(Clearwisdom.net) Mr. Ren Chenglu was born in 1963. He was once a manager in Xiangfan Heli LLC (a subsidiary of Dongfeng Automotive Group, abbreviated as Heli LLC) in Xiangfan, Hubei Province. His wife worked at the same company. They were both fired from Heli LLC after July 20, 1999 because they practiced Falun Gong. They were brutally beaten and imprisoned many times. Mr. Ren was sentenced to three years in prison, and his wife was sentenced to two years. They have been through all kinds of torture, and both are currently destitute and homeless. Their daughter, who is also a Falun Gong practitioner, is unable to attend school because of the persecution.
Mr. Ren and his wife began to practice Falun Gong in October 1996. Mr. Ren experienced big changes in his mental and physical state after starting to practice. He had gastroenteritis, pharyngitis and rhinitis before, and all these health problems were completely cured after he started practicing Falun Gong. Mr. Ren was strict with himself in following the principles of "Truthfulness, Compassion and Tolerance." He was very well respected among employees in Heli LLC, where he worked. Following his example, many people in Heli LLC also started to practice Falun Gong.
In July 1999, Jiang Zemin initiated the suppression of Falun Gong. On July 22, 1999, Mr. Ren voluntarily went from Xiangfan City, Hubei province to appeal to the government office in Wuhan, the provincial capital of Hubei province. Even though the managers in Heli LLC knew clearly that Falun Gong was beneficial to people and to the country, they demanded that Mr. Ren declare his attitude towards the suppression of Falun Gong (1). The local police station subpoenaed Mr. Ren. They took his fingerprints, photo, and deposition. They even cut off a pinch of his hair to put on file. Reporters from a local Xiangfan TV station interviewed Mr. Ren. Mr. Ren described his understanding about Falun Dafa in the interview; however, in the program that was broadcast a few days later, Mr. Ren's words were completely twisted around through editing, dubbing, and fabrication.
In October 1999, Mr. Ren, his wife, and their daughter who was eleven years old at that time, and another relative went together to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong. On October 29, they went to Tiananmen Square to appeal. They became filled with grief and indignation when they saw several plainclothes policemen savagely beat two female practitioners and drag them on the ground. An armed policeman noticed the expression on their faces and came over to interrogate them. Mr. Ren then sat down with his legs crossed, and started to practice the Falun Gong meditation with many other practitioners at the scene. The armed policeman immediately called a large group of policemen to come. They mercilessly beat and arrested the practitioners. The police surrounded practitioners with many police cars in order to separate practitioners from each other. The scene was very cruel. Mr. Ren grasped the leg of a practitioner who was getting into a police car and told him not to get in and to expose the atrocities of the police. The police beat Mr. Ren, and dragged him into a police car. In the police car, a plainclothes policeman whipped a female practitioner with a leather belt.
In the Tiananmen branch office of the police station, Mr. Ren refused to be searched. Four or five policemen swarmed to him, dragged him to a quiet place that was out of view from others, and fiercely beat him. One policeman hit him in his lower abdomen and Mr. Ren fainted on the spot. They searched Mr. Ren and then brought him to an interrogation room. Mr. Ren refused to answer their questions. The police cuffed him in the so-called "yin-yang handcuff" position. They cross-cuffed his hands behind his back so tightly that Mr. Ren couldn't straighten his back. In just a few minutes, Mr. Ren was pouring sweat. Even the floor became wet with his sweat. Mr. Ren lost feeling in his hands. The police noticed that he stopped sweating after he lost feeling, so they shook his handcuffs hard until he slightly recovered feeling in his hands and began to sweat again. They kept torturing Mr. Ren this way over and over again.
The interrogation room was about 50 square meters in area (about 550 square feet). More than 20 practitioners were tortured this way in the room. Painful groans could be heard everywhere. An elderly practitioner from Xiangfan City was shocked with an electric baton by police. He got a black bump on his forehead, and his right eye turned black and blue. He was shocked so much that he bounced to the wall and then bounced to the ground. The police stripped off his clothes, and tied his four limbs together behind his back. He lay prone on the cement ground, breathing with much pain and difficulty.
The police later took Mr. Ren Chenglu from the interrogation room to a house that was encircled by steel stockades. About 70 to 80 practitioners who came from different places were detained there. They recited Falun Gong articles together. Two girls who were around 17 or 18 years old came crying to Mr. Ren. They had taken pictures of Mr. Ren's daughter at Tiananmen Square, but the police had smashed their camera and destroyed all of the film.
