Torture

  • Mr. Zhang Aiquan and His Wife, Both Practitioners from Shengli Oil Field, Sentenced to Prison Terms

    Before the persecution started, Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Zhang Aiquan lived a happy life with his wife and daughter. After July 20th, 1999, when the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) started persecuting Falun Gong, Mr. Zhang and his wife were arrested, sentenced to forced labour and prison terms, and had their home ransacked. In September 2000, Mr. Zhang was sentenced to three years of forced labour and taken to Wangcun Forced Labour Camp in Shandong Province. In 2005, Mr. Zhang and his wife were arrested again. Police interrogated the couple by using torture. They beat them and tied them to a "dead person's bed" for more than a month. Mr. Zhang was forced to say he was guilty for telling people the facts about the persecution of Falun Gong.
  • Schoolteacher Arrested Two Months after Being Released from Forced Labour Camp

    Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Ni Cuixia was a teacher at the Xujia Elementary School in Dalian City. She had been imprisoned at the Masanjia Forced Labour Camp for one year before she was released two months ago. It was only two months later that she was taken into custody again on May 27th. The police did not present any proper paperwork and have not provided the family any further information on Ms. Ni.
  • Mr. Wei Danquan in Critical Condition, Guards Turn Down Release Request

    In June 2008, Mr. Wei Danquan was sentenced to four years in prison by a Shanhaiguan Court. On July 24th, 2008, he was taken to Jidong Prison, Tangshan City. Because of long term torture, he developed severe tuberculosis, heart disease, pleura inflammation, and other health problems. His family members requested his release on medical parole, but the guards turned them down. Mr. Wei's family is worried about his condition, and whether he might die in prison or the guards might only release him to avoid responsibility when he is close to death.
  • Elderly Mr. Du Sian Passes Away After Suffering 10 Years of the Persecution

    Mr. Du Sian suffered from severe sores on his leg in 1995 and was told that he needed to amputate the leg to avoid the spread of infection. The sores, however, miraculously disappeared after he read the Falun Gong book, Zhuan Falun, and began to practise Falun Gong. After enduring the Chinese Communist Party's persecution for over 10 years, Mr. Du's health began to deteriorate, he started suffering from oedema, and he became bedridden near the end of 2009. He passed away on April 28th, 2010, at the age of 85.
  • Teacher Who Donated 60,000 Yuan to Her Hometown Brought to Trial

    On January 26th, 2010, as Ms. Lu Chunyun, a Falun Gong practitioner, was distributing leaflets exposing the persecution and telling people the facts about Falun Gong at the Trade Building in Liaoyuan City, security guards arrested her. Police officers then ransacked her home and confiscated her personal computer. She is now being held in Liaoyuan Detention Centre. May 14th, Ms. Lu was brought to trial in the Longshan District Court. When her family saw her, two people were helping her just to walk. No verdict was announced after the trial. In 1996, when local officials were calling for donations to build roads and a bridge, she donated half of her total savings, 60,000 yuan to the government to build the bridge. In addition, she did it anonymously.
  • The Couple Mr. Liu Xigong and Ms. Le Xiuwen Facing Sentencing by Haidian District Court in Beijing

    The couple Mr. Liu Xigong and Ms. Le Xiuwen were arrested on Xinkou Street, Beijing on December 19th, 2009. Their home was also ransacked on the same day; the police confiscated many personal belongings including Falun Gong books, and an MP3 player. The elderly couple were sent to Xicheng District Detention Centre first, transferred to Beijing No. 1 Detention Centre, and later taken to Haidian District Court. During their detention, Mr. Liu Xigong had to be taken to a medical facility for emergency care. However, officials from Haidian District Court have refused to allow Mr. Liu's relatives to visit him or to release him. Haidian District Court held a hearing for the couple on June 2nd, 2010.
  • Practitioner Mr. Zu Yu on Hunger Strike after Beating by Guard in Shandong Province No. 2 Forced Labour Camp

    Falun Gong Practitioner Mr. Zu Yu, 42, was sentenced to three years of forced labour and is being detained at Shandong Province No. 2 Forced Labour Camp. Wang Xinjiang, a guard from the No. 7 Group, knocked out his two bottom front teeth. Since then, Mr. Zu has been on a hunger strike for more than seven months to protest the brutal treatment he has received. Practitioners who have recently been released from the labour camp talked about Mr. Zu's current situation. He is extremely weak and emaciated. He has dark circles underneath his sunken eyes and his voice is very weak. His life is in imminent danger. The officials at the labour camp, however, refuse to release Mr. Zu on medical bail.
  • Older Practitioner Ms. Gao Yujie Tortured and Paralyzed in Jiamusi City Labour Camp, Heilongjiang Province

    On July 31st, 2001 Ms. Gao Yujie, 60, was arrested when she was at the home of a fellow practitioner. She was later held in the Jiamusi City Detention Centre and forced to sleep on the icy cold concrete floor beside a toilet. Police handcuffed her and shackled her feet and sentenced her to one year of forced labour in the Jiamusi City Labour Camp. Mrs. Gao's conditions worsened in the labour camp, but the prison guards still forced her to work despite her bad physical condition. They put restrictions on how many times and the length of time she could go to the toilet each day. One day, when she left the toilet she found her legs were not working as usual and she had become paralyzed. However, she was still dragged to the workshop and forced every day to make paper boxes, pick beans and do other work.
  • Ms. Wang Jinfeng Sentenced to Seven Years of Imprisonment

