The Heart-Wrenching Tale of Zou Guirong's Persecution
In a somber chronicle that defies the bounds of humanity, the plight of Zou Guirong, a steadfast practitioner hailing from Xinbin County, Fushun City, Liaoning Province, China, paints a chilling portrait of persecution that culminated in a tragic demise.
At the tender age of 34, in the turbulent August of 2000, Zou Guirong found herself ensnared within the confines of the Second Women's Detention Center, a place that would become the arena for unspeakable horrors.
Behind closed doors, the very walls seemed to shudder with the malevolent intent as the director of the detention center instigated a gruesome plot. A sinister alliance was formed, comprising six or seven criminal inmates, eager to execute a brutal symphony of violence.
Among those implicated were individuals such as Su Jing, the ringleader, Wang Naimin, Zhang Xiurong, and Qiu Ping, the chief orchestrator of a sub-division within the group.
In the chilling dormitory of the detention center, Zou Guirong's agony would find no respite. Hung upside down from the upper bunks, her frail form dangled precariously, a grim tableau of suffering.
This sinister technique coerced the victim into a grotesque posture, compelling her to anchor both legs resolutely against the upper tier of a bunk bed. She was forced to stretch her waist, abdomen, and chest to the limits of endurance.
Zou Guirong bowed in submission to the merciless forces that held her captive. The torment inflicted was nothing short of excruciating, an unrelenting agony that left her drenched in a sheen of perspiration, bearing testament to her indomitable will to survive.
Yet, this was not the extent of her torment. Inmates and guards, driven by an unholy desire to inflict her suffering, devised another form of punishment.
Zou Guirong was compelled to maintain a half-squat position, a brutal imposition that demanded unwavering stillness. The consequence of failure was swift and brutal – a merciless beating awaited those who dared falter.
For Zou Guirong, this became a living nightmare, a relentless cycle of pain that resembled nothing short of an infernal abyss. As perspiration cascaded down her beleaguered frame, she found herself engulfed by a torrent of suffering, her very essence entwined with the chilling reality of her ordeal.
Her body, once a vessel of life and vitality, was reduced to a vessel of pain. The agony etched upon her face was matched only by the sheen of sweat that bathed her trembling form. Such torment was not an isolated event; it was a recurring nightmare that she was forced to endure.
But this was not the extent of the torment inflicted upon Zou Guirong. Her body became a canvas for unspeakable cruelty, as her tormentors subjected her to a grotesque display of power.
They stood upon her shoulders, their weight pressing down upon her fragile form, crushing her beneath their inhumanity. The toll upon her body was beyond comprehension, rendering her unable to walk, a shattered testament to the depths of human depravity.
In the aftermath of these horrors, Zou Guirong's spirit faltered, her body weakened beyond repair. Tragically, her life was claimed by the very forces that sought to break her. A poignant letter, written in 2001 to her mother, stands as a haunting testament to her suffering, a voice silenced by the darkness that enveloped her existence.
Dear Mom,
I have left you and been gone for nearly two years now, something that I am most sorry about. I know that I am supposed to be with you to carry out my filial responsibilities, but I am unable to do that right now. You have raised me well and given me a firm and compassionate personality. When I learned Falun Dafa, it provided me with more complete standards for being a human--Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance. Dafa gave me a new life.
I know you miss me dearly and are afraid that I will suffer in the labor camp. Mom, I want to tell you, if I didn't practice Dafa, the pain and hardship that I've suffered in Masanjia Forced Labor Camp would have been more than enough to kill me. Now I am suffering from even more harsh beatings and abuse at Shenxin Forced Labor Camp. Earlier, my two elder sisters came to see me and under orders from the labor camp, pleaded with me to eat. They even used these words that the police guards often use, "You should be beaten if you don't admit you're wrong." Mom, what have I done wrong? If clarifying the truth in Beijing has become a crime and the nation's capital has become a restricted area where appeals are forbidden, then what is the point of establishing the appeals offices in the first place?
