(Clearwisdom.net)

Mr. Fan Lincheng is a Falun Gong practitioner from the town of Liuhe, Weifang City, Shandong Province. He is the deputy governor of the town. During the Spring Festival of 2000, Fan went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong. He was arrested, and then escorted back to his hometown. The persecutors subjected him to political punishment, fines, and physical and mental torture. Fan's friends and relatives were also implicated. Policeman Lin Zhiyuan brutally tortured Fan Lincheng for an entire afternoon. Seeing that he could not "transform" Fan, Lin Zhiyuan used various methods of torture on Fan, including beatings and abuse, the "Iron Chair" (1), being handcuffed and hung from the air, and being forced to drink wine and kneel down. Fan was almost forced to drink urine and eat feces. On January 5, 2001 (Chinese Lunar Calendar), policeman Yu Fasong made a paper hat, and put it on Fan's head. Fan's face was smeared with black and white paint, and then he was locked onto an "iron chair" and carried out into the middle of a major street and shown to the public.

Ms. Wang Xiuyuan is a Dafa practitioner from Shenyang City, Liaoning Province who was detained in the Longshan Forced Labor Camp. In order to resist the detention and the intensive labor forced upon the practitioners, Ms. Wang went on a hunger strike for over 40 days, asking persecutors to unconditionally release the detained Dafa practitioners. She was sent to the General Prison Hospital of Liaoning Province. Currently, Ms. Wang is very weak. Her vision is impaired, and she cannot walk by herself. Persecutors in the Longshan Forced Labor Camp still refuse to release her. Instead, they requested 2,000 Yuan (2) in "medical expenses" from Wang's family members. The police officers responsible are Tang Yubao and Wang Jinghui.

Police officers Jiang Jie, Liu Moxuan, and their colleagues persecute Dafa practitioners in Jianping County, Liaoning Province. Practitioner Ms. Yang Xiuzhen was sentenced to a jail term of eight years. Yang is currently being detained and tortured in the Mansanjia Women's Prison. Ms. Qi Xiuying was sentenced to three years in jail. Practitioner Ms. Xu Shuhua and her husband Li Hailin were sentenced to 12 and 14 years in jail, respectively. Practitioner Zhou Xirong was an English teacher at Machang Town Middle School. Xirong was fired from his/her job for practicing Falun Gong. The persecutors then illegally detained Xirong for 40 days and extorted 8,000 Yuan from the practitioner in October 2001. On October 20, 2002, Xirong was abducted and detained again for 50 days, then illegally sentenced to three years in jail. Currently, Xirong is detained in Dongling Prison in Shenyang City, where the persecutors are trying to "brainwash" him/her.

Persecutors in Gaoqiao Developing Area Police Station (Huludao City, Liaoning Province) harassed practitioner Ms. Zhao Xiuqing in her home. As a result, Zhao was forced to leave her home. The persecutors later threatened Zhao's husband, Zhang Linqing (President of Xiaolin Repairing Company, and not a Dafa practitioner), saying that they would arrest his wife and send her to Masanjia Forced Labor Camp for a three-year term. Zhang Linqing was afraid, so he gave the persecutors 20,000 Yuan in an attempt to save his wife from imprisonment.

A Dafa practitioner's story: My name is Zhang Chunting. I am a farmer in Qili Village, town of Guxian (Pingdu City), Shandong Province. On February 5, 2004 (Chinese Lunar Calendar), I was arrested by police while I was distributing truth-clarifying fliers on the street. They detained me in the police station for a day, and then sent me to the local detention center, where I was detained for another nine days. In the detention center, the persecutors incited some inmates to torture me. As a result, I was beaten up by three or four strong inmates the minute I stepped into the cell. I was not allowed to sleep, and the persecutors forced me to work all night. The inmates punched me, kicked me, beat me with batons every day. Persecutors at the police station wanted to send me to a forced labor camp, but because I did not pass the medical exam, that was not possible.

