China Aid Association
Photo: photos of pastor Chen Jingmao and his medical records after he was released with wounds due to torture and abuse
China Torture and Abuse Report (Below) Released Today; Attention on Religious Freedom in China Urged by US Rights Organizations
Watch Video Interviews Soon!!!!
(CAA (Washington DC)-April 18, 2006) Two days before the summit between US President Bush and Chinese President Hu, four rights and church institutions including two of them from Midland, Texas, the hometown of President George W. and first lady Laura Bush, released 2005 report on torture and abuse against independent Chinese House church members and leaders. The four organizations are China Aid Association, Institute of Religion and Public Policy, Jubilee Campaign, USA and Midland Ministerial Alliance.
With details of testimonies including photos evidence and video interviews of 19 believers from five different provinces, the report highlights and summarizes some of the most egregious cases of brutality and state-sponsored torture of Evangelical Christians during 2005 that have been documented by the China Aid Association (CAA). Although international laws condemning torture exist and have been ratified by nations that include China, in 1996 China adopted its own laws forbidding torture.
Despite the condemnation of torture nationally and internationally, the implementation of torture remains widespread in China today. This demonstrates the sharp contrast between how arbitrarily justice is administered in the PRC as compared to their own written laws and how inconsistent the PRC’s government authorities are in obeying their own written laws.
In the report, 23 year-old sister Zhao Yan recalls how she was treated by her interrogator Mr. Qiu Yunfei after she was arrested for having a bible study with two American seminary students at Zaoyang city, Hubei province on August 2, 2005:
After a few words he slapped me in the face and kicked me to the ground. He ordered me to kneel on the ground and cuffed my two thumbs. He then let me raise my arms and keep them level. He again slapped me across the ears. He also hit me with a leather belt on my mouth. He took the drinking glass on the table and smashed it on my arm€¦He then kicked my cuffed hands. I rolled around on the floor; the cuffs were eating into my flesh. When the cuff on my right thumb became loose he put it on my two forefingers. Again he wanted me to hold up my hands. Whenever I lower my arms he burned me with a cigarette butt. The head of the Security Bureau, Zhang Xujin, also entered the room. He scolded me and severely kicked my left leg. He also severely kicked my two hands around on the muddy floor. Afterwards he wanted me to raise my hands up. He grabbed the cuffs and dragged me forward and up. My fingers simply wanted to break. I was continually tortured like this.
Zhao was later pressured into signing false documents before she was released.
‘Since this report only deals with some cases of the torture and abuse against evangelical House Church movement, it only reflects the tip of the iceberg and is by no means an exhaustive report”, said Bob Fu, the report’s primary author, “rather, it is meant to provide clear and concise details of what occurs on a regular basis within the PRC’s borders.”
Torture is internationally recognized as illegal. It is a denial of some of the most basic of human rights. Its occurrence in any nation, especially on a widespread and regular basis, is an extremely serious matter and deserves the concern and attention of the international community.
The report concludes that the PRC government demonstrates no regard for national nor international laws[1] in their attempt to purge independent Christian faith from China. The report urges the international community to hold those officials (some named in the report) who involved torture and abuse accountable.
For more comments on the report, please contact:
Mr. Joe K. Grieboski at the Institute of Religion and Public Policy at 202-835-8760
Ms. Ann Buwalda at Jubilee Campaign, USA at 703-582-3242
CAA asks people of conscience to show your concerns and write/call to the Chinese Embassy and Consulates in the US:
Embassy of the People’s Republic of China
2300 Connecticut Ave NW
Washington DC 20008
Tel:(202) 328-2500 Fax: (202) 588-0032
Director of Religious Affairs:
(202) 328-2512
Chinese Consulate General in Chicago, IL
Address: 100 West Erie Street, Chicago, IL 60610
Tel: (312) 803-0095
Fax: (312) 803-0110
Chinese Consulate General in Houston, TX
Address: 3417 Montrose Blvd., Houston, TX 77006
Tel: (713) 524-0780
Fax: (713) 524-7656
Chinese Consulate General in Los Angeles, CA
Address: 443 Shatto Place, Los Angeles, CA 90020
Tel: (213) 807-8018
Fax: (213) 380-1961
Chinese Consulate General in New York, NY
Address: 520 12th Avenue, New York, NY 10036
Tel: (212) 244 9392
Fax: (212) 502 0258
Chinese Consulate General in San Francisco, CA
Address: 1450 Laguna St. San Francisco, CA 94115
Tel: (415) 674-2940
Fax: (415) 563-4861
Issued by China Aid Association, Inc. on April 18, 2006
[1] Besides the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, all of the Chinese Christians in this report are protected under:
The Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities (adopted by the UN General Assembly resolution 47/135 of December 18, 1992);
The Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief (proclaimed by the UN General Assembly resolution 36/55 of November 25, 1981);
Basic Principles for the Treatment of Prisoners (adopted and proclaimed by the UN General Assembly resolution 45/111 of December 14, 1990);
The International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights (adopted by the UN General Assembly resolution 2200A (XXI) of December 16, 1966; entered into force March 23, 1976).
Report on PRC’s
Torture and Inhumane Treatment of
Chinese Evangelical Christians in 2005
Released
China Aid Association, Texas (Bob Fu, President)
Institute of Religion and Public Policy (Joe K. Grieboski, President)
Jubilee Campaign, USA (Ann Buwalda, Executive Director)
Midland Ministerial Alliance (Rev. Roy Smith, President)
April, 2006
China Aid Association
PO Box 8513
Midland, Texas 79701
Web: WWW.ChinaAid.Org
Email: [email protected]
[email protected]
Toll Free: 1888-889-7757
Fax: 1-432-686-8355
The Full Text of the Report:
Introduction
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the United Nations on December 10, 1948. Article V states:“No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”
The 1984, the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT) defines torture as:
“(A)ny act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain and suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. It does not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in or incidental to lawful sanctions (Part I, Article I).”
Torture is internationally recognized as illegal. It is a denial of some of the most basic of human rights. Its occurrence in any nation, especially on a widespread and regular basis, is an extremely serious matter and deserves the concern and attention of the international community.
Although international laws condemning torture exist and have been ratified by nations that include China, in 1996 China adopted its own laws forbidding torture. Specific laws which exist in PRC’s Criminal Law are as follows:
Article 247. Any judicial officer who extorts confession from a criminal suspect or defendant by torture or extorts testimony from a witness by violence shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years or criminal detention. If he causes injury, disability or death to the victim, he shall be convicted and given a heavier punishment in accordance with the provisions of Article 234 or 232 of this Law.
Article 248. Any policeman or other officer of an institution of confinement like a prison, a detention house or a custody house who beats a prisoner or maltreats him by subjecting him to corporal punishment, if the circumstances are serious shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years or criminal detention; if the circumstances are especially serious, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than 10 years. If he causes injury, disability or death to the victim, he shall be convicted and given a heavier punishment in accordance with the provisions of Article 234 or 232 of this Law.
Any policeman or other officer who instigates a person held in custody to beat or maltreat another person held in custody by subjecting him to corporal punishment, the policeman or officer shall be punished in accordance with the provisions of the preceding paragraph.
Despite the condemnation of torture nationally and internationally, the implementation of torture remains widespread in China today. This demonstrates the sharp contrast between how arbitrarily justice is administered in the PRC as compared to their own written laws and how inconsistent the PRC’s government authorities are in obeying their own written laws.
This report will highlight and summarize some of the most egregious cases of brutality and state-sponsored torture of Evangelical Christians during 2005 that have been documented by the China Aid Association (CAA). This report is by no means an exhaustive report; rather, it is meant to provide clear and concise details of what occurs on a regular basis within the PRC’s borders.
Chen Jingmao[1]
74-year old Chen Jingmao spent four horrific years in prison. He was released in July, 2005, and was immediately hospitalized due to the physical abuse and torture by PRC officials during his imprisonment. Chen was arrested in 2001 because of his efforts to send food to needy Christians in Longjiao Township, Yunyang County, Chongqing City. The local PRC government sentenced him to four years in prison for “using a cultic organization to sabotage law enforcement.” He served his prison term in the Aging and Handicapped Team of the 3rd Section of Sanxia Prison, Wanzhou, Chongqing.
