Detained Five Times, Severely Persecuted for Six and a Half Years

Name: Zhong Shujuan
Gender: Female
Age: 56
Address: Unknown
Occupation: Shop worker
Date of Most Recent Arrest: July 21st, 2009
Most Recent Place of Detention: Luotaishan Brainwashing Centre
City: Fushun
Province: Liaoning
Persecution Suffered: Sleep deprivation, forced labour, brainwashing, beatings, hung up, imprisonment, solitary confinement, torture, sexual assault, force-feedings, extortion, fired from workplace, physical restraint, home ransacked, interrogation, detention, denial of toilet use

Since the persecution of Falun Gong started on July 20th, 1999, practitioner Ms. Zhong Shujuan has been detained five times because of her belief. She was detained at the Dalian Detention Centre for 18 days, the drug rehabilitation centre for 28 days, Dalian Forced Labour Camp for two years and 40 days, Masanjia Forced Labour Camp for two years and four months for the first time, Masanjia Forced Labour Camp for two years and 16 days for the second time, and Luotaishan Brainwashing Centre for 21 days. She has been detained for a total of six years and eight months. She has been tortured in many ways, and she hasn't fully recovered from the internal injuries to this day and often spits up blood. Her hair has turned completely white.

The following is a summary of her experiences over the last ten years:

1. Financial harassment: extortion and loss of job

Ms. Zhong Shujuan went to Beijing, trying to appeal for justice for Falun Gong in December 1999. She was deceived and taken away by a plainclothes officer before she entered the door of the Appeals Bureau. She was detained for 18 days and 5,500 yuan¹ was extorted from her. Her husband didn't have enough money on hand and had to use their daughter's insurance money. When she was released, her boss handed her the dissolution of labour contract, even though she had worked there for more than 20 years.

Ms. Zhong and her daughter went to Beijing trying to appeal in December 2000. At the bus station, they were told to slander Falun Gong's Teacher. Anybody who didn't do it would be taken away. Because they refused to comply, they were searched and taken to the Dalian Drug Rehabilitation Centre. The police extorted more than 3,000 yuan from Ms. Zhong's husband. The police threatened the daughter, “You will be sent to the detention centre if you don't give up Falun Gong. You will be sent home if you give up the practice.” The daughter replied, “I will continue to practise” and was sent to the detention centre. She was detained for 18 days and Ms. Zhong's husband was “fined” more than 1,000 yuan.

The guards tried to force Ms. Zhong to recite the rules at the Dalian Drug Rehabilitation Centre. She refused. The guards handcuffed her and had her stand against the wall. They threatened and physically punished her till the early morning before she was allowed to go to bed. Guard Sun Yongfa slapped Ms. Zhong's daughter's face more than 20 times. The next day they woke the daughter up at 5:00 a.m. and had her stand bent over for a whole day. Ms. Zhong was transferred to the Dalian Detention Centre 28 days later. Her daughter was later transferred to the same place.

Not long after that, Ms. Zhong was sentenced to two years of forced labour and sent to Dalian Forced Labour Camp.

2. Crime Committed in Dalian Forced Labour Camp

-Threats and Beatings

A head of the group surnamed Gao slapped Ms. Zhong's face and physically punished her because she said that she would continue doing the exercises. The guard had her bend over 90 degrees, with both hands touching the back of her head and her head between her legs. They would beat her if she moved at all. To protest the persecution, the Falun Gong practitioners started a hunger strike together. They were sent to a room in the labour camp. There was no bed in the room and they had to sleep on the straw mattress on the ground.

The practitioners were taken to the cafeteria the next day. Their names were called out one by one. Then two male guards grabbed whoever was called and dragged her outside. The guards threatened to send her to Masanjia Forced Labour Camp. Her luggage and personal belongings were put in the yard, and it looked like she was going to be taken away. The practitioners and their luggage were later taken on a bus. The bus circled around the labour camp two times and stopped at another shabby building in the same labour camp. It was cold and dirty there.

The practitioners did the Falun Gong exercises on January 9th. Nine male guards gathered them up. The guards asked the practitioners one by one whether or not they would do the exercises. Whoever said yes would was slapped. The practitioners were later dragged outside and beaten. Their winter jackets were pulled off and they were shocked with electric batons. The guard who beat Ms. Zhong was surnamed Qu and the one who shocked her was surnamed Wang. There were ten guards and ten practitioners. The practitioners were kicked and beaten with slippers. The guards poured cold water on a practitioner who fainted. The practitioners had blood all over them and there was even blood on the wall. Their faces were bruised and swollen.

The next day several guards brought electric batons and ordered the practitioners to sign the "Ten Prohibitions.” Since the practitioners were bruised all over, the labour camp didn't allow them to take showers in order to hide their condition. The practitioners were sent back to their ward at the beginning of February.

-Inhuman Torture and Sexual Abuse

Ms. Zhong was deprived of sleep and tortured. She was locked in solitary confinement three times.

