Ms. Shi Rongxian Arrested Seven Times, Her Husband Persecuted to Death, and Her Daughter Homeless

Ms. Shi Rongxian and her husband and daughter are all Falun Gong practitioners from Yilan County, Heilongjiang Province. Since July 20th, 1999, when the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) started persecuting Falun Gong, officers from Yilan County Police Bureau, the police station and CCP officials have frequently harassed and persecuted Ms. Shi's family. The following is her personal statement about their persecution experience in China.

Persecuted for going to Beijing to appeal on behalf of Falun Gong

On October 23rd, 1999, my husband, my daughter, and I went to Beijing to legally appeal for Falun Gong, but police officers in Beijing arrested us and took us to the Yilan County liaison office in Beijing. Later we were detained in the Yilan County No. 2 Detention Centre.

In the detention centre, Huo Cai and two other guards forced me onto a chair and took turns whipping my hips with a leather belt. Huo Cai slapped my face, beat my head, and hit my head against the wall. I felt my ears ringing and saw stars. They asked me, "Who let you go to Beijing?" When I didn't reply, they tortured me and beat me until it was dark. My hips were beaten black and blue. After that I was detained for 30 days.

The police officers used a leather belt to whip my husband, Mr. Zhang Keming, and cuffed his hands behind his back so tightly the circulation was cut off. They also forced him to stand with his back against the wall, his head down, and both hands pulled up from behind for five hours. My husband's hips were purple and black, and his hands were also scarred. He was detained for 23 days.

My teenage daughter was also tortured

On February 20th, 2000, Long Deqing, Han Yunjie, and other police officers from the Yilan County Politics and Law Section arrested my husband and daughter while they were practising the Falun Gong exercises outside. The police saw that my daughter was young, so they attempted to force her to tell who had organized the practice. Later they took her to the Yilan County No. 1 Detention Centre. Three young police officers tortured her. Li Baihe, a police officer from the criminal investigation section, used a leather belt and a steel ladle to hit her hands and used handcuffs to hurt her fingers (see photo 1). Two police officers forcefully extended her arms out straight and held them against the wall. They used electric batons to shock the sensitive parts of her body, including her head, temples, neck, lips, jaw, and fingers. They pulled up her clothes and shocked her ribs until two of the batons were out of electricity. They not only tortured her physically but also insulted her humanity. This torture left my daughter in pain, itchy, and injured internally. Her jaw developed blisters, her hair was scorched and smelt terrible, her neck and legs had red spots, her hands were swollen, and her face was disfigured. Finally, she was twisted all over and couldn't open her eyes. The police were afraid of being held accountable, so they stopped beating her.

After being tortured for a whole day, my daughter was taken to a cell. She couldn't get up. She couldn't use her right hand for two weeks and she couldn't lie on one side because it hurt so much when she did. Her hands were scarred and haven't recovered to this day. Since then she has often had heart palpitations. While she was being detained she was often forced outside to stand in the snow, and they even poured cold water on her. My daughter was detained for more than 40 days and was released only after we paid 6,000 yuan¹ plus 900 yuan in meal fees.

On October 1st, 2001, my daughter went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong. She was arrested and taken to a police station near Tienanmen Square. That night she was taken to a forced labour camp, a horrible place where the guards' curses and practitioners' screams could be heard anytime and anywhere. When they started to interrogate her, my daughter twitched all over and foamed at the mouth. They let her convulse on the ground for more than an hour. Several officers surrounded her and stole her watch and her money. One of them said to another, "The girl looks pretty. You can take her home." Another officer said, "You take her home." They laughed maliciously from time to time. Finally, several police officers carried her into a hospital. They stuck cotton sticks into her nostril and pressed heavily. My daughter twitched for almost the whole night. The next day local police officers sent her back. On the way, she went on a hunger strike. When the police officers handcuffed her at the bus station, she started to twitch again and couldn't breathe. She was given oxygen several times and her condition was critical. The police were afraid to take responsibility, so they sent my daughter home. The local police came to my home several times to investigate her situation. The officials from the city level police bureau also came and said they would sentence my daughter to two years of forced labour whether it would kill her or not. Upon hearing the news, my daughter left home to escape further persecution. She became homeless and lived outside for four years.

My husband was arrested again and persecuted to death

On October 29th, 2001, while my husband and I were in the countryside distributing leaflets explaining the truth about Falun Gong, we were reported to the police by villagers who believed the Chinese Communist Party's lies. We were arrested, and I was taken to Dongcheng Police Station. A local officer named Liu Guochang encouraged superintendent Wang Chunsheng and another officer to slap my face. They pulled my hair and hit my head against the wall. My head was ringing and I was dizzy. I was forced to sit in a chair the whole night. The next day they took me to the detention centre. I went on a hunger strike. On the third day, Zheng Jun, the superintendent of the detention centre, and Lin Zhong ordered a male inmate to tie me to a chair. Then about five inmates held my head, squeezed my nose shut, pried my mouth open, and poured two bottles of salt water down my throat. They didn't even allow me to take a breath. I almost suffocated and my brain felt swollen. I wet my pants and when they stopped force-feeding me, I vomited much blood mixed with water. Five days later I was released.

At approximately 9:00 p.m. on December 29th, 2001, Hao Aimin, director of the police station; Liu Guochang; and several other local officers came to my home. They drove a police car but didn't show any ID. They held electric batons, stood outside, shouted at us, and ordered us to open the door. They arrested my husband and me and took us to the police station. Later we were taken to the Yilan County No. 2 Detention Centre, where I was detained for more than a month. On April 3rd, 2001, I was released and returned home.

My husband went on a hunger strike for more than 40 days to protest the arrest and persecution. The guards instigated detainees to beat him constantly. He was seriously tortured and became very skinny, his back was bent 90 degrees, and he walked with great difficulty. Though he was in such terrible physical condition, he was still sentenced to two years of forced labour and taken to Changlinzi Forced Labour Camp on March 8th, 2001. In the labour camp, guards used electric batons to shock sensitive parts of his body, didn't allow him to sleep for long periods of time, used a torture called "Five Horses Splitting a Body" on him, hit his face, and tortured him in many other ways. Finally, due to serious torture, his body developed sores and his skin festered. He was also injected with an unknown drug.

On November 9th, 2003, not long after my husband was released from the labour camp, Zheng Jun, an officer from the political and law section of the police bureau; Liu Guochang, a local policeman; and a dozen other officers tried to break into our home three times one night. We didn't open the door. Finally they climbed over the exterior wall, broke the windows and door, and ransacked our home. They shot a video and broadcast it on the Yilan County TV. Both my husband and I were arrested and detained for 15 days.

Since the CCP started persecuting Falun Gong on July 20th, 1999, we have had no peace. My family members have all lived in fear. We were arrested, detained, and tortured from time to time, and had funds extorted from us. We suffered tremendous pressure spiritually. After my husband was released from the Changlinzi Forced Labour Camp, he was extremely skinny and never recovered. On March 26th, 2006, he passed away. Before he died, his body was swollen, he sweated abnormally, and coughed up phlegm and blood constantly.

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/2010/5/7/223058.html