(Minghui.org) My name is Zhang Hua. I am a 55-year-old woman and live in Tongnan County, Chongqing City. I started practicing Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, in October 1996.

I filed a criminal complaint against former Chinese dictator Jiang Zemin in August 2015 right after I was released from prison. Jiang should be held accountable for my 18 years of suffering.

The torture Falun Gong practitioners have endured in the past 18 years are too brutal to be described. My suffering is just the tip of the iceberg.

I hope my lawsuit will allow people to understand the viciousness of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and encourage them to safeguard justice.

Persecuted for Speaking Out for Dafa

One day in March 2000, officers from the local police station broke into my home and asked me if I would continue practicing Falun Dafa. They arrested me and put me in a small, dark room with one male inmate that night.

The officers also ransacked my house and confiscated Dafa books and a photo of Master Li Hongzhi (the founder of Falun Gong). They extorted more than 2,700 yuan from my family.

Because of the arrest, I felt a need to speak out for Dafa in Beijing. On July 5, we displayed a large Dafa banner at Tiananmen Square. We were attacked by police immediately.

Under Master's protection, I left the site safely. However, I was later arrested with another practitioner at a group exercise site. Several hundred practitioners were also arrested and detained at various locations.

I was taken to a police station in Beijing. When I refused to give them my identity, officers brutally beat me and scolded me. They also sexually harassed me with words and obscene acts.

I was taken back to Chongqing when they recognized my accent and detained at detention centers and a drug addiction detoxification center. I went on a hunger strike for 13 days to protest the illegal detention and was forced-fed at least six times.

Tortured at Maojiashan Women's Labor Camp

I was then sentenced to one year in prison and taken to Chongqing Maojiashan Women's Labor Camp.

The environment of the labor camp was very evil. I was closely watched around the clock and suffered all kind of torture, including being handcuffed in the back, long hours of squatting and standing, beatings, kicks, and gagging.

I went on a hunger strike to protest the brutality and was barbarically forced-fed many times. My jail term was extended two more months for my refusal to give up my belief. I was even taken to Tongnan Detention Center for an additional seven days before release.

About two weeks after my release, I was arrested again for telling people about Falun Gong and the persecution and detained at a brainwashing center for three months.

The police then frequently visited my home, forcing me to go into hiding for a few years. My life in those days was difficult, because officers were looking for me.

Hunger Strike at Tongnan County Detention Center

In July 2005, I was reported and arrested by officers from Tongnan County Police Department while visiting my parents. I was taken to Tongnan County Detention Center that evening.

I was interrogated day and night for ten days straight. I went on a hunger strike to protest this unbearable physical and mental torture.

The guards took me to a prison hospital a few days later when I was in critical condition. They tied me to a bed spread-eagle while administering an intravenous drip.

Torture re-enactment: Fixed-Position Bed

After the IV injection, I was immediately taken back to the detention center. In the following twenty-some days, I was taken back and forth between the detention center and the hospital. I finally was taken to a county hospital because of severe dehydration.

The guards censored the news of my hospitalization. When I was in a stupor, they forced-fed me with a large quantity of water, causing me to vomit nonstop.

They beat me when I resisted the forced-feeding. They even brought my father to the hospital to advise me to stop the hunger strike.

In November, the Tongnan County Court attempted to put me on trial . The trial was canceled because I was seriously dehydrated from the hunger strike.

In December 2005, I started another hunger strike to protest my endless detention. The hunger strike this time lasted 69 days.

Under pressure from Tongnan Police Department, the persecution got more severe. I was confined to a room alone and injected with unknown drugs. As a result, I suffered vomiting, numbness in my legs, and swollen eyes. My weight dropped from 135 pounds to less than 60 pounds.

Since I was in critical condition, the detention center released me on medical parole to avoid legal liability.

Barbaric Torture at Yongchuan Women's Prison

To prevent my father and my son from being harassed, I left home again despite being so weak.

In September 2006, I was arrested and illegally sentenced to ten years in prison. In October, I was taken to Yongchuan Women's Prison to be “transformed” (Chinese authorities' term for forcing a practitioner to renounce Falun Gong, often through torture).

The guards assigned two collaborators to transform me. The collaborators forced me to memorize the prison rules and write thought reports for three months. They prohibited me from using the restroom, forcing me to urinate in my pants.

I was transferred to the Third Ward later. The guards verbally abused me and slandered Dafa with all kinds of profanity. They isolated me to a room for more than one month. I was forced to watch propaganda videos about the Tiananmen Square self-immolation hoax for 12 hours every day. They turned up the volume to the extreme to destroy my will.

I went on a hunger strike to protest the torture and received electric shocks in return. I was also forced-fed by inmates and, after they failed, taken to prison hospital for forced-feeding.

I was forced to toil for long hours during the day and undergo brainwashing at night. I was also frequently beaten and shocked.

In September 2009, I was taken to Chongqing Women's Prison. The guard forced me to write derogatory statements against Dafa. She electrocuted me when I refused.

In 2010, I was sent to a brainwashing class, officially known as the Monitoring Group, with other practitioners. We were forced to watch and read propaganda, write thought reports, and, before each meal, sing songs praising the Communist Party.

We were forced to clean restroom floors with a toothbrush from the first floor up to the fifth floor and dry them with small towel. We had to finish the cleaning within time limits, or we would be punished with delayed sleep.

I often could not finish the job in time. Because of long-term sleep deprivation, I lost a large amount of hair and became bald.

The guards instigated inmates to use all means at will to “transform” practitioners by offering them term reductions for each practitioner they transformed. As a result, they employed brutal torture. For example, one practitioner was forced-fed with unknown drugs and became disoriented.

In 2013, the prison forced Dafa practitioners to have blood withdrawn. When I resisted, I was forcibly carried to the prison hospital by inmates.

Epilogue

My mother passed away during my ten years of incarceration. I regret being unable to fulfill my filial duties.

Under Master's compassion and protection, I was able to survive the endless persecution. I still firmly believe in the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and will continue cultivating in Falun Dafa.

Background

In 1999, Jiang Zemin, as head of the Chinese Communist Party, overrode other Politburo standing committee members and launched the violent suppression of Falun Gong.

The persecution has led to the deaths of many Falun Gong practitioners in the past 16 years. More have been tortured for their belief and even killed for their organs. Jiang Zemin is directly responsible for the inception and continuation of the brutal persecution.

Under his personal direction, the Chinese Communist Party established an extralegal security organ, the “610 Office,” on June 10, 1999. The organization overrides police forces and the judicial system in carrying out Jiang's directive regarding Falun Gong: to ruin their reputations, cut off their financial resources, and destroy them physically.

Chinese law allows for citizens to be plaintiffs in criminal cases, and many practitioners are now exercising that right to file criminal complaints against the former dictator.