Persecution of Ms. Li Yumei from Shuangcheng, Heilongjiang Province

Name: Li Yumei
Gender: Female
Age: Unknown
Address: Shuangcheng City, Heilongjiang Province
Occupation: Unknown
Date of Most Recent Arrest: January 17th, 2001
Most recent place of detention: Daxing Detention Centre in Beijing
City: Beijing
Persecution Suffered: Detention, interrogation, extortion, beatings, long-term standing, forced labour, force-feedings, home ransacked

Ms. Li Yumei started practising Falun Gong in 1996. At the time, she was suffering from trigeminal neuralgia (a very painful swelling of the facial nerve), stomach illness, leg pain, and could not eat cold food. All of her illnesses were healed after she started practising Falun Gong. After 1999, she was persecuted many times by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Below is her own narration.

Appealing to the Provincial Government and Being Arrested

On July 20th, 1999, former president Jiang started to persecute Falun Gong all over China and arrest some Falun Gong assistants. Fellow practitioners and I went to the provincial government offices to appeal and ask for the release of the assistants. When we got there, we saw many armed police. The police officers forcibly dragged us into a bus, drove us to a stadium, and then we were separated and sent to different schools. They wanted us to provide our names. At around 7:00 p.m., we were taken back to Shuangcheng City. Zhao Hongsheng, the CCP secretary in Handian, sent us back to the second floor of the government building, and town director Liu Yingwen told us that Falun Gong was not allowed to be practised. It was 11:00 p.m. when we got back home.

The next day, village secretary of the CCP Wang Yongyan, security staff member Dai Jianguo, and police officer Yang Zhenbao came to my home and asked me to surrender my Falun Gong books. They also asked me to go to their office and write a statement promising to stop practising Falun Gong. They gave me a pre-written statement to sign. It said that I would not practise Falun Gong, would not contact other practitioners, and would not appeal. They told me to sign it, or pay a fine of 300 to 500 yuan¹. They confiscated my ID, and assigned people to watch over me around the clock. If I wanted to go outside, I had to ask for permission. I refused to hand in my books or sign the statement, so I was arrested and taken to a government building and interrogated. Yang Haijun recorded the interrogation.

Appealing in Beijing and Being Beaten

On November 4th, 1999, I went to Beijing to appeal. I was taken away by plainclothes police because I did not have my ID with me. I was brought to the police station and body-searched. The Falun image I carried with me was confiscated. On November 5, Yu Zhanjun at our local police station, along with Yang Zhenbao, extorted 5,000 yuan from my family. He then flew to Beijing to arrest me and brought me back. On November 6th, I was sent to Shuangcheng No. 2 Detention Centre.

In the Liaison Office of our province in Beijing, I was slapped by someone, and as a result became deaf for over two months. Police station director Wang Guangzhong confiscated the last cash I had, about 40 yuan. There were eight Falun Gong practitioners being held there at the time, and we were beaten by guard Huang because we practised Falun Gong. We were shackled, two people in each shackle, and made to stand for a whole afternoon. We could not take off our clothes when sleeping at night, and could not turn over. After five days, the shackles were removed and we were sent for interrogation. We were given only two mouldy pieces of corn bread, and a half-bowl of cabbage soup that was littered with bugs.

I was interrogated many times by Zhang Shiyue and Liu Chunyang from the 610 Office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong), and they asked me if I would still practice Falun Gong, and whether I would go to Beijing to appeal.

Persecution in Wanjia Forced Labour Camp in Harbin

In January 2000, I was sent to Wanjia Forced Labour Camp in Harbin. I was forced to work together with criminals for long hours every day. For meals I was given only corn bread, and cabbage soup with mud in it. The guards did not allow us to do the exercises. Team leader Wu led Zhao Meiyan and others to take away our copies of the Falun Gong book, Zhuan Falun. When inspectors came, we were told to hide the labour camp products we were working on, and sit there pretending to read propaganda materials denouncing Falun Gong. We held a hunger strike, refused to work, and asked for our unconditional release. Each of us was later watched over by two inmates. I was not allowed to practise Falun Gong. If we were found doing the exercises, we were beaten and insulted, and then sent to a small solitary room. Criminals could reduce their terms by persecuting practitioners. I was forced to watch videos denouncing Falun Gong, and forced to write statements denouncing Falun Gong.

Appealing Again in Beijing and Being Detained in Daxing Detention Centre in Beijing

On January 17th, 2001, I went to appeal in Beijing again and displayed a banner that read “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance” at Tiananmen Square. I was arrested there and sent to Beizang Village Police Station in Daxing for three days. I was then sent to Daxing County Detention Centre in Beijing, where I went on a hunger strike. The authorities intravenously injected me every two days from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. I would not cooperate, and was kicked and beaten by criminals. I was then shackled, and dragged out and tied to a bed to be connected to the IV. My weight declined rapidly, my mouth was dry, and my gums bled. My mouth foamed when I talked, and I fainted once because my blood pressure was so low. At that time, the central government of the CCP was holding its two main conferences, so they would not release me, even for medical reasons. After 35 days, they said it was too expensive to continue the IVs, and they started to force-feed me. They inserted a rubber tube as thick as a finger into my stomach, and injected corn porridge into my stomach. One of the staff said that the central government just gave them 600,000 yuan to persecute Falun Gong, but if I kept on resisting they would lose the money. Another one said that if I would not tell them my address, they would cremate me directly without anyone knowing. They also tried to forcibly photograph me, but I refused. My thumb was broken by criminal Zhang Tao. On March 7th, 2001, I was released.

Persecution After 2004

On February 28th, 2004, Sun Jihua,, secretary of the Politics and Law Committee in Handian, brought over a dozen people to harass me to my home.

Around the time of the Mid-Autumn Festival in 2005, Gu Zhenlong, Si Yufei, Sui Guangcheng, and others from the police station were told by director Zhang Yongjun to arrest me at my home. My mother-in-law fainted from the shock. Zhang Yongjun subsequently extorted 1,000 yuan from my family.

On August 15th, 2010, due to a report by Zhang Hengwen, Kong Qingman, secretary of the CCP in Damatun Village; director of Handian Police Station; deputy director Wu Zhi; and policemen Gu Zhenlong, Si Yufei, Sun Jiulong, and others, broke into my home and tried to arrest me. I was not at home at the time, but they ransacked my home and confiscated my belongings.

On December 30th, Kong Qingman, director of the Handian Police Station, deputy director Wu Zhi, and policeman Li Yanhe came to my home to harass me. They tried to extort 10,000 yuan from me as payment for not arresting me.

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/2011/1/13/34851.html