(Minghui.org)

Summary of Key Persecution Facts:

Name: Liu Juhua (刘菊花) 
Gender: Female 
Age: 56 (born in 1957) 
Address: Qilihe District, Lanzhou City, Gansu Province (甘肃省兰州市七里河区） 
Occupation: Unknown 
Date of Most Recent Arrest: August 3, 2012 
Most Recent Place of Detention: Gongjiawan Brainwashing Center (龚家湾洗脑班) 
City: Lanzhou 
Province: Gansu 
Persecution Suffered: Detention, forced labor, slapped in the face, brainwashing, forced to stand for 45 days, hanging up in the air, hair pulled, head bashed against a wall, brutal beatings

A flyer about Falun Gong practitioners' appeal on April 25 inspired Ms. Liu Juhua's admiration for the practice. She went to Beijing to appeal for Dafa even before she became a practitioner. As a result, she was held in a forced labor camp for a year and almost lost her life due to torture. The authorities kept harassing her and forced her to become destitute after she was released. When she returned home nine years later, she was taken to a brainwashing center.

Moved to Tears

Ms. Liu happened to see a Falun Gong flyer describing the whole story of practitioners' appeal on April 25, 1999. She was moved to tears at how so many people had been treated unfairly, yet they left the area even cleaner than when they had arrived, even throwing away litter and cigarette butts left by others. "They are so different, so precious," she said to herself. “I want to be like them, as pure as a lotus flower rising from the mud.”

On the morning of July 22,1999, Ms. Liu heard that Falun Gong practitioners were being arrested. She went to appeal at the provincial government. All the practitioners who were there, plus Ms. Liu, were forced onto a bus and taken to Qilihe Stadium. She escaped that night and went to the provincial government to appeal again the next day. She encountered the same experience.

Later an elderly lady told her, “It seems that the local government cannot solve this problem. We have to go to Beijing. Are you going?” Ms. Liu said, “Yes.” She borrowed money and embarked on her trip to Beijing before she had started practicing or read Zhuan Falun.

In Tiananmen Square, Ms. Liu saw police beating a Falun Gong practitioner. She ran over to protect the banner but the police stopped her. They put her in a police car and took her Tiandi Police Department in Beijing, where officers from Lanzhou Office in Beijing picked her up, escorted to Lanzhou, and held her for 15 days.

Ms. Liu sold her home and again went to Beijing on the 2000 Chinese New Year. She was arrested, escorted back, and detained at the Xiguoyuan No. 1 Detention Center in Lanzhou.

She was forced to do slave labor, squatting to pick seeds. Each person had to pick one sack every day. Those who didn't were tortured. Falun Gong practitioners conducted a group hunger strike to protest the persecution. The police slapped Ms. Liu in the face, and shouted, “You're the most recent arrival, but you cause the most trouble.” Ms. Liu refused to write the three statements and was held in the Pingantai No. 1 Forced Labor Camp in Gansu Province for one year.

Torture reenactment: Hanging up in the air

Ms. Liu refused to recite the labor camp rules, so the police gave her the dirtiest, most tiring, and hardest work to do. When they tried to "transform" her, she refused to answer any questions or do “homework,” so they made her stand for 45 days.

On the last day of the "transformation" session, the police handcuffed her, hung her up in the office, and ordered her to write the three statements. Inmate Lan Mei brought her to the entrance of a cellar three days later and said, “The captain cares about you so much, but you do not show any respect.” Ms. Liu replied, “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is the best.”

Every time she said it, Lan Mei hit her until Ms. Liu's mouth was covered with blood. Lan Mei called in eight others, picked up a dirty rag from the rubbish, and forced it into her mouth. They covered her eyes, tied her hands with rope, grabbed her by her hair and smashed her against the wall, and shouted, “If you do not write the three statements, you will die in vain!” Eight of them tortured Ms. Liu by forcing her arms up and down. A drug offender shouted, “I will show you what a fast kicker is.” They took turns beating her, and threatened, “If you do not give in, we will hang you here tonight and let you die.” Ms. Liu was tortured for seven and a half hours. Afterwards, she was bedridden for 100 days.

After Ms. Liu was released, the police and community personnel repeatedly harassed her. Life was difficult and she was forced to leave home to avoid further persecution. She was destitute for nine years. Ms. Liu realized that it was wrong for a law-abiding citizen such as herself to lead such an unsettled life, so she returned home in 2011. She found the relevant person to request her pension.

A year later, the police colluded with the community personnel to call her into the community office. They locked her up and grilled her, “What have you been doing all these years?” Ms. Liu replied, “Making a living elsewhere. I hate being harassed by the police.” Several people seized her hands and forced her fingerprints on their statement.

The authorities had tricked her into going there by claiming she needed her to report to them to verify her pension. They sent Ms. Liu to the Gongjiawan Brainwashing Center several months later. She was detained for six months and one day. Ms. Liu was mentally and physically tortured and went into shock.