Lin Xiuru, female; Li Haiyan, female; Guo Hongyu female; Yang Huiling, female, residents of Heilongjiang Province

Falun Gong practitioners Ms. Lin Xiuru, Ms. Guo Hongyu, Ms. Li Haiyan, and Ms. Yang Huiling have been detained in the ninth platoon of the Wanjia Labor Camp. Since January 31, 2001, they have been placed inside small cells. The area of each cell was under four square meters, or less than forty square feet. Cages were placed inside two of the six cells leaving less than three square meters of open space in those cells. The guards beat the practitioners and removed their coats and jackets when the temperature outside fell below -36C. They removed Ms. Lin Xiuru's shoes and forced her to sit on an "iron chair" for four days without any sleep. Ms. Guo Hongyu was not allowed to get any sleep until the fourth evening.

Ms. Li Haiyan was thrown into a tiny cell and handcuffed to an "iron chair" for eight days. Her wrists turned purple from the handcuffs. The guards did not give her a quilt until the ninth day.

Ms. Yang0Huiling and another twelve practitioners were dragged into the corridor barefoot and wearing only thin shirts. There they were kicked and beaten. The guards grabbed their hair and hit their heads against the wall. Some practitioners' teeth were knocked out, and their faces were severely bruised. Several practitioners were handcuffed behind their backs and hung up in the air with their feet off the ground. They were treated like this to the point that they lost all feeling in their hands, even after they were finally brought down. Many of them suffered from rashes and other skin infections because they were forced to live in a damp, unsanitary environment with bad air circulation. They were not allowed to have a hot shower.

1. Wang Hongsheng, male, from Taitou Township, Shouguang City, Shandong Province
2. Ms. Sui, female, from Taitou Township, Shouguang City, Shandong Province
3. Seventeen other Falun Gong practitioners from Taitou Township, Shouguang City, Shandong Province

In July 2000, nineteen Falun Gong practitioners from Taitou Township, Shouguang City went to Beijing to appeal to the government to stop the persecution of Falun Gong. They were arrested and detained by the local authorities. During their detention, twenty people, led by the local Communist Party Committee Secretaries (Wang and Ma), beat the practitioners with wooden clubs. They then forced the practitioners to lie on the scalding cement surface so as to expose them to the burning sun for as long as six hours per day, between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m..

The practitioners were given no food or water for three days. The practitioners were also confined in a garage with no airflow. It was so hot that it was hard to breathe. The secretary, Wang, directed several people to beat the practitioners.

Since Mr. Wang Hongsheng was suspected as the organizer of the appeal, they tied him to a tree using iron cables. Then they covered his head with a plastic bag. Over ten people beat him with wooden sticks and leather whips. Some hit him on the head until he lost consciousness. They burned his chest and stomach with cigarettes and then poured cold water on him to revive him up for more torture.

Liu Zhengxing, male, resident of Cuijiayu Town, Yishui County, Shandong Province

In July 2001, the Cuijiayu Town Government tried to force the local Falun Gong practitioners to sign their names or put their fingerprints on a statement renouncing Falun Gong. Mr. Liu Zhengxing re-fused to be fingerprinted. Because of this, he was beaten with wooden clubs and iron-cored rubber batons. Then, the staff members poured boiling water over his body. This brutal treatment left bruises, scars, and burns all over him. To avoid any further torture, Mr. Liu left home. Learning of his departure, the police detained his wife.