The Persecution of Falun Gong Practitioners in Guanghan City, Sichuan Province

Before practising Falun Gong, many practitioners from Lianshan Town, Guanghan City, Sichuan Province suffered difficult diseases and were critically ill. They started to practise Falun Gong when they had nearly given up hope for living. They fully recovered soon after beginning practice, which gave them a strong belief in Falun Gong. After July 20th, 1999, they were brutally persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) personnel in Lianshan Town, Guanghan City because they refused to give up practising Falun Gong.

Case One:

Mr. Huang Zongxue is 63 years old. He started to practise Falun Gong in February 1998. At that time, he had difficulty walking. After he contracted Schistosomiasis, a parasitic disease, in 1957, he suffered fluid retention. His stomach was extended, his limbs were very thin and he was very weak. He could feel water moving while he walked. Several months after he started to practise Falun Gong, his symptoms disappeared. He had recovered from the Schistosomiasis that he had suffered from for more than 40 years.

At the end of April 2000, Mr. Huang went to Lianshan Town to sell vegetables. Officers from the Lianshan Police Station took him to the station and searched his bag. They did not find anything but took away about 30 yuan¹, which he had earned from selling vegetables. Chief Zhuang Yuancai slapped his face many times. He ordered Mr. Huang to dig up weeds and run laps. At night, Mr. Huang's hands were cuffed to a window. The police shocked his neck with electric batons and forced him to write a guarantee statement that he would not practise Falun Gong. He was released after the police grabbed his hand to press his fingerprints on the document.

On July 18th, 2000, officers of Lianshan Town government told Mr. Huang to go to the police station at 9 p. m. When he arrived, he saw many Falun Gong practitioners being held there. When all practitioners had arrived, the officers asked them to stand in a row at a basketball court, with their hands on their backs and feet together. The officers asked them if they still practised Falun Gong; and if yes, to take a step forward. When Mr. Huang said yes, a group of people surrounded him and beat him with bamboo sticks. Three or four sticks were broken. Later on, seven or eight people pressed Mr. Huang's hands and feet on the ground and stepped on his back. Then, they pressed his head into water to choke him and asked him whether he would still practice or not. If yes, they beat and choked him again. They kept torturing Mr. Huang until he could no longer respond. Even after he fainted and lay on the ground, some officers went to kick him and pour water on his head. Some said that they could get a bonus from beating him. As a result, Mr. Huang's buttocks was black and one of his ribs on the right was broken.

In April 2001, Mr. Huang Zongxue was taken to the Guanghan Detention Centre by officers from the Lianshan Police Station and detained there for one month because he distributed Falun Gong materials. After that, he was sent to the Deyang Brainwashing Centre and detained there for another month.

In April 2003, Mr. Huang was taken to the Hexing Brainwashing Centre in Guanghan. He was forced to watch TV programmes slandering Falun Gong and read materials defaming Falun Gong. Mr. Huang refused to "transform" [forcibly renounce Falun Gong] and was consequently forced to stand for two days straight. He was released after two months of persecution. The chief of village still harasses him at his home frequently.

Case Two:

Ms. Zeng Zulian, 35 years old, is a village woman in Lianshan Town, Guanghan City. Her husband Xiang Depin is nearly 60 years old. On June 18th, 1998, the couple started to practise Falun Gong. Ms. Zeng had suffered from mastitis, rheumatism, headache and severe stomach illness before. She had to take medicine every day. After practising Falun Gong, all of her illnesses disappeared.

After July 20th, 1999, Chief Zhuang Yuancai led Qiu Xinglu and Li Zhiquan from the Lianshan Police Station to ransack Ms. Zeng's home. Ms. Zeng was detained in the police station for one night.

In August 1999, Mr. Xiang Depin was beaten by Jiang Tianxing and other officers while he practised Falun Gong in the Guanghan Park. He was taken to the police station. The officers hit his temples and kicked him. Later on, he was dismissed from his job at the Lianshan Oil Factory.

In May 2000, Ms. Zeng Zulian was placed under house arrest for two days by officers from the Lianshan Police Station.

On the night of July 18th, 2000, officers from Lianshan Town government, as well as the Lianshan Police Station, called Ms. Zeng and her husband and other Falun Gong practitioners in Lianshan Town to go to the police station. Town governor Kong Xiang kept asking Ms. Zeng if she still practised Falun Gong. Ms. Zeng answered yes. As a result, she was slapped on the face and kicked. Ms. Zeng told them that Falun Gong practitioners are good people. On that night, Kong Xiang also slapped Mr. Xiang Depin's face. Mr. Xiang was beaten by several officers with bamboo sticks. His lower back turned black and his clothes were ripped. Because Mr. Xiang continued to answer yes when asked if would keep practising Falun Gong, several officers pressed his head into water and lifted his head when there was no bubbling in the water. Each time he answered that he would keep practising, he was beaten and dunked in the water again. The officers dragged Mr. Xiang on the ground, which caused his feet to fester. He was then forced to stand for an entire night.

In October 2002, Ms. Zeng Zulian was arrested by officers from the Lianshan Police Station while she was distributing Falun Gong materials. Li Jun asked her where the materials came from. She did not answer. The police went to ransack her home and took away Falun Gong books and Falun Gong materials. They also beat, cursed and kicked Ms. Zeng. They shocked her with electric batons and did not allow her to use the toilet.

On the next day, Ms. Zeng was taken to the police station again. The police demanded she sign a document authorising sending her to a forced labour camp. She refused to sign. Three months later in February 2003, she was sent to the Hexing Brainwashing Centre in Guanghan City and detained there for over a month.

Note

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

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2010/1/19/216520.html