Torture Methods Used to Persecute Falun Gong Practitioners in Henan No. 3 Forced Labour Camp (Part 1)

Many Falun Gong practitioners are persecuted in Henan No. 3 Forced Labour Camp (also known as the Xuchang Forced Labour Camp). It has been declared by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) a “model system for re-education through labour” and “a role model in Henan Province” for their high “transformation” [forcibly renounce Falun Gong] rate in the past few years.

The frenzied persecution in the camp has claimed the life of several Falun Gong practitioners and left many disabled, like the young lawyer Li Jian from Zhengyang county, the Luohe Art School teacher Yao Sanzhong, and Wuyang County farmer Zhao Guoan.

In the so-called “Spring Thunder Action” kick-off meeting in 2003, director of the Henan No. 3 Forced Labour Camp, Yan Zhengye, crowed: “For those Falun Gong practitioners who refuse to give up their belief in Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, we will try to reform them with 'all kinds of means' and make them feel living death.” The officers in the forced labour camp openly said in the meeting that “no one would be held accountable for Falun Gong practitioners' death.”

In 2003, Luo Gan, secretary of the CCP's Political and Legal Committee and head of the “610 Office” (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong) personally visited the Henan No. 3 Forced Labour Camp to boost the suppression of Falun Gong, which caused the persecution to escalate. Director Yan Zhengye and Associate Director Qu Shuangcai of the labour camp personally supervised the wicked guards like Shi Baolong and Ma Huating frenziedly committing atrocities. An organised and premeditated action of horror unscrupulousness in nature was propagated widely in Henan No. 3 Forced Labour Camp. Its purpose is to use torture and all other kinds of means to force the cultivators of Falun Gong to give up their belief.

The slogan from the police was: “We will beat a man to death if he doesn't reform; we will not release a hunger striker even if he starves to death.” The forced labour camp tied the merits and bonuses of personnel working in each brigade and squad to the number of Falun Gong practitioners they were able to “reform.” Director Yan Zhengye and Associate Director Qu Shuangcai gave the order to resort to all kinds of measures to treat “Falun Gong.” They followed the secret order from Jiang Zemin former leader of China and instigator of the persecution]: “Death of Falun Gong practitioners from beating is nothing and shall be counted as suicide.”

The recent article “Out of Masanjia” published on a China-based Lens magazine that revealed the persecution of detainees in the Masanjia Forced Labour Camp has attracted a wide attention, and aroused a strong denouncement of China's forced labour system from both home and abroad. The policy of re-education through forced labour became a focal point, yet the facts about the persecution of Falun Gong were glossed over. In fact, under the tyranny of the CCP, every forced labour camp, every prison or every detention centre is a Masanjia or a living hell. The atrocity exposed in that article is but a fraction of the whole picture.

Here we have collected details of various torture methods and dirty means Henan No. 3 Forced Labour Camp has used to persecute Falun Gong practitioners, in hopes of arousing the conscience, compassion and courage of the general public. We sincerely hope people can stand up to resist and disintegrate the evil authorities altogether.

1. Up on the Rope

A torture called “up on the rope,” is frequently used in Henan No. 3 Forced Labour Camp. Many Falun Gong practitioners detained there suffered from this torture. It is said this torture with rope was first invented by Henan No. 3 Forced Labour Camp and then introduced to other forced labour camps as a so-called “experiment.”

Both hands are tied to the back with a thin but tough nylon rope and then lifted up. It causes unbearable pain. This torture lasts about half an hour each time, with the rope being periodically tightened and then loosened. Each round of torture lasts about 30 minutes.

If the victim does not scream, the perpetrators insert bottles or bricks to increase the pain. The hands bleed and the flesh sticks to the rope during each round of torture. The rope can cut deep into the flesh, leaving both wrists numb for a long time. Both hands can become paralysed.

Normally, an inmate can not withstand even one or two rounds, but many Falun Gong practitioners were subjected to this torture more than 5 times.

