Falun Gong Human Rights Working Group

Mr. Zhao Dehua, a resident of Shuangcheng City, Heilongjiang Province, his wife, Liu Fengjie, 38, and his mother Wang Ying, 60, both died as a result of the persecution of Falun Gong. Below is Mr. Zhao’s personal account of the persecution he and his family suffered:

My name is Zhao Dehua and I am a Falun Gong practitioner from Shuangcheng City, Heilongjiang Province. On December 30, 2000, my mother, wife, two daughters and I went to Beijing to appeal for the end of the persecution of Falun Gong. The police from the Tiananmen police station arrested us and demanded that we give them our names. If they would have gotten our names, they would have contacted our hometown government and work unit to persecute us. I told them that our appealing to the government was legal, and they should not have arrested us. I would neither give them my name nor let them take my fingerprints. The police responded by punching and kicking me, and knocking me to the ground. While I was on the ground, they continued to beat me for half an hour. Then they took my fingerprints by force.

Afterwards, they drove me in a vehicle filled with Falun Gong practitioners to a prison. The police kept asking for names, but I refused to reveal mine. They handcuffed me to a metal pole and brutally beat me with a long stick. One policeman burnt my skin with cigarettes. The marks can still be seen under my arm today. Another policeman poured hot water into my pants and then hung me up shirtless outside the building. At that time, the temperature in Beijing was -20 degrees Celsius, and I was left outdoors on cold winter days for more than ten hours. It was unimaginably cold, and I can still feel it vividly whenever I think about it. After experiencing the coldest winter in my life, I was taken inside where the police threatened that they would douse me with cold water again and shock me with electric batons if I did not reveal my name. After realizing that I remained firm in not revealing my name, they changed their attitude and said that they would be in trouble if I did not give them my name. Thinking that I should always be considerate to others, I told them my name and address. I realized a short time later that I had been deceived.

Two days later, the Shuangcheng City “610 Office”[1] and its staff took me to the Shuangcheng City Second Detention Center. In the detention center, I was severely tortured. Guards Li Huaixin, Huang Yanchun, and Du ordered inmates to force me to slander Falun Gong. When I refused, the officers ordered the inmates to beat me while putting a cloth into my mouth to prevent me from speaking. I was forced to do "Flying an Airplane"[2] and “Needle Pierce”[3] (as illustrated in the photos below).

After two months of torture, I was sent to a brainwashing center. Because I persisted in practicing the Falun Gong, the head of the local “610 Office,” Zhang Yunlong, and the local police chief, Kong Qingman, tried to force me to watch the Staged-Immolation on Tiananmen Square incident and read newspaper articles slandering Falun Gong. I refused to do so. This angered Zhang Yunlong, so he ordered guard Bai Yuqiao to rub chili into my eyes. That night, five police officers (Zhang Yunlong, Bai Yuqiao, Bai Chunwu, Kong Weidong and Yu Zhenbo) and the town Chief Wang Chuichuan pushed me to the ground and stripped me. Then, the six of them used leather belts or rubber hoses to whip me simultaneously. While they were lashing me, they asked, "Will you still practice Falun Gong?" I answered, "Yes!" After twenty minutes of such inhumane persecution, my body was covered with blood and cuts, but they did not stop. They poured cold water onto my badly injured body and continued to beat me. During the process, Zhang Yunlong repeatedly asked me if I would continue to practice Falun Gong, and my answer was always "yes". The pain was unbearable, I felt like I was on the verge of death. Seeing me in this state, Zhang Yunlong ordered them to stop the beating.

After coming to the conclusion that I would not renounce Falun Gong, they decided to send me back to the Shuangcheng City Second Detention Center. The guards instigated a criminal named Xiaoguan to torture me using the “flying an airplane,” and “needle pierce” methods. They also covered the windows with newspaper to block the sunlight from coming into my prison cell. Over time, my body was covered with scabies. I could no longer take the torture and wrote the “Three Statements”[4] against my will. Later on, they extorted 3,000 Yuan[5] from my family. I was tortured for four more months and ten days before being released.

During the Chinese New Year of 2001, the local authorities went to a fellow practitioner's house to look for me. They claimed that they were looking for me to celebrate Chinese New Year. However, everyone refused to reveal my whereabouts, and their plan to arrest me again failed.

On January 3, 2001, about half an hour after I returned home, four policemen broke into my house and forced me into their vehicle. I refused to get into their vehicle, and my family also refused to cooperate with them. Then they pinned me to the ground and hit my head with a brick before handcuffing me. However, I quickly stood up and the handcuffs opened by themselves. I ran as fast as I could until I reached a dead end before I was captured and brought to the Xinxing Detention Center. In the Detention Center, police Chief Kong Qingman confiscated 300 Yuan from me and sent me to the Shuangcheng City Second Detention Center again.

