Kindergarten Teacher in Her Sixties Tortured at the Fujian Women's Prison

Name: Zuo Xiuyun
Gender: Female
Age: 60s
Address: Unknown
Occupation: Former kindergarten teacher at Fujian Railway System
Date of Most Recent Arrest: June 2nd, 2004
Most Recent Place of Detention: Fujian Provincial Women's Prison
Province: Fujian
Persecution Suffered: Electric shock, sleep deprivation, forced labour, brainwashing, beatings, hanging by handcuffs, imprisonment, solitary confinement, torture, force-feedings, extortion, physical restraint, home ransacked, interrogation, detention, denial of restroom use

Ms. Zuo Xiuyun has been arrested and sentenced to prison twice, in 2000 and 2004, since the Chinese Communist Party banned Falun Gong eleven years ago, simply because she believed in Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. She was held at the Fujian Provincial Women's Prison for nine years, where she was brutally tortured. The following is her personal account of the torture she experienced during her imprisonment.

Arrested and Tortured a the Fujian Provincial Women's Prison a Second Time

I was arrested in 2000 and sentenced to a 3-year prison term. I was held at the Fujian Provincial Women's Prison and brutally tortured. In late 2003, I was released and returned home. On the evening of June 2nd, 2004, eight months after I was released from the prison, I was arrested again by agents from the Yong'an City and Sanming City 610 Offices (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong). I was taken to Yong'an City Police Bureau and then to the Yong'an Detention Centre. My home was ransacked.

Before the trial, I requested that my family be informed, as stipulated under the law, but the court refused. Only two 610 Office officials were at the trial. I was only allowed to answer "yes" or "no" to questions during the trial, and when I tried to expose the torture to which I had been subjected, the judge stopped me from talking. Three months later I was taken to the Fujian Provincial Women's Prison.

Hung By Handcuffs for Seven Days and Nights

I was transferred to the prison's brainwashing centre the day after I arrived. The province's 610 Office was in charge at the centre. Several officers cuffed my hands and hung me from the iron window bars. I had to stand on my toes, otherwise it would be extremely painful because the handcuffs were cutting into my flesh. The pain was excruciating. I still have the scars on my wrists. In the evening I was informed about the prison rules. I could not use the toilet and was forbidden from holding a hunger strike.

The doors and windows were closed, and I was forced to watch Falun Gong-slandering videos over and over again, with turned the volume on high. I was forced to renounce my belief when I no longer could endure the pain. Only then did they take me down and remove the handcuffs. My hands were injured and I couldn't move them.

I felt extreme pain in my heart. I had been handcuffed and hung up around the clock for seven days. When I renounced Falun Gong, I felt such pain in my heart. I hated myself and deeply regretted my action. On the twelfth day, I could finally move my hands. I told the officer with the surname Chen that I was innocent and planned to remain steadfast in my belief. Chen said that they knew I would turn back sooner or later. They then began torturing me again. They forced me to stand still for a long time, denied me of sleep, and handcuffed me to the window railing. They again made me watch the videos slandering Falun Gong. All this had no effect on me. I was very calm. I didn't listen, didn't argue, and I had no fear in my heart.

Electric Shocks

One day, a thin and tall 610 Office agent arrived. He unlocked my handcuffs and pulled me towards the wall. Then he took a long bench and used it to push me against the wall so that I couldn't move. He took the electric baton from officer Chen, turned it on, rested it on my ear and then pressed it downwards. He shocked me again and again. Officer Chen took over the baton and imitated his action. The pain was beyond description and I knocked my head against the wall to distract me from the pain. When Chen saw me doing this, he grabbed my hair and slammed my head against the wall. He said, "You can't bear it anymore, right? You want to die?" Then he continued shocking me. I knew the people I was facing here had no human nature. When they finished, the room was filled with the smell of burned skin and flesh. My body was covered with blisters and I could not even open my mouth to eat at mealtime.

After two and a half months of torture at the brainwashing centre, on December 3rd, 2004 I was taken to the No. 10 Division. The division announced "three forbidden activities" -- no writing letters, no phone calls, and no visitors. I wrote an appeal letter in which I detailed all of the torture I had suffered at the brainwashing centre. They found the letter during a search of the cells and confiscated it. They no longer gave me a pen or paper.

Torture at the Qingliu Brainwashing Centre

I was transferred to the Qingliu Brainwashing Centre in July 2007. They wanted me to renounce Falun Gong, but this time they changed tactics. The women's ward sent in several nice looking guards. They weren't wearing uniforms, but instead wore shirts, mandarin gowns and had light makeup. The men's ward also sent in two former practitioners who had renounced Falun Gong. They took turns trying to talk me into renouncing Falun Gong. The entire process was monitored.