For example, Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Li Xingcheng from Nanzhao, Nanyang was put up on the rope 7 times. As a result, his wrists were seriously injured and swollen. His wrists are still heavily scarred.

Mr. Pang Liang, former councillor of the fire brigade of Jiyuan City's armed police, was beaten by wicked policemen in a New Year reception because he said loudly “Falun Gong is good.” Later, he was put up on the rope 7 times with each round lasting 40-50 minutes, leaving his right arm paralysed. He was also detained for 4 months.

Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Xiao Zhentong was tortured this way over 10 times in one day.

Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Yao Sanzhong was put up on the rope dozens of times. Once, Mr. Yao was hung up 8 times in a row, and the rope cut deeply into his flesh causing unbearable pain. He also was shocked with high-voltage electric baton as several guards brutally beat him.

Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Yue Caiyun suffered severe bodily torture, because she did not cooperate with the prison authority. She was deprived of sleep for 7 consecutive days and nights. She was put up on the rope for 20 rounds. She was also beaten all over her body by electric baton or police truncheon.

Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Wu Junqing was brutally beaten by guards and put up on the rope 11 times because he refused to give up practising Falun Gong. His whole body was shocked by an electric baton or beaten by a truncheon, causing one of his hands to be paralysed. He was too weak to lift anything for several months.

Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Lei Zhongchang was tortured by guards Shi Baolong officer Zhao 20 times because he refused to give up Falun Gong. He was also beaten all over his body with an electric baton, especially on his face, head and neck leaving many bruises. When the bruises got infected, it was unbearably painful. Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Zhang Xiufeng was up on the rope 9 times in one day.

Imagine the physical and mental devastation.

2. “Roasting a Whole Sheep”

"Roasting a Whole Sheep" is a torture in which the hands and feet of the victim are handcuffed to a rail so that the whole body hangs like a sheep roasting on a spit. Such torture is often accompanied with beatings.

In order to “reform” Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Bai Hongmin, the forced labour camp tortured him with “Roasting a Whole Sheep.” He was also beaten and shocked with several electric batons.

Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Yue Caiyun was tortured with “Roasting a Whole Sheep” for 3 days, causing injuries all over her body. After this, she lost the ability to handle her daily life by herself. She was also bound to a chair every day and deprived of sleep, and forced to wear a headset which played recordings slandering Falun Gong. She is currently leading a life of misery.

Falun Gong practitioners Mr. Wu Junqing, Mr. Jin Chaofu, Mr. Bai Hongmin and Mr. Li Xingcheng have also been subjected to this torture, nearly causing paralysis. They still had difficulty feeding themselves even several months after the torture.

3. Straitjacket

In this torture, practitioners are forced to wear a straitjacket which gets tighter and tighter the more one moves. The victim has the hands tied across the back. Both hands are then lifted up towards the position of the chest. Both feet are also tied up. Sometimes, the victim would be hung up in the air. Other times, the victim is bound to a bench, with a metal rod attached to his arms or legs. The victim is normally asked to bend his head but is not allowed to close his eyes.

Most steadfast Falun Gong practitioners in Henan No. 3 Forced Labour Camp have been subjected to this torture.

Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Li Jinke was tortured by the police with a straitjacket from April 2003 past October 1st, 2003. At night, his screams filled the air. Because of prolonged torment, Mr. Li's body weight diminished to only about 80 lbs yet they continued to torture him.

4. Electric Shock

Shocking Falun Gong practitioners with an electric baton is a commonly and frequently used torture, often used with other torture methods including “up on the rope,” “roasting a whole sheep” and cruel beating.

The guards target sensitive areas like the neck, armpit and genitals. The flesh is often burned and in some locations, blisters as big as an egg are formed. The victim is bound to a chair and unable to stretch for days until he agrees to be “reformed.”

Because Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Li Jinke from Tanghe County Hospital persisted in his belief and said loudly “Falun Gong is good,” he was tortured by police for a long time with “up on the rope” and cruel beating.

