Name: Song Huilan (宋慧兰)
Gender: Female
Age: Unknown
Address: Xinhua Farm, Hegang City, Heilongjiang
Date of Most Recent Arrest: July 2010
Most Recent Place of Detention: Tangyuan County Detention Center (汤原县看守所)
City: Hegang
Province: Heilongjiang
Persecution Suffered: Head thrown against the wall, sleep deprivation, forced labor, illegal sentencing, beatings, solitary confinement, torture, extortion, home ransacked, interrogation, detention, denial of restroom use
(Clearwisdom.net) This article is narrated by Ms. Song, and is a personal account of the persecution she has suffered.
I am a farmer and used to suffer from many illnesses, including rheumatism, arthritis, hepatitis, tumors in my uterus, kidney stones and other problems with the kidneys. I had difficulty walking, and often had conflicts with my husband. In 1997, I was so fortunate to begin practicing Falun Gong. Within a few months of practicing, all my illnesses disappeared, and my family became harmonious as well.
Li Yong and other officials from the Xinhua Farm Domestic Security Division broke into my sister’s home on the evening of March 4, 2002 to arrest me. My sister questioned them, “On what grounds do you arrest her? Do you have an arrest warrant?” They did not answer her, and forcibly took me away. I was then put in solitary confinement for 15 days. Li Yong led some officials to my home again on April 19. They said that I needed to go with them to my workplace. They did not inform my family and sent me to Jiamusi Forced Labor Camp, where I was detained for three years.
Five policemen, including Li Yong, Lu Changjiang and Wei Rongchun, came to see me in April 2008 when I was working in the fields. They asked me if I still practiced Falun Gong. When I told them that I did, they forcibly put me in a police vehicle and took me to the Baoquanling Detention Center. I was later told that they had ransacked my home and confiscated my Falun Gong books before they came to me.
I was only wearing light clothing at the time because of working in the fields, and the guards at the detention center forced me to sit on the cold concrete floor for two days. I was handcuffed to the cell bars and forbidden to eat, sleep or use the restroom. When the police interrogated me, they violently threw my head against the wall until I fell unconscious. I was held there for over 20 days, and didn’t eat any food. The guards saw that I was in critical condition and released me, so as to evade responsibility if I died there.
Due to the mistreatment I received while in detention, my legs became paralyzed. One day, Li Yong led a group of policemen to my home to check on my physical state, and then left.
When some of my relatives heard that I had been released, they took me to their home to take care of me.
Li Yong and other officers continued to harass my family, who are not practitioners. They threatened my husband, extorted 1,000 yuan from my family, threatened my brother and sister-in-law, and detained my daughter twice in an attempt to find my whereabouts. My sister-in-law was so traumatized that she ended up in the hospital, and they spent over 4,000 yuan on her medical expenses. My daughter's willpower was close to collapse, and my husband often seemed paralyzed with fear.
While I was out distributing truth clarification materials in Jixiang Township with nine practitioners from Tangyuan County on July 1, 2010, we were arrested by the local police and taken to Jixiang Police Station. All of our belongings were confiscated, including the 1,400 yuan I had on me and my husband’s payroll card.
Two practitioners tried to let the police at the station know the facts about Falun Gong, but had their faces slapped hard. We were later transferred to the Tangyuan County Police Department, where a police officer with the surname Song took our fingerprints, names and addresses and blood samples. At around 8 p.m. we were transferred to the Tangyuan County Detention Center.
When we refused to wear the detention center uniform, the guards severely beat us. Officer Song came to the detention center on the fourth day, and demanded that we sign the documents he had brought with him. We firmly refused. Song said angrily, “Let me tell you. Even though you do not sign the papers, we can still detain you for a month.” I then went on a hunger strike for 18 days. As I was in critical condition, the guards called my family to come and collect me. My daughter went to the Tangyuan County Police Department the following day, asking for them to return my handbag, money and my husband's payroll card. However, Zhou Jinze, the official working there, only returned 300 yuan to her.
Eight practitioners are still being held in the detention center. Officials from the Tangyuan County Procuratorate brought charges against the practitioners on November 2, 2010. Before the hearing, an official from the Procuratorate called my daughter, ordering me to go there and await trial. My physical condition was still very poor, but they still harassed me, forcing me to leave my home to avoid persecution.
The Tangyuan County Court sentenced three of the practitioners to eight years of imprisonment, two practitioners were given seven and a half years, and three practitioners were given seven years.
