Ms. Xu Qingyan Tortured Repeatedly and Forced to Become Homeless

Name: Xu Qingyan
Gender: Female
Age: 51
Address: Liushui Village, Daxue Township, Taihe District, Jinzhou City, Liaoning Province
Occupation: Farmer
Date of Most Recent Arrest: February 24th, 2009
Most Recent Place of Detention: Daxue Township Police Station
City: Jinzhou
Province: Liaoning
Persecution Suffered: Sleep deprivation, forced labour, brainwashing, beatings, hung from handcuffs, imprisonment, solitary confinement, torture, forced-feedings, extortion, physical restraint, mental hospital torture, home ransacked, interrogation, detention, denied use of toilet

On February 24th, 2009, Zhang Dianhong, assistant chief of the Daxu Township Police Station, led a group of officers to arrest Ms. Xu Qingyan at her job. They intended to arrest her again and persecute her further, but the detention centre refused to accept her because a physical examination revealed that she had two large tumours (about 19.9 cm [7.8 in.] in diameter) in her abdomen. After that, Ms. Xu was forced to become homeless to avoid police harassment. In the evenings prior to "National Day" on October 1st, 2009, Zhang Dianhong and other officers harassed her family many times with phone calls. They also went to the homes of her relatives to inquire about her whereabouts.

Ms. Xu Qingyan is a common peasant. Because she believes in Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, she was arrested five times by the police, detained in prison for more than four years, and tortured many times. She still can't return to her home. Her experience shows how the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) inhumanly tortures Falun Gong practitioners. At the same time, her unconquerable spirit and will show the world that unjust law enforcement cannot change people's belief in Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.

Ms. Xu is single. Before beginning Falun Gong practice, she had many diseases, including cancer of the thyroid, which normally requires immediate surgery. As her family was poor, they could not afford the operation, so her tumour grew every day. She was also constantly in pain due to other illnesses. It was a tragedy that such a young woman should lose her mobility. Only 30 years old, she often cried secretly, not wanting to worry her mother further. Ms. Xu's suffering made her impatient and resentful, and she often vented her anger on her mother. Her mother loved her dearly, so she was always very tolerant of her daughter. As Ms. Xu's illnesses began to worsen, so did her relationship with her mother. Her elder sister decided to take her mother to her home.

In December 1997, Ms. Xu began practising Falun Gong, and before long, all her diseases disappeared. This was the very first time in her life that she experienced the feeling of being illness-free. It was a feeling hard to describe. She then quickly read the Falun Gong book, Zhuan Falun, and began following the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.

Knowing that she had been disrespectful towards her mother, Ms. Xu was extremely remorseful. Without any hesitation, she went to her older sister's house and knelt down to beg her mother for forgiveness. Her mother was so touched by this that she burst into tears. Her sister was startled and said, "It has only been a month and yet you have changed so much. Falun Gong is indeed miraculous!" Ms. Xu has since respected her mother and cared for the people around her. From practising Falun Gong, she regained a strong and healthy body, which allowed her to again work in the fields. She even volunteered to look after her elder sister's orchard. Her family thus became harmonious and happy.

No Access to Appeal, Ms. Xu Arrested on Tiananmen Square

Xu Qingyan's good life, however, did not last long. On July 21st, 1999, about a year after she started practising Falun Gong, other practitioners told her that Falun Gong had become an "illegal organisation" and was outlawed in China. Ms. Xu was totally shocked and refused to believe that it was true. She immediately travelled to Beijing to appeal on behalf of Falun Gong. When she arrived at Tiananmen Square, she was arrested immediately by the armed police after she told them that she was a Falun Dafa practitioner. She was taken to an unknown location where there were many other arrested practitioners from other areas. The police ordered the practitioners to gather in a big room and asked for their names and addresses. The police even ordered them to give their thumb prints. Seeing this, Ms. Xu firmly refused to have her thumb prints taken and tried to reason with the police. Without listening to her, a burly police officer grabbed her by the hair and banged her head against a stone pillar. She was then dragged into a car and taken to the Beijing Sports Stadium. Ms. Xu was sent to the Jinzhou City Detention Centre that night by the Beijing police. A month later, she was transferred to Heishan County Detention Centre and was held there for more than a month. It was only after Ms. Xu went on a hunger strike for five days in protest that she was finally released.