When his daughter, Chen Zhiqing, went to visit him on March 16, 2004 she was shocked to see her father being carried out to meet her, completely unable to walk. She learned that on February 2, 2004, a fellow inmate named Yao Decai had reported to prison authorities that Chen had been sharing his Christian beliefs with other prisoners. Within a short amount of time, more than ten PRC prison officials appeared and beat the old man on every part of his body until he lost consciousness. His injuries were so severe that he had no strength to walk nor eat. During the following two weeks, PRC prison officials administered intravenous fluids in Chen four times a day to keep him alive. He could not speak and could barely hear. When Chen Zhiqing tried to find out from PRC prison officials what had transpired and asked them to give her father proper medical attention, she was refused, ignored, and even threatened, despite the fact that her requests about her father’s injuries were completely proper under the prison’s own rules.
Brother Chen Jingmao and his daughter and grandsons
On June 16, 2004, police officials from Longjiao Township, Yunyang County, Chongqing city contacted Chen Zhiqing and urged her to come in for a signature so that her father’s prison term could be relieved. Naturally, she went in. When she arrived at 7:00 AM she was met by three PRC police officials dressed in civilian clothes who interrogated her for the next five hours. They wanted to know how information about her father’s situation had been leaked to the international community. When Chen Zhiqing said she didn’t know, they screamed at her and threatened to move her to “another place” to give her a chance to think about it. When they finally gave up and let her go, they forbade her from mentioning their interrogation to anyone.
She went back to visit her father on June 23, 2004 only to discover that he had developed edema as a result of his treatment. As they discussed his physical condition over the phone, they were cut off and Chen Zhiqing was surrounded by five PRC police officers, forbidden to see her father again, and forbidden to buy him medication or food. In a letter to prison authorities on July 7, 2004, Chen Zhiqing wrote:
“All these things confuse and worry my family. What is more incredible is that, an old man was treated so brutally and inhumanely, which is detrimental to the reputation of your prison and the image of our country. We really don’t understand how you can educate, reform and save thousands of prisoners in such a way. My father’s will to serve his term peacefully is shattered. And he has lost his confidence about life. With no guarantee for life safety, we are afraid that he cannot carry on, and come out of prison alive. We don’t want to see this happen.”
When a 74-year old man is beaten by PRC officials for merely exercising his Constitutional rights – freedom of speech and of religion -[2] it is indeed a very poor reflection on the state of China’s law enforcement and the general disregard of law in PRC. In fact, despite Chen’s daughter’s careful observation of prison rules, prison officials chose to display an obvious disrespect for Chen Zhiqing and her father. Based upon the facts of this case, there is no reason to suspect that the torture of Chen Jingmao was carried out by a few police acting of their own accord and not representing the wishes of the PRC’s government authorities. The facts of his case include too many violations and too many official participants. There is no excuse for their abhorrent behavior. If Chen Jingmao had remained much longer in prison, it is most likely that he would have died from their torture.
Xiao Cao and Fei Xiang[3]
Several disturbing cases of Christian persecution surfaced in the Hunan province this year. The first involves a young married Christian couple, Xiao Cao and his wife, Fei Xiang. In July 2005, Xiao took his wife to a hospital in Changsha to get treatment for her bronchitis and fever, from which she had suffered for a week. As they left the hospital, they were rushed by several men, who took their bag and forced them into separate vehicles.
Cao was blindfolded and taken to the Hunan Detention Security Centre, where PRC officials searched his body and his belongings without producing a search warrant[4]. He was later taken to a unit on the second floor for interrogation. He asked what crime he was being charged with since the government is required to disclose that information.[5] They only answered vaguely, “Your crime is very clear. We already have the evidence. You just need to confess it now.” The interrogation lasted three days and nights, well over the 12-hour maximum time permitted by law.[6] During his interrogation he was not allowed to sleep, causing him to engage in despairing thoughts of suicide. Throughout the interrogation, PRC officials defamed and insulted him and his wife.[7] Because he was so weak, he could not defend himself when they beat him. Throughout the brutal interrogation, they tried to get him to falsely confess that he had committed “crimes that were harmful to society” with such and such a person. When he didn’t give them the answers they wanted, they beat and tortured him to the point where he could barely move. He suffered from mental confusion along with constant headaches until he caved in and agreed to sign anything they told him to sign and to write anything they told him to write. All he remembered of the documents PRC officials made him endorse was that he had written that he was “like a stupid pig.” After seven grueling days, he was released. He has no recollection of the days that immediately followed his release, except that he kept having horrible nightmares.
His wife’s horrific experience began when she was taken into a house to be interrogated for two days and nights by PRC officials who would not provide any identification[8]. Ten people took turns questioning her. Already weak from her illness, her health became progressively worse. PRC officials refused her medical attention when she requested it, and they prevented her from sleeping for the duration of the interrogation. On the third day, they gave her some medicine that immediately made everything worse. The wounds on her head from their beatings ached more than they had previously, she started vomiting, and became very dizzy. In combination with her already weakened state, her further medical complications caused great mental confusion. Her interrogators took that opportunity to force her to write and sign documents that she could no longer understand. To this day, she doesn’t know what those documents contained. After her release and up until the time she wrote her testimony for CAA, she felt constantly uneasy, getting a headache at the slightest noise, and being prevented from getting a full night’s rest because of terrible nightmares.
An Unnamed Christian Woman[9]
In July 2004, a twenty-one year old woman came to Changsha from Xian in Shaanxi to work among university students. Her translation skills brought her into contact with Christian missionaries from America. During the same time, she began work in a refectory. One night, her supervisor told her to go next door to get some flowers, but when she arrived there were no flowers to be picked up. She was abducted by several men, whom she believed to have been PRC officials. They forced her into their car and covered her head. They took her to a secluded room somewhere, where they tortured, bribed, and threatened her to get her to confess and to agree to work as their informant. They forced her to sign a contract with them and made her take 300 yuan as a “reward” before releasing her. She was unable to sleep for days because of nightmares. She lived in constant terror of being abducted again. She fled Changsha and returned home, not even taking the time to get her bags. When she discovered that her local church had been under investigation for the past two weeks, she had to leave her home as well and go into hiding.
The South China Church[10]
On August 2, 2005 police knocked on the door of Ren Daoyun’s home in Zaoyang City, where approximately 50 Christians were meeting and eating breakfast together. There were two American seminary students also present. Ren’s little daughter, not knowing any better, opened the door and more than ten plain-clothes police officers forced their themselves inside. By the end of the ordeal, there were almost ninety police in the house. The house was searched without any search warrant being produced. The PRC police initially refused to show their ID, and many of the women present were arrested without an arrest warrant. The police also forcibly detained the two Americans. These actions are a blatant violation of Chinese law[11].
The reason for the arrests were simply because these individuals held and shared Christian beliefs. It is horrendous that a country that gives it people freedom of religion by written law[12] could so underhandedly violate those rights and without consequences, torture their Christian citizens who were practicing their right to freedom of assembly[13], especially when their gatherings were taking place in their own homes.
The following information is from the testimonies of eight of the women who were arrested.
Ren Daoyun
Ren, a fifty-three year old woman, was hosting the two Americans during their stay in China. When the police entered her home, she protested and asked for them to show her their ID’s and their search warrant. They refused and grabbed her by the hair to get her out of the way. As her house was searched, the police confiscated 3,400 yuan, a 40,000 yuan bank deposit slip, a phone, and more than one thousand Christian books. She was arrested and taken with the others to Zaoyang’s No. 2 Detention Centre.
On the first day of her interrogation, which was conducted by PRC officials Qui Yunfei and Xiao Li, her face was beaten so that it swelled and bled. The PRC officials cuffed her right thumb and yanked her around by it for more that half an hour.
They said, “You can believe in Buddhism, Daoism, or Islam, but we don’t allow you to follow the South China Christian Church.”
On the second day, her interrogators threatened to confiscate her home, and to pull out her eyelashes. They continued to beat Ren’s face. Qui burned her mouth with his cigarette. The left side of her face was still numb and her jaw was still “wobbly” at the time she gave her testimony from the assault by Qui whom hit her with his shoe. Ren told CAA that PRC official Qui pulled her to the floor by her hair and stomped on her ankles. The interrogators forced her to give her prints on certain documents.
When we asked for a detention certificate they refused to give us any documentation. I also don’t know what crime they attached to my name.
