Practitioners Cruelly Tortured at Sanshui Forced Labour Camp Prior to Olympic Games

In 2008, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) inhumanly tortured Falun Gong practitioners, claiming that it would ensure security for the Beijing Olympic Games. Since mid-January 2008, officers from the Guangdong Province 610 Office¹ have gone to Sanshui Forced Labour Camp many times to demand harsher treatment of practitioners. They promoted the slogan, "Welcome, Olympic Games! Because of the Games, we have begun an upsurge in the 'transformation²' of practitioners."

I was at the time detained in Sanshui Forced Labour Camp, in Guangdong Province, without due process. I personally experienced the unprecedented persecution and witnessed the brutal torture of practitioners.

1. How I Was Tortured

I was taken to Sanshui Forced Labour Camp by Chinese Communist Party (CCP) minions in 2007. The guards attempted to forcibly "transform" me.

a. I was confined for a long time in a two-metre high isolation cell, called cell 100, that was located between the staircases. It was gloomy, dark, and wet, and there were many mosquitoes. The condition in this cell was even worse then solitary confinement. No electric fan was provided, no matter the unbearable hot summer temperatures. Beginning in 2008, no mosquito net was provided.

b. I was often deprived of sleep at night and always during the day. I had to wait until 11:00 p.m. to take a bath and sleep. I was forced to sit on a small plastic stool and was closely watched by inmates during the day. I was not allowed to lean against the wall or bed.

c. I had to leave the cell every morning, every afternoon during office hours, in the evening, and occasionally late at night to go to an office or use the toilet. The guards harassed, hit, and cursed at me, and I was forced to squat for long periods of time.

After this went on for three months, I was given permission to watch TV with other practitioners, but we had to do hard labour. From that time on, the mental persecution changed to physical torture. The goal was to kill me through hard labour.

After mid-January 2008, officers from the Guangdong Province "610 Office" went to Sanshui Forced Labour Camp many times to organize, manipulate, and direct the persecution of practitioners. They formed groups of six people, aiming at "transforming" all practitioners who had not renounced Falun Gong. He Xiaodong was the group leader and Guo Baosi the deputy group leader. Guo was from Dapu County. His police badge number is 4406187. He's particularly vicious and is the one who plans and initiates the torture of practitioners. Jiang Hanqing, Lan Shou, Li Feng, and Wu Tao were group members.

The group's office was on the second floor. A banner with the slogan "Welcome, Olympic Games! Our New Activity--An Upsurge Through Which We 'Transform' Practitioners" was hung on the wall. Two confinement cells were available for those who refused to renounce Falun Gong--cell numbers 100 and 207. The cell walls and bed boards were covered with evil slogans. The guards put their tables and chairs in cell 207 and set up an "office."

2. Mr. Gao Guoyuan and Mr. Mai Renming Tortured

The guards chose steadfast practitioners for torture. Mr. Gao Guoyuan was arrested in August 2007 and taken to the forced labor camp in November 2007. Guards harassed, cursed at, beat, and shocked him with electric batons for long periods of time. He was not allowed to sleep until 2:30 a.m., and at 6:30 a.m he had to get up. After a while, the persecution escalated. He was not allowed to sleep before 4:00 a.m and had to get up at 6:00 a.m. Later he was deprived of sleep altogether.

Guard Guo Baosi said to Mr. Gao, "If you can endure 15 days without sleep, you will be set free." This was just a lie like everything else uttered by the guards. Mr. Gao was not set free and was still deprived of sleep. Guo then went to cell 207 to torture Mr. Gao with electric batons and put him in handcuffs. After two months of brutal persecution, Mr. Gao copied the guarantee statement to quit the practice against his will. Despite this, the guards continued torturing him and kept him in solitary confinement. They hit, swore at, and deprived him of sleep.

Mr. Gao was not allowed to leave the small cell except to use the toilet, take a bath, or was he was taken out by the guards. He was not allowed to watch TV, exercise, lean against the wall or bed, or sit on the bed. He was transferred and joined other practitioners on January 20th, 2008, when the new forced labour camp was built. Later, Mr. Gao was tortured again. Guard Lan Shou was the main instigator. Mr. Gao suffered great mental pressure. He was released January 24th, 2009.

On January 20th, 2008, the guards began torturing Mr. Mai Renming. Mr. Mai was arrested on February 25th, 2007, in Foshan, Nanhai City, and taken to Sanshui Forced Labour Camp in April 2007. Originally, he was confined with Mr. Li Zhaozhong in cell 205. On January 20th, Mr. Mai was held in solitary confinement cell No. 100. The police shaved his hair and deprived him of sleep until 2:30 a.m. each day. Mr. Mai was tortured in a similar manner as Mr. Gao Guoyuan. From that time on, all the practitioners who refused to renounce Falun Gong and had just arrived at the camp were tortured this way. Mr. Mai, a healthy individual prior to his imprisonment, had to be hospitalized twice. The first time was for 20 days, beginning in late April and ending in mid-May. The next time lasted approximately five months, beginning in early August and ending on January 2nd, 2009.

3. The Torture of Mr. Li Zhaozhong

Mr. Gao, Mr. Mai, and Mr. Li Zhaozhong were tortured at the same time. Mr. Li was arrested in December 2006, when teaching students in a middle school in Xingning City. He was taken to Sanshui Forced Labour Camp in February 2007. On the afternoon of January 25th, guards took Mr. Li and the other practitioners elsewhere, then ransacked the cells. Guo Baosi found some Falun Gong articles in cell 205, the cell where they had held Mr. Li Zhaozhong. This started a new round of torture against Mr. Li. He was held in solitary confinement.

