(Minghui.org) Mr. Yu Enxiang who lives in Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province, was repeatedly arrested for practicing Falun Gong. He was sentenced to three years of forced labor after he was arrested in April 2003. He was released ahead of time at the end of December 2005. His wife was also persecuted for practicing Falun Gong. She developed a head tremor and never recovered. Their two daughters grew up in fear. Once high-achievers, they dropped out of school after they completed middle school.
Mr. Yu Enxiang recently recounted his suffering.
I took up Falun Gong in 1997 and my heart and stomach diseases were resolved. I was able to work and support my family. My wife also joined me in practicing Falun Gong.
On July 20, 1999, the day the Chinese Communist Party formally launched a nationwide campaign against Falun Gong, I went to the provincial government to appeal for the right to practice my faith. I managed to escape and returned home. My two daughters said their mother was abducted by the police.
I went to the Fendou Police Station to seek my wife’s release. Chief Qu Zhantao yelled at me and put me in the Hulan District Detention Center for 15 days. He did release my wife.
In February 2000, I was arrested and held at the Dongfeng Street Community Office. The staffers took turns monitoring me 24/7 and ordered me to write statements to renounce Falun Gong. A few days later I was transferred to the Hulan District Detention Center. The head inmate kicked and punched me. He also slapped my face so hard that my eardrums were ruptured. I was released 27 days later. I could not hear for a long time.
I returned to Beijing in April 2000 to appeal for my right to practice Falun Gong. Since thousands of practitioners were also going to Beijing to appeal, the local police hired jobless people to search us. They turned all my pockets inside out and seized the few dozen yuan I had. They took me to the Harbin Liaison Office in Beijing. Local police then picked me up and brought me back to Harbin.
I was again put in the Hulan District Detention Center. A man in his 30s surnamed Wu hurled foul language at me. He forced me to stand by a wall, before kicking me and punching me on the chest. I sustained severe injuries.
I went on a hunger strike in protest and was force-fed by Wang Jianxin, the detention center doctor. He used a metal mouth opener on me. My teeth became loose and were inflamed. My gums were swollen and painful, and oozed pus and blood.
After I was released over 40 days later, I had only three upper teeth left, and my lower teeth were loose.
While I was detained the police went to my home and demanded my wife pay for their travel expenses to Beijing to pick me up. She refused to comply.
The police extorted more than 3,000 yuan from me.
In May 2002, a local practitioner escaped while being held at a hospital. The police thought he might be seeking shelter at my home. Around 8 p.m. one night, then-chief Wang Xianjun of the Fendou Police Station led a few officers to my home. They scaled my fence and shouted in my yard. They attempted to pry open my door and window, but couldn’t find suitable tools. They then jumped over the fence and left.
Officers from the Heping Police Station arrested me in April 2003. They confiscated my tricycle, which has not been returned to this day.
An officer slapped my face and restrained me in a metal chair during the interrogation. They held me at the Hulan District Detention Center for more than 70 days. After that, they gave me three years of forced labor. I refused to get into a car to be driven to the Wanjia Labor Camp. They handcuffed me and pushed me into the vehicle.
I was found to have high blood pressure during the required physical exam. The labor camp initially refused to admit me. Detention center guard Li Mingjiu then used some connections to have the labor camp take me.
After I was held for 15 days in the strict management team of the Wanjia Labor Camp, I was transferred to the Changlinzi Labor Camp. When I arrived team lead Zhao Shuang instructed multiple inmates to beat me. They did not stop until I was forced to write statements to renounce my faith against my will.
The labor camp guards only allowed me to use the restroom 2 or 3 times a day. So I refrained from drinking water or eating too much. We had to go to the restroom together at set times. If I was deemed too slow, I was beaten by inmate Xu Kunlei, who was assigned to monitor restroom use.
Practitioners were not allowed to talk to or share things with each other. Once I gave another practitioner some pickles. Vice team lead Qiang Shengguo found out about it and threw my pickles away. Inmate Zhong Chunlong, who was in charge of the workshop, verbally abused me when he noticed my mouth was moving and he thought I was talking to others.
We had to do forced labor from around 6 a.m. to about 9 p.m. Whenever I failed to finish my quota, I was deprived of sleep for several nights.
The food was also very poor. In the beginning, we were given corn bread with some napa soup. There was mud at the bottom of the bowl. Later there was a bit oil on the soup to “improve our living condition.” The steamed buns were black, and maggots crawled out of the pickled vegetables.
My family deposited 200 yuan into my commissary account, but head inmate Wang Zhengguo pocketed 100 yuan of it after he beat me. The items my loved ones sent in were also withheld by Wang. Inmate Li Xiaodong pocketed the razor my family gave me.
Whenever the higher-ups came to inspect the labor camp, the guards had regular inmates talk to the inspectors. They never allowed us practitioners to see the inspectors for fear that we might complain about the abuse.
One night in Spring 2004, the labor camp ordered all practitioners [around 30 at the time] to take a test. As the questions were about slandering Falun Gong and its founder, I refused to take it. Vice team lead Qiang shocked me with an electric baton until it ran out of charge.
Another guard, a young man in his 20s, slapped my face more than 20 times. Two inmates were also instructed to beat me. I was in so much pain that I couldn’t turn my body at night. I also struggled to get out of bed.
I was moved to Team One. Instructor Yang Yu notied I was reading the Falun Gong teachings one day and shocked me with an electric baton. I yelled, “The instructor is beating me!” A guard came in and Yang stopped.
Another time the guards put me and another practitioner in a cell. More than ten guards suddenly barged in and held the two of us to draw our blood. We struggled but they managed to draw one syringe of blood from each of us.
All the practitioners went on a group hunger strike on October 17, 2004, and demanded we be released unconditionally. Guard Yang Yu instructed inmates to drag me to the cafeteria. My pants and shoe were torn. An inmate stuffed my mouth with a mop. Yang shocked me on the mouth, face, and other parts of my body with an electric baton. He also taunted me.
Team lead Yang Jintang and instructor Yang Yu also summoned my father to travel over 300 miles to the labor camp to persuade me to renounce my faith. They also got my sister and brother-in-law to talk to me. My daughters were also harassed at school.
I remained firm in my faith. They then got a former practitioner to “work on” me. I remained silent. Yang Jintang went into a rage. He slammed the door and left.
On October 26, 2004, many of us practitioners started another round of peaceful resistance. We refused to wear the prison badges or do hard labor. The guards forced each of us to sit on small stools all day. They later restrained us in metal chairs and shocked us with electric batons.
I was not deterred. The guards later moved me back to team five. Inmate Zhao Shuang measured my blood pressure and the systolic reading was 180 mmHg (when a normal range is 120 or lower). I was also found to have an irregular heartbeat. Since I did not meet the requirements to do forced labor, Zhao ordered me to take medications. I refused and he slapped my face. My ears were damaged and I had trouble hearing.
I reported the incident to vice director Liu Lun of the detention center. He said he’d launch an investigation to “hear the other side of the story.” He did not get back to me. I went on a hunger strike and I was transferred to Team Two.
Inmate Zhao came to Team Two and promised to give me extra food. He also said team two beat practitioners much harder than he did.
The Team Two lead asked if I had any requests. I said I wanted to go home. He said that was impossible but he helped me remove the 34-day term extension given by Team Five. He also took me to the Harbin City Second Hospital to have my ears examined.
I went on a hunger strike one last time and was force-fed unknown drugs. My head and chest felt uncomfortable. My legs became weak. My term was extended by seven days.
Due to my poor health, I was released ahead of time at the end of December 2005.
The Brutal Persecution of Practitioners in Changlinzi Forced Labor Camp