Ms. Tian Guifang Tortured in Huaian County, Hebei Province

Name: Tian Guifang
Gender: Female
Age: Unknown
Address: Chaigoubao Town, Huaian County, Hebei Province
Occupation: Unknown
Date of Most Recent Arrest: June 23rd, 2008
Most recent place of detention: Houtun Detention Centre, Zhangjiakou City
City: Zhangjiakou
Province: Hebei
Persecution Suffered: Detention, extortion, forced labour, force-feedings, beatings, denial of toilet use, hung up, brainwashing, torture

Because of her belief in Falun Gong, Ms. Tian Guifang was detained three times and sent to a forced labour camp once. In addition, she was humiliated, threatened, and had money extorted from her.

Since the persecution of Falun Gong started in 1999, Ms. Tian Guifang has been persecuted by the local 610 Office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong) and Domestic Security Division.

Detention and fine for doing the exercises outdoors

After Ms. Tian Guifang and several other practitioners did the Falun Gong exercises outdoors in June 2000, she was detained by police for one week, and the police extorted 740 yuan¹ from her. During the detention, the practitioners were also forced to work on the nearby farm and do extensive janitorial work.

Torture by force-feeding

Ms. Tian Guifang and other practitioners went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong in October 2000. They were arrested by Beijing police and then taken back by their local police, followed by detention at the local detention centre. When they went on a hunger strike to appeal, a deputy head of the detention centre gave orders to three or four armed officers. The officers dragged Ms. Tian out of the room and threw her onto a bed in another room. Then 5 or 6 people came and forcibly held down her head, legs, and arms so that she could be force-fed by inserting a tube in her nose. Because of the torture, Ms. Tian vomited blood. The force-feeding was repeated several times.

Kaiping Labour Camp: Kept in frigid conditions and unable to walk after beating

After being detained for one month, local Political and Security Division head Qu Rong, Sun Zhan and Ji Wenhui sent these five or six practitioners to the Kaiping Labour Camp in Tangshan City. Many Falun Gong practitioners are detained there. Every day guards forced them to recite the labour camp rules and sing songs praising the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Guards also ordered inmates to read articles defaming Falun Gong to practitioners. In addition, guards forced practitioners to go through military-style drills in the morning, perform dirty labour such as handling human faeces, and stand for long periods of time. In the winter, practitioners were forced to stand 7 or 8 hours without wearing winter clothes. Inmates were in close proximity watching them, so that practitioners would not move around. For several nights, Ms. Tian Guifang was forced to stand in the cold until around midnight. After returning, she could not walk or move her legs. The cold caused Ms. Tian's face to suffer from frostbite. When her family saw this during a visit, a guard surnamed Jia lied, saying that it was due to spicy food. A guard surnamed Qin incited her family members to kneel down in front of her, asking her to "transform" [forcibly renounce Falun Gong] and that if she didn't her husband would divorce her.

Guards ordered inmates to beat and swear at practitioners, as well as depriving them access to the toilet. Once when a guard was beating one practitioner brutally, Ms. Tian and another practitioner tried to stop her. Then a guard surnamed Wang dragged Ms. Tian out and hit her hard on the head. As a result, she heard a humming sound in both of her ears, and then lost her hearing. The guard then dragged Ms. Tian outside to the snow-covered field, rolled up Ms. Tian's sleeves, forced her arms behind her back, and hung her up from a tree by her arms for 7 or 8 hours. When Ms. Tian was taken down, her arms and hands were swollen and numb. Guards then dragged her to another room, where a guard surnamed Wei shoved her down to the floor and forced her to kneel down for a long time. Ms. Tian was kept in this small cell for more than 40 days, where it was cold and dark. Because of the persecution, her legs and feet were damaged. She was thus unable to walk and sometimes couldn't even get out of bed. Because she was in such agony, the quilt that covered her was at times soaked with her sweat.

Gaoyang Labour Camp: Forced brainwashing and tortured to emaciation

The division manager at the Kaiping Labour Camp, along with some guards, deceived several practitioners--including Ms. Tian--into getting into a van, and sent them to the Gaoyang Labour Camp, Hebei Province, in June 2001. Upon arrival, the practitioners were kept in a large room, where they were searched and inspected. As soon as Ms. Tian Guifang entered the room, a female guard beat and kicked her. Practitioners were treated very harshly at the Gaoyang Labour Camp. They were accompanied and monitored by collaborators² all the time, were forced to recite the labour camp rules every day, had to speak aloud to report when entering a room, had to greet whenever seeing a guard, had to sing a CCP song before meals, the food was covered with flies, and dead insects were in the cooked cabbage. Practitioners were generally not allowed to take a shower or change clothes. As a result, many practitioners developed scabies and had terrible body odour. Occasionally practitioners were allowed to take a shower, but only cold water would be available. During the daytime, practitioners were forced to work on the farm. Guards mistreated practitioners even more severely at the Gaoyang Labour Camp. Practitioners were often taken out at in the night to be tortured to be "transformed."

The guards also had another type of brainwashing environment. Ms. Tian and other practitioners were separated from each other. Two guards and two inmates monitored her constantly, watching her day and night. At night, practitioners were forced to sleep on the floor. In the morning, they were forced to get up at 5:00 a.m. to clean the yard and mop the floor. Practitioners were then forced to sit on a folding stool, with both hands on their laps, to recite labour camp rules, listen to inmates reading slanderous articles about Falun Gong out loud, or watch TV programmes that defame Falun Gong. When guards and inmates were not satisfied, they forced practitioners to stand for a long time, deprived them of sleep, shocked them with electric batons, or kicked and beat them. When being forced to watch the TV, the distance from the practitioner to the TV was less than one meter, the volume was kept very high, and the light was very bright and hurt the eyes. Practitioners were not allowed to move and were forced to maintain one position the whole time. Other than eating or use of the toilet, practitioners had to sit on a stool for about 16 or 17 hours a day. After two months, Ms. Tian Guifang's vision worsened and she could barely hear, and her head often felt like it was humming. In addition to suffering from dizziness and nausea, her lower body felt numb with frequent cramping. She became extremely thin, to the point of looking like just skin and bones, and her family requested many times that she be released. However, the guards said, "She will not be released until she gets into a life-threatening situation." Her family came to visit her once a month and the trip was very difficult for them. Ms. Tian's family was not allowed to pick her up until their 8th or 9th visit.

After arriving at home, Ms. Tian Guifang's lower body was almost paralysed and her bones were deformed. She weighed only 95-105 lbs. She continued practising Falun Gong and her health gradually improved.

Arrested and home ransacked again

Local police, led by police station head Zhang Bin, arrested Ms. Tian again on June 23rd, 2008, when she visited another practitioner. Police also confiscated her personal property including Falun Gong books, and other belongings. Then police sent her to the Houtun Detention Centre in Zhangjiakou City, where she was forced to work for 11 hours a day, plus some cleaning work. Police have continued to call her home to harass her after her release.

Individuals involved during Ms. Tian Guifang's October 2000 detention:

Zhang Yu, former Party Secretary of Huaian County
Zhang Zhiqing, former Police Department head
Wang Xiang, former Deputy Police Department head
Qu Rong, Zhang Zhan, Ji Wenhui: officers from the Political and Security Office of the Police Department
Ruan Xiulin, former detention centre Party Secretary
Zhang Fu, head of the detention centre
Cai (surname), doctor from Huaian Hospital in charge of the force-feeding

Note

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

2. "Collaborators": former practitioners who have turned against Falun Gong under brainwashing and torture. They are then made to assist in brainwashing and torturing practitioners.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2010/4/24/222097.html