Mr. Ren was sent back to Xiangfan City. He refused to admit his "mistakes" or write a so-called "guarantee statement" (2). As a result, the police locked him and his relative in the Xiangfan First Detention Center. Mr. Ren's wife and daughter were detained in the security office in Heli LLC (3). They were later sent back home and subjected to "surveillance while living at home." Mr. Ren was detained in the detention center for 53 days. Both the guards and the prisoners in the detention center admired him very much. They loved to listen to him talking about his understanding of Falun Gong. A friend of Mr. Ren, who was not a practitioner, spent 3,000 yuan (4) to get him released from the detention center. Mr. and Mrs. Ren were both dismissed from Heli LLC. The head of Heli LLC told Mr. Ren that he could come back to his job if he gave up practicing Falun Gong. At that time, the story about Mr. Ren going to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong made a sensation throughout Xiangfan City.
In 2000, after the Spring Festival, the assistant secretary (of the Chinese Communist Party) in Heli LLC came to talk to him. He was irritated by Mr. Ren's determination in practicing Falun Gong. He colluded with wicked policemen in the local police station and had Mr. Ren detained again. In the detention center, the prisoners stood on lookout for Mr. Ren when he was practicing Falun Gong exercises. A few prisoners learned Falun Gong from him. Mr. Ren was detained there for five months. Later he was transferred to a brainwashing class organized by the police in Xiangfan City. Police painted words that defamed Falun Gong and Teacher Li Hongzhi all the way from the roadside in front of the compound where the brainwashing class was located to the floor in the compound. They even painted Teacher Li's picture on the ground in order to force practitioners to step on.
In the brainwashing class, armed police were ordered to lift up a practitioner by his four limbs and throw him to the ground. They hung practitioners up and beat them. They "tied them with ropes" (5) and beat them. They tortured practitioners with the so-called "punishment by forcing to kneel" for long periods of time. They forced practitioners to maintain a partial squat posture for long periods of time. Police called all of these tortures "abolishing practice," as if to say, "You are no longer a Falun Gong practitioner any more, and your teacher has given up on you." Mr. Ren endured all of these tortures.
The policemen who were directly involved in beating Mr. Ren included Nie Xiaowu, Guo Jiacheng, Zhu Jixue, policeman Liang Hongyi (phonetic) and a section chief named Feng in the Fancheng Branch Office of the local police station. Nie Xiaowu was section chief of the Political and Security Section in the Xiangfan City Police Station. He was the chief instigator of the brainwashing class. Guo Jiacheng was section chief of the Political and Security Section in the Xiangcheng Banch Office of the police station. Zhu Jixue was section chief of the Political and Security Section in the Fancheng Branch Office of the police station. He was extremely evil. He took joy in beating others and instructed armed police to beat people all the time. Mr. Ren was detained in the brainwashing class for more than 40 days. More than a dozen firm practitioners, including Mr. Ren, went on a group hunger strike in the brainwashing class and Mr. Ren was eventually released.
The police department made use of the brainwashing class and extorted practitioners' money through deceit and by force. They charged a very expensive "tuition." Heli LLC, where Mr. Ren at one time worked, paid the so-called "lodging expenses," and Mr. Ren had to pay for the remaining "living expenses." Mr. Ren didn't pay for the "living expenses," and sometimes had to eat the leftovers from meals. Later, another practitioner found out about this, and helped him pay for his "living expenses." Mr. Ren was then able to have meals like everyone else.
When Mr. Ren was detained, his wife was also detained once again. Later she was subjected to "surveillance while living at home." The managers in Heli LLC issued a command to the security office, prohibiting her from stepping out of her apartment, even if she died inside. The security office assigned guards to the apartment building 24 hours a day and prohibited anyone from contacting her. Some kind neighbors brought some vegetables to her, but the guards stepped on and kicked the vegetables. Some people sent watermelons to her, and the guards ate them. A lady who once worked with Ren's wife brought some food to her and was scolded by the guards many times. The guards threatened to fire her from Heli LLC.
After she and her daughter had been stranded in their apartment for a long time, the guards wondered if they were still alive. They went up to check, and found out that they were all right. They were reading Falun Gong books and practicing Falun Gong exercises at home. They ate moldy, dried vegetables. The flour they used had insects in it. They fried it and ate it with water.
