Woman Suspended By Handcuffs For Seven Days at Forced Labour Camp

Ms. Liu Hong was an employee at the Laixi City Bus Service in Shandong Province. In 2008, she was imprisoned for practising Falun Gong. While incarcerated at Wangcun Women's Prison, she was brutally tortured and hung up by handcuffs, with only her toes touching the ground for seven days and nights. As a result, she almost lost the use of her hands. The following is her account.

On July 31st, 2008, seventeen Falun Gong practitioners from Laixi were getting together at a fellow practitioner's home to share cultivation experiences. We were arrested by plainclothes police officers and taken to Qingdaolu Police Station. On August 3rd, practitioners Ms. Wu Jianfang, Ms. Dai Guoyu and I were sent to Xinzhuang Brainwashing Centre in Laixi. Police officers Sui Guoqin and Li Weike from Laixi Police Department tried to trick me into telling them who had organised our meeting. They told me that I would only be able to keep my job if I told them. We all refused their demand. On the morning of August 5th, Ms. Wu Jianfang and I were sent to Dashan Detention Centre in Qingdao.

At around noon on August 31st, we were sent to Wangcun Women's Prison.

Hung Up in the Air

Police guard Cui Hongwen from the No. 3 Brigade led me upstairs where ex-practitioner and collaborator Zhou Caixia, along with police, tried to transform [forcibly renounce Falun Gong] me. I refused to talk with her, so guard Song Hong punished me by forcing me to stand day and night and deprived me of sleep.

The guards wouldn't let me sit cross-legged. They forced me to sit with my legs straight. When I refused, they dragged me up and forced me to stand. When I shouted "Falun Gong is good," the guards handcuffed me to the window bars and taped my mouth shut. They wrapped the tape around my head several times. When it was lunch time, they used scissors to cut the tape and ripped the tape off, along with a lot of hair.

After a while, the guards hung me by my handcuffed wrists from the window bars in their restroom with two pairs of handcuffs. They pulled my arms in opposite directions until I could no longer move. Only my toes touched the ground.

I was cuffed like this day and night. Even with thick towels wrapped around my wrists, I developed blisters on my wrists. At mealtime, I was fed by others. When I needed to use the toilet, they released one of my hands and gave me a small plastic bucket. Because I was handcuffed for so long, my hand was numb and I couldn't control it. I couldn't even take off my trousers, and needed help to do so. In the morning, the people who stayed with me simply used a wash cloth to wipe my face a couple of times.

The weather was hot in September, and I was sweating profusely. After several days, I was stinky and wet. My hair was stuck to my head, but I was not allowed to change clothes or take a shower.

On September 10th, prison guards Song Hong and Li Aiwen intensified the persecution because I refused to be "transformed." They tightened the handcuffs on my wrists. In a few moments, my fingers swelled and felt like they were about to burst open. It felt as if tens of thousands of needles were pressing into them. It was extremely painful, and I dared not touch them. In addition I had not slept for several days. I was dizzy, felt that I could endure no more, and gave in against my will. Guard Cui Hongwen intentionally grabbed my hand and I screamed out in pain. Cui Hongwen released one handcuff so that I could write the so-called three statements to renounce practising Falun Gong. My other hand was still cuffed to the window. They finally let me down on the night of September 12th, after seven days and nights.

The torture almost crippled both of my hands. I lost feeling in them, and the left hand feels heavy and has no strength or feeling. I can't even button my clothes.

Slave Labour

On September 24th, 2008, over forty Falun Gong practitioners were transferred to Jinan No. 1 Women's Prison.

Between May and December 2009, there was a lot of forced labour work to be done at Jinan No. 1 Woman's Prison. It came in one batch after another. We returned to our dormitory from the workshop at 8:30 p.m., but still had to work in the dorm, often until 10:30 or 11:00 p.m. Right before I left the prison, we even had to work until 1:00 a.m. and then get up again 4:30 a.m. to work more. On average, we worked 16-17 hours per day. We made air sickness paper bags used on airplanes. We also made paper boxes and other things.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.org/mh/articles/2010/3/30/220679.html