Guard Jia Zigang inserted a high-voltage electric baton into Mr. Li's mouth and shocked him. Another officer Shi Baolong directed inmates to push socks into Mr. Li's mouth. They forced Mr. Li to kneel down in front of them. They also tied both his legs to the wooden arms of a sofa for several days. Mr. Li's screams resounded far. The electric shock caused Mr. Li's mouth, lip and face to bruise and blister and rendered him unable to live independently.

5. Cruel Beating

In the winter of 2002, Mr. Wang Yukun was cruelly beaten by a group of inmates as directed by officer Jia Zigang in the No. 3 Forced Labour Camp, which caused his left leg to be fractured and his knee bone to be smashed. He still did not recover after several months' hospitalisation. He needed to be escorted by two people during his family visit because he could not walk.

On November 23rd, 2004, upon arrival at the forced labour camp, Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Chen Shaomin was beaten by the head of No. 3 brigade, Shi Baolong who also stepped on Mr. Chen's neck, because Mr. Chen refused to give up his belief in Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.

Guards Tan Junmin, Xu Zhusheng and Run Lei cruelly beat Mr. Chen's genitals with a truncheon, shocked Mr. Chen's whole body with an electric baton, and whipped his body with a leather belt, leaving him bloody and bruised, with serious burns.

After the beating, officer Shi Baolong ordered two personal monitors Mu Qidong and Wang Dalei to continue to torture Mr. Chen. Mu Qidong fiercely twisted Mr. Chen's thumb and made him kneel down in front of the guards to say words slandering Falun Gong, but Mr. Chen refused to do so. The perpetrators cruelly beat Mr. Chen again.

One day in mid 2004, because Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Wu Junqing did not cooperate, refused to take an oath, and declined to write any thought report, three guards Xu Zhusheng, Run Lei and Tan Junmin brutally tortured Mr. Wu using “up on the rope,” electric baton shocks and leather belt beating, leaving him bloody and bruised, with burns all over his body. As a result, Mr. Wu could hardly walk.

Guard Run Lei also slapped Mr. Wu's face with a leather shoe and the imprints of the leather shoe remained for more than two weeks. Police handcuffed Mr. Wu to the inmate who watched him for days and nights. The guards also ordered a drug addict inmate to slap the face of Falun Gong practitioner Yao Sanzhong for two consecutive days with a plastic sandal, causing him to be unable to eat normally for several days.

Some other Falun Gong practitioners including Mr. Hou Hui, Xuan Zhu'an, Wu Zhongmin, Zhao Jianquan and Peng Yiguo were cruelly beaten, which caused them to develop pleural effusion (water around lung) and tuberculosis.

6. Super-Intensive Toil

Henan No. 3 Forced Labour Camp forces Falun Gong practitioners to get up before 6:00am every day and work until dark. Falun Gong practitioners do not get any break except for meal times. If they don't finish their daily workload, they are deprived of sleep. In the case of overtime, they have to work till 5:00am the next day. They are only allowed a short meal break and toilet break.

If one can not finish the workload, he will be criticised by the guards and has to write self-criticism. He can also be cruelly beaten. In order to increase revenue, Falun Gong practitioners detained in the labour camp are forced to produce wigs for Henan Rebecca Hair Products company in Xuchang city.

The police often force Falun Gong practitioners to work in slave-labour like conditions. In order to meet the delivery deadline, the labour camp authority tightly controls the meal time and nobody can take extra time. If somebody does not finish the meal during the prescribed meal time, the meal is taken away and dumped.

Those who are slow in their work are usually made to take the work back to their cells to continue working on it. They often work until 2:00-4:00am the next day to get it done. Those who act slowly are also asked to write thought report and self-criticism and not allowed to sleep until as late as 4am. Some of those steadfast practitioners have been forced to work 18-20 hours every day.