On the morning of January 31st, Guo Baisi and Li Feng fully undressed Mr. Li, took him outside, and forced him to squat in the cold wind. When Guo Baosi saw that Mr. Li wore slippers, he swore at the inmates who monitored Mr. Li and ordered them removed. Then Guo poured freezing cold water down Mr. Li's neck. Li Feng did the same. It rained that day. When he saw water collecting on the ground, Guo dragged Mr. Li over and forced him to squat in the water. Guo also kicked Mr. Li with his mud-covered shoes.

In the afternoon, two more guards continued treating Mr. Li the same way and dragged him to squat in the wind. Afterward they took Mr. Li to the Severe Torture Room and tied his feet, hands and body to the tiger bench.

When the guards realized that none of these forms of torture made Mr. Li renounce his faith, they tortured him with three electric batons the next day. Lan Shou shocked Mr. Li first and then Wu Tao. Guo Baosi held a special, high-voltage electric baton in each hand and shocked Mr. Li's head. He then untied the bandage on Mr. Li's chest and cruelly shocked his nipples, abdomen, inner thighs, and other sensitive parts. Mr. Li was tortured like this for three days. Many parts of Mr. Li's hands and feet were bleeding. His body was black, sore, and painful, and it took Mr. Li more than two months to recover. On the morning of February 3rd, Guo Bao Si ordered the inmates who monitored Mr. Li to come up with some crimes to accuse him of so that he could hold Mr. Li for another three days in solitary confinement. But February 6th was the Chinese New Year's Eve, and the guards were scheduled to take several days off, so Guo's plan fell through. On the afternoon of February 4th, Lanshou and Wu Tao took Mr. Li back to the cell.

In March the torture of Mr. Li escalated. Mr. Li was not allowed to sleep until 2:30 a.m. The guards claimed that it was too late to take a bath, so Mr. Li could not bathe before going to sleep. In late March, Guo told Mr. Li that he would not let him sleep before 4:00 a.m. Guo threatened Mr. Li by saying that he would not let him sleep until 6:00 a.m and then if he still stuck to his faith, he would not let him sleep a single minute. In response, Mr. Li went on a hunger strike. After learning of the hunger strike, Wu Tao said to him, "You may still go to sleep at 2:30 a.m." Then Mr. Li promised to stop the hunger strike. Mr. Li was nonetheless not allowed to sleep before 4:00 a.m.

In July the torture escalated even further. The inmates took away the mosquito net, and he was not allowed to sleep before midnight or to buy anything. Guo often came to harass and threaten him. The inmates who monitored Mr. Li restricted his freedom even more, and he suffered great mental stress. Mr. Li was then put in solitary confinement. Even on November 20th, when the others moved from the broken down, old camp to the newly-built facility, Mr. Li was still held in solitary confinement. He was not allowed to contact other practitioners until December 22nd. On January 15th, over thirty drug addicts, thieves, and robbers were brought to the camp. Due to the lack of cells, Mr. Li was transferred to cell 305, where he lived with seven practitioners and was forced to do hard labour.

Mr. Li's prison term was extended for two months due to his hiding Falun Gong articles, but the guards didn't dare show Mr. Li the extension notice until December 20th. Guo showed him the extension notice and ordered Mr. Li to sign it. He refused. Mr. Li asked them to take out the legal document for the extension, but the guards didn't dare. The guards then threatened Mr. Li, saying that his prison term would not only be extended for another two months, but he would be fined 380 points, 10 points for another day's prison term, and that his prison term would be prolonged for another 38 days, which meant that Mr. Li couldn't go home until March 15th, 2009. Finally, the guards were afraid that their crimes would be exposed, and they released Mr. Li on January 24th, 2009. He had served an extra 48 days.

IV. The Persecution of Practitioners

At the same time, the guards also tortured Mr. Xuan Liqiang and Mr. Xuan, and their prison terms were extended for a month. Mr. Yang Shengguo, Liang Shengqiang, Cao Jianshan, Ding Lei, Zhang Mou, Yang Zhongping, Leaf Wenxin, Fan Feihai, Li Xiao, Li Qingwen, Liu Shangli, the Zhang Fei Glory, Tan Demin, Chen Zhiyong, Li Jianqiang, Luo Shaocong, Li Si Cong, Zhang Jiaping, Tang Pingyuan, and Zhang Ruliang were also tortured.

Mr. Liu Shangli, in his sixties, was in Sanshui Forced Labour Camp for the fourth time. He had been in prison for almost six years since the persecution began and had suffered different kinds of torture, which made him look older than his years. The fourth time he was tortured the most severely. The minute he arrived at the camp, he was deprived of sleep before midnight. He could no longer stand unaided and kept falling. His head was injured. The guards harassed, hit and swore at the inmates who monitored Mr. Liu so they would treat him more inhumanly. Whenever the inmates saw Mr. Liu close his eyes, they whipped him with thick cardboard or made loud noises in his ears. The guards also frequently tortured him when they were on duty during the second half of the night. Mr. Liu was tortured like this for eighty days.

The above is only a small sample of the persecution I know about first hand. Because the guards didn't allow us to communicate with each other, I cannot recount in detail what happened to many of the practitioners.

Note

1. "The 610 office" is an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other political and judiciary systems.

2. "Reform or Transform" Implementation of brainwashing and torture in order to force a practitioner to renounce Falun Gong. (Variations: "reform", "transform", "reformed", "reforming", "transformed", "transforming", and "transformation")

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2009/4/6/198457.html