(Minghui.org) A 61-year-old woman in Zhuozhou City, Hebei Province, recently filed for state compensation for the damages she has suffered since the Chinese Communist Party ordered the persecution of her faith, Falun Gong, in July 1999.
Ms. Gao Chunlian served a two-year forced labor camp term and two five-year prison terms. While in custody, she was beaten, shocked with electric batons, deprived of sleep, and force-fed. She was also held at a brainwashing center and fired by her employer.
Below is Ms. Gao’s own account of how she has been persecuted.
I used to work at the Gaobeidian toll station on the Beijing-Shijiazhuang expressway. I struggled with several ailments, including gastritis, nephritis, nervous exhaustion, and chronic fatigue. I tried many different treatments, but none of them had much effect.
In 1996, when I had lost all hope, a neighbor introduced me to Falun Gong. Within a month after I started practicing it, I had completely recovered. With a higher energy level, my work performance improved as well.
The teachings of Falun Gong also helped me work on my short temper, and my strained relationship with my mother-in-law improved, too.
I was arrested on April 18, 2001, and given a two-year term at the Baoding Forced Labor Camp. Guards Zhang Guohong and Chen Yajuan forced me to squat at night and took turns kicking my knees. My left leg was so severely injured that it became significantly thinner than the right, and I limped.
Because I refused to watch propaganda videos smearing Falun Gong on July 25, 2002, guard Liu Ziwei handcuffed me to a chair for three days. I was subjected to mosquito bites and vomited. They also barred me from using the restroom.
Guards Liu and inmates Zhang Hong, Wu Xiaoli, and Kan Chunjuan beat me one day for hours. They grabbed my hair and slammed my head against the wall over 40 times. They slapped me in the face and jaw and kicked my lower abdomen and legs. My blood and hair covered the floor. My face was severely swollen, my mouth and nose were bleeding, my lips were torn, my lower jaw was fractured, my teeth were loose, and I was unable to swallow.
The pain was terrible. Fearing that I might die, guard Zhang Guohong ordered the inmates to carry me to her office, where she watched me overnight.
For three months, the guards talked to me every night until 4 a.m., attempting to make me renounce Falun Gong. I only got a few hours of sleep before I’d have to get up again.
Many practitioners who refused to renounce Falun Gong were forced to do hard labor, such as installing lead plates without proper protective gear or carrying heavy metal frames under the scorching sun.
When my term in the labor camp expired in May 2003, Gao Jian, the secretary of the local Political and Legal Affairs Committee, and Qu Qianming, the village director, took me straight to the Zhuozhou City Brainwashing Center.
The brainwashing center’s director, Gao Xuefei, handcuffed me to a tree. Li Ming, the director of the 610 Office, later ordered the deputy director of the brainwashing center, Du Yonglu, to handcuff me to a bed for a day. Gao Xuefei, Zhao Yinjiu, Wang Lei, and Wang Chao took turns slapping me in the face and hitting my back with a rubber club.
As a result of the beatings, I became emaciated, and my face was bruised. Only when I was on the verge of death did Du take me to the hospital, where I was issued a notice of critical condition. Luckily, I survived.
While I was in the brainwashing center, the local authorities frequently harassed my family, especially my father. Having witnessed the brutality of the Communist Party during its political campaigns, my father was terrified. He passed away on May 10, 2004. He was only 66.
During my time in the labor camp, my eight-year-old son often cried at night. He was bullied and discriminated against at school, which caused him to become withdrawn and develop low self-esteem.
I was arrested again on October 12, 2007, and secretly sentenced to five years by the Zhuozhou City Court. I was transferred to the Hebei Province Women’s Prison in April 2008.
Starting in September 2008, the Tenth Division initiated a “transformation” campaign directed at me. Instructor Zhang Lihua instigated five inmates to beat me many times, each time for two hours. They pulled my hair and ears, slapped me in the face, and dug into my eyes. I was unable to turn over in bed at night and had difficulty walking. Inmate Zhou Houling even spread feces on a shoe sole and forced it into my mouth.
Deputy division head Han Xiuxin shocked me with an electric baton on my face and neck for 40 minutes because I refused to do forced labor.
In August 2010, I was sent to the 13th Division and held in solitary confinement for 21 months. I was forced to get up at 5:30 a.m. and couldn’t go to bed until midnight. I was also forced to stand during the day and watch propaganda smearing Falun Gong.
The guards force-fed me through a nasal tube for two months. I still had to pay for it. Inmate Li Fengqin added a lot of salt to my food and didn’t let me drink water.
During the winter, they made me sit on the cold concrete floor for 18 hours a day for six months straight. Hard calluses formed on my buttocks and my bones were injured.
Guard Jiao Guimei also prohibited me from showering for four months. My hair was matted and smelly.
I was arrested again on February 25, 2014, and sentenced to another five years by the Zhuozhou City Court on February 11, 2015. I was admitted to the Hebei Province Women’s Prison on August 16, 2015.
Guards Wang Ye and Cao Haiyan of the 14th Division deprived me of sleep three times: the first time for eight days, the second time for six days, and the third time for 18 days. The inmates took turns watching me for two hours at a time. To keep me awake, they sprayed cold water on my face and shook me. I was dizzy and even begin to hallucinate. Guard Cao force-fed me toxic drugs, leaving scars on my cheeks from pinching me during the process. Guard Kong Xiaofei left me in a cold room for over ten hours a day.
When I was released on February 25, 2019, after years of torture, I was haggard, my memory was poor, my hair was gray, and my back was hunched. I was out of breath after taking just a few steps.
I practice Falun Gong and follow its principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance to be a good person. Despite the fact that millions of practitioners in China have benefited from it, the Chinese Communist Party still ordered the persecution in 1999.
Over the past 27 years, countless families have been torn apart. Children have become orphans after their parents were persecuted to death, and elderly parents have lost the care and support of their children. This has severely damaged our most basic human rights and brought disaster to society.
Falun Gong Practitioners Deprived of Sleep for Weeks in Hebei Provincial Women's Prison