The Truth about the Persecution of Falun Gong Practitioners by Lawless Officials

On the anniversary of April 25, a dozen practitioners from Jingjing County went to Beijing to appeal for Dafa. After that, every town in Jingjing County started to persecute Falun Dafa practitioners, forcing them to write promises to give up practicing Falun Dafa. Practitioners who refused to write promises were illegally detained. Among them, female and male practitioners from Weishui County were detained in the same room and had to share one barrel as a toilet. The stench in the room was overwhelming. Officials in Xiulin County detained practitioners in a dark, wet cellar, and many practitioners developed diarrhea. Practitioners who were escorted back home after they appealed in Beijing or who were found to have Falun Dafa materials hidden at home were arrested and tortured in police stations. At the Weishui Police Station, Officer Ma Zhanyuan violently beat Falun Dafa practitioner Wu Zhanming with a thick metal pipe one-inch in diameter. He also beat Wu Zhanming with a chair until the chair collapsed. Practitioner Wu Zhanming was beaten so severely that he bled internally for several days. Another policeman Wang Guoqiang maliciously hit female practitioners' breasts with his fists and ferociously kicked practitioner Fan Qingjun's legs with his leather boots. Officials in Weizhou County illegally confiscated Wei Ruilin's home and grabbed two jars of wheat from his poverty-stricken dwelling for their personal consumption.

On June 1, 2001, Jingjing County set up a brainwashing centre at the Civilian Soldier Military Base in Biao Village. The brainwashing centre was created by the "610 Office" and the police departments and officials from each town in Jingjing County. All of the practitioners detained in each town were transferred to this central brainwashing centre for further persecution. The methods of coercion included physical torture, threatening, beating, separation, persecution of practitioners' relatives, sleep deprivation, and deceit.

Physical torture

Practitioners were forced to get up at 5 a.m. to undergo military-type training, including running laps. Then they were forced to sit on the sports grounds for the rest of the day. They were not allowed to move and remained under the surveillance of guards until 11 p.m. As a result, many practitioners' hips were injured.

Threatening and Beating

Officials in the brainwashing centre first forced practitioners to listen to them slander Dafa and then watch a video with fabricated stories. Practitioners didn't cooperate with these demands. Officer Lu Zhiqiang seized a walking stick from handicapped practitioner Gao Baoyuan and ruthlessly beat him to the floor. He also hit other practitioners with this walking stick. Second, they forced practitioners to sign their names to a paper slandering Falun Dafa. Practitioner Fan Qingjun refused to sign. Guard Jia Huimin immediately dragged him out of the room and severely beat him with a thick, wooden stick until the stick was broken. After torturing Fan Qingjun, he forced 65-year-old female practitioner Li Guiqing to stand for such a long time that she collapsed, losing control of her bladder and bowels.

Once guard Liu Pingjun slapped practitioner Li Guiqing's face just because the guard thought Li finished his dish a little too slowly. When another practitioner tried to stop him, he turned around and beat that practitioner. In another occasion, policeman Yu Chongwang slapped the faces of some practitioners who once gave in under the high pressure of persecution to the authorities against their wills and later declared to resume their practice of Falun Gong. Practitioner Luan Shunsheng's tooth was knocked out.

Intimidation, Isolation, and Implication

The Jingjing Police Department sent fourteen Dafa practitioners from the brainwashing centre to Shijiazhuang Forced Labor Camp. Police in the brainwashing centre often warned other practitioners, "Your transformation is obligatory. If you don't give up, you won't be able to leave this centre. Don't accumulate evidence for your forced labor camp education." If practitioners refused to give up practicing Falun Gong, they were forced to pay a heavy fine and were sent to the Law Education Centre of Hebei Province for further persecution.

Sleep Deprivation

Since November 2001, guards have deprived Falun Dafa practitioners of their right to sleep. Collaborators [former Falun Gong practitioners who have renounced Falun Gong due to brainwashing and torture. They now assist in the brainwashing.] Liu Lihui, Deng Guoyun, Gao Genrong, and Wei Ruilin helped to torture Falun Dafa practitioners physically and mentally.

Deceit

At the end of 2001, a police station promised those who, against their wills, gave up practicing Dafa that they would be released because of the county's financial shortage. Some of them, however, continued to be detained. Policemen convinced three collaborators in the forced labor camp that they would be released after some paper work was completed. But after the collaborators actively helped the police, the Jingjing County Police Department sent them back to the forced labor camp with the excuse that the paper work wasn't finished yet.

In order to resist the persecution, practitioners Xu Genchun and Ren Yanzhen began a hunger strike on Chinese New Year's Day 2002. Two weeks later, their lives were severely threatened, so the "610 Office" decided to temporarily release them in the condition that the officials in town and/or village sponsored their release and made sure that they gave up practicing Falun Gong. Police said that they would be subjected to further persecution if they still refused to give up their practice after they recovered.

Here we ask those villains who persecuted Falun Dafa and practitioners: Don't help a tyrant to do evil for a tiny amount of personal gain. Please follow your conscience.