She was also force-fed when she started a hunger strike. The nasal tube was used on another person and was not even washed. There was still cornmeal, dust, and hair on the tube. In order to make people suffer, the staff kept inserting the tube and pulling it out again and again. It was so painful that she gave out sad, shrill cries. The room was full of young police officers who had just graduated from the academy. The guards used that as an example to demonstrate how to torture people. She was handcuffed behind her back, and locked in solitary confinement. The guards opened the window and door to let in cold air to make her suffer.

Ms. Zhong was locked in solitary confinement for the third time because she didn't wear the labour camp tag. The guards searched her before locking her into the cell. Then they took off her clothes, stuffed her mouth with a dirty cloth, and hung her up from a metal bar in the cell. Her arms formed a straight line. They hung her legs up separately. Then they pulled her legs in all four directions to make her suffer extreme pain. They stabbed her feet with small scissors. They put a chair under her and kept hitting her private parts against the high corner of the chair. They kicked her private parts and stabbed inside her using a pointed mop handle. Her private parts were torn, festering, and swollen, and she bled profusely. It was so painful that she cried out and spit out the cloth stuffed in her mouth. The rope used to tie her down broke during the struggle. The guards then filled a used Coke bottle with water and poured it into her mouth. If she refused to open her mouth, they would hit her with the bottle. Her mouth was swollen. The guards later brought a paper and pen and ordered her to write the “transformation” letter. When she refused to, the guards continued torturing her.

The torture started at 1:00 p.m. and lasted till 8:00 p.m. When Ms. Zhong was finally let down from the metal bar, she fell to the ground. Her legs and arms were very weak, and her pants were soaked with blood and urine. The big group leader was Wan Yalin, the middle group leader was Yuan Lingyue, and the small group leader was surnamed Huang. They also ordered her to write, “It is wrong not to wear the labour camp tag.” Two guards later dragged Ms. Zhong to the strict monitoring room and tied her to the death bed². There were only a few wooden boards on the bed, and no blankets or sheets. Her private parts were bleeding and the boards were soaked with blood and turned red. They also put a helmet-like torture device on her head. She felt tired on the death bed. She was later allowed to go to the toilet twice a day. Her hands were swollen like two black buns. When she went to the toilet or ate, the guards only opened the handcuffs on one hand. She couldn't grasp anything at the time.

This torture lasted for eight days, and Ms. Zhong developed pressure sores. When the guards removed the helmet from her head, there was a painful bump on her head and her ears were red and swollen. Only then did the guards let her go back to the cell.

Ms. Zhong couldn't sleep at night because of the pain. She was forced to do labour even though she was injured. The guards didn't let her shower and extended her term by 40 days because they didn't want others to know what they had done to her. She was searched very often. She was fined 200 yuan once when Yuan Lingyue found Falun Gong articles on her. When she was released in November 2002, they didn't give her back 2,000 yuan that was left in her account. Her husband got it back later after a lot of effort.

3. Crimes Committed in Masanjia Forced Labour Camp

Ms. Zhong Shujuan was taken away by officers from the Huadong Road Police Station while she was shopping on March 7th, 2003. She was taken to the Yaojia Detention Centre. She was sentenced to two years of forced labour and sent to Masanjia Forced Labour Camp around April 20th.

The guards ordered those "Collaborators" (former practitioners, brainwashed against Falun Gong, made to assist in brainwashing and torturing practitioners) to “transform” [forcibly renounce Falun Gong] her. She was forced to get up at 4:00 a.m. and go to bed at 11:00 p.m and sometimes midnight. After three months, the guards saw that she wouldn't give up the practice, so they started to torture her. They swore at her, deprived her of sleep, and made her suffer in the cold outside after each round of physical torture.

The detainees were forced to husk corn in the autumn. Ms. Zhong had a big lump on her wrist that was so painful that she couldn't pick up a needle. Yang Xiaofeng, the group header, ordered her to work. When Ms. Zhong refused, Yang ordered her to mop the cafeteria and peel the garlic.

After all the corn was husked, the guards started another round of “transformation.” One would be tortured and deprived of sleep if she did not “transform.” Sleep deprivation happened three times in a month. There was one time that she didn't get to sleep and was tortured for six days. The guards made her stand, and she fell asleep while standing. She was once insulted by about nine people: they stuck notes on her face, nose and neck; put a tall hat on her; put a paper belt with words that slandered Falun Gong on her; and took off her clothes and wrote words that slandered Falun Gong on her body and clothes. She was paraded around and beaten as she walked. The guards ordered her to write statements to renounce practising Falun Gong. Yang Xiaofeng and others pushed, beat, and pinched her. This lasted for about three months.