~Ren Daoyun
All of Ren’s cellmates except for Ren were released on August 13, 2005. On August 17, 2005, Ren’s husband went to the police station to make inquiries about why she was still detained. He spoke to Zhang Xujin at the police station, who demanded 10,000 yuan. Her husband raised 8,000 that same afternoon, but when he presented it to Zhang, Ren was not released and he was not even given a receipt for his money. On August 24, 2005, Ren began a hunger strike because, according to PRC law, her detention term had expired. They agreed to release her on the August 27, but when her daughter came to pick her up Xiao Li demanded more money. He took 2,000 yuan and they were refused a receipt for the money. All told, Ren was detained for a total of 25 days and her family was blackmailed out of 10,000 yuan.
Du Yan
Du Yan is a forty-year old Christian woman who was helping to lead the family church meeting. She recalled that the PRC police were very rough with the two Americans, so rough that the wrists of one began to bleed because of the cuffs on his hands. She also recalls that one woman who protested to the police about their actions toward the Americans without any explanation was beaten severely by Qui Yunfei[14].
Upon their arrival at the Detention Centre, they and their belongings were searched; all money, watches, cell phones, and belts were taken. They were promised that their things would be returned upon their release, which never happened. One of Du Yan’s cellmates, a Christian woman named Wang Xiao, was beaten so severely during interrogation that after her return to the cell, no one could touch her head without clumps of hair falling out. Another Christian woman’s face was beaten when she refused to sign her name. Du Yan witnessed Chen Chunxia and Huang Kaili, a Christian mother and daughter, being beaten and kicked because they denied that they belonged to “an evil religion.” When their bodies hit the ground, they were kicked in the face.
Du Yan was in custody for a total of 30 hours. When she requested for her belongings to be returned, she was refused.
Gu Houqing
Gu Houqing was able to identify three of the government officers present:
Wu Chuanhu, head of Zaoyang Police Station
Wang Zhiguo, a director
Yang Kaihu, Xiangfan’s police director
While she was being interrogated, Qiu Yunfei cuffed her little finger and proceeded to yank her around the room, swinging the cuffs, before cuffing her hands behind her back. Once her hands were secure, he forced her to sit on a sofa, only to yank her off by her hair and let her fall to the floor in a very painful position. The PRC officials forced her to sign an extension of her arrest warrant. She noticed the charge of “a bandit committing crimes everywhere” and so she refused to give her prints, but finally gave in under the threat of more torture. When she was released, they refused to give her copies of her release warrant and the documents regarding her arrest.[15]
Liu Nian
Liu Nian was from Hanyoutian, and was visiting when the arrests where made. She confirms that no ID by government officials was provided when the police entered and searched the house, but she was able to ascertain that Zhang Xujin, the Head of the Security Bureau, had been present during the raid. When she was interrogated, the person questioning her refused to show his ID.[16] He asked her details about her Christian beliefs and then,
At the end he wanted me to sign my name and write, “the statement above is correct”. I noticed that the material had some discrepancies and said, “You have written incorrectly. I only had been a Christian for one week.” He said, “You fool. Don’t talk nonsense. If I want to write one year, that’s fine too.”
It is required by law[17] that the record of the interrogation be shown to and approved by the suspect, but her interrogators tried several times to make Liu Nian sign falsified reports and documents.
During the afternoon of August 4, 2005, PRC officials Zhang Xujin, Lei Youxin, and Qiu Yunfei took her glasses away and beat her when she gave them the same answers that she had given when she was initially questioned. When she told them that she didn’t recognize a person in a photograph they showed her, she was kicked in the face. After an hour, Xiao Li called her in to be questioned again. This time Qiu Yunfei cuffed her left thumb and yanked her around the room before cuffing both of her hands behind her back, with a Bible in between them, and beating her face with a leather belt. He then took toilet paper, rolled it into balls, and stuffed it up her nostrils and in her ears and continued to beat her. According to Liu:
“All in all, whether or not I spoke they hit me.”
Liu remained in police custody for eleven days. After her release she requested the return of her belongings and was refused. They also refused to give her a release certificate[18].
Zhao Yan
Zhao recalls that Huang Yanli, one of the Christians who had been with them in the house on August 2, 2005, had requested that the police provide proper documentation for their presence and actions. He received a beating for those requests. Later at the station, she witnessed Zhang Fang being beaten after objecting to her mug shot being taken with the label of belonging to an “evil religion.” When the time for her interrogation by Qiu Yunfei came,
After a few words he slapped me in the face and kicked me to the ground. He ordered me to kneel on the ground and cuffed my two thumbs. He then let me raise my arms and keep them level. He again slapped me across the ears. He also hit me with a leather belt on my mouth. He took the drinking glass on the table and smashed it on my arm. After he beat me he went out for a walk, when he returned he said, “You thought your master didn’t know, South China Church’s great powers Gong and Li Ying have already been sentenced. You still want to play games. Speak. Speak. To which group do you belong?” I did not answer. He then kicked my cuffed hands. I rolled around on the floor; the cuffs were eating into my flesh. When the cuff on my right thumb became loose he put it on my two forefingers. Again he wanted me to hold up my hands. Whenever I lower my arms he burned me with a cigarette butt. The head of the Security Bureau, Zhang Xujin, also entered the room. He scolded me and severely kicked my left leg. He also severely kicked my two hands around on the muddy floor. Afterwards he wanted me to raise my hands up. He grabbed the cuffs and dragged me forward and up. My fingers simply wanted to break. I was continually tortured like this.
Zhao was later pressured into signing false documents before she was released.
Xiong Juanjuan
Xiong’s cell phone, bag, and 236 yuan were confiscated by the police during the August 2, 2005 raid. During the ordeal, she witnessed twenty-five of the Christians present being released without their money nor personal belongings returned to them. She recalls how officers tried to make her sign incomplete documents that would allow the police to record the length of their detention as whatever they wanted. She was interrogated and tortured on several occasions, during which PRC officials Qiu Yunfei and Zhang Xujin kicked, punched, and beat her with a bamboo cane and leather belt whether she answered their questions or not. The beatings were severe, and they even threatened to beat her to death. At one point, another Christian was sent by the church to check on her, but Xiong was locked up and prevented from seeing them. When she was finally released after eleven days, leaving Ren Daoyun still in custody, she asked for her arrest warrant and similar documents, which they refused to give her. None of her money nor belongings were returned to her.
Wang Yujie
When she was searched at the Zaoyang No. 2 Detention Centre, the police officer conducted the search took all of her money (94 yuan) and assured her that it would be returned upon her release. They tried to make her sign false confessions and documents, and when she refused they beat her. The police officer interrogating her said,
“If you believe in Taoism or Buddhism we won’t concern ourselves with you. But since you believe in Christianity we need to make it our concern. Do you realize this? The South China Church is an evil religion… In 2001 all the main leaders of South China Church were arrested. The founder Gong Shengliang has been indefinitely sentenced, and is in prison at the moment. There are still a few small brigands left resisting the government… You cannot join to the South China Church. We have arrested you in order to rescue you lest you are being imbued with rubbish by some foreigners. They speak very well but you will end up in a nest of robbers without knowing it.”
In this case, one PRC official authority actually acknowledged that the arrests were made because of Christian religion – which was being practiced peacefully within a Christian’s home – and that the Chinese people, in fact, do not have the freedom of religion as guaranteed them by the Constitution.[19] When basic human rights are blatantly ignored and denied by government officials, it undermines the credibility of the entire governmental system both nationally and internationally.
Wang’s money was never returned to her. The PRC officials involved consistently tried to force her to sign falsified documents stating charges that she belonged to an evil religion, participated in illegal meetings and disturbed social order.[20]
Li Zhiyun
When the PRC police began to question Daniel, one of the Americans, Li tried to speak to them because he could not understand what they were saying, but the police hit Li in her face. When it was discovered that she could assist in translation, she was taken along with the Americans and discovered that Chen Zhihong from the Lutouzhen Police Station and Chang Kaihu, the Head of the Xiangfan Police Station, were also present. She explained that Daniel was not allowed to get his papers nor passport and that Eric (the other American) was not allowed to contact the American Embassy, even though he asked twice. Their belongings were searched without any warrant . She stated:
Eric then again asked, “What wrong did we do? Please tell us.” They answered, “You didn’t do anything wrong, we just want to do some searching.” I responded, “Do you search like this? Handcuffing people at will? You perhaps can treat Chinese like this, but it is against the law to treat foreigners like this. Is it possible that you don’t understand?”