Firm in Her Belief, Ms. Xu Detained

After seeing how Falun Gong was being slandered and how people in China were being deceived by the anti-Falun Gong propaganda, Ms. Xu decided to bravely appeal against the persecution of Falun Gong. In October 1999, officers from the Daxue Police Station in the Taihe District barged into her house and took her to the detention centre. They subsequently transferred her to the Jinzhou City Drug Rehabilitation Centre. In the centre, she saw many other detained practitioners.

A few days later, officers from the City Police Station took her to an illegal court hearing, but she refused to answer any questions. At about 10:00 p.m. that night, she was sent back to the Drug Rehabilitation Centre. The next morning, the police continued to question her in court and she was consequently sent to the city's No.1 Detention Centre. She then went on a hunger strike to protest the unlawful persecution. After seeing this, a group of about eight men pinned her down, pinched her nose, and tried to pour fluids into her mouth. This was to no avail as nothing went in. After this, she was handcuffed by prison guard Jin Liwen, and for half a day she was denied use of the toilet. About five months later, without going through any proper legal procedures, Ms. Xu was sentenced to three years in prison. She was then transferred to Shenyang Dabei Prison.

When she first arrived at Dabei Prison, the prison director handed her a book containing the prison rules and guidelines and ordered her to memorise it. She clearly knew that she had done nothing wrong and was not a criminal, so she threw the book away. The prison director then angrily slapped her face and tied her to a bed. She was locked in a small cell¹. During the several years that she was in the prison, Ms. Xu never forgot to treat others compassionately and bore no grudges towards anyone. She was repeatedly force-fed while she was on a hunger strike to protest the persecution. When she was first force-fed in the prison, about eight officers pinned her to her bed, and Director Wang personally ordered the criminal inmates to force-feed her. They forced her mouth open and inserted a tube as wide as a finger down her throat. After a while, she began to vomit blood. They were unable to do the force feeding through her mouth and decided to do it through her nose instead. Such brutal force feeding was extremely painful and she cried out during the process, but the cruel Director Wang continued without any hesitation.

One day, she was tortured until her kidneys began to fail. She also felt a sharp pain in her chest and also had shortness of breath. Despite this, she was still forced to do manual labour every day. Every day after work, she was so tired and exhausted that she could only lie on her bed.

When she had nearly finished serving her sentence, Director Wu snarled, "Since you're so persistent [in practising Falun Gong], I will not release you!" In those three and a half years, Ms. Xu had faced the persecution without any hatred or resentment, and she was always calm and peaceful. Her compassion and forbearance deeply influenced many people in the prison, and they respected her greatly. Even the police officers and guards were full of respect for her whenever they mentioned Teacher Li Hongzhi, the founder of Falun Gong, in front of her. Before she was released, the prison director ordered her to write her "understanding," and she wrote some poems describing how a Falun Gong practitioner displayed an unwavering belief in Falun Gong.

Arrested Again and Sent to Forced Labour Camp Just after Her Release

In May 2003, she was finally released from the prison. She stayed at the home of her second sister. Ms. Xu continued studying the Falun Gong teachings, practising the exercises, and talking to people about the truth behind the persecution of Falun Gong many people in her village. She soon recovered from her injuries and illnesses and became healthy again.

At about 8:30 p.m. on February 4th, 2004, she was arrested when she was at home chatting with another practitioner, Ms. Wang Yulan. A group of officers from the Daxue Police Station in the Taihe District, led by Zhang Wenxin, barged into her house. They ransacked it, and one officer found Teacher Li's photo. Ms. Xu tried to stop them from taking the photo, but she was slapped in the face. The blows were so harsh that she suffered from temporary hearing loss. The police officers then took both Ms. Xu and Ms. Wang to the city's No.1 Detention Centre. On February 28th, Ms. Xu was sentenced to three years of forced labour and Ms. Wang to one year. Both were sent to Masanjia Forced Labour Camp.

When she first arrived at Masanjia Forced Labour Camp, Ms. Xu was approached by several criminal inmates and collaborators. They tried everything to "transform [forcibly renounce Falun Gong]" her. They tied her onto a bed and deprived her of sleep for many days. Whenever she tried to advise them not to do bad deeds, they covered her mouth with a handkerchief and pried her mouth open with a ladle and stuffed it with garlic. Her teeth loosened, and the garlic made her eyes water. They did that to her for 40 days, but Ms. Xu refused to give in. One morning in May, when they found out that she was still not "transformed," Zhang Xiurong, the director, and Yang Xiaofeng, the deputy director, brought about five people with them, taped her mouth, then handcuffed her onto the bed. After they left, Ms. Xu felt tightness in her chest and shortness of breath, and she broke out in a cold sweat. Subsequently, her faced turned white and she lost consciousness as she was kneeling on the floor with her hands cuffed to the bed. Her handcuffs were not removed until 8:00 p.m. that night, and she was then allowed to use the toilet and eat.

