Individual Accounts

  • 43-Year-Old Shandong Man Recalls 15 Years of Persecution for His Belief in Falun Gong

    Looking back at the persecution he has suffered over the years, Mr. Liu Yongjin knows that unless he tells his story, no one will ever know the truth. “Because of the strict information blockade and family visitation denials, only the people who persecuted me know what happened—no one else knows,” he said. “And they will make up any excuse to hide their crimes.” After suffering forced-feeding and torture for a month, Mr. Liu was sentenced to the Tai'an Prison by the Lanshan District Court on March 21st, 2008. The trial took place at the Linyi Brainwashing Centre and lasted only 5 minutes.
  • Practitioners Recall Suspicious Blood Draws in Mudanjiang Prison and Daxing Women's Forced Labour Camp

    I was sentenced to four years in Mudanjiang Prison for practising Falun Gong. Between 2002 and 2006, I underwent three “health checkups.” Each time, they took my blood pressure and drew a syringe of blood. When I was released I read the reports about organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners while they were still alive. It has come to light that in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) prisons and forced labour camps all over China, practitioners have been subjected to “health checkups,” and their blood is taken for tests.
  • Blood Sample Drawn for No Apparent Reason at Liaoning Women's Prison

    Since organ harvesting from living Falun Gong practitioners in China was first exposed in 2006, many practitioners have come to a shocking realization. The unexplained physical examinations and blood tests they were forced to go through while detained could very well have put them in danger of becoming a victim of this state-sanctioned crime.
  • Personal Account of Persecution Suffered by Falun Gong Practitioner Shen Lixin

    Gongzhuling Prison is notorious for its cruelty. There are around 3000 inmates, and death is commonplace. One year, more than 80 inmates died. In January 2001, Mr. Shen Lixin was taken to the police station in Jilin City, where he was tied to a chair with his hands cuffed behind his back and with one arm over his shoulder to cause more pain. The police used a towel to immobilise his head and started to force-feed him through his nostrils with a bottle filled with chilli and hot mustard. When he could not hold his breath, the spicy mixture went into his lungs. “I felt like my lungs had exploded, and the pain went straight to my head, as well," he said.
  • Tan Fengjiang: Seven Years of Torture and Brainwashing

    Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Tan Fengjiang was released from Jiamusi Prison on April 20th, 2013, after 7 years of imprisonment. In prison, Mr. Tan was often beaten, shocked with an electric baton, and force-fed. His left ear was almost torn off during one beating. To protest the persecution he went on a hunger strike. The guards brutally force-fed him and Mr. Tan nearly died.
  • Ms. Sun Libin's Personal Account of the Persecution She Suffered for Upholding Her Belief

    Ms. Sun Libin, 59, previously suffered from migraines and stomach problems. She benefited physically and mentally after she took up the cultivation practice of Falun Gong. However, she was arrested and imprisoned merely for distributing DVDs exposing the persecution of Falun Gong. Ms. Sun was sentenced to three and a half years of prison in Harbin Women's Prison in 2011. She developed tuberculosis as a result of the torture and poor living conditions she suffered while imprisoned, and was detained in the prison hospital for more than seven months. The prison did not allow her medical parole.
  • The “Transforming” Torture Package Used by the Beijing Forced Labour Camp System

    I was detained in Beijing Forced Labour Dispatch Division in 2008, and afterwards incarcerated in Beijing Women’s Forced Labour Camp. I suffered through every single step of the “transforming package” [forcibly renounce Falun Gong] that the forced labour system uses. As a result I was severely traumatized, both mentally and physically. Practitioners are forced to sign their names on the pre-drafted statements to accept the contents that slander Falun Gong. Refusing to sign the statements results in the practitioners being subjected to a series of “transforming” methods.
  • A Schoolteacher's Firsthand Account of Persecution in Mental Hospitals and Brainwashing Centres

    “... I looked at myself in the mirror. I was cross-eyed and my hair was a mess. The blood stain in the corner of my mouth reminded me of the previous drug torture I had endured, the details of which I could only vaguely remember. Tears ran down my cheek. I no longer looked like a normal human being as a result of the persecution! My hands were trembling uncontrollably, my body stiff, limbs out of control.” – a personal account of persecution by Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Chang Ping.
  • Persevering Through Torture and Humiliation—Excerpts from a Young Woman's Diary Written While in Detention