Li says that the Americans were treated very roughly and that Eric’s hands were bleeding because of the cuffs. Afterwards, Daniel told her that their Bibles, books, bags, notebooks, and Eric’s diary had all been confiscated and not returned. They were taken for questioning to the second floor of the Lutou Government Hospital, where the PRC officer who took Daniel’s passport information refused to give her ID even though they asked to see it. During the whole thing, they were not allowed to make any phone calls. They were finally released around 4 p.m., but were only able to travel 3 km before a police car intercepted them and tried to make them come back to the station. They refused and escaped to Beijing.
Xinjiang, August 5, 2005[21]
On August 5, 2005, approximately 50 Christians met to sing and pray together in the home of Zhang Ailian on Xishan Road, Xinjiang. In the middle of that afternoon, police from the local Xishan station and from the National Security Office, Shaqu District, broke in and disrupted their meeting. The Christians were ordered to sit down and stop singing. They were later taken in groups to different locations for interrogation. They “turned the house inside out[22]” without producing any identification or search warrant.[23] The following information is based upon the testimonies of five women[24] who were there and were arrested, interrogated, threatened, and beaten.
Jiang Li
That evening at 5 pm, PRC police took ten of the Christians to the fourth story of the Xishan Police Department. Jiang Li was among them, and was later transported to the Xishan Prison. After four or five days, she was interrogated by Ma Jianzhong from the National Security Force of Shaqu District and one other PRC inspector. They asked her the same questions that she had been asked at the police station, but Ma slapped her when she gave the same answers. After two or three days she was interrogated again, this time by three PRC investigators. When she gave the same answers as before, the one named Ma Bin called someone in to kick her. Jiang was interrogated twice more, but the fourth time was the worst. They strapped her to a “tiger bench,” which had straps for her hands and feet. Then four people- Ma Jianzhong, Sun Jinlu, Bai Gang, and Ma Bin- took turns interrogating her from 5 p.m. to 5 a.m. She was allowed to rest a little at 5 a.m., but then the interrogation continued until 4 that afternoon. She was finally released on September 7, 2005, but when she requested a release paper from Ma Shubin, he told her to go to the police department in the Shaqu District at 10 a.m. the next day. When she got there, she and three others were forced to clean the windows and tables and mop the floors before they were finally received into the main office three hours later. At that time, they were told that they had been “released on bail pending trial” and that they had to keep the authorities updated on all of their movements. They were then ejected without their release papers.[25]
Zhang Hongxin
Zhang was a member of the same group of ten as Jiang Li, and was also taken to the Xishan Police Department where she was interrogated for approximately six hours. Most of the questions she was asked had to do with who had organized the meeting, how she had found out about the meeting, and who was in charge of any of the house church’s money. She was not interrogated again and was released on August 24, 2004. The very next evening, three people from the PRC’s National Security Forces in Shaqu came and took her back to the Shaqu Police Department without producing a summons.[26] She was interrogated several more times and sent to the lockup at Xishan. The accusations against her stated that she was “endangering social stability” and “fleeing hither and thither to commit offenses.” She finally signed the documents with these false accusations under the threat of being sent to a labor camp for three years. She was released on September 7, 2005 without release papers.[27]
Xia Lingzhi
Xia Lingzhi is a sixty-three year old woman who was taken to the Xishan Police Department and was forced to have her prints taken by PRC official Yin Bing and others. At 1 a.m. that next day, August 6th, she and three others were taken to the Woman’s Prison at Liudaowan, Urmuqi where they told her that she had incurred a fine and would be detained for fifteen days. On the 17th, she was transferred to Liudaowan Criminal Prison where she was interrogated ten times, beaten, mentally confused, and forced to endure very harsh conditions. The situation was compounded by the fact that she suffered from high blood pressure and Type 2 coronary heart disease. During the eighth interrogation, an PRC interrogator named Ren assured her that she could go home as soon as she submitted to the charges against her. She was released on bail September 2, 2005, the same day that her son died. She believes that the PRC officials involved are responsible for her son’s death, because he suffered a brain hemorrhage the day after he became aware of his mother’s condition. This revelation caused him a great deal of stress, which, combined with his own high blood pressure, is believed to have been what caused his brain hemorrhage. Despite this, people from the PRC’s legal administration department of Shaqu District came that same afternoon to further question her. On September 6, 2005, the PRC national security forces called and told them that they would require 5000 RMB in cash because they had changed the bail. Xia found out that the police department had hired four people to stalk her, and that she had been followed by them since May of 2005. She also said that she had no idea what her rights were until after she was released, although this information should have been made known to her immediately.
Ni Shimei
Ni had been teaching Christian songs to those present in the house that day, but stopped singing as the PRC police officials had ordered. She showed them her ID when they asked for it, and made a point of being cooperative with the police and not causing trouble. Despite her cooperation, they took her to the Xishan Police Station and interrogated her three times. The first time, it only lasted two hours. The next was carried out on August 8, 2005 by PRC national security forces, after which she was forced to sign many papers. They told her to write that it was August 6, 2005 instead of August 8, 2005. The PRC officials present hit her face and threatened to send her to prison when she didn’t answer their questions. She was finally released on September 7, 2005.
Zhou Li
Zhou was taken to the Xishan Police Department and later taken to the lockup at Shuimogou District, Urumuqi, where she was found guilty of “illegal gathering.” On the morning of August 8, 2005, PRC police officials Ma Shujun and Bai Gang interrogated, threatened, and eventually pressured Zhou into signing documents. On August 17, 2005 Zhou was taken to the Shaqu Police Department where PRC officials interrogated her for 32 hours.[28] She was released on September 7, 2005, but was not given any release papers. She was told, along with Ni Shimei, to go to the PRC National Security Forces at Shaqu the next day, where she was put to work and was never given any official documentation.[29]
Tong Qimiao[30]
At 10am on September 28, 2005, Tong Qimiao received a call from a PRC security agent requesting that Tong go to the State Security Bureau to verify certain issues. Tong set out, but because of the remoteness of his business, it took an hour before he arrived. He was taken to a room on the second floor of the reception building and was met there by two men, both PRC officials. Tong stepped forward to shake hands with one of them and to apologize for the wait he had caused them, but before he could finish the man- Ruofei Wang- cursed him, saying,
“Shit. Who do you think you are? To save your face, we did not handcuff you and bring you here today. We have tracked you for over a year.”
Surprised, Tong replied that if they had evidence against him, they should go ahead and arrest him. At this, Wang kicked him in the chest. The pain forced Tong to sit down and from that point on, he had difficulty speaking. PRC officials interrogated him for an hour, after which he asked for pain medicine. They told him that he would be seen to if it was still hurting later, but then they carried on with the questioning. When his tormentors took a break for lunch, he again requested medical attention. They merely allowed him to lean against a bed. The interrogation lasted until 6:30 p.m., at which point Tong again requested a doctor. They finally acknowledged his pain and escorted him to Zhonghua Hospital. Before he was admitted, PRC official Mr. Wang went inside and first discussed something with the doctor. The physicians preformed an electrocardiogram and x-ray, and then Tong was taken back to the car. Almost one hour later, Tong was informed that there was nothing wrong with him and that he would feel fine after taking some medicine. He was taken back to the State Security Bureau in so much pain that he could not stand up and was turned out after signing and fingerprinting the interrogation note.
Once he was released, Tong called his wife to come pick him up and take him to the Emergency Room of the Second Hospital of Kashgar. At that time, he was diagnosed with a severe rib fracture and was hospitalized. During the period when he had been under interrogation, his wife worried since her husband did not answer his cell phone. She had gone to the PRC Security Bureau to find out what was wrong, but they told her that Tong was not there. On September 30, 2005, Mr. Wang showed Tong’s wife a story that had been published on the internet about what had happened to her husband. He tried to persuade her to sign an affidavit denying it.
On October 8, 2005, Tong was forced to leave the hospital before his treatment had been completed. This was after he and his wife had gone to the authorities and requested an investigation of the abuse of power and the accompanying torture to which Tong had been subjected.[31] That meeting had ended when PRC officials threw them out, denying that Tong had ever been arrested. Less than a week after his expulsion from the hospital, the government ordered Tong to close his business.
