The Persecution of an Older Couple in Qiqihar

1. I Was a Good Person after Learning Falun Gong But Was Persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)

In 1998, my wife and I were fortunate enough to start practising Falun Gong.

In July 1999, while we were doing the Falun Gong exercises, people from the Zhonghuajie Office and several policemen confiscated our tape player and banner. Later on, Director Tian from the same office and Wang Qi came to our home to tell us that we could not practise Falun Gong anymore. Shortly afterward, my wife went to Beijing to appeal on behalf of Falun Gong and was detained for two months. During that time, we were harassed frequently and eventually had to leave our home.

On January 1st, 2001, my wife and I went to Beijing after overcoming many difficulties. We went directly to the Golden Water Bridge in front of Tiananmen Square and planned to show our banner on the building at Tiananmen Square. When we got to the checkpoint, the police found the fliers in our pockets. They dragged us into a small room, where they yelled at us and beat us. They took off my jacket, covered my head with it and then beat me again. We were then taken to the Qianmen Police Station, where many Falun Gong practitioners from all over China were detained. We were released in the afternoon.

2. Arrested for Telling People the Facts about Falun Gong

After we left our home, we had to rent a house, and our lives were difficult. We made many informational materials telling people about Falun Gong and exposing the persecution. On December 8th, 2003, my wife and another practitioner were at home. The police pounded on our door, yelled at us, and used a stick to try to open the door. They used an electric welder to open a hole in our door, opened the lock by hand, and broke in. Sun Bo from the Longsha Police Department and Chief Wang Xishun from the Wulong Police Station ordered the police to confiscate our cash, rice, and flour and forced my wife and another person to get into their car. When my wife said, "Falun Gong is good," they hit her and she fainted. They then put her into the car. At Wulong Police Station, Wang Xishun handcuffed my wife to a heating pipe for three days and nights while she was interrogated. She was then taken to the No. 1 Detention Centre.

In the detention centre, Director Guo, Peng Li, and Ren Yuxia beat Hua Xiaojuan and Lang Lijie, because they practised the Falun Gong exercises. Both were beaten until they had blood in their mouths. All 13 of us were handcuffed behind our backs and had our feet shackled for four days and nights. Hua Xiaojuan was put in shackles weighing over 44 pounds used for death row inmates. Several people were sentenced to prison, but they all refused to sign their names or have their photos taken. My wife was held down, and her photo was taken against her will. As she was taken to the jail, she exclaimed, "Falun Gong is good!" Director Guo got very angry and told them to take her back. She was then put in special handcuffs. With a slight movement the cuffs would tighten automatically. She was in a lot of pain, vomited, and fainted.

On October 20th, 2004, Hua Xiaojuan, Lang Lijie, Zhang Dexiang, Zhang Yuqin, Zhong Yajun, and Shi Xiuying were detained in Harbin Women's Prison.

In Harbin Women's Prison, they were forced to watch videos denouncing Falun Gong nonstop and were subjected to brainwashing. My wife was tortured until she had high blood pressure and a cerebral haemorrhage, and was sent to the Harbin Medical University. During that period, Zhao Yingling, the director of the prison hospital, forced her to write the three statements to renounce practising Falun Gong, threatening to tie her up if she did not write it. My wife was sent back to Harbin Women's Prison after four days and was released on October 18th, 2008.

3. Yaohulu Police Farm in Fulaerji Is Used for Torture

On December 8th, 2003, my residence was being monitored. I was only in my underwear but had to hide in the cold passageway for over ten hours. I was only able to escape after midnight. I became homeless, staying away from home for over two months, and then went back to Qiqihar.

At around 10 p.m. on December 2nd, 2004, police from a special group in the Fulaerji District of Qiqihar surrounded the whole building where another practitioner and I lived. They broke the lock, and several people barged in and pushed me down on the floor, stepping on my face. I was only in my underwear, but they still threw me into a van and drove me to a secret site at Yaohulu Police Farm.

Yaohulu Police Farm was built in an abandoned public bathhouse and is not heated. It is a secret site used to torture Falun Gong practitioners.

On the afternoon of December 3rd, 2004, in the interrogation room, I was forced to sit on an iron chair in just my underwear. My hands and feet were shackled. The deputy team leader of the Criminal Police Team in the Fulaerji District, Li Ruixin, stuck his hands into my pocket and took away my 1,100 yuan¹ in cash. He also took off my socks and hit the bottoms of my feet about 250 times with a board 1 inch wide and about 2 centimetres thick. Then he asked where my money went. The driver also beat me with a stick, making my hands and feet very swollen and purple. Policeman Jiang Chen brought a basin of snow and pushed my feet into it. The snow melted under my feet and then turned to ice. Li Ruixin then brought another basin of snow, pouring it down my collar and into my trousers. I could not move on the iron chair. I was very cold and in pain, and shivered uncontrollably.

On the morning of December 4th, 2004, Jiang Chen and another five or six officers started to torture me again. Jiang Chen had a rope in his hand and looked over to the roof. He was thinking of hanging me up but he could not find an appropriate place for the rope, so he gave up. They then put a cloth bag over my head and five people hit my head with the bottoms of their shoes. Jiang Chen stepped on and kicked my hands and feet while they were cuffed. In the end he hung me up by my hands with handcuffs and a rope, and then left. At 4 p.m., I was taken to the Fulaerji District Detention Centre.

On December 4th, 2004, just as I stepped into the door of the room, they threw cold water on me. In May 2005, the detention centre extended their construction. I was then sent to the Qiqihar No. 1 Detention Centre. On July 20th, 2006, another practitioner and I were sentenced to prison and were sent to Tailai Prison in Qiqihar.

4. The Evil Environment in Tailai Prison

I first stayed in the training centre unit of Tailai Prison for two months and was then sent to the first branch in the fifth ward. Two criminals, Xu Hongxin from Taikang and Ding Yongxiang from Longjiang, watched over me day and night. In 2007, the prison tried to brainwash all of the Falun Gong practitioners and make us write the three statements. Director Liu Jun would not allow me to sleep for three days and forcibly brainwashed me. Due to long term persecution, in 2007 I suffered high blood pressure, arrhythmia, and cerebral thrombosis. On April 6th, 2008, I was released.

Now my wife and I have no fixed place to stay. The police always go to our home to ask our family members where we are. We hope human rights organisations and good people in the world will pay close attention to the persecution of Falun Gong in China.

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://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2010/11/10/232272.html