(Clearwisdom.net) Ms. Chen Li was a senior student at the Shantou Art College in Guangdong Province. Because she practiced Falun Gong, she was sent to forced labor three different times. Since 1999 these incarcerations have totaled four and a-half years. Ms. Chen was ruthlessly tortured each time she was in a forced labor camp. Since she remained steadfast in practicing Falun Gong, her school didn't allow her to finish her studies. She has difficulty finding a job and has no source of income. Following are the details:
In November 1999, Ms. Chen was detained for 15 days because she practiced Falun Gong. After that, the school officials exerted pressure on her and threatened to expel her from school unless she gave up the practice. Such pressure made her unable to concentrate on her studies. Her teachers and classmates believed the Communist Party's (CCP) false media reports about Falun Gong and also gave her a hard time. The CCP's statements were far different from what she had personally experienced, which confused her. At the end of November 1999, out of trust and hope for the central government, she went to Beijing to appeal for justice for Falun Gong, but was sentenced to one and a-half years forced labor. She was then sent to the Shaoguan Prison.
She suffered a great deal in prison. The guards frequently shocked her with electric batons. They handcuffed and shackled her arms and legs for over two months. When she was released in February 2001, having no diploma, she had a hard time to find a job and was forced to wander about on the streets. In April 2001 she was arrested again, in Zhuhai City, and jailed at the Zhuhai No. 2 Detention Center. She was tortured with the method "Shackle to Crosses" for over 20 days there and then sent to the Sanshui Forced Labor Camp for two years. Because she would not write the Three Statements there, the police denied her use of the toilet and continuously deprived her of sleep for several days and nights. They made her remain in a squatting position all the time and would not allow her to sit down or stand up. The object of the torture was to humiliate her to a very great extent.
After her term was up in April 2003, she repeatedly requested to go back to school. The school authorities and the 610 Office refused her request. Later on, with the help of a friend, she found a teaching position in a private school in Shenzhen City. Because her employer didn't provide her with lodging, she had to rent a room outside the school. Merely because she had a few visits from fellow practitioners, the Shenzhen 610 Office arrested her and sentenced her to one year of forced labor. In the labor camp she was physically tortured and mentally tormented using various methods. She has been locked up in a "dark room" for over two months and brainwashed daily by six police officers and four drug addicts in turn. She was allowed only a couple of hours sleep or was even deprived of sleep every day. To use the toilet or eat she needed to make an application in the squat position. When she was released in October 2004, Ms. Chen couldn't find a job and had to move from place to place.
Ms. Chen has been looking everywhere in the Zhujiang Delta area for a job with only a certificate of proof of study from the school. Because nobody will hire her, her life is extremely difficult. Although she has frequently requested permission to finish her studies, her school has always refused her requests.
June 9, 2005