On November 23, 2005, Tong attempted to sue Ruofei Wang, a staff member of the PRC’s State Bureau of Public Security, Kashi City, for 24,436.46 yuan. This lawsuit sough to recover medical bills, lost wages, and many expenses that Tong had incurred as a result of his arrest and torture.
Ping Tianci[32]
At the end of October 2005, CAA was informed about the hospitalization of Ping Tianci, a fifty-one year old Christian who had been arrested in August of 2004. The CAA was able to obtain his testimony of torture. After his arrest, PRC authorities tried to coerce a confession from Ping by torture. During the first forty days of his detainment, he was tortured to the point that he lost consciousness on three separate occasions. They took his clothing, dragged him around by the hair, injured his legs, and damaged his ears. He still has trouble hearing. On August 26, 2005, PRC officials subjected him to exposure to the elements to try to force a confession, but to no avail.
In September 2005, Ping was sentenced to 40 days of hard labor. During this period he was interrogated eight times. His legs were broken, and he was electrocuted twice by PRC officials. On September 25, 2005, all of the cumulative abuse suffered by Ping resulted in a heart attack that sent him into “shock” for more than ten minutes. The doctor had to perform an emergency resuscitation.
In mid-October, Ping was sent to receive a “reeducation through labor” sentence where he was assigned to work the vegetable garden which was expected to feed two hundred men, to care for the pigs, and to clean the guards’ toilets. Ping was required to carry excrement. Despite this humiliation, Ping was a model prisoner and continued to work, even if he had to crawl to perform his duties. Finally, after more than a year his strength gave out, and he was hospitalized suffering from late stages of thrombosis of the veins.
Conclusion
This disturbing pattern of abuse by PRC officials toward Evangelical Christians is very disturbing to CAA, and instills no confidence that China is even attempting to repress its horrendous practice of torture as conducted by PRC government officials. The People’s Republic of China is conducting a campaign against Evangelical Christianity and the freedom of its own people. The PRC government demonstrates no regard for national nor international laws[33] in their attempt to purge Christianity from China. It is a violation of human dignity on every level, and these officials must be held accountable and no longer be permitted to hide PRC’s state-sanctioned torture from the international community.
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Appendix I Case on Chen Jingmao
Chen Jingmao, male, 70 years old. Home address: Gaofeng Village, Longjiao Town, Yunyang County, Chongqing City.
He came to the Lord in 1990. He served Him with an earnest heart since then, and devoted his life to evangelizing. As a result, he was frequently under arrest, put into classes of ideology, beaten severely, and fined. He was arrested again in June 2001, and was sentenced to four years in prison under the charge of “establishing and using a cult organization to disturb the execution of the law”. At present, he is serving his terms in Sanxia (the three gorges) Prison, Wanzhou, Chongqing City. On March 17, 2004, his daughter Chen Zhiqing went to visit him in prison, and learned what had happened to him. Her aged father was preaching the Gospel to the inmates (over 50 of them were willing to receive the Lord into their heart as their savior). On February 2nd, an inmate called Yao Decai turned him in. As it turned out, over ten policemen dragged him out, and gave him a brutal beating. Not an inch of his body stayed intact. They spoke to him while kicking him in the belly, “The Communist Party loses face because of you! We might as well kill you here, you old son of a bitch!” From that day on, Uncle Chen Jingmao was too weak to walk or eat. Other inmates had to carry him when he used the bathroom. In the beginning he had four IVs times a day. After two weeks, it was reduced to two. Badly injured, all that he managed to eat in two days was but a little canned food. When her daughter went to see him on March 17th, he had to be carried out by an inmate (they met face-to-face). Later on the officials stopped giving him IVs or medicine, saying that her daughter should get medicine for him. When she went out to purchase some medicine, an official in his fifties was still cursing Cheng Jingmao, saying that he was a cult member, a stubborn old fool. Even under this kind of circumstances, Uncle Chen Jingmao was still trying to comfort his daughter, saying, “It’s worth the beating; I have preached to over 50 people! It’s well worth it.” Again and again he urged his daughter to be a devoted believer, to receive other believers in her house, and asked her to pray for him with other brothers and sisters. Also he sent a word to everybody, that the Lord was with him, and that they didn’t have to worry about him.
The phone number of the Administrative Office of Sanxia Prison: 023-58621513
July 7, 2004
Respected prison leaders,
How are you?
We are the family of Chen Jingmao who is currently serving his term in you prison. Thank you for taking care of my father.
Since this year, I have been worried about my father every time after I met him, and my request to dine together with my father has been turned down many times. In last March, after seeing my father, who is over seventy years old, carried out to the reception room, being dumb, and having worse hearing, I asked my father what happened to him, who told me that he was beaten by more than ten officers because he refused to give up his faith, and shared the gospel with his fellow inmates. How could an old man like my father bear such brutal beating? Prisons are supposed to be places where laws are enforced, not violated. These officers, who beat my father, have purposely violated laws and my father’s legal rights. We think that, without prison leaders’ authorization, these officers dared not to do so. And if not instructed by prison leaders, how come no one went behind and questioned this incident? Therefore, I feel deeply worried about my father’s safety.
In last April and May, I went visit my father again, and saw him walk with great hardships. When I made a request to dine with my father, one officer not only neglected my request, but also told me, “If you continue to make trouble, you will be forbidden to visit your father again.”
In June, I saw my father again, and asked him through telephone whether he felt better. And he told me, “I am afflicted with edema, and feel very painful in his heart. I might lose my life this year.” I asked him, “Have you taken any medicine?” He said, “I have taken some western medicine. And I said to him, “You are so sick that it is no use to just take some western medicine.” Suddenly the phone was interrupted (my conversation with my father lasted only three minutes), and four or five officers came surrounding me. One officer said, ” What your father, Zhao Xitao and Shen Daoxing believe are cult. From now on you will be not allowed to visit your father again.” And I was driven out. This unequal treatment violated the minimum right of my father and our family. I am a poor villager from mountainous area. To visit my father, I have to cross mountains, traveling several hundred li (Chinese measure of distance. One li is equal to 500 meters.). I voluntarily cooperate with prison leaders in order that my father may feel confident in prison and serve his term peacefully. To talk through telephone and dine together with family members are the rights granted to every prisoner and his family, and are also the wishes of prisoners’ families. However, the following things happened to me when I visited my father:
1. Our conversation concerning family issue and physical wound were bothered and supervised.
2. Our dining requests were turned down, and our meeting time was reduced to several minutes, though the prison allows half an hour.
3. I was besieged, and driven out of the reception room.
4. My father was carried out to me. And later he told me he might lose his life this year.
All these things confuse and worry my family. What is more incredible is that, an old man was treated so brutally and inhumanely, which is detrimental to the reputation of your prison and the image of our country. We really don’t understand how you can educate, reform and save thousands of prisoners in such a way. My father’s will to serve his term peacefully is shattered. And he has lost his confidence about life. With no guarantee for life safety, we are afraid that he cannot carry on, and come out of prison alive. We don’t want to see this happen. And we believe neither you want. Therefore, I urge your prison:
1. To give my father an environment same as other prisoners’, under which he may be reformed.
2. To grant my father the same rights as other prisoners enjoy.
3. To give timely treatment to my father’s wounds.
It is my hope that you will pay attention to and carefully consider my requests. And I look forward to your early reply.
May God bless you! May your family be peaceful and happy! May you make great achievement in your work! May your prisoners come out as new people who will benefit the society and the motherland!
Sincerely yours,
Chen Zhiqing, daughter of Chen Jingmao
July 1, 2004
An Open Letter from South China Church to US Congress
Ladies and Gentlemen,
We are writing on behalf all elders and some members of South China Church, a local house church, which is located in southern China, and is one of the denominations in China. Our church, since established, has all along been targeted and persecuted by the local government at all levels, facing excruciation, fine, home raid, detention, forced labor, sentence, etc. Many believers are still detained in prisons, and labor camps. More believers are forced to stay away from their homes and farming, and live begging and homeless lives.
We hereby request your concern for a 73-year-old brother named Chen Jingmao, who is a respected elder in our church, and takes care of the ministry in Chongqing parish.
Brother Chen Jingmao, since accepting Christian faith, has been living a devotional life, and doing evangelism enthusiastically. He was therefore arrested, detained, fined and imprisoned many times.