Mr. Ren was released from the brainwashing class. As they were driving him home, a policeman expressed his admiration for him, saying, "It's okay if you want to practice Falun Gong. We won't bother you. But let us know if you are going to Beijing [to appeal]." Mr. Ren often went to the public security department to clarify the truth of Falun Gong to them.
An assistant secretary from the Chinese Communist Party was sent to follow Mr. Ren when he went to look for a job. He disrupted him so much that Mr. Ren had trouble finding a job, thus Mr. Ren's family had no source of income. They often had to pick up the rotten vegetable leaves that were left at grocery markets (6). Even so, Mr. Ren actively participated in the local activities involving making truth-clarification materials. He used all kinds of ways to clarify the truth and expose the local people who were being controlled by the evil. Mr. Ren was under secret surveillance the whole time. If the police lost sight of Mr. Ren for one or two days, they pressured his wife to turn him in. Once, the police decided to go arrest her so that Mr. Ren would be too busy taking care of his daughter to involve himself in Dafa work. A group of policemen rushed into Mr. Ren's apartment and announced the arrest of his wife. Mr. Ren calmly said to the policemen, "Please sit down. I will tell you a dog's story. A dog works hard as long as its master gives it food. It does not care if its master is a good person or a bad person. But human beings cannot behave like that. You all agree that we are good people. Why do you still treat us like that?" (this story was later spread among police in Xiangfan City). The policemen left feeling dejected. Mr. Ren and his wife continued to do what they were supposed to do. During this period of time, practitioners began to clarify the truth and expose the local evil on a large-scale in Xiangfan City.
On January 9, 2001, the security office in Heli LLC coordinated with the local police and arrested Ren wife. A staff member from Heli LLC told Mr. Ren, "Wu Qunyuan, chief of the security office, beat your wife in front of everyone at the gate. He kicked your wife so much that at one point, during his kicking, his leg hit the door of a car and got injured. Mr. Ren went to the police station with his daughter to get his wife back, and clarify the truth to the police.
Just a few days after the Spring Festival in 2001, police came to arrest Mr. Ren. They ordered a female staff member from Heli LLC to ask Mr. Ren to open his door. When Mr. Ren opened the door, six or seven policemen swarmed in. Mr. Ren refused to cooperate with them. They threw Mr. Ren on the ground and held down his hands and feet. Tao Mingguo was formerly a political instructor at a local police station in Wangfu. He was very active in persecuting Falun Gong practitioners and was promoted to deputy director in the Xiangcheng Branch Station of the local police station. He stood on the back of Mr. Ren, and kicked him. He pinched Mr. Ren's major joints, his neck and his ears until they were bleeding. Then the police tied up Mr. Ren and carried him from the fifth floor of the apartment building to a police car downstairs. The staircases were narrow and difficult to walk down. Mr. Ren is so kind that he was even concerned that the police would get hurt carrying him downstairs. At the same time, Mr. Ren kept shouting out the truth about Falun Gong. Whenever they got into the police car, the police pressed Mr. Ren's mouth into the cushion of the car. Another police officer sat on his body and pressed down hard on his head. Gao Lei, head of the local Tanxi police station was also involved in the arrest although he didn't hit Mr. Ren.
The police also searched Mr. Ren's apartment and confiscated his property when they arrested Mr. Ren. In fact, they had searched Mr. Ren's apartment three or four times already. The police picked locks, rummaged through boxes and chests, messed up the room and confiscated personal belongings without ever giving him any kind of confiscation list.
Ren Chenglu was detained in the Xiangfan First Detention Center in Xiangfan city for the third time. In an interrogation, Tao Mingguo led four or five policemen in brutally beating Mr. Ren. They first dragged Mr. Ren out of the interrogation room to beat him. When Mr. Ren cried out, Tao Mingguo pinched his neck, seized him by the hair and slammed his head against the wall. Mr. Ren became dazed. The police then dragged him back to the interrogation room and kicked him in his stomach. Mr. Ren fell to the ground right away. Liang Hongyi was section chief in the Xiangcheng Branch Office of the police station. He suspected that Mr. Ren wrote an article to expose his atrocities. He kicked Mr. Ren in his mouth and kicked out a piece of Mr. Ren's front tooth. Mr. Ren's mouth was full of blood. He regained a little consciousness when he felt the pain. He asked Liang Hongyi, "Who gave you the right to beat me like this? It is illegal to do this." Liang Hongyi dared not to look into Mr. Ren's eyes and left quickly. Mr. Ren was covered in blood, so Tao Mingguo brought a basin of cold water and washed away the blood on his forehead and his face. They sent Mr. Ren back to his room. Other prisoners were shocked to see Mr. Ren's appearance. They told him that they were willing to testify if Mr. Ren would expose the guards' evil conduct. Mr. Ren requested to see policeman Liu Zhongyou, who supervised the prisoners in the detention center. He reported to Liu, and Liu wrote a detailed record.
