Three Generations of a Family Suffer Endless Persecution

All the members of a three-generation family in Dougou Village, Puwang Town, Qinan County, Shandong Province, practise Falun Gong. This family has been subjected to endless persecution ever since July 20th,1999. The head of the family, 72-year-old Nie Hongting, was sentenced to forced labour, as were his son and daughter-in-law, who are still serving terms at labour camps. Mr. Nie Hongting's wife died after suffering long-term persecution, and his granddaughter was expelled from school in 2005.

Agents from the Puwang Town Police Station once again arrested Nie Hongting at a street fair in Dawangzhuang Towhship on January 10th, 2010, took him to the police station, and held him in a metal cage. They next ransacked his and his son Nie Yubao's home.

Nie Hongting: Persecuted for Appealing for Falun Gong

Nie Hongting once served ten years in a labour camp during the Cultural Revolution and developed severe heart conditions and stomach problems as a result. After he took up Falun Gong practice in 1996, he became robustly healthy.

When the persecution of Falun Gong began in July 1999, Mr. Nie decided to go to Beijing to appeal for the right to practice. Local police captured him on his way to Beijing and detained him in Dawangzhuang Township Police Station for 13 days. While he was there, they made him stand under the scorching sun for long hours, among other things. Not long after his release, Township Party Secretary Xie Hongri and Political and Legal Committee head Zhuang Qiande dispatched four town officials (including Li Hongjiang) to Mr. Nie's home in the middle of the night. The four men dragged him out to a basketball court, and they made him sit down with his legs straight out and kicked him for half an hour. They also confiscated his Falun Gong books and fined him and his wife 350 yuan¹. After his release, they ordered him to report to the township government three times a day.

When Township Party Secretary Xie Hongri gathered all the local practitioners one day in November 1999, Mr. Nie said, "Falun Gong is good." Xie Hongri immediately had Mr. Nie taken to Dawangzhuang Township Police Station, where he was detained for more than 12 days.

One night at around 11:00 p.m. in December 1999, township official Zhang Yuanjin and others arrested Mr. Nie Hongting and his son, Nie Yuzhong, using the excuse that his daughter-in-law had gone to Beijing to appeal. After father and son were taken to the Dawangzhuang Township government compound, Political and Legal Committee secretary Zhuang Qiande ordered more than a dozen people to beat them. They knocked Mr. Nie down, stuffed filthy socks into his mouth, burned him with cigarette butts, and kicked him for more than an hour. He had blood all over his face, felt excruciating pain in his lungs and ribs, and had difficulty breathing. He couldn't eat for five days.

Xie Hongri was afraid of him dying in the township compound and released him. Zhang Yuanjin took him away again three days later and locked him up in the township government compound for 17 days, together with two other practitioners, Qin Hongqin and Nie Yuzhong. The three practitioners were next transferred to the Dougou Village and kept there for three more days.

When Mr. Nie Hongting went to Luxian to shop on December 29th, 1999, Zhuang Qiande and Zang Yuanjin arrested him that afternoon and held him in the township government until January 6th, 2000, not even allowing him to go home to celebrate the Chinese New Year.

Under orders from Xie Hongri, Zhang Yuanjin, Zhang Yanxiang, and Zhang Deliang led Dougou Village officials Zhao Shixue, Nie Dianxue and a dozen others to break into Nie Hongting's home in January 2000. Zhang Yuanjin ordered Mr. Nie to pay 2,000 yuan for a "bond", to cover the police's potential trip to Beijing to fetch him, should he go to Beijing to appeal. When he refused to pay, they took away all the wheat he and his son had. Even the just-released daughter-in-law was arrested at the same time.

Nie Hongting went to Beijing to appeal for the second time in April 2000. Xie Hongri forced the more than 200 practitioners in Dawangzhuang Township to pay 300 yuan each as a fine. At the same time, he ordered the detention of Nie Hongting's wife, son, and daughter-in-law as well as other practitioners, including Qin Hongqin, Zhao Kuihua, Liu Yanmei, and Zhang Chunmiao.

The night Nie Hongting was taken back to Dawangzhuang, township official Li Hongjiang gave him several punches to his ribs. Liu Jun twisted his arms behind his back and handcuffed him to a flagpole until the next morning, when he took Mr. Nie inside an office. After making him sit on the floor with both legs straight out, Wang Xianyong gave Nie four kicks to the head. Ms. Nie's head and eyes swelled up. After he was held in Qinan County Detention Centre for a month, he was taken back to Dawangzhuang for further detention.