    “How I wanted to paint again, everything I have gone through: the feeding tube, the handcuffs, the iron window, the logo on the uniform! I saw clearly the bruises on my hands, the dried blood on my lips, my bare feet, the filth in my hair....tears run down my cheeks again....” This is an excerpt from a young woman's diary written while in custody at a detention centre in China. Simply for telling people how to break through the Internet blockade, Ms. He Wenting was arrested for a second time on December 18th, 2013 and has been detained since.
  • Ms. Zhang Chunhe Recounts Abuses at Guangdong Women's Prison: “I Was in a State of Horror Every Day”

    Ms. Zhang Chunhe was arrested by police from the local 610 Office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong) on July 23rd, 2008. Despite the fact that she suffered from a large fibroid tumour, she was sentenced to three years in prison for her belief in Falun Gong. Ms. Zhang said:"During the days when I was detained at the 4th division, I was living in a state of horror every second."
  • Healthy Falun Gong Practitioner Forced to Take Four Blood Pressure Medications Every Day for Over Two Years

    The Yunnan Province First Prison forced healthy Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Peng Pingguo to take four different kinds of blood pressure medications three times a day for two and a half years straight. According to medical professionals, these four drugs, Metoprolol, Nitrendipine, Compound Hypotensive Tablets, and Enalapril, are intended for patients with severe symptoms of high blood pressure, and should never be casually taken together. Long-term use of the four-drug cocktail, especially by people with no blood pressure problems, will cause dire consequences to their health. In one physician’s words, “Such use would be like suicide in slow-motion.”
  • Blood Washed Away in the Rain - Tortured for My Belief

    Because of his firm belief of Falun Gong, Mr. Li Yufu was arrested in July 2008 and sentenced to five years in prison. He recounts: "As soon as I entered the prison cell, several prisoners forced me to the ground. They punched and kicked me. My face became so swollen that I could hardly open my eyes. The guards wanted me to put something in writing to renounce my belief, but I refused. Incited by the guards, the prisoners brutally beat me. My teeth became loose and two of my front teeth fell out shortly afterward."
  • Ms. Sun Xiuhua's Personal Account of Torture at Masanjia Forced Labour Camp

    Ms. Sun Xiuhua was arrested for clarifying the facts about Falun Gong on April 14th, 2012. She was taken to the Dandong Detention Centre and later sentenced to 18 months in the Masanjia Forced Labour Camp on May 13th, 2012. She recounts: "I was severely tortured and exhibited symptoms of high blood pressure. When the guards ordered me to take some of what they called “medicine”, I refused. Guard Zhang Lei then took me to the “Donggang” torture chamber. As soon as I entered the room, my hands and feet were tied to the four corners of a metal bed frame. They then used a tool to pry open my mouth."
  • Ms. Liu Rangying Recounts “Stretching” Torture and Other Abuses at Qinglongshan Brainwashing Centre

    Ms. Liu Rangying was arrested in October 2011 while seeking the release of her sister, who had been detained for raising awareness about the persecution of Falun Gong. She recounts: "On November 14th, police officer Tao Hua tried to force me to write the “three statements” to renounce practising Falun Gong. I refused. I went on a hunger strike to protest the unjust detention. Police officer Jin Yanpeng hit and kicked me hard. He threatened me and said that people were “transformed” by force, not “education” at the centre. They took turns trying to brainwash me with slanderous propaganda materials all day long."
  • Tortured to the End: Personal Account of the Last Person to Leave the Qianjin Forced Labour Camp

    Ms. Zuo Xianfeng was the last Falun Gong practitioner detained in Qianjin Forced Labour Camp in Harbin City before it was shut down. She walked out of the camp on the morning of August 29th, 2013. Ms. Zuo was reported to the police by a villager while she was distributing informational materials about Falun Gong and was arrested on November 4th, 2012. She was detained there for two years and two months. On her day of release, officials still tried to make her write the “three statements” to renounce Falun Gong before releasing her and tried unsuccessfully to forcibly transfer Ms. Zuo to another detention facility.