Older Practitioner Ms. Cai Huilian Persecuted for Many Years

Name: Cai Huilian
Gender: Female
Age: 58
Address: Miyi County, Panzhihua City, Sichuan Province
Occupation: Farmer
Date of Most Recent Arrest: December 17th, 2009
Most Recent Place of Detention: Miyi County Police Department
City: Miyi County
Province: Sichuan
Persecution Suffered: Sleep deprivation, brainwashing, beatings, torture, extortion, physical restraint, home ransacked, interrogation, denial of toilet use

Through practising Falun Gong, Ms. Cai Huilian from Miyi County, Panzhihua City, Sichuan Province, recovered from recurrent inflammation that had bothered her since childhood. However, she has been subjected to severe persecution by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) due to her belief in Falun Gong over the past 11 years. She has been repeatedly arrested, detained and tortured. Her home was ransacked many times, and her Falun Gong books and farmland were confiscated. Below is an account of the persecution she has suffered.

On July 20th, 1999, local police officer Zhu Jixiang came to Ms. Cai's home and confiscated her Falun Gong book, Zhuan Falun and 15 Falun Gong audio tapes.

In March 2000, officers Mao Taiming, Yang Zhengfu, and Peng broke into her home and confiscated 11 Falun Gong audio tapes and another copy of the book Zhuan Falun. The officers did not present any legal documents for their actions.

In October 2000, local officials Yang Hualian and Shi Mingfang arrested Ms. Cai and other practitioners, including Ma Kaiyuan and Huang Zhenfang, and sent them to a brainwashing centre to prevent them from going to Beijing to appeal for justice for Falun Gong.

In December 2000, Ms. Cai was arrested again by officer Yang Hualian while posting Falun Gong leaflets exposing the persecution outside. She was sent to a brainwashing centre for one day and released only upon paying a 300-yuan¹ fine.

On January 16th, 2001, police officers Wang Yingzhong, Cai Faxiang, Guo Qiang, and Yin Gang arrested Ms. Cai and took her to the Miyi County Police Station, where she was handcuffed to the rails in the corridor and forbidden to sleep, eat dinner or use the toilet. Officers Cao Faxiang, Liao Hongbin, Xiang Jinfa, and Guo Qiang participated in the torture. She was then transferred to a detention centre for 25 days, where she was tortured by prison guards Wu Xueming and Zhu Chenglong.

On January 14th, 2003, Ms. Cai was followed by officer Yang Zihua from the Miyi County Police Station on her way to visit another practitioner in Xichang City, Sichuan Province. She was arrested and sent to the Ximenpo Police Station, where officers searched her and confiscated 150 yuan, an audio tape player, and two audio tapes.

On May 10th, 2005, Ms. Cai was reported to the police while she explained the facts about Falun Gong in the Huilong Village. Officials from the Xiaojie Police Station, led by Wang Meirong and town chief Cao, ransacked her home and took away 10 Falun Gong books, a photograph of the Falun Gong founder, 20 audio tapes and all Falun Gong materials. They also confiscated other personal property, including a satellite TV antenna, a TV signal amplifier, an audio tape player, a DVD player, and 60 yuan in cash. Several local officials also seized her farmland for their own use. Ms. Cai was forced into homelessness as a result.

At about 3 p.m. on March 16th, 2008, Ms. Cai and another practitioner were arrested while carrying materials about Falun Gong and taken to the Xiaojie Police Sub-Station. When Ms. Cai refused to disclose the source of their materials, officers bound her hands in the back and hung her, and subsequently tortured her with a tiger bench. She was then transferred to the Miyi County Police Station, where officers bound her hands around a tree for four hours.

On July 30th, 2008, officers from the Wanqiu Police Station, led by Wang Meirong and Yang Yang, pried open the door and broke into Ms. Cai's house. Several officers held her arms and stuffed her mouth with a towel while others searched her property. They confiscated 11 Falun Gong audio tapes, an audio tape player, Falun Gong books and articles and sent her to the Wanqiu Police Station.

During the night, Ms. Cai was transferred to the Miyi County Police Station, where eight practitioners were held in a room and forced to watch video tapes that slandered Falun Gong and listen to and read materials that defamed Falun Gong. The next morning, officer Zhu Chenglong ordered detainee Xiao Youcai to assault the immobilised practitioners.

The officers forced practitioners to disclose the source of their Falun Gong materials. If they refused to co-operate, officers beat them with plastic bottles full of water and burned their skin with lit cigarettes. When Ms. Cai refused to provide the information and cried out "Falun Gong is good!" officers covered her head with a black cloth and took her to an unknown place. Policeman Xuxing handcuffed her hands behind her back, forced her to stand still with her legs spread apart and placed a water bottle on top of her head. When the bottle fell, officers Zhou Lin and others kicked her. She was subjected to this torture from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Her wrists sustained injuries from the handcuffs being bound too tightly and her hands became numb. She did not recover full sensation in her hands even after being released.

On December 17th, 2009, Ms. Cai was reported to the police when she went to a fellow practitioner's home to retrieve her key. The next morning, Zhou Lin, Li Xuesong, Xu Xing, and Yang Zihua from the National Security Bureau and officers from the Xiaojie Police Sub-Station broke into her home and took away her book Zhuan Falun and took photos of her home without her consent. Then they forced her husband to take them to the home of the fellow practitioner.

Additional information available at http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2008/7/13/98924.html

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/2010/7/23/227419.html