Ms. Dong Shulan, 62, from Jilin City Persecuted Multiple Times and Forced to Leave Home

Name: Dong Shulan
Gender: Female
Age: 62
Address: Jilin City, Jilin Province
Occupation: Unknown
Date of Most Recent Arrest: January 25th, 2007
Most recent place of detention: Heizuizi Labour Camp of Changchun City
City: Changchun
Province: Jilin
Persecution Suffered: Detention, forced labour, beatings, long-term standing, electric shock, sleep deprivation, forced labour, hung up, brainwashing, solitary confinement, denied visitation

I have practised Falun Gong for many years and have tried to be a good person, believing in Truth-Compassion-Forbearance. During the past nine years, I have been detained in forced labour camps by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) three times, for over five years in all.

Before I started practising Falun Gong, I had several health problems, such as tuberculosis, emphysema, gallstones, kidney stones, a cervical vertebra problem, renal ptosis, and other problems. I also had major surgery, during which five ribs from the left side of my chest were removed. However, the most severe disease I had was a rare condition called “evil net,” which is a deterioration of net shaped cells in the bone marrow. It's incurable, and the pain was intolerable. All I could do was wait for death.

In mid-April 1996, I was fortunately introduced to Falun Gong and started practising it. Through practising Falun Gong, my mind became clearer every day and my body got better every day. Within a month, over ten diseases that had haunted me for a long time all disappeared. Neighbours saw my change and said, “Falun Gong is really wonderful.” For this reason, over ten people started Falun Gong practice. Falun Gong gave me another life.

On July 20th 1999, the CCP started to persecute Falun Gong, but I told people about the wonders of Falun Gong and how I had benefited in both body and mind. I used my own personal experience to verify the beauty and wonder of Falun Gong.

On October 1st, 2000, I travelled to Tiananmen Square in Beijing to appeal against the persecution of Falun Gong. I was sentenced to three years in a forced labour camp. During that time, the police beat me and kicked me. I was forced to stand close to the wall, was shocked by an electric baton, was forbidden to talk or sleep, and was forced to work like for 16 to 17 hours a day.

On April 12th, 2005, while I was visiting at a friend's home, police officers from the National Security team of Longtan Branch of Jilin City Public Security Bureau and Shanqian Police Station arrived and arrested me. Later I was detained in a forced labour camp for a year, which was later extended by an additional 12 days.

I was released in April, 2006. In July, my daughter Liu Hongxia was arrested by Shanqian Police Substation officers in our own store. Later she was detained in the second team of Heizuizi Forced Labour Camp. Since she refused to give up her belief, the police would not let us visit her for several months.

On December 19th, 2006, my family and I went to visit her again in the labour camp. They agreed and arranged for us to have a meal together. During the meeting, the director of the Management Department of the labour camp, Lian Guangri, wanted to talk to me. I refused, and they left. I wanted to leave, but when I walked downstairs by the registration desk, Lian Guangri grabbed me, handcuffed me, and pushed me down on the floor. He then called the local police substation. Three police officers came to interrogate me and take me away. I told them I had come to visit my daughter and that they should not persecute me. I clarified the truth to the two people left. Lian Guangri called the local criminal police team and urged them to come. Around one or two o'clock in the afternoon, the local criminal police team sent three or four people, who then carried me to the police car and took me to the second team of the criminal police team of Jilin City.

After we arrived, they took me to the second floor and tied me to a tiger bench¹ before asking any questions. On the same night, around eight or nine o'clock, three officers fingerprinted me against my will. They injured my thumb, and the fourth finger nail of my left hand was torn off.

Very late that night, more officers came. They untied the ropes that held me on the tiger bench and dragged me elsewhere. There were several metal pipes, and handcuffs hung from them. There was blood on the wall. One policeman said, “Do you see this thing? Stronger people than you could not tolerate this torture. Do you know Liu Hongwei (a Falun Gong practitioner)? If you don't cooperate, we'll feed you ecstasy.” Later another policeman came and asked me the name of my son, daughter-in-law, and daughter's families. They said they knew the name of my child's father, and where our home was. They said, “To hang a speaker 50-60 metres up would be impossible for you. Who else helped you?” Even though I refused to reveal the information, they said they had already captured them and that they'd show proof of that in time.

Afterwards several officers handcuffed me and hung me up by my left hand, leaving my feet barely touching the floor. I don't know how much time passed when they came back to get fingerprints from my right hand, and then they hung me up by my right hand and took fingerprints from my left hand. After that they left me hanging by my handcuffs for a long time, then switched to the tiger bench again. The next morning they sent three collaborators to brainwash me until sometime in the afternoon. On the night of December 20th, the police sent me to the detention centre because I insisted on practising Falun Gong.

On the afternoon of January 25th, 2007, the Chuanying Branch of the Public Security Bureau sent me to Changchun City Heizuizi Forced Labour Camp for one year of forced labour. Since I refused to yield, labour camp guard Wang Lihui kicked me, shocked my hands with an electric baton, detained me in a small room, forced collaborators (former practitioners, brainwashed against Falun Gong, made to assist in brainwashing and torturing practitioners) to watch me day and night, and would not let me talk to or contact anybody. I could not go downstairs for meals and was watched 24/7, including toilet breaks.

They only gave me a dozen minutes to have a meal, and I had to go back before I finished. Twenty days later I was forced to work in the workshop for long hours. They threatened to extend my term if I could not finish a certain quota. They would not let my family see me, saying the detention centre did not want that, since my daughter was detained in another team. They were afraid that I would see my daughter, so they watched me every minute, including when I was just walking and eating. For this reason they even switched my seat several times.

On the night of April 27th, 2011, seven of my family members, including my three daughters, sons-in-law, son, and daughter-in-law, were arrested by Lianhua Police Substation of Jilin City. I was forced to leave home. Now my daughters Liu Honghui, Liu Hongyan, Liu Hongxia, and my son-in-law Liu Guangjun are still detained in Jilin City Detention Centre. The others were released.

After four o'clock on May 7th, I went home and found it had been ransacked. All of my valuables and cash were taken, and the whole house was a mess. After investigating, we discovered that it was the Public Security Bureau of the Changyi District, Jilin City, that had ganged up with Lianhua Police Substation officers and broken in. They took away my bank savings, over 13,000 yuan, one computer, three printers, a laminating machine, a hole puncher, a CD burner, three mobile phones, over 1,000 DVDs, two U drives, a box of copy paper, and all my Falun Gong books.

Note

1. "Tiger Bench": Prisoners are forced to sit on a small iron bench that is approximately 20 cm (6 inches) tall with their knees tied together. With their hands tied behind their backs or sometimes placed on their knees, they are forced to sit straight up and look straight ahead without movement for long periods of time.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2011/5/12/240542.html