Li Yuhua from Yilan Town of Heilongjiang Tortured Brutally

Name: Li Yuhua
Gender: Female
Age: Unknown
Address: Heilongjiang Yilan
Occupation: Self-employed

Date of Most Recent Arrest: April 25th, 2002
Most Recent Place of Detention: Wanjia Forced Labour Camp
City: Harbin
Province: Heilongjiang
Persecution Suffered: Detention, extortion, interrogation, force-feedings, brainwashing, beatings, solitary confinement, torture, hanging up, electric shock, physical constraint, sleep deprivation and forced labour.

Li Yuhua has been detained four times since 1999. She was detained in the No.2 Detention Centre of Yilan Town for 267 days. She was also sentenced to a four-year term at the Wanjia Forced Labour Camp in Heilongjiang Province. Between 1999 and 2003, she was detained at a detention centre or forced labour camp.

Ms. Li Yuhua recounts the persecution she experienced during those years below:

First Detention

I went to Beijing to clear up misconceptions about Falun Gong on January 15th, 2000. I was arrested by Yilan Town police officers in Beijing and agents from the Chinese Communist Party Appeals Office. Three days later, I was taken to the Yilan Town Detention Centre by Yilan officer Long Yunfei.

Sub-team leader Lin Zhong forced me to jog outside despite freezing weather. Lin Zhong also poured cold water over practitioners.

The food, such as corn buns and cabbage soup, was dirty and contained grass, soil, rat faeces, flies and other contaminants.

I was tortured in the No. 2 Detention Centre for 72 days and the guards extorted 720 yuan¹ from me for food and fined me 500 yuan. I own a company for business clothing. While in the detention centre, around New Year's Eve, one of the busiest times of the year, I lost 9,000 yuan.

Second Detention

On the afternoon of June 1st, 2000, Cui You, head of the Yilan Town Chumu Police Station, ordered police officer Lin to arrest me and bring me to the station. Lin and other officers took me to the Yilan Town Police Station on June 26th and then transferred me to the Yilan Town No. 2 Detention Centre.

Sub-leader Lin Zhong ordered Shang Dezhong and other prisoners to force-feed me. I was also taken to a brainwashing session and had to watch television programmes that slandered Falun Gong.

Lin Zhong, Guo Ying, Su Di and another three prisoners beat us and confiscated the Falun Gong book, Zhuan Falun.

They made us pay 540 yuan for food, and an additional 3,000 yuan, and I was detained for 60 days. I was tortured by Yilan police for half a year. In addition, my business went bankrupt.

Third Detention

On November 25th, 2000, I shouted, "Falun Gong is good! Falun Gong is righteous!" on Tiananmen Square. Several police and plainclothes officers pushed me to the ground. I repeated, "Falun Gong is good! Falun Gong is righteous!" three times. I was taken to the Tiananmen police station. Yilan Beijing police officer Han Yunjie, who has since died, recognised me. I was taken to the Yilan No. 2 Detention Centre by a Chumu police officer.

Lin Zhong ordered five to six male prisoners to force-feed me and put me on a small stool, a torture instrument. My legs hurt and I could barely breathe. Then, five to six prisoners pulled me by my hair. Two prisoners held my hands and others pinched my nose to stop my breathing through the nose. Another pinched my face. One used a chopstick to probe my teeth and another brushed my throat with a tooth brush. Then, they poured salt water into my mouth and I was almost asphyxiated.

I fainted and one of the prisoners carried me back to my cell. I threw up and my hair, face, neck and clothes were covered by the regurgitated concentrated salt water.

The third detention lasted 30 days. I was sentenced to forced labour for one year starting on December 28th, 2000.

First Forced Labour Camp Imprisonment

At around 5 a.m. on December 28th, 2000, I was taken to the No. 7 Division in the Wanjia Forced Labour Camp, Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province, by Wang, head of the No. 2 Detention Centre.

Zhang Bo, the team leader of the No. 7 Division, put me into solitary confinement for 2 weeks because I refused to renounce Falun Gong.

Another practitioner recited Falun Gong teachings in the canteen. Guards from the No. 9 Division put her in solitary confinement. All firm practitioners went on a hunger strike and demanded that the practitioner be released. Male guards came into the canteen and beat and screamed at us. I was put into solitary confinement.

We had to attend brainwashing sessions and watch CCTV's "Focal Point" programmes, which maligned Falun Gong.

Fourth Detention

At 9 p.m. on April 25th, 2002, Li, the head of the Chumu police, ordered about five policemen to break into my home and ransack it. They confiscated Falun Gong materials. Li called Lu Junshan, head of the Yilan police, for direction and was told, "Take her to the detention centre."

I was taken to the Yilan No. 2 Detention Centre. In June 2002, Wang Yutao transferred me to the Harbin Wanjia Forced Labour Camp. I did not pass the health test, so I was taken back to the Yilan No. 2 Detention Centre, where I was held until August 8th, a total of 75 days.

Second Forced Labour Camp Imprisonment

On August 8th, 2002, Zheng Jun, the head of the No. 2 Detention Centre, took me to Harbin Wanjia Forced Labour Camp, Heilongjiang Province. Yao Fuchang, sub-head at the camp, kicked my back. I was forced to squat for eleven days from morning to midnight.

On the afternoon of August 19th, team leader Zhao Yuqing ordered prisoner Bai Xuelian to torture me with the "big hang up." My blood pressure was already 190. Yao Fuchang then shocked my head, eyes, ears, lips and throat with an electric baton, increasing the electric power frequently.

Then, I was tortured on the iron chair². Yao Fuchang shocked me with an electric baton until I was at death's door. He asked Wang, the camp doctor, to give me medicine. Prisoner Bai Xuelian and another prisoner claimed that I was just pretending, so they beat me again. I suffered sleep deprivation for quite some time.

On October 16th, 2002, I was forced to squat for three days and nights for refusing to renounce Falun Gong. In the afternoon, Zhao Yuqing took me to an office and kicked me on the way in. I again was tortured on the iron chair and Yao Fuchang shocked me with an electric baton.

At the end of 2003, I was taken to the No. 12 Ward and had to perform forced labour. I was not allowed to sleep until I met my quota.

Sometimes during January 2004, practitioners, including myself, were forced to bind books. The machine was very old. No one wanted to start the machine, as it did not look safe. The smell in the room made it hard for people to breathe and whoever was in there for a long time came down with a headache. Li Baibing, a supervisor, was worried about being poisoned. Around 6 p.m. on February 28th, Harbin practitioner Zhao Fengyun died while working in that room. The next day, we shouted: "Falun Gong is Good! No labour work. Mourn for Zhao Fengyun!" Practitioners who joined this activity were tortured for seven or eight days.

My Family's Suffering

My family suffered great financial losses due to my 260 days in detention. I was unable to work during one of the busiest seasons of the year. My store was forced to close down, eliminating my source of income. My husband had a heart attack and my daughter was upset because she could not afford her school tuition.

Guards of the No. 2 Yilan Detention Centre extorted 4,670 yuan from us. My business lost 20,000 yuan. The four years in Wanjia Forced Labour Camp resulted in a loss of 80,000 yuan.

The persecution brought great suffering to my family.

Note

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

2. Iron Chair: The "Iron chair" is made of iron pipes. Victims are restrained on the iron chairs with both arms and legs tied for a long period of time, see illustration at http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2002/1/9/17577.html

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2010/1/6/215784.html