In 2001, he was arrested due to sending food to some believers who were then worshipping in Longjiao Township, Yunyang County, Chongqing City. The local government, in the name of “using cultic organization to sabotage law enforcement”, sentenced him to four years’ imprisonment. Other preachers who were arrested and sentenced along with him are: Brother Zhao Xitao (seven years’ imprisonment), Sister Lu Yumei (eight years’ imprisonment), Sister Tang Mengyu (six years’ imprisonment), Brother Shen Daoxing (five years’ imprisonment), Sister Yi Qiongling (seven years’ imprisonment), Sister Xiang Shuangyu (seven years’ imprisonment), Sister Huang Zuoying (three years’ imprisonment), Brother Tan Shigui (four years’ imprisonment). Brother Chen Jingmao is currently serving his term in the Aging and Handicapped Team of the 3rd Section of Sanxia Prison, which is located in Wanzhou, Chongqing. Even in prison, he believes that his faith is correct, and his rights are undeprivable. Therefore, he continues to evangelize his fellow inmates, among whom over 50 have accepted Christian faith.
On March 16, 2004, Chen Zhiqing, daughter of Brother Chen, went to the prison visiting him, and saw him carried out by someone. She cried, asking, “What happened to you?” Brother Chen told her that, one month ago, an inmate named Yao Decai, in order to please prison officials, get merits and have his term relieved, reported his evangelical activities to the prison authority. In no time over ten officers who were on duty showed up before him, and beat him, cursing, “Old bastard, you are still preaching the gospel. How dare you put the Communist Party to shame!” He was knocked down on the ground, and could not move, being unconscious. After an emergency treatment, his life was maintained through I.V. Several days later, he was able to eat again.
We do not understand why one is deemed guilty simply because he shares his Christian faith with someone else. More than ten prison officers even beat an old man. It indicates that the law is not observed in the prison in this country. Learning of her father’s sufferings, Sister Chen Zhiqing cried and cried. Brother Chen Jingmao, however, still encouraged his daughter to be strong, grow in faith, and preach the gospel. Afterwards, in last April and May, Sister Chen went on visiting her father, whose steps were hard, although he could walk. She asked the prison authority to give her father medical treatment, and allow them to dine together according to the rules of the prison. And she questioned one officer, “What happened to my father?” The officer ignored her question, and threatened her, saying, “If you keeping raising this question, you will be banned from visiting your father.”
On June 16 of this year, the police station of Longjiao Township, Yunyang County, Chongqing City called the Party Secretary of the village Mr. Chen Zongyuan, asking Sister Chen Zhiqing to come to the police station for signature. Sister Chen was told that her father’s term would be relieved. At about seven o’clock next morning, she came to Longjiao police station. To her surprise, she realized that she was called here not for the sake of her father’s term relief. Three policemen wearing plain clothes told Sister Chen that they were from the work unit of Brother Chen Jingmao, and asked her if she knew why her father was being imprisoned, and why he believed in Jesus. They questioned her about her family, how many times she had visited her father, whether her father had surely been beaten, why he had been beaten, and who beat him. Sister Chen told them that, her father’s evangelical activities were reported by Yao Decai of Puan Township, and he was beaten by the officers on duty. Several policemen then asked her how the news about her father’s being beaten was spread outside, and to whom she had told the news. And they questioned her why several people from Hong Kong called the village asking what happened to Brother Chen. Sister Chen answered that, after visiting her father, she felt miserable, and kept crying on her way home. And when asked by the fellow passengers why she was upset, she told them about her father’s being beaten in the prison. Then three policemen asked her who disclosed the news to the international community. And she said, “I don’t know.” They threatened her, yelling, “If you don’t tell us, we will move you to “another place”, and give you “a chance” to think about it and then you will tell us everything. And then they started to interrogate her in turn, asking the same question over thirty times till noon. When she was about to leave the police station, the three policemen kept warning her not to tell anyone about this interrogation, including the village leader and the party secretary of the village.
On June 23 of this year, Sister Chen Zhiqing visited Brother Chen Jingmao again, who, when asked about his health situation, said that he was afflicted with edema, and felt painful in his heart, and might lose his life this year. Sister Chen asked her father whether he took any medicine. And he said he took some western medicine. Then Sister Chen complained, “It is useless for such an old man like you who were badly wounded.” At that very moment, the phone was hanged up. And their meeting time was less than three minutes. Five officers came surrounding her immediately, saying, “What your father, Zhao Xitao and Shen Daoxing believe is cult. You will not be allowed to meet your father again.” She wanted to buy some medicine and sour vegetable fish, which is his father’s favorite, for her wounded father, but she was banned from entering the prison.
We feel extremely concerned over Brother Chen’s edema and the situation of other brothers who are serving their term in other prisons. The Chinese government often claim that it exercises rule of law, Chinese people enjoy democracy and freedom, and even send official religious delegations to international forums to propagate that Chinese people have freedom of religious belief. However, we, thinking about thousands of believers who are being imprisoned, feel deeply sad and regretful. China, as one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, should be responsible and obligated in implementing international covenants, declarations, and charters. However, thousands of people have been arrested and sentenced just for the sake of their religious belief. We believe that no civilized and rational society can accept this brute fact. Therefore, we hereby make the following heartfelt appeal to you:
1. Please show your concern over South China Church members’ right to belief, and ask the Chinese government to grant Brother Chen Jingmao medical parole at least out of humanitarianism.
2. Please urge the Chinese government to investigate into Brother Chen Jingmao’s being beaten and wounded, and bring responsible policemen to justice.
3. Please urge the Chinese government to allow international organizations to investigate its prisons, and accept the supervision of the whole international community.
Sincerely,
All elders and some members of South China Church
Signed by 540 people:
