(Minghui.org) “I've been homeless for more than 10 years. All my friends and relatives my age are married but I'm still single. It's difficult to talk about the hardships I've suffered,” said Mr. Huang Zeliang.
“What caused me the most difficulty was having my ID canceled by the [Chinese Communist] Party (CCP) because I practice Falun Gong. In China, you can hardly do anything without an ID. You even need an ID to go to an Internet cafe. Without an ID, I could not apply for a permanent job. My girlfriend could not marry me because I didn't have an ID.”
Mr. Huang Zeliang's life was not always this way. He was doing well as a student at the Chinese Pharmaceutical University. However, after the persecution of Falun Gong began, his life changed drastically. He was barred from attending class and was pressured by the school administration to give up practicing Falun Gong. In 2001, Mr. Huang was detained at Maoming Brainwashing Center. He managed to escape, but in order to avoid being persecuted again, he had to become homeless for more than 10 years.
Below is Mr. Huang's story in his own words.
Practicing Falun Gong Changed Me for the Better
In 1997, I was admitted to China Pharmaceutical University. I had difficulty adjusting to university life and I was making failing grades. I got depressed and I began having health issues. My temper also became increasingly worse.
After I began practicing Falun Gong, I became optimistic. My academic performance improved a lot.
Expelled from University for Practicing Falun Gong
In July 1999, the university authorities prohibited me from going to class. They kept insulting and threatening me. I could not cope. I was under severe stress.
I went to Beijing to appeal in March 2000. I wanted to tell the CCP the truth about Falun Gong using my own experience. I remember clearly that there were many plainclothes police officers waiting outside the petition office. I'll never forget the tense atmosphere.
I walked to the entrance of the appeals office with several other practitioners. We were stopped at the entrance and asked if we were Falun Gong practitioners. We were searched. A person looked at my ID and shouted, “He's from Nanjing!” Several officers arrested me. I was kicked hard from behind.
I was taken to the Nanjing Liaison Office in Beijing. They handcuffed me to a chair all night. The next day I was taken back to Nanjing and detained for 15 days in the Xixia District Police Department.
My university coerced my father to forge a false medical record. According to the record, I had schizophrenia when I was in high school and needed to go home to recuperate. After the university got the false medical records, they expelled me.
This was a big blow to my mother. She cried every day and got very sick. My grandmother and mother were overwhelmed with grief and passed away.
My family members were not exempt from the CCP's persecution and were also pressured. I was labeled "anti-Party," "anti-society," "anti-humanity," and all the other common Party labels. The enormous pressure almost suffocated me.
Persecuted in a Brainwashing Center
To avoid being harassed by the police, I stayed at home all day. However, this did not stop them from going after me.
In March 2001, the head of Pingding Police Station, Guo Huaxiong, arrested me using the excuse of “preventing future trouble.” I was detained in a small, foul smelling cell. I didn't have enough to eat and had only dirty water to drink.
According to the law, no one can be detained more than 2 days without being charged, but I was detained for more than 5 months.
During that time, more and more Falun Gong practitioners were arrested. Sometimes they arrested more than 20 practitioners at one time. No matter how many were arrested, they were all put in the same small cell. Sometimes we were packed in like sardines.
All the other practitioners detained in the small cell came and left. I was the only one held there for more than five months. I felt very isolated and almost collapsed mentally.
The police tried to force me to say I willingly abandoned my family and academic studies after I began practicing Falun Gong, but I refused to lie. The police threatened to detain me forever if I did not slander Falun Gong.
I was transferred to Wenlou County in July 2001. The county built a house with a yard specifically to detain Falun Gong practitioners
It was summer and the yard was unbearably hot and humid. Mosquitoes swarmed the yard. The police ordered us to run while shouting slogans that slandered Falun Gong and Master Li (the founder of Falun Gong). They ordered us to smear paint on Falun Gong books and Master's photos. They ordered us to write repentance statements.
Those who refused to comply were beaten. Some practitioners' homes were broken into and completely ransacked. Some couples were arrested, leaving their young children at home alone. The police did whatever they wanted to Falun Gong practitioners.
In August 2001, I was transferred to Maoming Brainwashing Center and held for more than 3 months. Practitioners were detained separately. We were not allowed to talk to, greet, or even look at each other.
Practitioners were forced to watch videos that slandered Falun Gong. We were completely deprived of our dignity and human rights. The police searched us and verbally abused us whenever they liked.
The guards monitored us 24 hours a day. Practitioners had to report to the guards even when we needed to use the toilet.
I became emaciated due to the mental and physical torture. I was so thin that I managed to escape between the bars of the window.
Arrested Again in 2012
After being homeless for about ten years, I thought it might be safe to return, so I went home on October 16, 2012.
I went to the police station to apply for my ID and was told that there was no record of me.
On October17, I went to visit the deputy mayor of my county to apply for my ID. He asked me to come again the next day. When I went to see him the next day, the police were there. They wanted me to give them information about other practitioners.
On November 5, 2012, the deputy mayor told me to go to the Huazhou City government offices to fill out an application form for my ID. The Huazhou police arrested me.
Persecuted Again
When I asked the police why they were arresting me, they did not answer. I was detained in Maoming Brainwashing Center.
What had happened 10 years before was happening again. The frightful, suffocating atmosphere had not changed, even though the location was different.
There's no sign on the brainwashing center, and looking at the exterior no one would imagine it's a jail. This is how the authorities conceal their evil deeds.
The brainwashing center's windows were reinforced, and the balcony was closed off. I was detained alone on the fifth floor. I learned later that all the Falun Gong practitioners were detained separately. They thought it was an effective approach to brainwash us.
I will never forget the horrible feeling of being detained alone. There was nobody to talk to. You did not know how they would use to torture you and you did not know how long you would be detained. They could send anybody at any time to a labor camp without any evidence or a trial. After you served the term at the labor camp, you could be sent back to the brainwashing center again. The persecution here was more hidden and more unbearable. They had become more vicious after ten years.
From the moment I was arrested I kept thinking about how to escape. I managed to escape again finally. I heard later that I was the only practitioner who had managed to escape from that brainwashing center for years.
My Life Now
This is my current situation: I cannot apply for a new ID, my financial situation is very bad (I can barely afford food), and I'm afraid to go out in public.
Although I'm not in prison physically, I'm in an invisible jail created by the CCP. I suffer every day and have nowhere to hide.
Some people may think that I should get my ID by giving up my belief in Falun Gong. Yet even writing a "guarantee statement" is only the beginning. After you write the guarantee that you will give up your belief, you need to write a “repentance statement” and a “guarantee to disassociate yourself from Falun Gong.”
Every aspect of the persecution of Falun Gong is illegal. It is the most basic right for every citizen to have an ID. I have no reason to give up my belief. I hope that all compassionate people will stand up to help stop this persecution.
Participants the Persecution of Mr. Huang Zeliang:
Yan Xiaoyan, head of the 610 Office of Huazhou City: +86-13824867555 Li Guangyu, head of the Pingding Police Station: +86-13927515598, +86-668-7530181 Chen Liucheng, deputy head of the Pingding Police Station: +86-13929759117 Li Zhaoyu, deputy mayor of Pingding County: +86-13542302272
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