During the escalated persecution to “transform” Falun Gong practitioners, practitioners were only allowed to eat steamed cornbread and pickles . The cornbread wasn't fully cooked and the inner part was raw. It was the same for all three meals every day for six months. Ms. Zhong was in solitary confinement for the 2005 Chinese New Year's Eve. They extended her term by four months and she was released in July 2005.

4. Torture and Beatings

Ms. Zhong was reported for speaking with people about Falun Gong on April 13th, 2007. She was taken away by officers from the Huadong Road Police Station and sentenced to two years of forced labour. She was sent to Masanjia Forced Labour Camp on April 30th, 2007.

She was forced to do hard labour and had to do the workload of three people every day. She got up at 5:00 a.m. and worked until midnight. At the end of July, Zhao Guorong, the head of the No. 2 group, ordered inmates Zhao Wei and Yang Dan to make Ms. Zhong sign an evaluation form. They beat her when she refused to sign. They pushed her to the ground and beat her severely. Her clothes were torn and she was bruised all over. Her hands were bleeding. She hit her head on a metal chest and developed a big bump. At the end of August, Zhao Guorong again ordered Zhao Wei and Yang Dan to make Ms. Zhong sign the evaluation form. Zhang Chunguang, the deputy head, shocked her with an electric baton. When Ms. Zhong resisted, Zhang Chunguang twisted her right arm behind her back and pushed her against the table. Zhao Wei and Yang Dan then grasped her hand and tried to make her sign.

In October, Ms. Zhong didn't sign the form. Zhao Guorong then beat her and dragged her to the office. Ms. Zhong's shoes fell off and her clothes were torn. Zhao Guorong slapped her face and beat her with a stick covered with cloth. Ms. Zhong suddenly blacked out and couldn't see anything. Her nose started bleeding. Wang Yanping hit her with a slipper and her clothes and face were covered with blood. There was lots of blood on the floor. Li Mingyu, the head of the group, ordered the guards to use the “Stretch Torture” on her. Her head was put under the upper level of a bunk bed, her hands were handcuffed to the two sides of the upper level, and her legs were tied to the lower level with the support of a metal tripod. She was bent at the waist. It was very painful. In order to make it hurt more, the guards moved her wrists to relieve the numbness. She was stretched like that for two days and it made her muscles twitch in pain.

On November 30th, Ms. Zhong was very weak and she was working at the workshop. Guard Zhao Guorong tried to have Ms. Zhong sign the evaluation form. When Ms. Zhong refused, she slapped her face, pushed her to the ground and kicked her hard. Ms. Zhong vomited two mouthfuls of blood. Her mouth was ripped, her face was swollen, and she was bruised all over. It was tremendously painful for her to breathe or talk, and she had difficulty lying down and getting up. She hardly ate anything for more than ten days. She was forced to do labour even though she was so weak.

Ms. Zhong had panic attacks for a while. When a guard made the rounds in the wards, she would be terrified and scream, “Someone is beating me! Someone is beating me!” if she was touched.

5. Her Daughter Developed Mental Disorder As a Result of Persecution

It was 2003 when Ms. Zhong's home was ransacked by the officers from the Huadong Road Police Station for the first time. Ms. Zhong's daughter was 24 at the time and tried to prevent the officers from ransacking the place. The officers dragged her from the fourth floor to the first floor and later to the police station. She was scared and became depressed. When their home was ransacked for the second time in 2007, she was the only one at home. The rude and unreasonable officers terrified her. She's had a mental disorder ever since. She frequently left home and wandered about. Ms. Zhong's husband had to look everywhere to find her.

When Ms. Zhong was detained, her husband and daughter didn't leave home for more than 40 days and only had rice porridge for meals. They were so scared that they didn't answer phone calls or open the door if someone knocked.

Their daughter was taken to a mental hospital and wanted to see her mother after some treatment. Ms. Zhong's husband took their daughter to Masanjia Forced Labour Camp, but their request to see Ms. Zhong was denied. The daughter knelt down and begged Li Mingyu. Li Mingyu refused to allow them to see her. The daughter cried and left. She became irritable and uneasy, and her symptoms worsened. She often left home and ran far away from home. Ms. Zhong's husband had to look everywhere for her.

6. Abused in the Brainwashing Centre

Ms. Zhong was taken to the Luotaishan Brainwashing Centre in July 2009. That was the fifth time she was detained. She was released from the forced labour camp for only about three months, and she still hasn't fully recovered.

Doing the Falun Gong exercises was not allowed at the brainwashing centre. She was monitored all day long. She often spat up blood and her feet were numb.

Note

1. "Yuan" is the Chinese currency; 500 yuan is equal to the average monthly income of an urban worker in China.

2. "Death Bed" torture: A practitioner is tied to a bed with his hands handcuffed above his head to the bed rails, and his legs tied with thin nylon ropes. The rope is then tightly wrapped around the practitioner's body and the bed, from his legs to his chest. The rope is wrapped so tightly that the practitioner has difficulty breathing and eventually loses consciousness.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2011/1/26/235317.html