Practitioners are not guilty of any crime, but we have suffered from relentless torture and abuse in the forced labor camps. I have already finished serving my term (which expired on March 14), yet as of today I have been held for three additional months, and remain detained in the labor camp. Two other practitioners and I went on a hunger strike to appeal for my freedom. When Deguo and my sisters came to visit, the police deceived them into pleading with me to make me eat, and made them believe that I would be set free once my sentence was finished.
On June 5, when we returned from Dabei Prison Hospital (I was sent there after the hunger strike at Shenxin and taken to a dark basement with metal doors and locks which made it appear like a dungeon) to Shenxin Labor Camp with another practitioner, labor camp officials extended Wang Li's sentence for six months. Supposedly, she was to be set free on June 15, but now the policy is that those who do not renounce their practice will have their sentences continually extended. In fact, three days after we returned to Shenxin, they again started to force me to wear clothing denouncing our practice. I and another practitioner, Yin Liping, refused to wear them.
The vicious female police guards dragged me into an office, tore my shirt, and forced me into those clothes. They pulled my hair, hit my head, and slapped me in the face. After the abuse, I was locked up. Yin Liping and I were locked up in separate cells. Both of our sentences have expired and we should have been released to go home, but because we persisted in our practice, we continue to remain in custody and continue to suffer from vicious abuse. So in reality, who is breaking the law?
We don't assault people verbally or physically, but are branded as criminals. Instead, those who recklessly abuse and harass others are supposed to be at no fault at all. They supposedly enforce the law, but break the law themselves. Who is evil and who is righteous? The answer is quite obvious. Currently right and wrong are inverted, and people just can't distinguish good from bad these days.
Because I practiced the Falun Gong exercises, I had to suffer from being shocked by guard Song Xiaoshi's electric batons. He used two electric batons to shock me. The third time, he shocked me in the guard chamber until the battery of the electric baton went dead. The officers spread a lot of deceitful propaganda. They deceive practitioners' families using even more deceitful methods, telling them about how we became such-and-such in the labor camp. We are also human, and have families and children, but in addition to extending our imprisonment, they even say that we cause trouble and that we are not reasonable.
They talk one way, but act another way; they simply do not do correct things. Everything here is deceptive, and they do not speak the truth. Last time my two older sisters came to visit, I refused to meet my with them (it would have been our second meeting) because I didn't want the guards' plot to prevail, and that is why I refused. As a result, they sent us to the Dabei Prison Hospital. We went there and saw that the basement looked like a black hell. If we didn't eat and died from starvation, no one would even notice.
During our second hunger strike, when Yin Liping was force-fed, Division Head Guo Yong threw a punch to her back, leaving her unable to walk. Her back movements are still very limited. The guards treat practitioners with such brutality. Can't all this awaken our families to distinguish clearly between right and wrong? Yin Liping is totally aware of the evil drama. She condemns them every time she is force-fed, and lets the people know about their evil actions. Since Yin Liping's last force-feeding, division head Guo Yong has been afraid to make an appearance, because his evil deeds have been completely exposed by Yin Liping. Doing good will bring good, and doing evil will bring evil. The heavens will not forgive them.
Mom, please tell Deguo to be alert and not trust anyone easily, especially the guards from the Shenxin Forced Labor Camp. This includes what they say and what they ask him to do. My hospital expenses should be covered by the Shenxin Labor Camp; do not listen to their deceit.
Wishing you good health and longevity! Wishing the entire family happiness! I am currently at Shenyang City Dabei Prison underground prison hospital.
Your fourth daughter,
Zou Guirong
Among the shadows of this grim narrative, a poignant question lingers - the whereabouts of Ms. Yin Liping, a figure mentioned within Zou Guirong's letter, remain shrouded in mystery. Her absence, a chilling void, serves as a haunting reminder that the echoes of this tragedy reverberate far beyond the confines of time and place.
