Mr. Li Gangfeng Endures Endless Brutal Torture during the Prime of His Life

Name: Li Gangfeng
Gender: Male
Age: 30
Address: Unknown
Occupation: Computer and accessories retailer
Date of Most Recent Arrest: September 22nd, 2009
Most recent place of detention: Unknown
City: Hefei
Province: Anhui
Persecution Suffered: Sleep Deprivation, Forced Labour, Beatings, Imprisonment, Solitary Confinement, Torture, Force-Feedings, Physical Restraint, Interrogation, Detention

From being a college student to his present age of 30, the prime of his life, Mr. Li Gangfeng has lived under constant persecution by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). On the afternoon of September 22nd, 2009, staff from the 610 Office¹ once again arrested him. His whereabouts is currently unknown. How many prime years does a person have in one lifetime?

Mr. Li began practising Falun Gong in 1997 when he was just a high school student. He benefited significantly, both physically and mentally. His academic performance greatly improved as well. He was admitted to Anhui Agricultural University in September 1998. At school, he always cheerfully helped others, and teachers and students were all very impressed by him.

Beginning on July 20th, 1999, when the CCP started the suppression of Falun Gong, the police rampantly arrested and persecuted practitioners throughout the entire country. By the end of 1999, Mr. Li went to Beijing to petition on behalf of Falun Gong for the right to practise and to tell the central government leaders the true story of Falun Gong. The local police arrested him and took him to Anhui Province's Beijing Office. While there, he was severely beaten by the guards. Later, they took him to the Lousigang Detention Centre in Hefei City and was detained for 15 days. In the detention centre, he was brutally beaten by the inmates, who were ordered to beat him by the prison authorities. Each day, he was forced to do hard labour for more than ten hours.

One night in late October 2000, Mr. Li, accompanied by a friend, went to an Internet cafe to read a Falun Gong website. The Internet cafe owner reported them to the authorities. Officers from the Chengdong Police Station took him into custody for interrogation and beat him severely. Around 2:00 a.m., while the guards were sleeping, Mr. Li and his friend found a way to open their handcuffs and walked out of the police station. At dawn, officers from the Chengdong Police Station and the staff from the Security Bureau of Anhui Agricultural University arranged for a city wide search in an attempt to capture them. Several days later, the police arrested him near Anhui Agricultural University. In the Chengdong Police Station, officers tortured Mr. Li until he was near death. They tried to make him tell the whereabouts of his friend, but he never said a word. The police authorities were furious and took him to the Feidong County Detention Centre, where Mr. Li went on a hunger strike to protest the injustice. He was force fed many times by the guards. Due to his resistance, the guards used handcuffs and irons to shackle his hands and legs together for many days.

In the spring of 2001, after being detained for several months, the Feidong County Detention Centre authorities had him sentenced him to one year of forced labour. He was taken to Nanhu Forced Labour Camp, which is located in Xuancheng City, Anhui Province. While in the camp, he was constantly subjected to beatings, long periods of standing, verbal abuse, and other inhuman torture. He was also forced to do heavy farm work for 10 hours a day. After his term ended in 2002, he returned to the university and continued his education.

By the end of October 2002, the evening before the CCP held its 16th Congress meeting, staff from the 610 Office and officers from the Hefei City Public Security Bureau broke into Mr. Li's student dormitory and arrested him. They took him to a secret room used solely for police interrogations in the Hefei City Post Telecommunication Hostel. They handcuffed him to an iron chair for more than ten days. Whenever he closed his eyes, the police would poke them or they would kick him to keep him from sleeping. Due to the long period of sleep deprivation, his body swelled and he became muddleheaded. The handcuffs had cut deeply into his swollen flesh and he looked horrific. At the same time, police officers from the Hefei City's Public Security Bureau's First Division recruited several collaborators³ in an attempt to undermine his belief. However, Mr. Li was unwavering and unshakeable in resisting the ill-treatment. In August 2003, after nearly a year in detention, people from the 610 Office sentenced him without any evidence to three years in prison, even though Mr. Li denied all charges. They sent him to the Suzhou City Third Prison in Anhui Province.

In the Suzhou City prison, guards and inmates used a variety of inhuman means to torture practitioners. Officials in this prison followed four basic steps to deal with Falun Gong practitioners.

1. All new practitioners were assigned to a squadron to do hard labour. They were strictly controlled and not allowed to come into contact with outsiders.

2. Those in charge sent them to a brainwashing centre in an attempt to "transform²" them.

3. Any practitioner that couldn't be "transformed" was sent to the public security bureau and subjected to the most inhuman torture in a second attempt to be "transformed."

4. If, after the brutal torture, they were still not "reformed," they were put in solitary confinement in a small room, handcuffed, and put in shackles for one to three months. They were also otherwise tortured. During the solitary confinement, practitioners were not allowed to have visitors or make telephone calls. It was almost like being isolated from the outside world.

Because Mr. Li refused to be "reformed," guards ordered collaborators to beat him brutally. Even though he has been out of prison for several years, he still experiences constant headaches from being beaten. The guards even coerced his parents to try to "transform" him. When he was in prison, each day seemed like a year.

During the second half of 2005, he was released from prison. In order to make a living, he first opened a small shop and then was employed as a salesman. No matter where he lived, on the so called sensitive dates, the staff from the 610 Office visited his home, made threats, and harassed him. In order to avoid being arrested again, he seldom goes home.

In 2009, Mr. Li accidentally heard that there was a computer shop available for sale at a budget price in the Buruiqi Computer Mall in Hefei City. He bought the shop and started a computer sales and repair business. Unfortunately, not long after the shop opened, on September 22nd, agents from the 610 Office arrested him again in his shop. His current whereabouts is unknown.

Even though subjected to constant cruel persecution, Mr. Li has conducted himself according to the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance in all aspects of his life and is a good person. His sincerest wish is for the world's people to live good lives and have a bright future.

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. "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")

3. "Collaborators": former practitioners who have turned against Falun Gong under brainwashing and torture. They are then made to assist in brainwashing and torturing practitioners.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2009/10/18/210604.html