Xu Zhengfang Li Yuanzhen Li Liangxiu Sun Liangkun Zhou Guilan
Zhou Jiaozhen Wang Yanli Gong Xianqun Kong Xiangyng Liu Jiaozhen
Cao Meigui Zhang Xiluo Huang Tongfu Xue Tongjian Yi Tongchuang
Chen Tongyin Sun Tongzu Wu Renai Wang Enshen He Lifang
Xie Junxiang Wang Tongzhui Shen Youlian Zhang Chuanxi Peng Taozhi
Zhao Xiaorong Du Pingxun Liu Lejuan Gu Shunfu Chi Tongyuan
Chen Linglan Li Tongbai Song Tonghu Guo Tongzhi Yang Shanqing
Li Yong Zhang Shuiying Li Jinrong Luo Guohu Li Zhuanyun
Jia Junxiang Shen Zhaoxian Zhao Lanying Zhang Caixia Peng Xiangzhi
Zeng Qingzhi Li Guoqiang Xie Tongjian Li Tongju Li Chunjing
Wang Dayu Ma Xingling Yuan Guiqing Zhai Yuying Zhang Xiuying
Zhang Zaiyong Zhang Zaihua Zheng Fu Cao Hai Gao Xianhua
Liu Yun Xie Xiuling Gu Tonghei Du Tongju Zhu Ying
Zhang Huanfu Li Tongyin Kong Tongchi Sun Xiufen Li Hua
He Bingquan Gong Zhitao Gong Zhiling Gao Hua An Yuzhen
Wang Zhaozhi Qiu Tongnan Zuo Tongzhou Li Xiuyun Wang Xiaohong
Feng Jingtao Yuan Suofang Yuan Jinfang Wei Runping He Tongbei
Yuan Tongmu Xu Guihua Yue Xiuying Zhang Fuyin Li Ailian
Yuan Zuoshi Zhang Jingfeng Zhou Jinmei Nie Gaifeng Meng Sanmei
Kong Xuefeng Gao Xiuyun Tian Tongxi Li Tongbian Wang Xueqin
Diao Ying Wang Quanzhi Xu Guizhong Guo Wanhe Guo Yuhe
Geng Jianqing Guo Kaili Ma Qianglin Zhao Lihua An Sannu
Zhang Sannu Zhang Linlin Cao Lianlian Wang Junxiang Zhang Lingling
Zhang Xinkao Peng Tongke Wang Junlian Gan Tongyan Yue Li
Li Bo Zhao Xiaomei Guo Dongsheng Zhao Benlin Zhu Delan
Wang Runhua Pang Yongfeng Wen Cuiying Zhao Guiying Chai Shenghua
Chai Youying Ma Cuisheng Zhou Tonggeng Chen Tongcu Xiao Tongzang
Zhao Wangyue Chen Hailian Qian Tongqian Pang Fuping Li Aitao
Zhang Chunlan Zhang Congzhi Liu Shilai Dai Yuxiang Zhao Liqin
Zuo Jun Kong Xueshan Chen Yulian Nie Hongxia Zhang Youlian
Zhang Zheng Wang Yanmei Liu Xiuhua Lu Baowen Xin Xianglan
Sun Xiaonu Zhang Qin Yi Tongjiao Chen Yuzhi Wang Huanxiang
Li Tongjian Xiong Jianhua Zhao Xiuxiang Chen Tongkun Zhou Jianmin
Du Junxia Zuo Guiying He Wangxiang Zhang Tianming Zhao Dongni
Wang Tongyuan Yang Tongjiang Xiang Fenglian Zhang Shuangya Li Muya
Wang Tongsui Du Tongming Zhang Wangxiang He Sihai Shao Qunwa
Shao Aihua Wang Jianguo Cao Tongji Zhang Huaping Li Yaoxiang
Jia Tongrong Gong Jingpeng Wang Lingyang Wu Peng Liu Tongrong
Zhong Huoqiao Yan Yongjun Yan Zhaoming Lan Tongmo Li Dazhi
Zhang Tongyi Xu Tongqie Li Dongzhi Wang Xiaofang Su Tonghu
Zhou Daping Gong Tongguo Zhong Xingzhou Liu Tongheng Lian Tonggui
He Juping Tao Fang Liu Tonggu Ye Dongping Ye Dongwen
Luo Tongniu Li Sanqiang Qu Sangou Zhang Tongliao Li Cuie
Yu Xinchun Yu Wangxiang Li Chunzhi Qi Guoping Qi Guofang
Qi Fangxiu Chi Rufang Zeng Xiaohong Lei Geng Qi Cuiping
Wang Aimu Cheng Tongfu Wen Xinyue Xue Mingyue Cao Hongzhong
Cao Hongqin Fu Yulan Xu Yunlan Liu Xiulan Sun Zixiu
Gao Yufang Wang Maosheng Wang Cuifang Wang Maohua Ma Keqin
Hu Zhengying Wu Fang Gao Tongding Ma Yuqin Cao Tongchou
Yang Tongdiao Hu Dasong Xiao Daiying Fu Shijun Fu Rao
Fu Rong Wang Cuilan Zhou Yufang Wu Yufeng Deng Xiuying
Yang Yumei Zhang Wenlian Wang Tongyuan Chen Tongbei Liu Xin
Wei Kaiqin Chen Xianzhi Dong Tongzuan He Tongxun Dong Bing
Chen Wanwang Li Wenxiu Zhou Meihua Zhang Xianzhi Zhou Senlin
Huang Yufeng Tie Shunying Lu Shunying Zhao Tianying Zou Shunfeng
Yang Jincui Liu Congyin Li Guiying Chen Zhengyan Chen Zhengxiong
Jin Tongyan Tong Jie Tong Kun Li Yufang Mei Daozhen
Xie Tonghuo Zhu Anhua Xu Tongzhuan Zhang Tongqing Huang Tonghen
Gong Shuzhen Cui Yupu Cui Daqian Yu Peijun Xia Aijiao
Cui Tonghuan Yan Cuifang Zhao Kerong Liu Zhonglian Wang Xuefeng
He Zhenguo Yang Yufeng Lan Xiaojun Huang Haiyin Hu Zhengfeng
Yi Tongshou Tang Lianji Jia Tongdiao Zhu Zhengmei Yan Aijun
Xu Tonggeng Zhang Lanlan Bao Chufang Yu Zhonghua Xu Naicheng
Cai Guilan Long Feng Ou Bing Gao Yongjun Shi Junjie
Shi Renting Wang Tongqi Qu Tongchu Ling Tongbu Zhu Tongmu
Lu Shan Gan Tongbian Chen Gongqing Wang Tongyuan Qiao Tongru
Shen Tongbo Li Tongjian Chen Tongbian Meng Tongken Chang Xining
Yang Yuna Liu Yujuan Juan Ai Cao Hongxiang Cao Tongchen
Gao Tongsuo Zhou Tongguo Tian Tongqi Wu Tongdi Li Duojia
Pu Tonglian Zhang Shumei Hu Guifang Gong Panyue Chen Wenzhen
Zhang Tonglan Du Tongjiu Du Xin Zhou Wenjie Leng Yuqin
Zhou Guizhi Cai Detang Qian Kaifang Liu Cuilan Wang Zhong
Li Tongku Yi Tongchong Li Zhixiu Wang Benxiu Liu Mingzhi
Fan Xingli Chen Hua Wang Xianglan Li Youwu Zhang Jiaxiu
Ding Guizhen Wang Guangxiu Yi Xiulan Wu Yu Wang Yaoxiang
Yu Chaofeng Yu Chaoqin Liu Tao Huang Guohai Gu Tongdan
Wang Shuying Kong Lingrong Liu Jianzhen Zhao Wenmei Li Huafeng
Wang Caiqing Yu Gaiyu Li Lingai Liu Ailin Jiang Tongshu
Li Baofeng Li Xiangfeng Zhao Tongbo Li Ladi Tian Fuzhong
Tian Haibing Tian Luxia Tian Fengxia Tian Futang Li Ailing
Zhang Tongdong Song Fenyou Fang Lujun Fang Lihua Li Youen
Yang Haiting Xing Yixing Xing Bailing Xing Zhangsuo Qiao Dongliang
Wang Yune Gan Tonglao Yang Bo Yao Zhongke Yao Yanqi
Han Suoying Yao Yancui Yao Fangjun Yang Tongcang Ma Lianggui
Ma Li Ma Pinggui Wang Yingde Feng Tongzai Yang Fengling
Li Xiangfeng Qi Chengye Xiao Jinlan Liu Zhihua Liu Yong
Guo Qinfang Gao Hai Ren Xiuqin Guo Suye Ren Jinhua
Ren Jianmin Ren Jie Ma Liying Ren Fenghua Li Zong
Li Xiuying Li Xiuqin Zou Xiuqin Lu Zemin Lu Zerong
Lu Zexin Xing Zhuen Zhao Shumin Wang Pengxia Fang Xiting
Gu Erqing Chang Yongting Hao Lianzeng Hao Xiaofeng Wang Lingdi
Wang Peijin Hou Sixia Bai Ruyuan Wang Xianfeng Zhou Mingciu
Yi Na Wang Yan Shang Jin He Tuozhan Zhang Guizhi
Cao Tongding Wang Tongxian Feng Lianji Hu Xianxiang Ou Lifang
Lan Zhaoxiu Liu Yuying Nie Dezhi Huang Zhengyu Peng Xinfang
Wang Congyun Xu Fengxiu Chen Jizeng Song Guangrong Lu Zhenhui
Guo Ping Zhao Xingming Liu Xiaorong Zhou Kaiqin Wang Tongjuan
Yang Yinhuan Li Gaixin Wen Tonglian Chen Douying Li Mingxiang
Li Xingrong Dong Dongzhi Liu Tongfen Tang Ziqing Huang Huanxiang
Wang Changlan Gong Shuqin Yao Weiqian Wang Xian Wang Xiuhua
Liu Yan Zhang Ailian Liu Dayong Wang Xiaohong Hu Tongkan
Yang Yuzhi Wang Xiufeng Zhang Tonghen Gao Xiaoju Lu Jing
Wang Xiaojun Zhao Feng Wang Longying Zhou Duanhua Gu Tongkou
Li Tongjin Long Tongzhan Song Wenzhen Hao Anzhou Xu Tongji
Wang Xiaofeng Wen Lan Zhou Hairong Kou Xiaoling Huai Zhiyong
Huang Lewei Lu Jizhen Gao Yunfang Hao Anyun Xu Xiujie
Hao Enle Li Feng Zhao Honge Zhang Wenjie Ma Quansheng
Huai Yage Liu Tongpou Cheng Zhongying Wang Tongnu Li Tongqi
Appendix II Torture and Abuse Cases against members of China Gospel Fellowship
During July 2005 the house churches of Hunan again experienced great persecution. Persecution broke out in many areas, including the cities of Huaihua, Hengyang, Loudi, Yiyang, Changsha, etc. In the couple of years more than ten young brothers and sisters has been arrested on the charge of disturbing social order and of belonging to illegal organizations. Their houses were searched for no reason. Without cause they were interrogated and detained. Some were even tortured to extort confessions. Others were beaten and made to curse themselves. Some suffered nervous breakdown so that even until now they are awaken at night because of nightmares. They suffered physical and mental injuries.
