Ms. Li Guizhi Arrested Thirteen Times

Name: Li Guizhi
Gender: Female
Age: 49
Address: Dongcai Village, Yanjiao Township, Sanhe City, Hebei Province
Occupation: Farmer

Date of Most Recent Arrest: August 26th, 2010
Most recent place of detention: Langfang Brainwashing Centre
City: Langfang
Province: Hebei
Persecution Suffered: Detention, home ransacked, torture, beatings, electric shock, brainwashing, interrogation, sleep deprivation, extortion, living under surveillance

On August 25th, 2010, police from the Yanjiao Police Station went to Dongcai village and demanded that Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Li Guizhi sign a guarantee statement that she would renounce Falun Gong. Ms. Li refused. The following day around 3 p.m. Ms. Li Guizhi and Xu Shaojin were arrested at their home. They are held at the Langfang Brainwashing Centre. Those who took part in the arrests are from the local township administrative office, the judiciary and the armed forces.

Ms. Li Guizhi started practising Falun Gong in 1998. Since the persecution began in 1999, Ms. Li has been harassed and arrested by the local 610 Office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong) and police over and over again, a total of thirteen times.

In September 1999, Yang Fuwen from the Yanjiao Police Sub-Bureau, Zhang Zihua and Cui Qiaoyan from the 610 Office and others, came to Ms. Li Guizhi's home and confiscated Falun Gong books, tapes, recorder, and other materials without showing a warrant. The police searched Ms. Li's home three more times, arrested her each time and held her one week to a total of three weeks.

In 2000, Ms. Li Guizhi went to Beijing to appeal for the right to practise Falun Gong. She was arrested and taken back to the Yanjiao Police Sub-Bureau by Liu Fuqiang, the head of the Sanhe City 610 Office, in October of that year. The police handcuffed her to a metal pole. Yang Fuwen, captain, slapped her face over forty times. After he got tired, he took his show and and slapped her forty more times. Blood came out Ms. Li's mouth and her face turned black and purple.

Yang Fuwen, police officer, tied up Ms. Li Guizhi with a thin rope. She only wore her underwear. He kicked and then he shocked her face, hands and head with two electric batons for over an hour. Ms. Li's face and hands were burned and one could smell burned flesh. After that, police officers handcuffed her so tight that it cut into her flesh. The pain was excruciating.

On December 20th, 2000, several people from local the 610 Office arrested Ms. Li Guizhi when she was working in the field and took her to the township government office. Male and female practitioners were held in a meeting room without beds or access to a cafeteria. They were not allowed to take a shower, read or recite a memorised book, or talk to each other. She lost her freedom for two weeks.

Practitioners recited Falun Gong teachings together on December 25th. Zhang Zihua, secretary of the Policies and Judiciary Committee asked twenty police officers, including Liu Shuchun, deputy director of the police bureau, and Tian Shuguang, captain, to come to the meeting room. They handcuffed the five practitioners and beat them. Some were tied to a police car, and some to the metal gate with only the toes touching the ground. They forced Ms. Li Guizhi to kneel on the cold concrete road for over an hour.

Then, the police officers arrested another five practitioners. Some were hung up by handcuffs on the gate without the feet touching ground and some were handcuffed to a metal fence. Practitioners were not provided with food. The police boasted, "You will die from hunger." They also limited the use of the toilet. There was no separation between male and female, everyone had to use the same toilet.

In March 2001, Ms. Li Guizhi were detained at a brainwashing centre at Yanjiao Township Steel Mill for fifteen days.

On May 13th, 2001, Ms. Li Guizhi went to Tong Township distributing materials about Falun Gong. She was arrested and taken to the Qiaozhuang Detention Centre and held for a month. She was tortured and then transferred to the Sanhe Detention Centre. Ms. Li went on hunger strike for nine days and released when her life was in danger. She could not even walk and had to be carried by two people to the car.

In July 2001, Zhang Zihua, head of the 610 Office and six people broke into Ms. Li's home. They carried her to the car and took her to the Sanhe City Brainwashing Centre. They deprived her of sleep for several days and nights. Her feet and legs were swollen from prolonged standing. When people asked Ms. Li to sign her name on the guarantee statements, she refused. Therefore, the police forced to her to squat while holding her heads with her hands. Later, Ms. Li Guizhi was released, despite not having given in to their demands.

Around 6 a.m. on September 12th, 2001, eight police officers with a leader called Yang from the Yanjiao Police Sub-bureau broke into her home. Zhu Baofu, village communist party secretary and these officers handcuffed Ms. Li Guizhi and took her to the local 610 Office. The next day, Ms. Li was taken to the Kaiping Forced Labour Camp, No. 2 squadron. Ms. Li was sentenced to a 3 year forced labour term without any court proceedings. Wang Wenge, police officer, strip searched Ms. Li. She was deprived of sleep for four days and nights and not given any personal hygiene items. She was forced to stand and squat facing a wall for a long time. Her legs and feet were swollen. Police pretended not to know her whereabouts during the entire two years.

In July 2003, Ms. Li Guizhi was released and she went to her parent's home. Since she carried a copy of the Falun Gong book, Zhuan Falun, she was taken to Weichang County Police Department detention centre. She was released only after her brother and sister paid 3,000 yuan¹.

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/2010/9/3/229192.html