The Persecution of Falun Gong Practitioners in Xinhua Forced Labour Camp

The Second Division in Xinhua Forced Labour Camp in Mianyang City, Sichuan Province, is designed especially for the imprisonment and persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in Sichuan. Division Head Su Xin is responsible for overall operations, Deputy Head Long Liping for manufacturing, Assist to the Division Head Gao Yunyuan for "managing" practitioners, and guards Yang Jing and You Ning for persecuting Falun Gong practitioners.

After the middle of 2009, Falun Gong practitioners were directly put into the Second Division when they arrived at the camp. There, every practitioner was first held in a separate cell, in complete isolation, not allowed to be in touch with other practitioners or inmates. At first the guards used the camp and division's regulations to restrict practitioners. Inmates had to "report" every time they left or entered the cell or went to the toilet, and they had to recite the camp regulations, sing division songs, etc. Practitioners would be punished if they didn't comply. They were forced to comply repeatedly, until the guards were satisfied. The guards wanted to wear down the practitioner's determination. If the practitioner yielded to the guards' requests, the guards would push the practitioners further and further towards giving up Falun Gong.

When a practitioner followed the camp regulations, the "transformation" [forcibly renounce Falun Gong] process then started. The first step was to have practitioners read books slandering Falun Gong, and then they might be given a slightly relaxed environment and some improvement in their living conditions. This was to encourage the practitioners to give up their practice and to comply with the camp requirements. If that didn't work, the guards would try another method. They would assign more personal monitors, apply more pressure, and pick on practitioners for small things. The personal monitors frequently abused practitioners, both verbally and physically. They beat them, claiming that they were "correcting their movements." The guards also beat practitioners without hesitation. They also reduced the practitioners' sleep time. Practitioners were not allowed to sleep until 11 p.m. The time was later changed to midnight or even later. They were forced to get up at 5 a.m. or sometimes 4 a.m. They were to do "military training" throughout the entire day: squats, push-ups, high leg lifts, and so on without any break. Standing in military positions was considered rest for them. These abuses were conducted after inmates went to work so that there was no one else around to see it. When the inmates came back from work, the practitioners were allowed to stand or sit on a stool. When the practitioners could no longer endure, the guards beat them to force them to continue.

Practitioner Mr. Lin Chunquan was once imprisoned, physically abused, and deprived of sleep for a long time. He was forced to do squats, push-ups, and high leg lifts several hundred times each day. Sometimes he was forced to do that several times in a single day. He was forced to squat for a long time and only allowed to change his foot position every hour. The forced-squatting would last for a day. "Education and Transformation" Team lead Chen Tianfu often beat Mr. Lin. Once he grabbed Mr. Lin's neck and lifted him off the ground. Mr. Lin almost passed out. He reported it to the guard but was ignored. He was forced to write an "understanding report" every day. He would be physically abused if the guards didn't like his report. At the end, Mr. Lin wrote the "understanding report" as poems. Then the guards wondered if he had become insane. The guards felt that they could not change him, so they wrote bad things about Mr. Lin to extend his stay at the camp every few months. They forced him to do hard labour throughout the whole day. Even after Mr. Lin had served two years, his full term, in the forced labour camp, he was not allowed to go home.

When practitioner Mr. Fan Haidong from Chengdu City, Sichuan Province, was taken to the camp, he was forced to do squats, push-ups, high leg lifts, and then squat for a long period. Because he had been detained at a detention centre for a long time before, he was weak and could no longer squat. He asked to be allowed to stand up, but his personal monitors, He Rui and Chen Lijun, didn't give him permission. They forced him to hold his knees with his hands and fold his entire body over. "Education and Transformation" team lead Chen Wujun ordered He Rui, Chen Lijun, Xu An, and other personal monitors, "Keep doing that to him. Don't give him even a minute to rest." Mr. Fan had heart palpitations due to the torture. The doctor gave him nitroglycerin heart pills to relieve his condition when he went to the hospital for a checkup. But Mr. Fan was still forced to do intensive work while taking the pills.

Practitioner Mr. Zhang Guangquan from Guang'an City, Sichuan Province, was ill when he was taken to the Second Division. His personal monitors gave him the most difficult work on purpose. He was ordered to clean the alley that was more than one hundred feet long. He had to kneel down and scrub the floor by hand. He had to do it at least three times to make the alley clean. Even a healthy person would be exhausted afterward, much less Mr. Zhang, who was extremely weak.

Once a practitioner was "transformed," he was forced to do hard labour at least ten hours a day. One of the jobs was making electronic products for Hongrun Electronics, a subsidiary of the Changhong Group, Mianyang City, Sichuan Province. In November 2009, the Changhong Group Chairman Zhao Yong visited Xinhua Forced Labour Camp. Hongrun Electronics took down its production line and installed it at Xinhua Forced Labour Camp, basically moving the factory to Xinhua and laying off several hundred employees at the factory.

The living standards for the prisoners at the forced labour camp are very low. With the long stretches of overtime work and intense mental pressure, many have symptoms of malnutrition, including lack of strength in their limbs and difficulty walking. Several Falun Gong practitioners also showed these symptoms. Mr. Fan Haidong had the most severe symptoms. He could not eat and had stiff legs that made it hard for him to go upstairs. He was still required to work every day. When it became very severe, he was then taken to the hospital. There were many people with similar symptoms at the hospital, so the doctor didn't bother to treat Mr. Fan after hearing that he was going to be released soon. He was not even given the special meal for the sick. Instead, he was just told to eat some good food after being released. After staying at the hospital for more than ten days, Mr. Fan returned to the Second Division still limping. He was forced to do work overtime the first night he returned.

Several practitioners are still imprisoned in the Xinhua camp. Please pay attention to their situation and stop the 11-year-long brutal persecution against Falun Gong practitioners, so that they can go back to their families soon.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2010/8/22/228654.html