For an entire week, she was tortured this way. One day, she was taken to Shenyang Mental Hospital for further persecution. On the way to the hospital, she constantly shouted, "Falun Gong is good!" but Director Li tried to stop her by hitting her head with a drink bottle. When she arrived at the hospital, she tried to expose the truth about the persecution to the people there. The doctor tried to give her injections but her struggling made it impossible. They decided to send her back to Masanjia Forced Labour Camp. In the labour camp, she was severely slapped and lost her hearing (even today, she still suffers from partial hearing loss). She was again handcuffed to the bed and her mouth was taped. Director Yang Xiaofeng said, "This time your medical fee is 200 yuan²." Ms. Xu knew that they tried to use this as an excuse to extort money from her, despite the fact that no treatment was done.

The next morning, she was locked in a small cell on the fourth floor. On the fourth floor, there were also nine other rooms with double beds (four of these were locked and unused and anyone who went in would have breathing difficulty from the lack of air circulation). Initially, she was locked in a small cell in one of the five rooms that were frequently used. Two minutes after she was there, she was dragged to the room that was unused and handcuffed to a tall stool. As she was having her menstrual period at that time, blood flowed all the way onto the floor. She was also having breathing difficulties. The abuse was agonising.

Finally, they dragged her out from the unused room into the small cell of the regular room and handcuffed her again to a tall stool. About ten days later, she was forced onto a tiger bench³. Twenty days later she was finally released from the small cell.

Knowing that her physical condition had deteriorated rapidly from the torture and remembering how she regained her health before, Ms. Xu decided to continue practising the Falun Gong exercises. On September 1st, she was handcuffed to a shelf in a storage room because she was caught practising the exercises. She was forced to stand there for nine days, and her lower legs became swollen and developed boils. This torture also caused her right leg to become lame. Late one night, Ms. Xu suddenly leaned forward and the noises from her handcuffs woke up the inmates. One of the inmates saw her agony and empathetically told her, "Yan, your actions have moved heaven and earth." At this time, Ms. Xu noticed that there was a thunderstorm. Nine days later, she was finally released back to the prison cell.

On December 1st, the prison authorities made the practitioners attend a class that attempted to force them to slander Falun Gong. In order to avoid being brainwashed in the class, Ms. Xu tried repeatedly to escape from the class. As a result, she was often called to the prison directors' offices (directors Zhang Xiurong and Zhang Zhouhui) for beatings. She endured the pain and suffering and tried many times to explain the facts to them.

At this time, both Zhang Xiurong and Zhang Zhuohui were tired from beating Ms. Xu and decided to lock her in the small cell again. In the winter, the unheated small cell was like a freezer. Again, she was locked inside for nine days. When she was finally released, she was so cold that she had difficulty moving. A month later, she needed support from others to walk. All her bones ached, she could no longer lie down, and she was often awakened by pain in the middle of the night.

In January 2005, the Fifth Section of the Second Ward was formed and designated as the "strictly monitored ward." Ms. Xu and 30 other practitioners were sent to this ward. They were not allowed to wash their clothes or take showers, the cells were unheated, and they were served the worst food. Everyone decided to go on a hunger strike to protest this persecution. Every practitioner shouted, "Falun Gong is good!" in unison and subsequently, more than ten prison guards came, trying to separate the practitioners by locking them into different cells. The practitioners formed a human wall and thus prevented any one of them from being taking away.

One day in February, Ms. Xu and another practitioner managed to open the window in their room and shouted, "Falun Gong is good!" towards the canteen. For this she was locked in the small cell again. A few days later, she suffered from both a mental collapse and heart problems. She lay on the floor in extreme agony. This time, she was locked up for ten days before being released. After returning to the strictly monitored ward, all the practitioners were still on a hunger strike and constantly shouted, "Falun Gong is good!" Soon after, they even refused to wear the prison uniforms.

On April 17th, 2005, Ms. Qui Li was dragged from her cell for force-feeding and Ms. Xu Qingyan repeatedly shouted, "Falun Gong is good!" Upon hearing this, head chief Li Yuming grabbed Ms. Xu's hair and said, "Force-feed her!" Ms. Xu Qingyan was pulled out of her cell and put into another room. Xie, the principal director, closed the door and gave Ms. Xu a severe beating, which loosened her teeth and impaired her hearing. When Xie got tired from beating Ms. Xu, he handcuffed her to a heating pipe.

