(Clearwisdom.net) On the morning of January 23, 2007, Mr. Dong Liantai, 43, and Mr. Tian Hua, 40, went to visit their relatives who were detained in Wanjia Forced Labor Camp in Harbin City. Both are farmers from Dancheng Town in Shuangcheng City, Heilongjiang Province. They arrived there too early as the labor camp hadn't opened yet, so they sat on the edge of the farm field next to the labor camp. The labor camp guards in the watchtower saw them and illegally arrested them. When the two practitioners questioned why they were arrested, the guards said they didn't need to provide a reason. The two practitioners were sent to Xinnong Town Police Station in the Daoli District, Harbin City.
On the same day, the police also arrested four practitioners at the bus stop in Xinnong Town. Ms. Jiang Yahong, 30, is from Wanglong Town and was there visiting a relative. Ms. Miao Xiubo, 35, is a middle school teacher. She was visiting a classmate during her vacation. Mr. Xue Ruihui, 53, and Mr. Zhang Fengrong, 50, are farmers. Both were on a business trip and waiting at the bus stop. A police car from Xinnong Town Police Station stopped at the bus stop. Liu Zhaoping and three other police officers jumped out of the car. Without showing any identification or providing any reasons, they pushed the four practitioners into a small store on the side of the road. The police called someone and said, "We arrested four of them." When the practitioners questioned why they were arrested, the police denied the arrests, "We didn't arrest you." When bystanders gathered around to see what was going on, more police were called in and they took the four practitioners to Xinnong Town Police Station. The practitioners were subjected to body searches, and all the money they had with them was taken away. (More than 200 yuan was taken from Ms. Miao, who said to police, "You illegally conducted robbery and arrests. I will sue you when I'm free.")
Four female guards from Wanjia Forced Labor Camp were called to the police station. Two of them immediately start slapping Miao Xiubo's face on one side. They kept scolding her and said, "We will make this side of your face much higher than the other." The other two kept hitting Ms. Jiang in the back of her head with their palms, which made Jiang feel very dizzy. She almost lost consciousness, and later she vomited repeatedly. Police from the local police station also beat Mr. Xue. The six practitioners were subjected to 12 hours of torture at the police station. At around 1:00 a.m. on January 24, without any legal process, the six practitioners were sent to Harbin Detention Center. Mr. Zhang Fengying suffered a brutal beating there. He was handcuffed and subjected to a torture referred to as the iron chair.
On the day the practitioners were arrested, their family members heard the news and went to the Xinnong Town Police Station. They were told that no one was detained there. However, the next day, the police informed the town authorities, and the four families in the local area were told to pay 500 to 550 yuan to get their family members back. The money was paid, but no one was released. On the fourth day, police from Shuangcheng County National Security Division and the local police station conducted an illegal house search of Mr. Xue Yuehui's home. They didn't show any legal identification, and they forcibly entered the home and rampantly searched it. They didn't find anything they were interested in. On that same day, Jiang Yahong's father suffered a beating by local village officials, who yelled, "Why do you allow your daughter to wander around?" Afterwards, her father had sudden asphyxia and spasm. He continued to experience these symptoms. Her mother got sick for several days as well. However, no one would tell them the location of their family members. Because many people know that the police do take practitioners' organs for organ transplantation and later destroy their bodies to reap huge profits, the families of these practitioners were very worried and spared no cost in looking for them. On the fifth day and under intense inquiries, police in the Daoli District Police Department finally told them, "They are detained in Harbin Detention Center."
Visitors were allowed to visit the detention center on weekdays and weekends. However, the detainees' families had to pay 430 yuan for reputed food costs for 15 days of detention and pay 80 yuan per visit for a meal at the detention center. They had to pay this fee whether they wanted to eat or not. The six practitioners' families were all farmers and lived under very poor conditions. They had spent a lot of money looking for their family members. Now they had to pay again in order to see them. On the tenth or eleventh day, they finally managed to get the money required and visit their family members in the detention center. Many of them hugged each other and cried.
By then, Ms. Jiang Yahong had suffered a brutal beating at the detention center, which made her dizzy and have headaches. She couldn't eat anything for almost ten days. Whatever she ate, she threw up, and sometimes she vomited blood. She was very skinny and in poor shape. The guards still forced her to eat, and they threatened to conduct force-feeding in front of her family members. The force-feeding could cause death, which her family firmly disagreed with and requested to take their daughter home. The head of the detention center, Sun Zhaocheng, along with other guards had to push Jiang's family members out of the visiting room and out of the detention center.
The meal that the detention center provided had only some peanuts and several meatballs that generally cost less than five yuan. It was blackmail to have to pay 80 yuan for it. Since any detainee in the detention center could disappear at any moment, the family members were scared about this and wanted to visit every day. This would cost them a large sum of money.
The practitioners' families tried to reason with the head of the national security division at Dali District Police Department. The families asked why those practitioners were arrested. He couldn't provide any reasons, and he just yelled loudly. They questioned why, as an upholder of the law, he violated the law himself. Why was he not able to provide any evidence? The police must have permission to detain anyone over 24 hours. How did they explain those who were detained for over 288 hours without any legal paperwork? The staff working in the visiting room said, "We are inspecting the case now. It has not been confirmed yet." If it was not confirmed, the accused should be released. Why were they still detained for so many days? The police said, "Listen to you or listen to me? We have to wait for the conclusion of the investigation." The family members complained, "How can we live like this? This severely violates a citizen's right of freedom." The staff said, "The government says Falun Gong is forbidden." The family members said, "That is nonsense! Most of our family members were patients before they practiced Falun Gong. Falun Gong saved their lives and made them good people. What is wrong with that? Many people practice Falun Gong. It is said that about 100 million people are practicing it worldwide. Which law states that practicing Falun Gong is against the law and that practitioners can be arrested at will? Falun Gong is a belief, and our Constitution permits the freedom of belief. You should listen to us and immediately release them. It is our legal right." The staff became impatient and asked the family members to leave. Jiang Yahong's mother kept crying. Two police officers took her to the elevator and left.
Currently, the six practitioners are still detained at Harbin Detention Center. 441 of their relatives are appealing for them. They have made the following requests: Immediately release the detained practitioners, return the money that the police extorted from them, financially compensate them for the loss that the victims and their families suffered, and investigate the legal responsibilities of those who work at Wanjia Forced Labor Camp, Xinnong Town Police Station, and Deli District Police Station in Harbin City.
February 3, 2007
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