Female Dafa Practitioner Yuan Lin: A Personal Account of My Torture

I was arrested along with four other practitioners while we were distributing truth-clarification materials about Falun Dafa in January 2002. In the detention centre, I protested with a hunger strike and refused to disclose names of other practitioners or any other information. After some time, I was transferred from Shijingshan Detention Centre to Beijing Judicial and Education Training Centre, which is a brainwashing centre located between Beijing Xinan Forced Labour Camp and a crematorium. The brainwashing centre is an isolated three-story building with a small, soundproof shed attached to the back. Dafa practitioners were locked up in both the building and the shed. The police had selected determined practitioners who refused to comply with them from different districts and detention centres and brought them there. These Dafa practitioners were locked up in the shed as "key people".

In the detention centre, I was brutally tortured for over a month. Captain Li, female, of the 4th team from Xinan Forced Labour Camp, together with some vicious prisoners, physically and mentally tortured me. They beat me all day long. They knocked me onto the floor and kicked me with their heavy leather boots like they were kicking a ball. They stood on my stomach. Every day they would beat me for no reason. Once they slapped my face over a hundred times. Captain Li also asked the collaborators (practitioners who have gone astray under torture or brainwashing) to "massage" me. They rubbed their elbows very hard against acupuncture points (points in the human body where acupuncture can be applied) on my body. They wore cotton-quilted jackets, and due to repeated rubbing, there were holes in their jackets and they had skinned their elbows. Because of the torture, I could neither turn my body nor move in any way for a long time. They repeatedly tortured me, forcing me to disclose names and information and to cooperate with them. These vicious people also stepped on my thighs and legs with their leather boots. They slapped my face with books; my mouth became swollen immediately. My legs and feet were so seriously swollen from the torture that I could no longer wear my shoes. Barefoot, I was subjected to more torture. Every day they told me to lean against the wall and do the "airplane flying" (standing with my back against the wall; my head down, and both hands pulled up from behind) or stand in the "army corps" posture (I was exposed under the scorching sun with my bare feet planted on the hot ground. The skin on my face peeled off from the sunburn. I was also forced to sit on the ground. My buttocks were covered with sores due to sitting for a long time.) I fainted a few times from the torture and suffered from an irregular heartbeat. Although my health was in such poor condition, they did not allow me to sleep and continuously tortured me each day. They claimed that no one could leave the centre alive if they were not "reformed."

Once, they forbade me to go to the toilet for three days because for a month I had refused to give in to them. Under this inhuman treatment, I succumbed and signed the "guarantee statement " to denounce Falun Dafa. After that, they let me go to the toilet. Their cruelty was beyond words. I was still detained. When they transferred me to Fengtai Detention Centre, I was on a hunger strike and weighed only 80 jin (equivalent to 90 lbs/40kg/6 stone 6). I had already stopped eating and drinking for over two months. I solemnly announced to the police who put me in the brainwashing class that the "guarantee statement" that I signed to denounce Falun Gong was null and void. I also told the police that the coercion by the collaborators and the interrogation by the guards were against the law. Also, the fact that the interrogation took place in the brainwashing centre was against the law and a crime in and of itself. Due to the fact that I was detained and did not have a chance to declare myself publicly, I made use of the trials to declare my determination to continue practicing Dafa before the court. I understand that my being "transformed" was a huge mistake.

I was sent to the Beijing Police Hospital three times. The longest stay was more than two months when I was continuously given intravenous injections. The frequency was so high that after a while they had difficulty inserting needles into my skin. I realized at that time that I should not accept the treatment so I pulled out the nose tube and needle. The nose tube was totally black when it was pulled out. Because of what I did, the staff members in the hospital handcuffed and shackled me to the bed. I could not move for many days, but they would not untie me and let me relax for even a little while. All those days I was locked up in a basement and did not see the sunlight. The only people I saw were the vicious police and doctors. Most Dafa practitioners who were locked up here were brought from seven different locations and many had already been on hunger strike for one or two months. They had endured the most inhuman torture. We encouraged one another. In order not to cooperate with the vicious hospital staff, many practitioners pulled out their nose tubes and needles. I also saw that the persecution became even crueler when they failed to stop our hunger strikes.

I solemnly declare that everything I have written and said denouncing Dafa is null and void!

Yuan Lin

June 16, 2002

Note: Yuan Lin is still detained in Beijing Police hospital and weighs only 80 jin (about 90 lbs/40kg/6 stone 6). She is extremely weak and has difficulty standing up and walking. The vicious police have asked for the phone number and address of her family in preparation for her death. They will not release her even when her health is in such a terrible state. Yuan Li has a very strong will and practitioners around her can feel her strong belief in Dafa and her compassion. Together, these practitioners deny the vicious persecution and are clarifying the truth with immense compassion to the doctors, nurses and prison guards. We hope that all overseas practitioners and righteous people will extend their helping hand to Dafa practitioners who are still being detained in Beijing Judicial and Education Training Centre and Beijing Police Hospital.

For detailed information on torture methods, click here.