Torture

  • Falun Gong Practitioners Face Show Trial in China

    On October 30th, the case of two Falun Gong practitioners Liu Jinglu and Sun Lixiang was brought before a court in the city of Jixi in Heilongjiang Province. The couple is married and has a 6-year-old son. They were arrested on June 2nd in Taiping County while handing out fliers that detailed the persecution of Falun Gong. Most Falun Gong practitioners arrested in China are denied due process, sent to labour camps without trial. When a case does go through the judicial process, it is mostly for show. In many cases Falun Gong adherents are not allowed legal representation; in cases where they may be allowed representation, they often have trouble finding an lawyer. Lawyers in China have been disbarred, threatened, and even tortured for trying to defend Falun Gong practitioners. As a result many of them are unwilling to be involved in these cases.
  • Details of Persecution in Songyuan City, Jilin Province

    On November 2nd, 2007, Ms. Zhang Xiulan was arrested by local police. The National Security Team in Songyuan City and security agents from the 610 Office brutally tortured Ms. Zhang Xiulan for as long as 10 hours. The torture methods included force-feeding her with horseradish concentrate, hanging her up and covering her head with a plastic bag. Ms. Zhang was tortured until unconscious, then abruptly revived with a dousing of cold water. After Ms. Zhang woke up, they attempted to force her to sign a statement to renounce Falun Gong. Ms. Zhang Xiulan refused.
  • Crimes Recently Committed by the Guards at Weiningying Forced Labour Camp in Benxi City

    In July 2008, Falun Gong practitioner Gao Dong was transferred to the Weiningying Forced Labour Camp in Benxi City from Panjin City in Liaoning Province. He had been on a hunger strike for several days. As soon as he was sent there, he was locked in a cell where the "Death Bed torture" instrument was situated. Police strapped him to the death bed and force fed him until October, when he was allowed to eat by himself. He is still detained in the cell at the moment.
  • Mr. Gong Fengqiang Mentally Disabled As a Result of Persecution, Medical Parole Denied

    Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Gong Fengqiang was arrested in December 2006. He became mentally traumatized as a result of the savage treatment he was subjected to. Despite his condition, the police still sentenced him to five years in prison. Family members repeatedly appealed to different government agencies, the detention centre, and prison officials for medical help for him, but they were ignored. Gong Yu, Mr. Gong Fengqiang's daughter, was seven years old when her father was arrested. She often cries in front her parents' pictures.
  • Innocent Women from Hebei Province Sentenced

    On October 30th, 2008, Li County Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Committee members, 610 Office personnel, and Baoding City Court in Hebei Province put Falun Gong practitioners Ms. Cui Xiaoxian, Ms. Cui Shumei, and Ms. Feng Wenzhen on trial. They did not allow the defendants to speak to their lawyers or allow the lawyers to defend the practitioners. CCP personnel sentenced Ms. Feng to six years, Ms. Cui Xiaoxian to three years, and Ms. Cui Shumei to three years. Their families are preparing to appeal.
  • Ms. Kuang Xiaochun Detained in Several Brainwashing Centres

    On the evening of September 27th, 2007, the Shengdengshi Police in Chenghua District, Chengdu City, Sichuan Province gathered more than a dozen officers and broke into Ms. Kuang Xiaochun's home in the employee dormitories of Wuyuan Powder Metallurgy Co. Ltd. in Shengdengsi. They detained Ms. Kuang and took her to the Shengdengsi Police Station because she is a Falun Gong practitioner. The police then ransacked her home and confiscated a dozen Falun Gong books, her mobile phone and other personal items.
  • Eight Falun Gong Practitioners from Jiaohe City Imprisoned

    Eight Falun Gong practitioners from Jiaohe City were given prison sentences after being detained without legal procedures for over half a year by the local police and the State Security group. On September 24th and October 12th, 2008, the practitioners were sent to Gongzhuling Prison in Siping City and Heizuizi Women's Prison in Changchun City. The Heizuizi Prison forced or pressured inmates to "watch over" Falun Gong practitioners, and not allow them to walk or talk freely. When Zhang Min met her family members, three or four prisoners were "watching over" her, telling her not to say too much and urging her to finish the meeting sooner rather than later. After only a few days in the prison, Zhang Min became skinny and weak. Her family suspected that she had been deprived of sleep.
  • Falun Gong Practitioners Abused at Yunnan Province Second Women's Prison

