Guards Persecute Practitioners at Chaoyanggou Forced Labour Camp in Changchun City, Jilin Province

Guards at Chaoyanggou Forced Labour Camp in Changchun City, Jilin Province have been persecuting Falun Gong practitioners for many years now. They use various torture methods to to try and get practitioners to write guarantee statements to renounce their belief. Guards who are successful in transforming [forcibly renounce Falun Gong] practitioners can receive bonuses and get promoted.

Mr. Zhang Guozhi was taken to the 1st team in May 2012. Prior to this, he had been on a hunger strike for several days to resist the persecution. Even after seeing him in poor health, the head of the 1st team Zhang Guangfeng didn’t provide him with any medical treatment. Instead, he ordered Mr. Zhang to be put in solitary confinement and was force-fed by the guards and doctors.

Mr. Zhang Guangzhao was detained in 2nd team. When he was seen practising the Falun Gong exercises on February 15th, 2012, the head of the 2nd team He Jianxin had him put in an iron cage that was less than two square metres. He was handcuffed to the cage and kept there for seven days. During this period, Mr. Zhang requested to use the toilet, however, Ma Yuntao from the education department denied his request and shocked him with electric shocks. As a result of torture, Mr. Zhang’s hands and legs are numb and he has no strength to stand up.

On the canteen notice board there is a “Monthly Food Supply Standards” list, which shows the food requirements for detainees at the camp. In addition, the menu also lists various fried dishes that are supposed to be available. However, these are only for show during inspection and official reviews, they are never offered to practitioners.

Due to the poor quality of food supplied, many practitioners have developed health problems and symptoms of illness. Mr. Du Guolin and Mr. Zhang Guangzhao have lost a lot of weight and become extremely thin. They suffer from weakness of the limbs and numbness in their hands and feet. The labour camp doctors attribute their symptoms to malnutrition.

Although there is a retail store in the labour camp providing daily necessities and food, the prices are extremely expensive and most of the food has passed the expiration date. The store is managed by the head of the reception department, whose first name is Dong. He never allows practitioners’ family members to bring food or necessities to them unless he has extorted money from them first.