Dong'gang, the Torture Chamber at Masanjia Forced Labour Camp

Masanjia Forced Labour Camp, located in Shenyang City, Liaoning Province, is notorious for its abuse and torture of Falun Gong practitioners. The prison guards there have reportedly dragged practitioners into the toilet and beaten them at will, ignoring and violating multiple counts of China's prison laws. But what the public may not know is that there is a facility called Dong'gang, which is located on the fourth floor of Masanjia Forced Labour Camp.

Dong'gang is essentially a torture chamber specially created for Falun Gong practitioners who refuse to renounce their belief, have been recently incarcerated, or have started practising Falun Gong again after they initially renounced their belief under duress of torture. Practitioners taken to Dong'gang face an escalated level of torture and abuse than those held in the regular cells at Masanjia.

What goes on in Dong'gang is hidden behind by opaque doors and windows and soundproofed rooms. Practitioners are forced to squat and wear a headset connected to a sound system that broadcasts hate propaganda against Falun Gong. The volume is set at the highest level and played for many hours. If practitioners do not renounce their belief, they are subjected to a torture method known as “Spread Eagle”, where their limbs are stretched in four directions for many hours to inflict agonising pain. They are also hung up for many hours, causing excruciating pain to their arms and shoulders. Practitioners are shocked with electric batons, brutally beaten, deprived of food, water, sleep and even the right to use the toilet. One of the torture methods used that stretches the practitioners arms by their handcuffs has caused many practitioners' arms to dislocate.

Ms. Zhang Jing from Dalian refused to renounce her belief and was locked in a room where her hands were tied to a heating pipe, in a way that she was unable to sit, squat or stand up straight for many hours. As a result, she lost all feeling in her hands.

Ms. Wang Dan, over 50 years of age, was extremely thin after she returned from Dong'gang.

Ms. Li Shuhua told the head of the team that she had done nothing wrong to believe in Falun Gong, as she is entitled to her constitutional right to have a personal spiritual belief. She also refused to memorise the 30 prison rules. The head of the team sent her to Dong'gang, where her body was stretched for 24 hours. When she returned to her cell in Masanjia, her hands were swollen and she was unable to sit down. Guards took her back to Dong'gang the next day. When she returned, she looked traumatised. The prison guards beat her up when she clearly needed medical attention.

Deputy head of the team Zhang Lei ordered Ms. Li to stand barefoot for a long period of time. It was the middle of winter in northeastern China. Zhang Lei was heard shouting insults at Ms. Li and was slapping her. When Ms. Li was eventually brought back to her prison cell, there were needle marks on her arms and a bump on her head. Zhang Lei forbade her to talk, but it appeared that she had lost the ability to speak anyway.

Ms. Gao Fuling from Dalian was repeatedly slapped by Zhang Lei for talking to fellow practitioners. She was then subjected to the stretching torture. When she was let down, her arms had dark purple bruises on them and the skin on her arms became very cold due to the poor blood circulation. Zhang Lei has repeatedly threatened to torture Ms. Gao to death for talking to other practitioners.

Ms. Wang Xuemei and Ms. Wang Xuejie are sisters, and both refused to renounce their belief. They were taken to Dong'gang. Details of their torture there are unknown, but they both went on hunger strike to protest their persecution. They were brutally force-fed and left in excruciating pain.

Ms. Wang Yingqin was subjected to the stretching torture three times. Each time she succumbed to the excruciating pain and renounced her belief in Falun Gong. But each time she declared that she would practise Falun Gong again. The prison guards then escalated the level of torture on her each time.

Ms. Sun Guifang, Ms. Qiu Tieyan, Ms. Gao Chongyan, Ms. Cui Zhonghua and Ms. Li Peiyan were kept in Dong'gang for three weeks. They have not been seen since.