sister Du Yan testimony:"Don't move, we are the police!" In an instant the house was completely surrounded.

China Aid Association
Du Yan
My name is Du Yan. I am female, Han Chinese, and 40 years old. I live in the city of Zaoyang in Hubei province.
On the 2nd of August 2005 I was leading a family church meeting. After breakfast, as we prepared to wash up, there was suddenly a loud knock on the door. When the owner of the house with her daughter opened the door, several strangers rushed in, saying, “Don’t move, we are the police!” In an instant the house was completely surrounded. Because of the commotion many neighbors came out to have a look. More than ten plain clothes male and female police officers from the local Lutouzhen police station entered the house. The owner of the house protested when three of the officers wanted to go upstairs, “I don’t allow you to go upstairs; do you have a search warrant?” However, they ignored her protest and instead punched her. They rushed upstairs and dragged one of our teachers down. Since he did not wear any shoes, one of the sisters brought some shoes down and insisted that he wear them. One of the officers handcuffed the teacher’s hands behind his back. He was then roughly yanked out. After that they went upstairs again and dragged down another of our teachers, also without shoes. He asked to put on his shoes but was refused. When one of the sisters took some shoes to give to him, they pushed her to the ground and continued to drag the teacher downstairs.
At this point the teacher they handcuffed before was taken upstairs again. I noticed that his hands were bleeding from the cuffs. A little later police from Zaoyang city also arrived. Qiu Yunfei and Zhang Xujin brought in other officers with them and without any request went upstairs. They brought the two teachers and a young sister downstairs. This time the teachers were wearing shoes and carrying their bags. They were taken out, bungled into cars, and driven away. After that they brought us all downstairs. There were about ninety police officers in the house. They surrounded us, made us stand to attention, and then one by one escorted us to the vans outside. A sister asked, “Where are you taking us? I am not going anywhere without a clear answer.” Qiu Yunfei grabbed her by the hair and proceeded to beat her so severely that her arm became swollen by the beating. She cried and shouted, “Doesn’t China have any basic justice?” As we were all pushed into one of the vehicles a legal official sitting inside said, “What vice are you men and women up to doing together here?” They then took us to the local Lutouzhen police station and locked six of us up in a little room, three brothers and three sisters. Zhou Guomin, from Zaoyang Police Station and another legal officer interrogated me. Zhou Guomin noticed that one of the brothers had a swollen eye and asked what was wrong with it. When the brother did not answer, Zhou Guomin said, “Your youthful head had been dashed up by your sexual impulses.” After they interrogated the six of us, we were taken away to Zaoyang’s Number Two Detention Centre.
We were brought into the Detention Centre and registered. They emptied our bags to see if we had any books. They also asked me if I had any money. When I said that I only had five yuan with me, one of the guards straight away searched me to see if I had any more money. They also took all the money off the other brothers and sisters, as well as watches, mobile phones, and belts. They said, “Sign your names here and we will return all your belongings when you leave.” After we were registered they locked up the thirty-five sisters of us into one cell. At around two o’clock in the afternoon, they began to interrogate us again. I was brought by a legal officer into an office. I didn’t have any lunch. When I asked for water I was refused. After sister Wang Xiao came back from her interrogation, she was beaten so severely that we couldn’t touch her head as clumps of hair would fall out. Another young sister’s face was beaten because she was not willing not sign her name.
The following morning, after breakfast we went through the whole registration process again. They asked us the same questions as before; I gave the same answers. A young sister tried to look at the charges on the report and asked some questions, “What law did I break? What crime did I commit? If you do not give me some plain answers I will not sign.” One of the officers, Lei Youxin, answered furiously, “Do you think you can decide to sign or not to sign? Your master just likes to beat up people like you. What need do I have to discuss any law with you? Just wait awhile and I will show you how I deal with people like you.” He continued to shout, “Bring a belt, bring a bucket of water, stick your head into the water, let’s see if I can handle you or not!” Afterwards they wrote each of our names on a sign. We had to hold the sign as they took our photos. They also took finger and palm prints of our hands.
At one o’clock in the afternoon, a cadre called us out name by name. They had us take our clothes and sign our names. Then they wanted us to go home.
However, when we signed our names, we discovered the following words on the form, Name Register of Evil and Illegal Religious Organizations. All those who had signed their names then refused to leave, and instead wanted to go back to their cells. The cadre tried to push us all out. When we refused to move, they forced us out of the front gate. However, when Chen Chunxia and Huang Kaili still wanted to go back to their cell, the cadre began to beat and kick them until mother and daughter fell to the ground. They kicked their faces with their shoes and hit them all over their bodies. Chen Chunxia cried out, “Save us!” As she cried she said, “I won’t leave, since I do not believe in any evil religion.” Because the two of them were embracing and holding on to one another, they couldn’t pull them out. Finally, the cadre got some of the male inmates to carry them out, but the two of them were seething on the ground like crazy. At the end the cadre had no choice but to drop the words “evil religion”.
I was arrested on the 2nd of August after 10am and released on the 3rd after 3pm. A female cadre gave me five yuan and let me return home. When I asked for the return of my belongings I was refused. I was in custody for 30 hours.
                                                     Du Yan (in my own hand)
                                                                                                                                        11th August 2005