The Persecution of Dafa Practitioners in Hebei Province

In the three years since the persecution of Falun Dafa began on July 20, 1999, whenever certain national celebrations come about, the state authorities send officers around to Dafa practitioners' workplaces and homes to harass and monitor them. Sometimes, they even ransack practitioners' homes. The officers produce no search warrants and in fact, many of them have ended up staying overnight in the practitioners' homes and helping themselves to their food. As a result, practitioners' daily lives and work routines have been greatly affected. Whenever the police feel like apprehending a person, they plant Dafa materials in that practitioner's home to justify their illegal arrest. They also don't hesitate to beat up practitioners who get in their way.

Chief of the Political Security Division of Zhangbei County Police Department, Li Shanghong, is one of the parties responsible for the persecution of Falun Gong. He has personally authorized all the arrests in his district.

In February 2000, a few Dafa practitioners went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong. They were arrested and sent back to their homes where police employed thugs to beat them up. One of the arrested practitioners was a woman in her sixties. For over an hour, she was badly knocked around by Li Shanghong. He forced her to kneel on the ground while he electrically shocked her mouth, face, head and other sensitive ares with an electric baton. He left her lying on the ground in the icy winter wind. Later, she was sent to a detention centre along with a dozen or more other Dafa practitioners.

Sometime in October 2000, two Dafa practitioners went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong. Upon being arrested, they were sent back to their home districts and confined in a local detention centre for over ten months. The police also locked up two of their relatives for several days. That December, two other practitioners went to Beijing to appeal and were arrested and secretly sent to the Gaoyang Labour Camp in Baoding City, Hebei Province. In the labour camp, no communication between Dafa practitioners was permitted. If one practitioner accidentally ran into another, the camp commander would lock both of them up in isolation.

In June 2001, on her way home from working in the fields, Zhang Fengying, a Dafa practitioner, was arrested and taken to the local police station where she was forced to say slanderous words about Teacher and Dafa. When Zhang refused, she was put in detention. Later, Zhang was secretly sent to the Gaoyang Labour Camp where she endured all kinds of abuse. Up to this point, she has not been released.

On another occasion, the wife of a Dafa practitioner (also a practitioner) was arrested and put in the detention centre for appealing in Beijing. Later. She was sent to the Gaoyang Labour Camp where she served one year sentence. Even after she was released, the authorities would not leave her alone. They went to her home and harassed her many times. To keep away from them, the practitioner finally left home. Her husband was also arrested and put in a detention centre for over ten months. Later he was sent to a brainwashing class in the Zhangbei County. We were told that the police tortured him by keeping him awake around the clock. The moment they saw him falling asleep, they beat him or shocked him with an electric baton. After he was sent home, they continued to harass him. Last year, the "610 Office" and the local police came around to look for him again. In order to avoid further persecution, he had to leave home, leaving his seventy-year-old father and his teenage son behind.

On May 17, 2002, the police began to round up practitioners. Two arrested Dafa practitioners had just been released after going on a hunger strike in the detention centre. Now, one of them was sent to a brainwashing class despite her weak physical condition after the hunger strike. In 1999, after coming home from a brainwashing class, the same practitioner lodged a complaint to the authorities for her unlawful treatment. As a result, she was arrested and imprisoned for 6 months, (which was later extended by another 12 months). The practitioner's salary was also cut off.

The second practitioner was arrested that same day while working in a shopping centre. The officers, however, produced no legal warrants for the arrest. Li Shanghong, was arrogant and aggressive. He beat practitioner's relatives for demanding an explanation for her arrest. This practitioner had previously suffered from heart disease. Because she went on a hunger strike at the detention centre, the camp officer applied forced feeding methods on her. Due to her frail physical condition, she immediately collapsed and did not regain consciousness for a long time. To revive her at the emergency unit, the relatives had to pay 1,000 Yuan fee. Despite her physical condition, the police did not spare her either. They sent her to the re-education centre and forced her to attend a brainwashing class. After attempting to protect her, her relatives were beaten and fined 4,000 Yuan. A 16-year old was also badly hurt.

http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2002/11/26/29095.html