Mr. Ren was interrogated many times, and he shouted out the truth about Falun Gong. Practitioners who were locked in other rooms also shouted out the truth with him. The voices joined together and were very powerful. The guards then tortured Mr. Ren with specially made "rustic handcuffs." These handcuffs were made with reinforced cast iron. The two cuffs were fastened together with bolts. They were tied so tightly that they could easily cause a person to faint. A person's hands become disabled after being handcuffed for a long time. This was even more painful than the "yin-yang handcuff" position.
In April 2002, the Xiangfan District Court held a hearing with no legal justification. Mr. Ren requested that the stockades that surrounded him be removed, his handcuffs be taken off, he be given a cup of water, and a seat be supplied for him to sit down on. The court agreed. The prosecutor requested that Mr. Ren be sentenced to seven years or more in prison. Mr. Ren spoke up for his innocence. He defended himself justly and firmly. He exposed the atrocities he experienced while in police custody. The judge said the atrocities of the police department had nothing to do with this case and needed to be investigated separately. The court winded up things hastily. Mr. Ren ran to the center of the court, and cried out, "The court is unjust" and, "Falun Dafa is good." He sat down with his legs crossed to start the meditation. His wife, who was tried at the same court, cried out with him.
In May 2002, Mr. Ren Chenglu was imprisoned in Fanjiatai Prison in Shayang, Hubei province, which is used to imprison major criminal offenders. Mr. Ren was not released until February 21, 2004. During his imprisonment, a guard and two criminals guarded him 24 hours a day. They prohibited him from speaking and forced him to watch video programs that defamed Falun Gong. They forced him to write the so-called "ideological report." If Mr. Ren didn't write anything to defame Falun Gong, the police penalized him for not having "profound introspection." The police forced him to stand or sit on a ceramic tile that was 30 cm by 30 cm (12 inches by 12 inches) for a long time without allowing him to move around or sleep in the evening. Sometimes, Mr. Ren had to stand facing a wall. He had to keep his nose, his forehead, his knees and the tips of his toes all touching the wall. Mr. Ren's legs and feet became swollen, and he couldn't put on his shoes. Still, he was dragged out to work. He was not strong enough to carry so many bricks in a cart. The cart often overturned and Mr. Ren got injured. The guards forced Mr. Ren to attend the military formation drills under the hot sun at high noon. The guards stayed in a cool place to watch them, and a head prisoner (who really had been a criminal) instructed the drill. The head prisoner often beat others. Once he hit Mr. Ren on his chest. It left Mr. Ren injured for half a month. Mr. Ren couldn't stand up with his swollen feet, and the head prisoner maliciously stepped on his feet. Once, during forced labor, Mr. Ren was so thirsty that he could no longer tolerate it. A guard ordered the criminals who guarded Mr. Ren to bring him to a kiln to "experience life." It was a kiln to bake bricks and it was more than 70-80 o C (158-176o F) inside.
The guards continuously tortured Mr. Ren with all kinds of torture methods for a month. Mr. Ren almost lost sight in both of his eyes. Under the evil persecution, Mr. Ren wrote the so-called "five statements" (7) against his will. Mr. Ren realized his mistake shortly thereafter. He wrote a statement to the prison and declared null and void the so-called "five statements" that he was coerced to write in a muddled state. He declared that he would never give up Falun Gong and would expose the atrocities he experienced in prison. Mr. Ren wrote a solemn declaration immediately after he was released from the prison.
