Ms. Chen Linfen Arrested While Walking on the Road, Then Detained and Tortured in a Labour Camp

When I was detained in the Fujian Provincial Women's Forced Labour Camp, a guard instigated inmate Yu Aiqiong to take away my toilet tissue. I had to use my underwear instead, but that was subsequently taken away. I had no choice but to use the prison uniform issued by the labour camp to clean myself, but even that was later taken away. I was also not allowed to take a shower. Eventually, I was not allowed to use the toilet. One day instructor Chen Dong took away my toilet receptacle and forced me to sit with a full bladder until dawn. Three inmates took turns monitoring me around the clock. Yu Aiqiong took my urine-stained towel and stuffed it into my mouth.

– Chen Linfen, author of this article

Ms. Chen Linfen, who was just released from Funjian Women's Forced Labour Camp, described her experience of being arrested while she was walking along a road, then detained in a forced labour camp.

I am a retired worker in my fifties, and I live in Xiangcheng District, Zhangzhou City. At around 9:00 a.m. on May 15th, 2011, another practitioner and I were walking along a road in Changtai County, Zhangzhou City. A police car suddenly stopped in front of us, and five plainclothes officers jumped out. Three of them stopped the other practitioner and grabbed her bag. The other two grabbed my bag and removed the leaflets exposing the persecution of Falun Gong from it. We were then forced to get into the police car.

We were taken to the office of the Changtai County National Security Team. The police forced us to sit on iron chairs. We were locked into the chairs and restrained with an iron bar across our legs. In the afternoon, three plainclothes officers came to take our fingerprints. Two people grabbed my hand and broke it, and another person broke my other hand. For over an hour they tried to forcibly obtain my fingerprints. Because I did not unclench my hands, they could not get my fingerprints.

The next day, Mr. Yuan from the Domestic Security Team sent another practitioner and I to Zhangzhou City Detention Centre. One day, the inmates were making phone calls to their families, and I also phoned and contacted my family. A female guard put out the phone keys, and then called a few people. I was pulled and pushed to the workshop, and due to the excessive force, one of them accidentally put their foot in the wrong place, and all of us rolled down the stairs. The next day, the guards attempted to detain the other practitioner and I in a solitary confinement cell. We firmly resisted, and they did not succeed.

By May 31st, the other practitioner and I had been detained for 15 days, and I was due to be released. Mr. Yuan from the Domestic Security Team walked up to me, then handcuffed and pulled me to the police car. I was taken to the Huaan County Detention Centre and another practitioner was taken to Zhangpu County Detention Centre.

We arrived at the detention centre after 12:00 p.m. I was not allowed to eat and was put in a ward without a medical examination. One afternoon, the male guard Hwang was on duty. He would not open the ward gate, claiming that I did not report the number. The whole ward was hot and stuffy all afternoon. The guard also would not allow the criminal inmates to use the toilet, and did this to make them feel angry with Falun Gong practitioners. I went on hunger strike for ten days, during which time I was taken to Changtai County Hospital for an infusion.

On July 5th, 2011, Mr. Yuan from the Domestic Security Team, along with a policewoman, took me to the Fujian Provincial Women's Forced Labour Camp. At that time I was very weak and my family was completely unaware of my situation.

I was detained in the “solitary team” for two months, and on September 5, I was transferred to the "special restricted team." The guards ordered me to report to them whatever I did, including washing, using the toilet, bathing, eating, and so on. Because I was not breaking the prison rules, I did not report, and as a result the guard forced me to sit on a small bench for an extended time, and ordered three inmates (Yu Aiqiong, Xie Xiuqing, and Xie Donggua) to monitor me. I was not allowed to move. On the third day, the guard instigated inmate Yu Aiqiong to take away my toilet tissue. I was forced to use my own underwear in its place, and then they took away my underwear. I had no choice but to use the clothes issued by the labor camp, but they then took those away. They did not allow me to use either cold water or boiling water, nor take a shower. They also did not allow me to empty my filled toilet receptacle.

Instigated by guards, three inmates took turns monitoring me day and night. One day, Yu Aiqiong took my towel, which was stained with urine, and stuffed it into my mouth, and then I removed it. In the afternoon, three inmates stuffed my mouth with a towel. I shouted loudly. They brought Teacher's [Teacher Li Hongzhi, the founder of Falun Gong] photos and placed them under their feet and then sat on the photos. I asked them not to do these things, so as not to harm themselves, and said, “Good is rewarded with good, and evil will be met with evil," but they refused to listen.

When I was sleeping, they took away my quilt, shook my bed hard, and kicked the bed frame. They even pulled me up from the bed, disturbing everyone around me so they could not sleep well.

The day before the New Year in 2012, vice team head Huang Lei forced me to sit without moving on a bench as a form of torture. She also did not allow me to use the toilet or empty the toilet container. When night came, while everyone else was in bed, she forced me to stay up one hour longer. New Year's morning, while the inmates went to the toilet, I took the opportunity to quickly go down and empty the toilet. Guard Xu found me in the toilet and shouted out, “You're emptying the urine!” That night guard Zhou Rong was on duty. She would not allow me to go to sleep until midnight. On January 4th, instructor Chen Dong directly took away my toilet and forced me to sit up until dawn!

After I was arrested and detained, my elderly mother missed me and lost all hope that I would be released. In April, she passed away. My family came to the forced labour camp to request that I go home for my mother's funeral, but the guards refused to permit it.

Because I did not cooperate with their demands, my term was extended by twelve days. I was released on May 26th.