First-hand Account of Persecution Suffered in Wangcun Forced Labour Camp

Name: Li Xiumei
Gender: Female
Age: Unknown
Address: West Qugezhuang Village, Xiagezhuang Town, Laixi City, Shandong Province
Occupation: Peasant

Date of Most Recent Arrest: July 31st, 2008
Most recent place of detention: No.1 Women's Forced Labour Camp in Jinan City
City: Jinan
Province: Shandong
Persecution Suffered: Detention, extortion, home ransacked, interrogation, beatings, torture, hung up, brainwashing, forced labour

In the morning on July 31st, 2008, I was studying the Falun Gong teachings and sharing experiences with over a dozen fellow practitioners. At around noon, they were about to go home for lunch. When we opened the door, over a dozen plainclothes policemen rushed in, led by Shen Tao and Li Weikui. Later we learned that they had been monitoring us since early that morning.

The police ordered us not to move, then started to take photographs and confiscate our books as well as our electronic books, MP3 players, a computer, and even cash in our pockets. I had 1,400 yuan¹ in my pocket, and Shen Tao took it. Later my husband begged a third party to ask Shen Tao for the money, but Shen said the money had already been spent a long time ago.

At around 2 p.m., we were arrested and detained in Qingdao Road Police Station, and they went to ransack our homes. Over a dozen of my Falun Gong books, including Zhuan Falun, and my MP3 player were confiscated. The policemen tried to take our photographs and force us to sign our names, but we refused. In the evening, we were interrogated one by one and sat on the hard floor for a whole night. At around noon the next day, all eleven of us Falun Gong practitioners were taken to Dashan Detention Centre in Qingdao City.

The guards ordered us to put on a yellow vest that shows the wearer is a criminal inmate, but I refused. A guard designated five or six criminals to force me to put it on, punching and kicking me in the process. I cried out, "The guards are beating me! Falun Gong is good!" The other practitioners did the same thing, and eventually the guards gave up trying to force me to put on the vest.

On August 30th, seven of us were sent to Wangcun Forced Labour Camp. I was detained in the Fourth Team. The next day, the guards took me to their office and told me to put on the prison uniform, but I refused. The guards, together with inmates, forcibly took off my clothes and put the uniform on me.

On another occasion, I talked to a practitioner who had turned against Falun Gong and asked her not to persecute practitioners. She would not listen, and told Sun Hua what I had said. Sun Hua made me sit on a small bench facing the wall. Sun asked me if I was still studying and reciting Falun Gong. I said that I would never give up Falun Gong. Sun asked again, "Don't you regret it? There is still time if you show your regret now." I said that I would not change and would cultivate Falun Gong to the end. She asked me again and again. She said, in the end, that she would report my situation to her supervisor and put shackles on me.

In the evening, I was handcuffed to the window bars of a toilet, both of my arms forced straight. They threatened me with solitary confinement if I refused to listen to them. The next day, I could not lift my left arm, and my hands were painful and numb. They only opened one handcuff for me to eat or use the toilet. After about four days, I felt dizzy and both of my arms hurt a lot.

After a while, I felt the handcuffs pop open, and I took my hands out. Since I was very tired, I fell asleep on the floor. After a while, the guard on duty saw me lying on the floor, and she kicked me and asked who opened the handcuffs for me. I said that they opened by themselves. The guard did not believe me and asked several times who had done it. Then she handcuffed me again to the window bars. I was handcuffed like this for seven days and nights. When I was released, I could not lift my left hand or arm. I recovered gradually after two or three months.

On September 24th, they transferred me, along with about 40 other practitioners, to the No. 1 Women's Forced Labour Camp in Jinan City. We were forced to watch videos defaming Falun Gong and then write down our thoughts. After a month, the most steadfast Falun Gong practitioners were thrown into solitary cells, forced to sit on a small bench and not allowed to sleep. Criminals were designated to beat practitioners at will.

Since May 2009, we have been forced to do hard labour for long hours. When Sun Juan became our team leader, we were worked even harder. We lost the only day for rest in a week and had to work for 14 or 15 hours a day on average.

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/2010/4/24/222112.html