Once Wang Xianyong summoned Mr. Nie Hongting to his office and slapped him in the face with a shoe, right in front of deputy township head Liu Hongmei and seven other township officials. One of his teeth was knocked out. After holding him from April to mid-June, 2000, the township officials transferred him to the county brainwashing centre, where they also made his wife serve a three-day detention and made her pay a fine of 300 yuan. Once Mr. Nie was released, he was ordered to report to the township government, two miles away, three times a day.

Mr. Nie Hongting went to Beijing to appeal for the third time on January 19th, 2001. Following his arrest, he was sent to the Linqi Liaison Office in Beijing. Local police took him back and jailed him at Qinan County Detention Centre for more than 20 days. He was sentenced to three years of forced labour and sent to Wangcun Forced Labour Camp in Zibo City, Shandong Province, where the guards tortured practitioners brutally.

Some of the torture methods included: shocking practitioners with 10 electric batons for a whole day; depriving them of sleep for nine straight days; stripping them naked and exposing them outside to the freezing cold; serving them meagre meals; forcing them to sit on small benches from 5:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. and beating them relentlessly when they moved; ordering them to do hard labour for extended hours, sometimes up to midnight or even 3 o'clock in the wee hours. Many practitioners' buttocks festered, and their flesh stuck to their pants after being made to sit for too long.

Not long after Mr. Nie was released in 2004, his wife, having suffered years of threats and torments, suddenly fell critically ill and became bedridden. She died on March 31st, 2005.

One winter night that same year, the police arrested Mr. Nie again and took him to the Linqi Brainwashing Centre.

Nie Yuzhong and Nie Yubao: Good Men Suffer Endless Ordeals

Nie Yuzhong, 48, is Nie Hongting's older son and started practising Falun Gong in 1996. He went to Beijing to appeal on July 21st, 1999 and was intercepted on his way. After he was kept in Dawangzhuang Township Police Station for three days and fined 200 yuan, he was sent to the Dougou Village government courtyard and held for more than three weeks. At that time there was a drought, and the family couldn't get home to irrigate their crops. All of their crops died.

One day that December, Dawangzhuang Township Party Secretary Xie Hongri took Mr. Nie Yuzhong to the township government. That night Political and Legal Committee Secretary Zhuang Qiande and Li Yongbao, Wang Xianyong, and Bo Cunqi dragged him to the basketball court to kick him repeatedly. On another occasion, Li Yongbao had Wang Xianyong and Bo Cunqi pinched Mr. Nie's fingertips with a handcuff many times. They next handcuffed him and made him sit on the concrete floor, with both hands straight out, before kicking him on the buttocks and thighs. After his release, Zhang Yuanjin and several township officials went to his home and ordered him to pay 2,000 yuan and promise not to go to Beijing to appeal. The gang confiscated more than 1,100 pounds of his wheat when he had no money to give them. They detained his wife in the township government compound for several days.

Dawangzhuang Township government officials arrested him using the excuse that his father went to Beijing to appeal. After taking him to Dougou Village government, Zhang Yuanjin, Wang Xianyong, and Liu Jun brought him to a small room and hit him on the chest with leather mallets. He couldn't even breathe.

Mr. Nie Yuzhong went to Beijing to appeal again in 2001 and was arrested. He was first kept in Qianmen Detention Centre and then transferred to the Beijing Detention Centre. He refused to report his name and address, so the guards stripped off his coat, shoes, and socks and made him stand in the rain in handcuffs. They then shocked his whole body, including his genital area, with electric batons. Afterwards, several guards kicked his chest. He almost lost consciousness. He was eventually sent back to the Qinan County Detention Centre and jailed for a month before being transferred to the county brainwashing centre to serve an additional 20-day detention term.

The police and Dougou Village party Secretary Meng Qingliang looted his property, including a cow, a pig, a bike, a farming vehicle, a television set, a sack of flour, and three bags of corn.

Nie Yubao, 40, is Mr. Nie Hongting's younger son. He was arrested the morning of May 22nd, 2008, along with another practitioner, Du Dengxiang, who is in her 50s. Nie Yubao was sentenced to forced labour on June 25th, 2008. It took his family much effort when they went to visit him on July 21st, 2008, to find out that he was being kept in the Shandong Province Second Labour Camp, serving a term of more than one year. Du Dengxiang was sentenced to one-year of forced labour and sent to the First Women's Labour Camp in Shandong Province in June 2008.

Du Yonglan: a Kind Woman Sexually Abused

Du Yonglan, 46, is Nie Yuzhong's wife. She also began her Falun Gong practice in 1996.

Ms. Du went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong in 1999 and was captured on her way. After being detained in the Dawangzhuang Township Police Station for three days, she was taken to the township government conference room, where Legal Committee secretary Zhuang Qiande, clerk Wu Yuhua, and Zhang Yuanjin hit her in the face and poured water on her face.