    On February 5th, 2010, Ms. Wang Jinfeng was brought to trial in Kangping County Court, Shenyang City. Fifteen days later she was sentenced to 7 years of imprisonment. Ms. Wang appealed, but the original decision was upheld by the intermediate court of Shenyang City. Previously in 2000 Ms. Wang was imprisoned in Masanjia Forced Labour Camp. She suffered many kinds of cruel torture. Guards handcuffed Ms. Wang's hands behind her back, pushed her down, bound her bare feet with wire, stepped on her feet, and kicked her legs. Zhao and Sheng then shocked the bottoms of her feet with two electric batons, as she rolled on the ground in pain. With two others to assist them, the guards grabbed her hair, held her head to the ground, and continued to give her electric shocks. Ms. Wang's screams of pain were heartbreaking.
  • Details of the Persecution of Ms. Wang Xia

    Ms. Wang Xia has been frequently persecuted for believing in Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, the tenets of Falun Gong. Detained in Huhehaote City Detention Centre and the Women's Prison, she was brutally tortured, including having her fingers stabbed with needles, having her hands and feet tied on a bed for a long period of time, being beaten, being cursed at and force fed urine, having bright lights projected into her eye, and so on.
  • Mr. Shi Mengchang from Heilongjiang Province Persecuted to Emaciation

    On April 19th, 2010, a dozen or so police arrested Falun Gong practitioner Shi Mengchang and his wife, Han Shujuan, at their home. The next morning, Mr. Shi, still in cuffs and shackles, was driven to the Wuchang City Brainwashing Centre 600 miles away. Fu Yanchun, the director, and Mo Zhenshan, the deputy director of the Wuchang Brainwashing Centre, interrogated and threatened Mr. Shi. Fu said, "This is the base of 'transformation' [forcibly renounce Falun Gong]. You have no choice but to 'transform.'" Mr. Shi told him that all Falun Gong does is to teach people to be good. Fu asked his subordinates to bring over some electric batons. They zapped the batons in the air and threatened him: "If you do not write a guarantee statement to renounce practising Falun Gong, we will hang you up and shock you all over your body. You will then do whatever we ask."
  • Ms. Hu Huoying Nearly Blind in Jiangxi Woman's Jail

    Fifty-nine-year-old Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Hu Huoying was arrested in March 2008 and sentenced to four years of imprisonment prior to the Beijing Olympics. She was tortured at the Nanchang City Woman's Prison for more than two years. While in the prison she became extremely weak and depressed. Her eyesight started to deteriorate, and a medical examination by a prison doctor found that she was unable to see normally. The prison guards nonetheless still forced her to do slave labour.
  • Mr. Deng Chengkai and Ms. Liu Tao Subjected to Heavy Sentencing

    Police arrested four practitioners including Mr. Deng Chengkai, Mr. Zhong Shikai, Ms. Liu Tao and Ms. Xiao Shifeng in June 2009. Recently, Deng Chengkai and Liu Tao were sentenced to eight years and six years of imprisonment, respectively. Before this arrest, Mr. Deng Chengkai had already been subjected to imprisonment twice. While being detained in Xinhua Forced Labour Camp in Jinyang City, he was subjected to brainwashing, corporal punishment and various forms of torture. In order to "transform" [forcibly renounce Falun Gong] him, the guards once forced him to squat down on the ground for two days straight without allowing him to go to the toilet.
  • Ms. Shang Shiying and Ms. Shan Huanrong of Tangshan City Arrested, Tortured and Interrogated

    Ms. Shang Shiying and Ms. Shan Huanrong are Falun Gong practitioners in Tangshan City, Hebei Province. They were arrested in January 2010, and they were interrogated and tortured at Fengnan Police Department and Fengnan Detention Centre. They were forced to sit on steel chairs and were handcuffed and shackled for long periods of time. Zhang Baocai, head of the Fengnan Detention Centre, participated in beating these practitioners. Shang was handcuffed and shackled for 14 days. Her wrists were cut and scarred, and her socks were torn by the shackles.
  • Additional Information about the Persecution of Mr. Li Ziran in Chenzhou Prison, Hunan Province

    Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Li Ziran was sent to Chenzhou Prison in Hunan Province in late July 2005. Upon his arrival at the prison, he informed the guards about the true nature of Falun Gong. As a result, guard Wu Xinchao ordered several inmates to tie Mr. Li 's hands behind his back and pull them up. Mr. Li had to bend his back to prevent his arms from breaking. Wu then kicked him in the knees until he tumbled to the ground and was forced to squat on his heels. Mr. Li was ordered to recite the "Discipline Standards for Prison Inmates," which he refused, in protest of his imprisonment. Guard Li Ang then ordered two inmates, Li Feng and Luo Zhao, to punish him. The inmates pulled his hands behind his back and toward his head, and kicked him in the knees to force him to squat.