was arrested and eventually gave up the practice.

Mr. Xia's wife Xia Shuqin continued practising Falun Gong at home. In 2007, she was reported to police as she distributed Falun Gong leaflets exposing the persecution in Nanguan Village, and she was arrested. She was interrogated overnight at the Laishui County Police Department, and then transferred to Laishui Town Police Station. Since then the police have often searched her home and ordered her to report to the police station.

Ms. Xia Shuqin was a very timid person. Under high pressure and constant harassment, she was unable to bear it and eventually became paralysed. She died on January 31st, 2009, at a young age.

Zhou Lina from Laishui Town Police Station was involved in the persecution. Zhou Lina's husband, Yu Peiyu, works at the Laishui County Police Department.

Note

1. "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.

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

3. "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://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2009/10/3/209566.html