    Ms. Yang Wangxian, who is in her forties, was arrested in 2003 and sentenced to four years. She was held in the collective drill ward. Guards mixed drugs that destroy the central nervous system into Ms. Yang's food. This made a smart, capable, middle-aged woman into a slow-acting, dull looking "fool." She was sent home four months before her term expired. All prison ward officials force practitioners to work long hours, doing slave labour 14 hours a day. Their duty starts at 7:30 a.m. and ends at 10:30 p.m. In the winter they have to work until 11:00 p.m. There is only a one-hour break for two meals. Overwork caused practitioner Ms. Huang Tao to develop severe diabetic symptoms.
  • Over Seventy Falun Gong Practitioners Detained in Brainwashing Centre at the Zhangjiakou City Forced Labour Camp During the Beijing Olympic Games

    During the Beijing Olympic Games, officials from the National Security Ministry and the Hebei Provincial 610 Office came to Zhangjiakou City in person to check on how the persecution of Falun Gong was going. Brainwashing centres were set up in Zhangjiakou City Forced Labour Camp. They arrested more than seventy Falun Gong practitioners from eleven districts and counties throughout the city. They sent the practitioners to the brainwashing centres and persecuted them for over two months. Those that resisted the brainwashing were beaten.
  • Ms. Xu Yan and Her Husband Tortured by Police from Huailai County, Hebei Province

    On July 9th, 2008, police ransacked the home of Mr. Ni Jinxing, his wife Ms. Xu Yan and arrested them. At the police station, Mr. Ni saw his wife locked into a cage and sitting on the ground. It was cold and he took off his coat and tried to hand it to his wife, but the police prevented him from doing so. They took him to a cell and started to interrogate him, but to no avail. After quite a long time, they got tired and shackled his hands to a metal chair, known as the "tiger bench". Ms. Xu was sentenced to one year of forced labour.
  • Practitioners Ms. Hu Ying and Ms. Na Yuying from Diaobingshan City, Liaoning Province Severely Persecuted

    Practitioners Ms. Hu Ying and Ms. Na Yuying were recently arrested. Ms. Hu Ying was detained in Tieling City, where she became extremely emaciated due to maltreatment. She was no longer able to eat. The police refused to allow her family to see her. Three days ago, she was transferred to the detention centre in Diaobingshan City. The other practitioner, Ms. Na Yuying, suffered heart attacks from the mistreatment, and was sent to the hospital twice.
  • Persecution Suffered by Mr. Chen Changyuan from Chongqing City

    Mr. Chen Changyuan, 48, was persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) after he went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong. In 2000 he was sent to Xishanping Forced Labour Camp for a one year term. Mr. Chen suffered from hunger in the camp. Each morning, he was only given a very small amount of rice buns to eat. Each day, his food intake was only about 150 grams. In the labour camp, Mr. Chen suffered many kinds of torture, such as standing in a military pose for long periods of time, being hung up in the air, being beaten and shocked with electric batons, long-term outside exposure to the heat of summer and cold of winter, and deprivation of food and water. When he still refused to compromise, his term was extended for one year. In 2002, he was released and returned home.
  • Ms. Cong Peijing from Dalian City, Liaoning Province Has Difficulty Walking after Suffering Police Abuse

    Ms. Cong Peijing was arrested by police on October 14th, 2008. During the arrest, her spine was re-injured. She is now imprisoned in the Yaojia Detention Centre in Dalian City. She has been arrested by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) 6 or 7 times and suffered brutal persecution. A part of her spine was fractured and dislocated in 2001. In order to escape from the CCP, she jumped from a high window of a police station in Jinzhou District, injuring her spine. Afterwards, she was tortured numerous times by the CCP. As a result, her spine was never able to fully recover. In August 2006, she was arrested by officers from the Wanli Police Station. She went on a hunger strike to protest against persecution at the Yaojia Detention Centre and was subjected to force-feeding. She was tortured to the verge of death.
  • Falun Gong Practitioner Ms. Li Yan Again Sent to Forced Labour Camp in Beijing

    Ms. Li Yan was arrested for the second time prior to the Olympic Games, and sentenced to two and a half years in Beijing Women's Forced Labour Camp. Li Yan was first sentenced to forced labour in 2005. Because she refused to "transform," [forcibly renounce Falun Gong] she was forced to sit on a bench for over twenty hours every day and deprived of sleep. Li Yan was tortured to the point of mental collapse.
  • Ms. Gao Zhenfen Died as a Result of Persecution in Dalian City, Liaoning Province

    Ms. Gao Zhenfen was a Falun Gong practitioner who lived in Dalian City, Liaoning Province. On June 5th, 2006, four police officers arrested Ms. Gao on Anyang Street. She was rushed to the March Eighth Square Hospital when she suffered a stroke while in custody. Her friends and family picked her up after she partially recovered. However, she suffered another stroke and died on March 15th, 2007. Details are under investigation.