On the evening of July 20, 1999, news arrived that Falun Gong volunteers were being arrested all over the country. Thirteen Falun Gong practitioners from Yinan County set off for the capital to appeal to the government, but were intercepted by the police at Qingzhou Railway Station in Shandong Province. On July 22, practitioners Liu Qingji, Zheng Shuju, Xu Xiuying, Tao Yushe, and Lu Jizhi were illegally detained in guesthouses by their respective work units; Sun Chuanbao was illegally detained in a school office; Feng Limei, Song Zhenlan, Wang Yongwei, and others were illegally detained by their work units in a so called "transformation class." Hundreds of Yuan RMB were deducted from the salaries of Xu Xiuying, Tao Yushe, Lu Jizhi, and others in the name of "accommodation costs."
In December 1999, practitioners Tao Yushe, Li Zhenlan, Liu Changde's family of four, Liu Naizhi and Liu Naiyan together with their younger brothers and their mother, Zu Yu, Zu Hongjie, Zu Peiyong, Liu Jianhua, and others made various trips to Beijing to appeal and were all detained illegally in the Yinan Detention Center. Sun Chuanbao and Yu Shiying were suspected of being organizers and were illegally detained and tortured. During detention, practitioners were forced by the local government to "transform" (change their attitude towards Falun Gong), to write "letters of guarantee" (promissory notes not to practice or appeal for Falun Gong), and to pay "guarantee deposits" ranging from 1,000 -- 5,000 Yuan each. The government employees said that the deposits would be returned in a year, but nothing has been returned. Liu Naiyan's mother could not bear the physical and mental trauma; she died not long after.
In the Spring of 2000, Liu Qingji, Du Yifeng, Lu Jizhi, Wang Yongwei, Ning Liangzhi, Huang Junjing, Zhang Zhihua, Xue Yu, Xue Li, Wang Hongmei, Wang Cunmei, and others -- a total of over 20 practitioners -- were illegally detained and tortured for appealing for Falun Dafa in Beijing. Ning Liangzhi's chin was kicked by policeman Zhang Shihai in the office of the Political Security Department. The area surrounding Zhang Changbao's left eye turned blue and purple from policeman Zhang Shihai's hard-soled leather boots. During the detention, center officers Qin Libo, Li Xuejun, and others forced the female practitioners to undergo military training, to squat, and to walk "goose steps." They also put handcuffs and shackles on Du Yifeng, Huang Junjing, Ning Liangzhi, Xue Yu, Xue Li, and others, to make those ladies walk with their backs bent, unable to lie down or stand up straight, and to prevent them from being able to practise the Falun Gong exercises. Du Yifeng was pulled by her hair and thrown out the door onto the floor by Qin Libo for reciting "Lunyu" (a statement of comments at the beginning of Zhuan Falun), and she was sworn at and beaten many times.
In March 2000, Wang Yongqing -- principal of Number Two High School in the township of Jiehu, Yinan County -- asked Xu Xiuying to go to the school for work. Yet, upon arriving, she was sent away together with another school teacher, Tao Yushe, to Jiehu's retirement village. There they were illegally detained with over 10 other practitioners including Xue Meiji, Chen XX, Liu XX, and others. The so-called "transformation team" at the village, headed by Zhu Fasheng -- the Vice District Secretary of Communist Party Committee of Jiehu -- forced practitioners to watch videos defaming Falun Dafa everyday at maximum volume. He deprived practitioners of sleep for 5 days and nights, restricted their access to food, water, and even the washroom, forcedly brainwashing the practitioners and extracting "guarantee letters." Zhu Fasheng, Niu XX, Li XX, and other so-called reformers took turns supervising the process. Zhu Fasheng declared that: "The secretary of Jiehu [party name omitted] Party Committee, Wang Lisheng, gave us orders to do this. Go to see him if you like!" Xu Xiuying was unable to endure the torture. Half of her body became cold and she was unable to move. Her husband struggled to take her home. Xue Meiji was even locked up in the Yinan County Psychiatric Hospital for a few days.
In July 2000, Niu Jiacai, Zu Yu, Wang Xiai, and other practitioners were illegally detained and tortured for appealing for Falun Dafa in Beijing. Farmer Zu Peiyong and his wife Liu Jianhua were illegally taken away from their work in the fields to the police station of Yiwen Village, Yinan County. There, Sun Xianning, the Deputy Chief of the Yinan County Security Bureau, and Zhang Shihai, the head of the Political Security Department of the Bureau, interrogated them illegally. Sun Xianning disliked Zu Peiyong. He thought Zu did not respect him enough as a "Deputy Chief." Out of anger, he detained and tortured the couple. At the same time, Wang Wei -- the Vice Secretary of Yiwen Village, Yinan County -- led a gang of thugs including Li Jian, Police Chief Wang XX, and Instructor Zhu XX to ransack the couple's home, illegally confiscated all their Falun Dafa books and materials as well as their sewing machine, TV set, video recorder, audio recorder, and a few tubs of grain. Even the bowls and plates were turned upside down, and the whole house was left in total disarray.
A Practitioner in China
April 16, 2001