One month later, these people lost their patience and showed their true faces. The 610 Office agents kicked over the stool and then stomped on me. They threatened me and shocked me with electric batons. During the day they forced me to watch videos slandering Falun Gong and I was denied of sleep. At around 4:00 a.m. they had female officers talk to me. Two days later they saw that I remained steadfast in my faith, so they denied restroom visits, including showers. They installed a large monitor, through which they monitored me continuously.

The 610 Office agent responsible for transforming me along with the female guards went to my home. They met with my mother and daughter, and told my daughter that they would take her to see me. They videotaped everything and showed it to me in an attempt to use family ties to force me to give up my belief. This didn't work, so two and a half months later they transferred me to the women's prison.

After returning to the prison, I tried to practise the five sets of exercises. The guards ordered all of my cell inmates to watch me around the clock. One day, the on-duty inmate, Lin Yongfang, head of the cell, and inmate He Fenghua saw me doing the exercises. They held my head against the bed and then kicked and punched me.

They force-fed me twice. Guard Lin Ping was in charge of my second forced-feeding. Two inmates, Wang Guixian and Zheng Xiaohong, grabbed my hair, pulled it backward and kicked my ankle to force me to my knees. They then ordered other inmates to grab my hands so they could force-feed me. As I was fighting them, food got stuck in my windpipe. They dragged me to the corridor. Several inmates were waiting to have a "criticising and denouncing" meeting with me. One inmate on each side of me held me tightly so that I couldn't move.

During the 2008 Olympic Games, an overseas reporter came to see me. Prison officials were afraid that I would expose their crimes, so they looked for ways to coerce me or stop the meeting. When they failed in deceiving me, they began to threaten me. They said if I saw the reporter they would bring harm to my child. They also said that television reporters would usually ask tough questions, and suggested that I couldn't handle such an interrogation. Upon hearing what they said, I assumed that the reporter might not be an ordinary reporter, so I said I would accept the interview. They then tried different tactics. They arranged for an interview with a woman editor from "Yangfan Newspaper," but I refused to see her. She came anyway, turned on a voice recorder and then pretended to turn it off. She pestered me as to why I didn't accept her interview. She taped everything and got what she wanted. Then she left and I never heard from the foreign reporter.

Sleep Deprivation for More Than Twenty Days

I was held in the brainwashing centre for another four months starting in January, 2009. The brainwashing centre was at the end of the corridor. Inside there was a bed, a table, and a television. The window was covered with a thick curtain, so no light could enter, and the door was always closed. During the four months they repeatedly played videos that slandered Falun Gong. I wasn't allowed to shower for more than a month.

They also deprived me of sleep for more than twenty days, claiming that this was punishment for not doing my homework. I was very sleepy and very unsteady when I walked. One time my head hit the wall, and then the ground. I had many bumps on my head. Two inmates who were assigned to watch me stared at me. Whenever I closed my eyes, they yelled at me, as well as kicked and punched me.

Back in Prison

I was transferred to the newcomer's section of the prison on June 8th, 2009. This division was the place for newly-arrived inmates and was a strict control division. I stayed there for an entire year.

When I arrived on the seventh floor, prison guard Liu Xiaohun shocked me twice with an electric baton. My face and lips became swollen. Liu Xiaohui ordered the inmates to force me to my knees, and then they tied my legs together. Then they tied my hands behind my back and tied my hands and legs together. They handcuffed my hands and legs, and then carried me to a classroom. Xiaohui verbally abused me and beat me. I was black and blue all over. Liu also stepped on my toes with her leather shoes. She didn't allow me to eat lunch and threatened me with force-feeding. The torture lasted until 4:00 p.m. Several guards were watching, including a guard that specialised in psychology.

Guard Liu Xiaohui ordered inmates to write "Criminal Zuo Xiuyun" on my clothes and asked that the guards call me by that name. She also forced me to clean the toilet.

In March 2010, three months before my prison term expired, guard Liu Xiaohui began to give me the so-called "post-prison education," and told me not to talk about Falun Gong to other people after my release. Guard Yu Jingjing constantly talked to me and said that if I didn't do her homework, she would lose her job, and so she forced me to co-operate with their "post-prison education." I was forced to take notes, do homework, and take exams. Liu ordered five inmates to monitor me while I was studying. Liu Xiaohui claimed that I didn't co-operate with the "post-prison education."

She then called in four or five young inmates and asked them to treat me as their mother. They grabbed me by my hands and hugged me, called me mother with tears in their eyes, and talked to me about their innermost feelings. I didn't know them at all. Liu Xiaohui was watching everything and said it would be best if they could make me cry, too. She said that as long as one person cried, then everyone would follow. This lasted until 5:00 p.m., but I didn't do what they wanted. Liu Xiaohui asked an inmate to talk to me, "Let bygones (talking about the torture I suffered) be bygones and don't bring it up again." It was clear that Liu Xiaohiu was afraid that I would expose her crimes.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2010/11/1/231782.html