In the detention center, inmate Zhao Dequan tried to make me slander Falun Gong and its founder. I clarified the facts to him but he refused to listen and he beat me instead. He threatened that he could torture me to death and the guards would neither interfere nor hold him responsible. I was not afraid and told him that I would expose him if he beat me. On the second day, they used all kinds of methods to force me to renounce Falun Gong, but I still refused. They continued to torture me to try to get what they wanted. This torture continued for two months, and I was subsequently sentenced to two years of forced labor. I refused to sign the consent document, but they said that I would be sent to the Wanjia Labor Camp whether I signed the consent order or not.

After arriving at Wanjia Labor Camp, I was immediately given a full medical examination. I felt that I should not even stay there for a single day, because I am innocent. The labor camp refused to accept me, saying that I suffered from scabies. I was then sent back to the Shuangcheng City Second Detention Center. A few days later, I was released unconditionally.

My family owned 18 mu[6] of farmland. In 2001, the village government confiscated all of it except 7 mu. The confiscated land was sold, and the 4,000 Yuan that they received was given to the “610 Office.” They called it a fine for our going to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong. With this small piece of land, it was extremely difficult for my family to survive.

My wife Ms. Liu Fengjie is 38 years old. When we took our two daughters to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong at end of 2000, they we were all arrested. After the Beijing police sent her back to the Shuangcheng City Second Detention Center, my two daughters were sent to live with our relatives. One month later, my wife was taken to a brainwashing center where she was brainwashed for 50 days. Zhang Yunlong from the Shuangcheng City “610 Office”, along with six others, beat my wife to force her to slander Falun Gong. No matter what they tried, my wife refused to cooperate. After the long-term brainwashing and physical abuse, she was forced to sign the "Guarantee Letter." They extorted 4,000 Yuan from her before she was finally released. Under such inhumane torture, my wife was unable to practice the Falun Gong exercises or to live a normal life. She was distressed and devastated. On August 8, 2001, while on her way to sell vegetables, she was hit by a car and died soon after. At that time, our daughters were ages three and ten respectively. My heart is heavy and I feel deep pain, even today, whenever I hear my two daughters crying for their mother.

My mother Ms. Wang Ying is 60 years old. Before she practiced Falun Gong, she had poor health and suffered from bronchitis and many other illnesses. However, after practicing Falun Gong, her illnesses disappeared without a trace. Because we went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong, my mother was sent to the Shuangcheng City Second Detention Center and tortured there. She was released only after being fined 4,000 Yuan. During her detention, she suffered both physically and mentally. After being released, she never fully recovered from the physical and mental mistreatment, and she passed away on January 9, 2005. This persecution has torn my family apart.

[1] The “610 Office” is an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other political and judiciary systems.

[2] “Flying an airplane”: This is one of the common torture methods used in labor camps and brainwashing classes on Falun Gong practitioners who refuse to give up their belief. It is called "Flying," or "Jet Plane." In this torture, the head is bent down until it cannot go down any further, while the hands are pulled up and held up at the highest point against the wall. The practitioner is forced to hold this position unchanged for a long period of time (more than 10 hours). If a practitioner refuses to comply, he/she will be shocked with an electric baton or beaten to the point of losing consciousness. Police will then roughly wake the practitioner up and continue the torture.

[3] “Needle Pierce”: As illustrated, Mr. Zhao was forced to stand in the positions shown in the photos. He stood with his two thumbs raised above his head and pressed against the wall while standing on his toes. The persecutors placed needles (pointing up toward Mr. Zhao's heel) on the floor. After a short while, Mr. Zhao's legs began to tremble, and he could not hold his heels high. When Mr. Zhao lowered his heels, the needles pierced his flesh causing excruciating pain. If Mr. Zhao disobeyed the orders to get into the “needle pierce” position, they beat him.

[4] “Three Statements”: Falun Gong practitioners are coerced under brainwashing and torture to write a "Repentance Statement," "Guarantee Statement" and "Dissociation Statement" as proof that they have given up their belief. In the statements, the practitioner is forced to admit remorse for practicing Falun Gong, promise to give up Falun Gong, and never again to associate with other practitioners or go to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong.

[5] Yuan is the Chinese currency; 500 Yuan is equal to the average monthly income of an urban worker in China.

[6] Mu: A Chinese measure of area. There are about 6 mu per acre.

Type=Case,Torture;Type=Detention Center,Shuangcheng City Second Detention Center;Location=Heilongjiang,Shuangcheng