One evening Dawangzhuang Township Party Secretary Xie Hongri ordered several officials to shock her with electric batons. They poured water into her mouth before shocking it. The shock was so severe that she rolled on the floor and developed blisters in her mouth. They next moved to her chest. When the electric batons ran out of power, they re-charged them before resuming the torture.

Ms. Du was detained for 13 days, fined 250 yuan, and pressured to write a guarantee statement to renounce practising Falun Gong. She was often made to stand under the scorching sun during the day and sit on the concrete floor at night without sleep. Township officials eventually transferred her to the Dougou Village government courtyard for more than three weeks. While she was there, they ransacked her home and confiscated some of her Falun Gong books. Dawangzhuang Township officials forced her family later on to hand over all Falun Gong books and videos in their possession.

When Ms. Du Yonglan went to Beijing to appeal again in December 1999 she was seized and taken to the Dawangzhuang Township Party Secretary's office on January 4th, 2000. Xie Hongri verbally abused her and kicked her before keeping her in the office. At night, policeman Li Changjie shocked her head with an electric baton.

As soon as Li Changjie left, Li Yongbao led more than ten men and three women to the office. The three women were Bo Cunmei, Liu Hongyan, and Fan Chuanfen. The men included Bo Cunqi, Wang Xianyong, Ye Chengzhu, and Wang Fugang. Bo Cunqi raised his electric baton and yelled, "The higher-ups called, saying you have a contact list with you. Take off your clothes and let us check." Ms. Du Yonglan responded, "All you men get out of here. Ask the women to do it if you want."

Wang Xianyong yelled, "Quick! Take off your clothes! I'll beat you to death if you don't hurry." They then ordered the three women to leave the room. Bo Cunqi pointed his electric baton at Du Yonglan saying, "Quick! Take off your clothes or we will kill you."

Wang Xianyong stripped off her cotton-padded coat, sweater, and bra, piece by piece. He and Li Yongbao each held one of her arms as Bo Cunqi grabbed one of her breasts and shocked her. She rolled around in pain. To keep her still, they handcuffed one of her arms to the window and had one person firmly hold the other arm while they continued to shock her upper body and head.

Wang Xianyong then yelled, "Take off your trousers and your underwear!" With only her underwear on, Bao Cunqi shocked her genital area. Then the more than ten men paired up and took turns kicking her back, thighs, and buttocks.

By midnight her buttocks, thighs, and back were already severely swollen, showing dark purple bruises. She could barely move. In the end only Wang Fugang was there. He pointed his electric baton at her genital area and said dirty words. He caressed her breasts before turning to her back and rubbing her buttocks with his penis several times. Du Yonglan had her hands cuffed to a table leg until daybreak. She was later sent to the Qinan County Detention Centre and had 4,000 yuan extorted from her.

Around January 20th, 2000, Dawangzhuang Township official Zhang Yuanjin, Dougou Village head Zhao Shixue, and other officials broke into her home. They ordered her to pay 2,000 yuan as a bond for not going to Beijing. She refused to pay. They took away all her rice and detained her in the village government building for several days. On February 3rd, Zhuang Qiande, Zhang Yuanjin, and Dougou Village Party secretary Meng Qingliang went to her home again and forcibly took her, Qin Hongqin, and her father-in-law Nie Hongting to the Dawangzhuang Township Government.

Using the excuse that her father-in-law had gone to Beijing to appeal, Xie Hongri arrested Ms. Du and her mother-in-law on March 15th, 2000, while they were working in their field. Her mother-in-law was almost 70 years old, but she was still made to sit on the concrete floor of the Dawangzhuang Township government courtyard along with Qin Hongqin. One night Zhang Yuanjin, Liu Jun, and Wang Xianyong forced Ms. Du Yonglan and Ms. Qin Hongqin to sit on the concrete floor in an office. The two women were ordered to each hold a small bench over their heads. If they lowered the bench, they were beaten or stabbed with needles. The torture lasted until 4 o'clock in the morning. This time they were detained for 56 days, during which they were often forbidden to sleep.

After practitioners Du Faju and Zhang Chunmiao went to Beijing to appeal in November 2000, Dawangzhuang Township officials arrested Du Yonglan and Zhao Kuihua, and detained them for more than 40 days. They firmly refused to write guarantee statements. They eventually managed to escape detention but had to leave home and go from place to place for more than seven months to avoid further persecution.

When Ms. Du returned home to check on her child one night in July 2001, officer Fan from the Qinan County Police Department and Li Changjie from Dawangzhuang Township Police Station broke into her home and arrested her at around 10:00 p.m. They confiscated a lot of materials explaining the facts about Falun Gong and the persecution, and took her to the Qinan County Detention Centre, where she was held for one month.

