May 28, 2001
[Minghui Net] From July 20, 1999 until now, law breaking officials in Zhangbei County, Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province, have illegally detained over forty Dafa practitioners. There are still seven practitioners being locked up right now, and one has been sent to labor camp.
On October 28, 2000, the county held a transformation class, which lasted for over forty days. More than ten practitioners had been sent there to be transformed. These law-breakers tried to force practitioners to verbally abuse Dafa [great law and universal principle] and Teacher. Practitioners endured the utmost inhumane torture here;some passed out many times.
After ten days into the 2000 Chinese New Year, two Dafa practitioners were illegally kept in detention for six months, just because they tried to clarify the truth about Dafa to the relevant officials.
After thirteen days into the Chinese New Year, five practitioners from the county went to Beijing. Police in Beijing brutally beat them, and took over 1,000 Yuan RMB from them. When they were handed over to the local police, they were each fined 1,000 Yuan again. There they all had been put through extremely inhumane torture and torment, treated as criminals and handcuffed.
As there were five practitioners going to Beijing, the county's security bureau wanted to lock up all the other practitioners. To trick the practitioners to come over night, they told the practitioners that they had something to talk about with them . We knew illegal detention was starting again, so practitioners said: "Whatever this thing is, we can talk about it here at home. I am not going with you." One person from the security bureau said: "You have to go whether or not you want to. If you do not go, we will call some more people in, then see if you still cannot go. Even if we catch a few people randomly and casually from the street and throw them in jail, who can do anything about it?" Thus, the police forcefully and illegally locked the practitioners into the detention center, without being required to follow any legal process, or do any paperwork.
In the detention center, practitioners were handcuffed diagonally across their backs to prevent them from doing the Falun Gong exercises. They were often forced to slander Dafa and Teacher, and those who refused to cooperate would be punished. Some practitioners were forced to smell a bucket, used as a toilet, for a long time. The detention was originally going to be for two months, but when the time was up, nobody was released. When practitioners demanded release, the police said: "Wait and see until the end of the two meetings [Note: Political Consulting Meeting and National People's Congress Meeting]. However, when the two meetings ended, not only did the police not let anyone go, the torture had become increasingly brutal. Led by head of the Police Department -- Guo XX, and the head of the detention centre -- Fan XX, they told practitioners they must state, "Falun Gong is a XX [slanderous word omitted]", or they would be shocked by an electric baton.
They forced practitioners to write guarantee letters, promising release for those who did. Unable to bear the inhumane torment, some practitioners wrote such letters against their will, but were still not released. One practitioner firmly refused, Fan XX tortured her with an electric baton for over an hour. The torture scene was so impossible to bear (she was also in handcuffs and shackles), that inmates from the same room kneeled down and said: "Fan, they are all good people, please leave her alone--you can use the baton on me instead." Fan still carried on, saying: "This is compulsory, you have no choice but to say it." At last the practitioner said: "Fan demands that I do not practice Falun Gong, I could not say this. If you tortured me to say that I would stop, it would be against the wish of my heart; and it would be a disrespect to you as well, since it would be a lie; a cultivator must tell the truth." Maybe this finally touched the bit of conscience left in him, because he stopped the torture.
At last the police used a new tactic--they reduced the amount of the meal accompanied by an increased amount of physical punishment. Each person was given two meals of cornmeal gruel per day (sometimes only 2 corn flour buns), yet s/he had to run or march for over 4 hours everyday. The exhaustion at the end of the day was hard to imagine. They did not even spare the 3 old ladies in their 60s and the practitioners in shackles or other torture devices. All practitioners were detained in this way for over forty days.
In June 2000, led by Li XX, the police searched the homes of practitioners, and captured whoever had any Dafa material found in his/her home. These practitioners were detained for 2-3 months, and ordered to pay fines ranging from 3,000 to 5,000 Yuan. The "security deposits" paid by practitioners last year were due to be returned; but when practitioners were summoned to the police department, again the practitioners were told that they had to slander Teacher and Dafa, to write letters of repentance, but the police had no real intention of returning the guarantee money.
On New Year's Eve, 2001, an order from a higher level came, saying that there would be Falun Gong practitioners demonstrating, so the whole police force went out. Every Falun Gong practitioner was virtually put under house arrest. More officials arrived from town and the county; they kept watch day and night.
Early in May 2001, news from the county came again that Falun Gong practitioners were going to Beijing. Li XX from the police department immediately organized people to go check on practitioners at home, urging practitioners' families to keep watch on practitioners, saying: "Report anything, it will reduce the burden to the family." In all those days that they regard as sensitive, there was always interference during the day, and knocking on doors at night, shaking down the whole neighborhood.