There are many wheat fields in the forced labour camp. The labour camp makes a lot of money selling the wheat. The process of de-hulling, drying and packing, and weighing the packages is all manual labour. Many Falun Gong practitioners, some nearly 60 years old, are forced to work processing the wheat.

Despite the hot weather, practitioners need to move many sacks of wheat each day, and each weighs more than 100 lbs. If they do not move quickly enough, police curse them. From morning to night, the practitioners work on moving, weighing and stacking the bags of wheat, and they are dead tired.

The guards do not allow practitioners to talk while working and do not provide them with any water to drink. Many become weak and dehydrated, while the guard lies comfortably on one chair, stretching his legs to another chair, eating watermelon and enjoying a soft drink.

After they stop working at night, they are too tired to eat anything. The meal is usually two steamed buns, sometimes with vegetables. Even water is not regularly supplied. Each day, only two pails of hot water are provided to 60-70 people. Many don't get water, and they are often Falun Gong practitioners, because they do not fight for it.

Sometimes the water is available but people can't drink it, because they have to take the time to use the restroom. Their bathroom break is timed and conducted in a group manner. One inmate fell down in the bathroom trying to get ahead in the line. With blood, excrement and urine all over his body, he was sent to the clinic for treatment, but still didn't stand up, because he needed to empty his bowels.

7. Sexual abuse

This includes slapping the penis and pulling pubic hair. The guards even tied Mr. Peng Hongyan's penis to a rope and then pulled suddenly. Several dozen inmates including Zhang Tiehong, Li Bing, Li Fubin and Zhang Ergong once stripped Falun Gong practitioners and rubbed their penises on the practitioners' bottoms. These inmates were rewarded for persecuting Falun Gong practitioners with reduction in their labour terms.

8. Brutal force-feeding

The forced labour camp uses the brutal force-feeding method to treat Falun Gong practitioners on hunger strike. The head of the No. 3 brigade Shi Baolong and the head of the intermediate brigade Jia Zigan brutally force-fed Mr. Li Jinke several times.

When they inserted a tube into Mr. Li's nose, they purposely slowed down to increase the pain and also purposely injured Mr. Li's nasal cavity and stomach.

After force-feeding, Mr. Li was handcuffed and hung up to restrict his freedom and deprived of sleep. Several months' brutal torture caused Mr. Li to become emaciated, and he was in a restless, illusional and incoherent mental state.

9. Intense Brainwashing

In the intensive brainwashing classes, Falun Gong practitioners are forced to watch CCP-made videos of lies, focusing on misleading topics, the fabricated homicide, suicide and self-immolation that have already been proven false. After each viewing, the practitioners were required to write a thought report using the framing and slandering lies.

Shortly after one brainwashing session, another “strengthening” brainwashing session begins, to reinforce and underscore the outcome of brainwashing from the previous session, and to evaluate whether adjustments are necessary.

The associate director, Qu Shuangcai, who was in charge of monitoring and instruction before and is now director of the Shibalihe Women's Forced Labour Camp in Zhengzhou city, once openly said in a brainwashing session: “Falun Gong practitioners are inferior to those people who steal and rob, because stealing and robbing can help him lead the good life, but those practising Falun Gong are too stupid and they do not take care of their family either.”

This is the hooligan logic of the followers of the CCP.

Officer Shi Baolong held a so-called ritual before the rest hours each day or before a meeting to force Falun Gong practitioners to take an individual or group oath to slander Falun Gong or to sing songs slandering Falun Gong and its founder. The personal monitors took surveillance and if any Falun Gong practitioners were not participating, they would be brutally tortured. It is very common to play back the videos or audios and work on or test on drills slandering Falun Gong. It is also common to force Falun Gong practitioners to take oath under the red flag to “break away from Falun Gong.”

