Thirty-six Practitioners Sent to Forced Labour Camp after Large-scale Arrests in Shuangcheng City, Heilongjiang Province

Over 50 Falun Gong practitioners from Harbin and Shuangcheng City were arrested on November 13th, 2011. Among these practitioners, 36 have been sent to forced labour camps and seven are facing court trials and possible prison sentences.

Ms. Wang Min is a physics teacher employed by the Sixth High School. She is in charge of a 9th grade class that will soon take the critical senior high school entrance exams. One of her students said, “My best luck in life is that I met Teacher Wang Min.” One of her students even quit school because Ms. Wang was sent to a forced labour camp.

Mr. Kang Changjiang is a Chinese teacher employed by the Shuangcheng City Third High School. He is in charge of an 11th grade class. Not only did he conduct his Chinese classes very well, but he also taught his student how to be a good people. Many of his students have said that once Mr. Kang explained the ancient Chinese texts in class, their meaning came to life for them and it was much easier to remember their content. Some of his students are studying in college now, while some are still in high school. Many of these young people are confused and angry about why such a good teacher is imprisoned by the government.

1. Large-scale Arrests

Forty-three Falun Gong practitioners got together in a practitioner's home located in the Urban Construction Bureau Family Housing in Shuangcheng City. Five of them left around 11:00 a.m. Among this group, three practitioners found that the roads to the north were blocked by police vehicles. When they realized that officers were following them, they tried to escape, and heard a police officer saying loudly to another, “Get these ones first, then wait 'till the others upstairs finish meditating – they'll come out afterwards. If we go up now, they won't open the door for us.” The police immediately arrested the three practitioners.

At around 12:10, the other practitioners began to leave the gathering place. As soon as the door opened, the police rushed in and sprayed the room with a chemical similar to mace or tear gas. Even ten days later, the practitioner's eyes were still red and swollen. Each officer carried an electric baton, and shocked anyone who moved. Quickly, two officers dragged each practitioner out. Most didn't even have a chance to put their shoes on as they were dragged into police vehicles. The police interrogated each practitioner in the Shuangcheng City Patrol Division. By 10:00 p.m., some were taken to the Harbin City Second Detention Centre, while others were taken to the Shuangcheng Detention Centre.

By the afternoon of November 13th, the police had ransacked Ms. Lo Yanjie's home and arrested two more practitioners, Ms. Jiang Xiaoyan and Ms. Fang Guilan who had come to visit her son, Fan Wentuo (who was also arrested). By 4:00 p.m., Mr. Kang Changjiang and Wang Yali, who had not taken part in the experience sharing, were also arrested. When the police ransacked Mr. Kang's home in the evening, two more visiting practitioners were arrested.

According to one source, this mass arrest was organised directly by the Heilongjiang Province Police Department, which formed a task group to carry out the arrests. During the arrests, no one showed their ID, but when asked which department they were from, officers answered, “From the Provincial Department.”

2. Torture during Interrogation

Ms. Jiang Xiaoyan went to Ms. Lo Yanjioe's home on November 13th. She was held down as soon as she entered the house and was taken to the Shuangcheng City Detention Centre in the evening. Ms. Jiang was issued an arrest warrant on November 24th, 2011, which means she will face trial. She was then transferred to the Harbin City Second Detention Centre. Beginning on the afternoon of November 24th, the police tortured Ms. Jiang during brutal interrogation sessions every afternoon. They handcuffed her hands behind a wide chair, then pulled her up by her arms with a rope running over an overhead beam.

Soon after being hung up, Ms. Jiang lost all feeling in her lower body, then all four limbs became completely numb. She passed out from the pain. The police then released the rope and massaged her arms. Ms. Jiang experienced excruciating pain when the blood flowed back through her system. She was tortured like this for five of the six days of interrogation. The police only stopped this torture after they heard a loud noise from her arm. In addition to the hanging torture, an officer once handcuffed Ms. Jiang's arms behind the chair, then abruptly pulled both of her arms upward from behind until she passed out from the pain.

Ms. Jiang is very now very weak and often passes out, suffering from a severe case of anaemia. She has been taken out of the detention centre many times for medical treatment. It has been heard that Ms. Lo Yanjie and Ms. Tian Xiaoping were both tortured like Ms. Jiang for two hours at a time. Most practitioners arrested in the mass arrest have been tortured during interrogation. Most of these practitioners are forbidden to have family visits; therefore, a lot of the torture facts are unknown.

Only nine practitioners out of those arrested have returned home.

Thirty-six practitioners have each been sentenced from 18 months to two years of forced labour.

Ms. Fang Guilan is currently detained in the Qianjin Forced Labour Camp. Because she refused to write statements renouncing Falun Gong, four prisoners took her to the washroom, stripped her, then opened the window and poured cold water over her in the freezing cold December.

Mr. Wan Yunlong, 54, used to have severe heart disease, epilepsy, ulcers, and other physical problems before he started practising Falun Gong. After cultivating Falun Gong, his illnesses disappeared. After the persecution of Falun Gong began, Mr. Wan was arrested for the first time on July 22nd, 1999, when he went to stand up for Falun Gong in front of the Harbin City government offices. He was subsequently detained in the Shuangcheng Detention Centre for more than six months, then sentenced to two years of forced labour in the Yimianpuo Labour Camp in Heilongjiang Province. His second arrest resulted in his being sentenced to three years of forced labor. The sentencing took place in the Chaoyanggou Labour Camp in Changchun City, Jilin Province. When he was serving the 18 months, Mr. Wan was tortured severely, to the point that he developed symptoms of liver ascites. Because his life was in danger, the camp authorities had to release him. This last arrest marks his third time to be sent to forced labour, this time to be served in the Suihua Forced Labour Camp.

Five practitioners were subjected to court trials, and are still being detained in the Harbin City Second Detention Centre. They are: Ms. Yan Tingzhen, Ms. Jiang Xiaoyan, Ms. Tian Xiaoping, Ms. Lo Yanjie and Ms. Ge Xin. There are two practitioners who are still being detained in the Shuangcheng Detention Centre and have already been put on trial. These practitioners are: Mr. Yue Baoqing, Mr. Kang Changjiang and Ms. Yan Tingzhen. Ms. Yan, who is 38 years old, now has symptoms of severe heart disease as a result of torture. Her family has been denied visitation many times.

The families of four of these practitioners have hired lawyers to defend the practitioners.