Ms. Ning Shuyan, a Dafa practitioner from Liaoning Province, talks about her experience: In January 2002, I was abducted by government officials from Donggang City. The government officials included Wang Runlong and Wang Yuanjun. On the same day, the police chief of Majiadian Town Police Station, Wang Zhaowu, beat me. The persecutors handcuffed me for eight or nine hours. Later, they detained me at the Donggang Detention Center. Wang Runlong from the local "610 Office" (3) extorted several thousand Yuan from my family members and sentenced me to two years of forced labor. In April 2002 I was secretly sent to the Masanjia Forced Labor Camp in Shenyang City. I failed the medical exam (I had serious diabetes at the time), so the forced labor camp refused to accept me. I was then released. After about two weeks staying at home, I slowly recovered. Yet the persecutors came to harass me again. I was forced to leave home and go from place to place to avoid the constant persecution. During the 16th National Communist Party Congress, some police guards broke into my mother's home in the middle of the night. My mother was shocked so badly that she became ill afterwards, and died in April 2004.

A Dafa practitioner's experience in Suihua Forced Labor Camp (In Heilongjiang Province): The forced labor camp uses inmates to monitor Dafa practitioners and dozens of methods to torture the practitioners. First, they put on a hypocritical mask and try to "educate by love." When some practitioners refuse to "reform" under this method, they are separated from the others and placed in another group, where they endure all kinds of torture methods, including beatings and other physical abuse, electric batons, "Tiger Bench" (4), brainwashing, confinement cells, etc. One time, four police guards held down practitioner Pan Xingkun (from Shuangyashan Coal Mine) and used four high-voltage electric batons (300,000 volts each) to torture him. The skin on Pan's feet was burnt by the electric shock, and Pan immediately lost control of his/her bowels. Practitioner Sun Jiadong (of the Yichun City Police) and Li Shuwen (from the Shuangyashan Coal Mine) were tortured on the "Tiger Bench" for seven days and seven nights. Practitioner Mr. Li Qiliang from Mudanjiang City tore from a wall a piece of a cartoon that slandered Dafa practitioners. Police guards beat him about the face and fractured his cheekbone.

Practitioner Wu Dongxian talks about the persecution in the Guizhou Women's Forced Labor Camp: I was arrested in July 2001 by some persecutors in Kaili City. The persecutors sent me to the Guizhou Women's Forced Labor Camp on March 22, 2002. Although I failed the medical exam (my blood pressure was so low that it could not be measured), they still sentenced me to three years of forced labor. Under the brutal torture, first my lower limb muscles atrophied, followed gradually by my entire body. As a result, I was unable to walk. In order to shirk responsibility, Guard Gu Xingying sent me to a hospital. After I went home, and when the swelling of my body subsided (as a result of a medical treatment that filters urine), my body looked like a skeleton covered with skin. My hair fell out, my eyes and ears do not function well, all my gums are exposed, and I have serious weakening of my muscles. I also have heart disease and my belly is hard like an iron plate; I have paralysis, feel numb, and feel acute pain in my bones. I cannot take care of myself and need help in using the restroom. For a long period of time I lost my memory, and my mind was completely blank.

Shi Xiaofeng is the Party Committee Secretary of Shanhaiguan District, Qinhuangdao City. By the end of 2000, many Dafa practitioners in the district went to appeal in Beijing. Shi Xiaofeng ordered local police to increase their torture of Dafa practitioners. Practitioners Zhu Fengchun, Yang Yuchun, Li Jian, Wang Xiulan (female), and Li Changlan (female) were rendered in critical condition as a result of this torture.

(1) "Iron Chair" - The person being tortured is forced to sit on a small iron bench that is approximately 20 cm (6 inches) high with their knees tied together. With their hands tied behind their backs or sometimes placed on their knees, they are forced to sit straight up and look straight ahead. They are not allowed to turn their heads, close their eyes, talk to anyone, or move at all.

(2) Yuan is the Chinese currency. 500 Yuan is the average monthly income for an urban worker in China.

(3) "610 Office" - An agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong. It has absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other political and judiciary systems.

(4) "Tiger Bench" - Practitioners are forced to sit on a small iron bench that is approximately 20 cm (6 inches) tall with their knees tied together. With their hands tied behind their backs or sometimes placed on their knees, they are forced to sit straight up and look straight ahead. They are not allowed to turn their heads, close their eyes, talk to anyone or move at all. Several inmates are assigned to watch over the practitioners and force them to remain motionless while sitting on the bench. Usually some hard objects are inserted underneath the practitioners' lower legs or ankles to make it harder for them to tolerate this abuse (see illustration on http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2001/11/24/16156.html)