In fact this group of young people really loves their country and people. Their only crime is that they believe in Jesus and preach the gospel. We hope that all Christians will pray for these fine young evangelists and pastors. Some are still being investigated and pursued. Also many Judas’s has appeared from within the church. This is a new cycle of persecution. Please pray for them under this pressure. May the Lord remember your prayers. Thank you!
China’s House Church
September 2005
Kidnapped
My name is Xiao Cao. I am a male, 22 years old, and a Christian. I belong to the house churches of China. I love my country and am a sincere evangelist. At the beginning of 2005 my wife and I went to a hospital in Changsha, Hunan province, in order for my wife to receive medical treatment. She already had a fever for a week and had developed bronchitis. After the treatment when we came out of the hospital, we were suddenly rushed by several men. They took away our bag and, in the manner of a kidnapping, separated me from my wife. They pushed us into separate vehicles where we were questioned. When I asked who they were, they produced identification. I only then knew that they were from the security bureau. For the whole journey my head was covered. I was taken to an unknown location. I was taken through an iron door with the characters “Hunan Detention Security Centre”. My belt was taken off and, without producing a search warrant, they searched me and my belongings. They then locked me up in a room with a bed, a toilet, and an iron door.
Interrogated
In the afternoon they brought me to a unit on the second floor for interrogation. I asked them what crime I had committed and what they wanted to do with me. They answered, “Your crime is very clear. We already have the evidence. You just need to confess it now.” It was an interrogation without any reason.
I was continuously questioned for three days and three nights. They did not allow me to sleep. My body and spirit suffered great damage. I lost all appetite. I worried about my spouse. I had many fears. I suffered great pain. I wanted to commit suicide. When they were interrogating me, because I kept silent too much or did not give satisfactory answers, they.
Abused
One legal officer, whose name I can’t remember, defamed my wife’s and my character. When I started to defend our reputation, a person kicked me from the back. He then had me face the wall and started handing out corporeal punishment. Because my body was very weak, I could not withstand the series of blows. There only purpose was for me to talk about some things that were unrelated to my faith. They wanted me to say that I did some illegal things that are harmful to society with such and such a person. They also said that if I did not cooperate well, they will continue to punish me until I had no wish to live anymore.
Corporeal punishment including the following: they let me stand with my feet together, and then kicked my legs until they came wide apart; they forced me to answer questions, I could only endure it silently, I could not answer questions without any basis of fact, when I could no longer endure it and wanted to sit down, they ordered me to stand up, they took off my shoes and brought me to the iron door of the room, and had me stand on one leg, when I could stand no longer, and wanted to lie down they pulled me up by my hair, €¦€¦€¦. When I used a very low voice asking them why they were causing me such suffering, as soon as I speak I was immediately hit across the ears, .Those who hit me asked me who it was who hit me? And who saw it? There were clearly two people present, but they went away, I just kept silent. I knew that if I spoke I will only receive more severe beatings, worse than before.
The second day at dawn I thought that if this continues it would be much better to die. But they indeed came again and continued with the corporeal punishment. This time it was even worse than before. It was very cruel. They hit me over the ears, they hit me with there fists, they kicked me on my legs until my thighs started to bleed. Any movement became excruciating painful. I couldn’t move at all.
They continued to kick my legs very severely. It was so painful that I cried. Then another person came. They noticed that really couldn’t move anymore. Then they hit my head against the wall and ridiculed me by saying, “Do you want to become a martyr? Do you want to go to the roof and jump off the building?” They then dragged me unto a wooden chair. One of them asked me, “You still don’t say anything?” They kicked my legs again and punched my head and face. At this time my will already died. I didn’t think of anything, and just let them do what they wanted. For the next few days I didn’t eat or drink anything. I became obstinate like them.
After about four days or so, for the sake of seeking my wife, I had to eat food in exchange for seeing my wife. I accepted. But then I discovered that by taking food again I lost my determination and will. I couldn’t control my headaches. I answered whatever they asked. Whatever they wanted me to write, I wrote. Wherever they wanted me to put my fingerprint, I complied. They did not allow me to sleep for several days in order to keep me in physical and mental torment. But that night I slept very well, then after three or four days, I was totally confused and couldn’t think about how to answer questions. I don’t know for what reason I changed 180 degrees. Taking food is supposed to make you stronger. I remembered the words one person spoke to me, “They can use any means to reach their objective.”
Self-accused
This time they had me write down insulting and shameful comments about myself. Later they showed it to me. I only remember that I wrote I am like a stupid pig. After seven days my wife and I were released. When I saw the one I loved I burst out crying. The first words that she spoke to me were, “Why don’t we die together!”
House searched
They brought me with them when they went to search my rented house. They did not take any faith related CD’s or books. And now even my temporary house is gone.
The following few days remain murky. I have no recollection of it. I only remember that throughout the following few days, over and over again, I had bad dreams. It was very scary. It was as if my heart was being cut with a knife. Yet I am only a believer and an evangelist. Nothing more! Why do they treat me like this, an innocent person? Why? Why?
Xiao Cao
Mid-autumn 2005
My name is Fei Xiang. I am a female, 22 years of age, and a Christian. I am Xiao Cao’s wife. At the moment my mind is still in a bewildered state. I am very anxious. I am constantly thinking about committing suicide.
I recall being arrested with my husband, being separated from him, being blind folded, and being taken to a house. When I wanted to look at their identification, they said, “Just now I showed you but you didn’t look. I won’t show you again.” In fact, they never produced any identification.
Afterwards, they interrogated me continuously for two days and two nights. They didn’t allow me to rest. More than ten people took turns to question me, a weak female. I was already sick with cold and fever for a week. And because my sickness had developed into bronchitis I had daily infusions. Through my ordeal my illness became progressively worse. When I requested to see a doctor, I was refused. At the beginning they mainly had me answer silly questions. I refused to answer. They then proceeded to threaten me and had me sign a blank piece of paper. I only saw the red seal of the detention certificate but nothing of its content.
In the evening I encountered a very cruel male who started to hit me mercilessly. He punched my head and face. As a result my illness became worse. My whole body was uncomfortable. It was very difficult to bear. I wanted to die.
On the third day they noticed that I just about had it. They then gave me some kind of medicine to take. I didn’t know what I took but it just made me worse. My head became more painful. I vomited my food and became dizzy. Just drinking water had a big reaction. I was terribly afraid. Whatever they wanted me to say, I just said. They used me as bait to identify other brothers and sisters. For the next few days I was constantly in a state of delirium.
Moreover, they did not permit me to sleep. Every time just as I wanted to close my eyes and sleep, someone came to interrogate me. The made me to write many things about what I didn’t know. During the last few days I was still in a confused state. They also brought me into a storeroom in which many printed materials were kept and again had me write many confusing things. I had to sign my name and put my finger prints on it. Yet, I had no idea about what I wrote.
It is now already half a month later. My mental state is still far from normal. I am very troubled. When I hear any sound I get a headache. Every night I wake up from nightmares. I never had a peaceful night of sleep since I was released. If I was living just by myself I would want to die. I don’t want to be condemned because of what I believe. I much less want to betray any of my brothers or sisters. All in all I am scared to continue living. I am afraid.
Fei Xiang
Mid-autumn 2005
In July a sister from Hunan, TEA, a missionary and 21 years old, came from Xian in Shaanxi to Changsha to do missionary work among university students. Because she could do translation work she came into contact with missionaries from the USA. Afterwards she went to work in a the refectory. Then one night her boss asked her to go next door to get some flowers. In fact there were no flowers to collect. As she went out the door several strong men encircled her. They asked her if she was going to XX. She said “yes”. Then one of the men said, “I was just waiting for you.” Without any freedom to speak she was immediately yanked into a car. Her head was covered. Then after a long time she was taken into a secluded room. They then threatened and interrogated her, using bribery and torture to get a confession. She was also asked to work as an informant. Afterwards she was even asked to sign a contract with them. What can a 20 year old girl understand about such things? She was terrified. Being impatient she just signed the contract. In this way they interrogated her the whole night. The said, “It doesn’t matter where you go, we will always be able
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