There was massive slave labor and arduous production in the prison. Prisoners had to do it without pay. The working conditions were extremely bad. The main products produced by the prison where Falun Gong practitioners were imprisoned were colored lanterns, crafted crystals and knitted handbags, which were all primarily for export. A company located in Jiansu was responsible for organizing the exportation of these products. A person was sent by this company to the prison to supervise the production. He said that the products made in the prison couldn't be exported directly. The products were delivered to his company first to be repacked before being exported to the United States by the owner of a Taiwanese company. In order to rush through production jobs, prisoners often had to work overtime, sometimes even overnight. The colored lanterns made in the prison used the alternating voltage of 110, which is used in the U.S., instead of 220 volts, which is used in China. A colored lantern has been taken out of the prison as evidence of the slave labor.
Firm practitioners were locked in the "Xinsheng Brick Factory." They were enslaved there and forced to do heavy loads of labor. The brick factory had the hardest work in the prison. Practitioners were forced to work from early morning until sunset. After a whole day's hard work, the sweat evaporated and formed a salty film on practitioners' bodies. No water was supplied during work time. The criminals in the prison who were ordered to guard practitioners didn't have to work. They just needed to watch over the practitioners. They took turns napping in the morning and afternoon. If a practitioner didn't give up his belief in Falun Gong after a long time, the prisoner who guarded him had to work with him. If, however, a practitioner was "reformed" (8), the prisoner who guarded him not only did not have to work, but also received a reduction in his term as a reward. Under such an evil policy, the prisoners who guarded practitioners made even greater efforts to intimidate the practitioners.
The guards in Fanjiatai Prison in Shayang, Hubei province where practitioners were imprisoned included Xiao Tianbo, Xiong Zuyong, Shen Jianjun and Wang Xiongjie. Xiao Tianbo is extremely evil. He was a political instructor at first, and was appointed warden later. Xiong Zuyong was an assistant section chief in the educational section. He was later promoted to political instructor. Shen Jianjun was a district chief in prison. Wang Xiongjie was a team leader. He was mainly in charge of the brainwashing.
After Mr. Ren Chenglu left the prison, he found out that his mother had died of grief and indignation in 2002. Mr. Ren's wife got out of prison in July 2002 with her righteous thoughts. Because she continued to clarify the truth to people, police from both Xiangfan city, Hubei province and her hometown in Henan province wanted to arrest her. She had and her daughter were forced to become homeless to avoid persecution. Mr. Ren has not seen his daughter since then. Because of the "implication policy" (9), leaders in Heli LLC cooperated with the local police and were directly involved in the persecution of Mr. Ren's family. They even wrote to the prison and told them to "thoroughly reform" Mr. Ren. Mr. Ren has also had to become homeless.
May 12, 2004
(1) In China, every time there is a political movement (persecution), the government demands every one to announce his attitude towards it. In other words, every one is forced to say he supports what the government is doing; otherwise, he or she is subjected to brainwashing.
(2) "guarantee statement": a statement to declare that one is remorseful for practicing Falun Gong and guarantees not to practice Falun Gong again, not to go to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong, and never again associate with any Falun Dafa practitioners.
(3)] Xiangfan Heli LLC: A company owned by the government. The managers, especially the secretary of the CCP in the company had a lot of power, and worked closely with local police stations. They still supervised Mr. and Mrs. Ren even though they were fired from the company.
(4) yuan: the Chinese currency; 500 yuan is the average monthly income for an urban worker in China.
(5) "tying the ropes": The police tie up the practitioner with a thin rope. Then they circle the rope around his neck, and tie his hands behind his back. Then the police use all their force to tighten the rope. The rope becomes tighter and tighter around the body of the practitioner, which makes it more and more difficult for him to breathe. The pain is so intense that the practitioner sometimes loses control of his bladder. There are instances in which the rope was tightened enough to break a practitioner's arm.
(6) The local grocery markets in China are more like farmers' markets. People sell the groceries they grow at a stand. Rotten leftovers are either free or very cheap at end of the day.
(7) "five statements": five kinds of statements that Falun Gong practitioners are forced to write in the prison. In the statements, declaration is made that one is remorseful for practicing Falun Gong and guarantees not to practice Falun Gong again, not to go to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong, and never again associate with any Falun Dafa practitioners.
(8) "reformed": a practitioner goes astray and gives up his belief in Falun Gong because of intense pressure from brainwashing and torture.
(9) "implication policy": if one person practices Falun Gong, all his family members are held responsible for his activities and the whole family is persecuted.