Du Yonglan and Liu Yanmei were arrested again, this time on May 23rd, 2006 while distributing information explaining the facts about the persecution and Falun Gong. Qinan County Police Department Political Security Section chief Ma Chenglong led Dougou Village official Wang Anchen and a group of policemen from Hutou Town and Puwang Town to ransack Ms. Du's home that afternoon.

Du Yonglan and Liu Yanmei went on a persecution protest hunger at the detention centre. The guards took the two women to hospitals many times, to forcibly give them injections of unknown drugs. The women became extremely weak. After seven days in the detention centre, the two practitioners were sentenced to three years of forced labour and sent to the First Women's Labour Camp in Shandong Province.

Nie Yingchao: Young Girl Expelled from School for Explaining the Facts

Ms. Nie Yingchao is Mr. Nie Yuzhong and Ms. Du Yonglan's daughter and was a freshman at the Qinan County Second High School. She began to practise Falun Gong when she was still very young. As a result, her ear infections and lung problems disappeared, and she became healthy.

One night toward the end of 2004 when Yingchao was studying at school, her head teacher Wei Lei suddenly became angry at her and demanded that she quit school. When she refused to leave, Wei Lei slapped her in the face and then announced to the whole class that no one would be allowed to mention Falun Gong; whoever violated this rule would be expelled. He next ordered one of her roommates to stand with her, as a punishment. The next day Ms. Nie went to speak with school administrator Guo Shujun and insisted he discipline Wei Lei for his unfair treatment. In response, Guo Shunjun took her to the principal's office. To her surprise, the principal yelled, "We are a school established by the CCP, and we follow all of its orders. You practise Falun Gong and should be expelled right away."

Ms. Nie asked, "Which article in the Chinese Constitution dictates this? You are violating the law." Guo Shujun hurriedly told her to leave the office. After a little while, Guo Shunjun took her back to his office and told her to focus on her studies. Guo then called in Wei Lei to take her to the classroom.

The first month of the new semester in March 2005, two school administrators summoned Nie Yingchao to the principal's office, where Qinan County 610 Office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong) head tried to get information about her parents' names and her home address. When the head claimed that her mother was being well taken care of while in custody, Ms. Nie exposed the despicable methods used on her mother.

The morning of March 10th, 2005, her new head teacher, Xia Lipeng, asked her to step out of the classroom, claiming they needed to talk in his office. Ms. Nie was deceived and followed him out. When they approached the administrators' building, however, Xia Lipeng suddenly said he wanted to visit her home. Sensing something was wrong, Ms. Nie firmly refused and insisted she go back to the classroom. By then, principal Gao Yinghua and agents from the 610 Office were already waiting for her next to a car. Nie Yingchao quickly walked toward the academic building.

About three minutes after her return to the classroom, Xia Lipeng followed her in and told in a low voice for her to go out. Ms. Nie Yingchao refused in a loud voice, and Xia had to leave. Next, a school administrator arrived and tried to drag her out, all the while asking why she didn't listen to her teachers. Ms. Nie said, "Don't touch me. What you said is wrong, and I refuse to listen. Get out of here and don't be a puppet controlled by the 610 Office." This administrator also left defeated. Then another, younger administrator arrived and again attempted to pull her out. Even though her books fell on the floor, he couldn't get her out. One student stood up and said, "We are having a class. Come again when we're done." Xia Lipeng scolded him, "It's none of your business. Shut up."

After a while the second administrator called in several physical education teachers, who together dragged her out of the classroom. Nie Yingchao stuck her legs to the rail of the staircase and cried out. The second administrator covered her mouth with his hands. They carried her down the academic building, eventually got her into a vehicle, and drove her home. Xia Lipeng, Guo Shujun, a young school administrator, and two physical education teachers were all in the vehicle, just to make sure she returned home.

According to the school administrator in the vehicle, Ms. Nie's former head teacher, Wei Lei, was demoted because he failed to make her quit Falun Gong. Moreover, 610 Office agents publicly reprimanded the school for having such a student. As a result, the school administration was extremely unhappy with her. The administrator said the 610 Office agents threatened to make trouble for the school if they didn't expel her.

Ms. Nie learned later that the school administration had intended to send her to the brainwashing centre but had to drive her home instead, due to her strong resistance. Since no one was home, they parked the vehicle near her home and waited. After about half an hour another car arrived with her books and bedding.

When Nie Yingchao confronted them about their criminal activities, they claimed that they were simply following Gao Yinghua's orders. Gao ordered her to take a break at home before resuming school. When Ms. Nie asked to go back to school right away, they replied, "As long as you still practise Falun Gong, don't expect to return to school."

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/2010/3/12/219665.html