Elderly and Young Practitioners "Disappeared" from Shijiazhuang Forced Labour Camp Without Trace

With consistent truth-clarification by the local Falun Dafa practitioners and the support given by the overseas practitioners, guards at the Shijiazhuang Forced Labour Camp, Hebei province have become very weary of persecuting Dafa practitioners. However, some evil guards are still carrying out some last ditch efforts to torture practitioners including: hanging practitioners up and beating or electrically shocking them and using the "tying the ropes torture" [police tie up the practitioner with a thin rope, circle the rope around his neck, and tie his hands behind his back. The police then use excessive force to tighten the ropes. The rope tightens around the body of the practitioner, and limits breathing. The pain is so intense that loss of bladder control is common during this torture. There are instances when the ropes were tightened to the point that a practitioner's arm would break]. The prison guards at the Shijiazhuang Forced Labour Camp mainly used psychological brainwashing against the most steadfast Dafa practitioners. In addition, the guards deprived practitioners of sleep ranging from 3 to 12 days consecutively, sometimes even longer than twelve days. These ruthless guards also forced some practitioners to face a wall and remain standing for more than ten hours straight.

Practitioners' righteous thoughts have terrified the criminal guards. Shijiazhuang Forced Labour Camp released a group of steadfast practitioners one after another. A few days before their release some of them were forcefully transferred to other divisions. The prison guards were very afraid that practitioners would practise the exercises at night so they not only handcuffed the practitioners but also shackled their feet, sometimes leaving the shackles on for as long as half a year. The present situation is as follows:

In March 2003, Shijiazhuang Forced Labour Camp secretly abducted a Dafa practitioner who was doing his postgraduate studies abroad. The practitioner, who stands about 1.75 metres tall and has glasses, was deceived into coming back to China. After coming home he was put into forced detention. He was first secretly detained at the Shijiazhuang Brainwashing Centre where he endured extensive psychological brainwashing. When the brainwashing failed to have any effect he was secretly transferred to the Shijiazhuang Forced Labour Camp where the prison guards prohibited others from talking to him. They did not even let the collaborators [former Falun Gong practitioners who have stopped practising due to brainwashing and torture and now assist in the persecution of Falun Gong] talk with him. Instead, the prison guards carried out the brainwashing themselves. To avoid this news from being disclosed the prison guards threatened everyone with extended prison terms for anyone caught giving the information out.

Falun Dafa practitioner Mr Kong Lingbin, from Xinji City, Hebei Province, was said to have been on hunger strike for more than a month during his illegal detention in another forced labour camp before being transferred to Shijiazhuang Forced Labour Camp. When he first came he was so frail and weak that he could hardly walk. For more than a month Kong continued his hunger strike to protest his illegal detention. The camp authorities ordered the collaborators to force-feed him. During the force-feeding they used a large tube which was forced down the practitioner's throat and caused Kong Xinbin an unbelievable amount of pain. During the force-feeding, Kong courageously did not open his eyes nor make one sound.

Li Guixi and his wife are both approximately 50 years old and are from Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province. They were very steadfast in practising Falun Dafa. Although the couple practised the exercises in their own home, they were illegally arrested, detained, forced to go to brainwashing classes and write the so called "four statements" [promising not to practise Falun Gong, stating regret over practising in the past, declaring separation from Falun Gong, and denouncing Falun Gong].During several months in the labour camp the wife endured brainwashing for 15 consecutive days and nights without any sleep. With tears in her eyes, she was forced to compromise her belief, leaving her distraught and depressed. Mr. Li Guixi went through 17 consecutive days of psychological brainwashing and was physically assaulted by the collaborators. He firmly and unshakably withstood all the attempts to brainwash him. Mr. Li's righteous actions shocked the whole labour camp.

Falun Dafa practitioner, Li Hongwen a man from Chengde City, Hebei Province, was illegally sentenced to three years of forced labour. Because he would not renounce his belief in Falun Dafa his prison term was extended for one and a half months. Near the end of his sentence he was taken away by the "610 Office" [a bureau specifically created by the Chinese government to persecute Falun Gong. It has absolute power over each level of administration in the Party, as well as over the political and judiciary branches].He hasn't been heard of since.

Falun Dafa practitioner, Ms Lu Suzhen from Shijiazhuang was 70 years old. She was illegally sentenced to forced labour by the Yudong Police Substation of Shijiazhuang City. Because she firmly believed in Falun Dafa, she was detained in the No. 5 Division of the labour camp. She has recently disappeared without a trace.

Falun Dafa practitioner Lu Ran, a 25 year old woman from Shijiazhuang, was illegally detained twice for her steadfastness in practising Falun Gong. The second time she was detained was at the end of 2002. She was first illegally held at the Shijiazhuang No. 1 Detention Centre and later transferred to the No. 5 Division of the Shijiazhuang Forced Labour Camp. Because she firmly believed in Falun Dafa, she disappeared and her whereabouts are not known.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2003/5/8/49870.html