Ms. Xu could barely breathe and soon lost consciousness. She slid down the heater and her handcuffs tightened. This was extremely painful, and her perspiration seeped through her clothes. After a while, she regained consciousness and tried to stand up, but everything got dark and she lost consciousness again. The second time she regained consciousness, she saw Director Li Yuming come into the room to get her statement. Ms. Xu refused to sign any document. The frustrated Li beat her again before taping her mouth and ears. When Ms. Xu asked to use the toilet, Liu Jing, the officer in charge, refused. At 10:00 p.m. that night they released her back to the strictly monitored ward. Due to the brutal abuse, Ms. Xu's abdomen became bloated with fluid and her lungs and heart were seriously injured. Even after other practitioners told those in charge that Ms. Xu was ill, they were completely ignored.

On April 20th, 2005, Ms. Xu was taken to the hospital for a medical exam. Five large tumours were found, two 12 cm. (4.7 in.) in diameter and three 5-6 cm. (2 in.). She was diagnosed with terminal uterine cancer, as well as myocardium anaemia. On April 24th, she began to exhibit other symptoms, including shortness of breath, a protruding tongue, and the inability to move her head. When she arrived at the hospital, the doctor said that she needed an operation immediately, so the police decided to call up her family members, informing them that Ms. Xu was very ill. They lied by saying, "Xu Qingyan has had uterine cancer for nine years." Ms. Xu's family members replied, "If she contracted it nine years ago, why didn't the forced labour camp manage to diagnose it?"

Early on morning of April 26th, Director Zhang ordered several practitioners to help Ms. Xu put on some clothes, and she was sent home in a car. While they were in the car, the police told Ms. Xu, "When we arrive at your house, you have to ask your family members to allow you to stay home. We can no longer keep you." When the car arrived in Liushui Village, Ms. Xu's elder brother, sister, nephew, and niece came out to see how she was. To their astonishment, they no longer recognised her. They said to the police, "You bring her home after torturing her so terribly that we can no longer recognise her?! In her current condition, she has not much longer to live. Why did you bring her here? Take her back to your camp! We refuse to keep her at home!" At this point, tears flowed down Ms. Xu's face as testimony to the brutal persecution she had suffered. Zhang Wenxin, an officer from Daxue Village Police Station, tried to console them. After much discussion amongst Ms. Xu's family members, they decided to keep Ms. Xu despite her desperate condition. This was how Ms. Xu escaped Masanjia Forced Labour Camp after being tortured for more than a year. The camp was indeed a living hell. Within a year, two thirds of Ms. Xu Qingyan's hair had turned white.

Forced to Become Homeless

The persecution has not ended. On February 24th, 2009, Zhang Dianhong from Daxue Township Police Station and a group of officers arrested Ms. Xu again. As they brutally dragged her into a police vehicle, she shouted, "Falun Gong is good!" Many onlookers started to talk about what was happening. In the police station, Ms. Xu talked to the officers about Falun Gong with compassion. Afterwards, she was examined in the police hospital, and two large tumours measuring 19.9 cm (7.8 in.) in diameter, were found in her abdomen. Her intestine had changed shape and her bladder was pushed aside due to pressure from the tumours. The detention centre refused to accept her. At 8:00 p.m. that night, Li Yazhou, associate director of the city police department, demanded the detention centre accept her. Fourteen days later, she told those detained with her that her heart had been pushed to the limit. Guard Dai Wei asked a detainee to carry her to the office. Ms. Xu then fainted.

She was carried to an ambulance and taken to the police hospital. The detention centre ordered her family to come to take her home. That afternoon, she stopped breathing three times. She looked completely disfigured.

After being released, Ms. Xu was forced to leave home to avoid the police. Prior to October 1st, 2009, Zhang Dianhong and other police officers called to harass her family over and over. They also went to the homes of her relatives to try to find her. After learning this, Ms. Xu called Zhang Dianhong and told him to stop persecuting practitioners.

Related article: http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2005/8/12/63840.html

¹

1. Small cell - The detainee is locked up in a very small cell individually. The guards handcuff practitioners behind their back in a fixed position, so that they can neither move nor lie down. The small cell is very damp and no sunshine comes in. Detainees have to use a bucket in the cell as a toilet. Only half of a regular meal is served to those in a small cell during the daytime. During the night, rats run around. The stench in the small cell is so bad that it is difficult to breathe.

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

3. "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.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2009/12/29/215256.html