10. Extending Forced Labour Terms

The officers in Henan No. 3 Forced Labour Camp often extended the forced labour terms by 2 to 6 or more months for Falun Gong practitioners who refused to be “reformed.” The term of some practitioners has been extended twice by nearly one year. Mr. Yao Sanzhong was extended for 10 months, while Mr. Pang Liang extended for 4 months. On August 13th, 2003, four Falun Gong practitioners terms had matured but when they were about to be released, Jia Zigan and others extended their detention for 6 more days.

11. Piercing Finger Tip with Needle, Burning with Cigarette and Pounding Toes with Hammer.

12. Brushing the Anus

Guards directed inmates to insert a toothbrush into the anus of Falun Gong practitioners and brush until bleeding. After that, they stuck the bloody toothbrush into practitioners' mouths and stirred. Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Wang Tiezhuang, former director of the Industry and Commerce Bureau of Nanyang City, was detained at the Henan No. 3 Forced Labour Camp. He has been subjected to various torture methods and insults for persisting in his belief. The guards incited inmates to torture Mr. Wang by brushing his anus with a toothbrush and then forcing Mr. Wang to use the blood-laden toothbrush to brush his own teeth.

13. Feeding or Daubing with Faeces

Guards directed inmates to feed faeces into Falun Gong practitioners' mouths. They spit saliva or phlegm onto practitioners' faces and daubed faeces onto the faces of Falun Gong practitioners.

14. Handcuffed on the Back, Exposure to Scorching Sun and Heavy Rain.

Mr. Zhao Zemin was exposed to the baking sun and heat of around 90 degrees F for several months.

15. Facing the Wall.

Guards forced practitioners face a wall for a long time if they refuse to write an “agreement for reformation.” They also posted cartoons insulting Falun Gong practitioners on their faces and deprived them from sleep for several days and nights.

16. Extended Sleep Deprivation

The Falun Gong practitioners who refuse to be “reformed” are deprived of sleep, and guards do not allow them to sit or crouch for a long time. Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Yue Caiyun was tortured severely – she was deprived of sleep for 7 consecutive days and nights, because she did not cooperate. Ten or more other Falun Gong practitioners including Mr. Pang Liang and Lei Zhongchang have also been tortured by electric shock, “up on the rope” and long term deprivation of sleep. Consequently, some of them fainted at the roll call before going out to work.

17. Intimidation

One time, the police gathered all Falun Gong practitioners to a building for a meeting. In the meeting, the officer Ren raged “Without 'reformation,' you will be sentenced to imprisonment; if you still refuse to 'reform,' death is your only way out – you will be sentenced to death penalty and executed.” At every meeting or group activity, the police would hold electric batons and ropes in hand to generate an atmosphere of terror.

18. Solitary Confinement

Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Zhao did not want to cooperate the corrupt guards, so he lodged a hunger strike for 2 months and ended up being emaciated. They bound him with a rope and then beat him with an electric baton until he was bruised all over. He was then subjected to solitary confinement for about a week, devastating both his body and mind.

19. Use of Foul Language

After recording filthy language, guards played it back to Falun Gong practitioners and told them to repeat the foul language. They also insulted Falun Gong practitioners by swearing at them.

20. Stripped and Doused with Icy Water. Heads Submerged in Icy Water for Long Periods.

21. The Splits

Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Yang was tortured by inmates directed by the guards, because he refused to give up his cultivation. They pulled Mr. Yang's leg to each side with a great force, causing Mr. Yang's anus and surrounding area to be seriously injured. The torture caused unbearable pain and difficulty walking.

22. Poking Inner Legs with Sharp Sticks

In No. 2 brigade, Falun Dafa disciple Mr. Peng Hongyan was tied between two metal beds. Two drug addicted inmates, Fang Sijun and Mr. Bai, poked the inner side of Mr. Peng's legs with a sharp stick, causing the soft tissues of his legs to be seriously injured.

They later beat his legs, causing a fracture. They did not allow Mr. Peng to go to toilet and do not allow him to fall asleep. The guards still required him to attend morning drill and work with the others, despite his fractured leg, and were indifferent to the blood oozing from his wounds.