Mr. Shi Bingjun Subjected to Forced Labour Three Times and Detained a Total of Five and a Half Years

Mr. Shi Bingjun has been detained in forced labour camps for more than one third of the time that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has persecuted Falun Gong in the past 15 years.

He was arrested and sentenced to Fangqiang Forced Labour Camp in 2000, 2005. and 2011, and was imprisoned for five and a half years. The guards tortured him with severe beatings and sleep deprivation, despite the fact that he was on hunger strike to protest the persecution. In addition, he was held in a brainwashing centre for more than three months.

Four months after he was released from the Fangqiang Forced Labour Camp, Mr. Shi was arrested again on October 10th, 2013, and was sent to the Wuxi No. 1 Detention Centre, where he has been held for over five months.

His wife is under extreme pressure and has to take care of their child and parents. The persecution caused serious damage to his family.

Mr. Shi, a 45-year-old practitioner, was studying in Japan when the CCP’s persecution of Falun Gong started in 1999. He returned to his hometown in Wuxi City of Jiangsu Province to inform people about the true nature of Falun Gong, but was repeatedly arrested and tortured.

Persecuted in Labour Camp the First Time

Mr. Shi returned to Wuxi City from Japan in August 2000 and started to expose the persecution of Falun Gong to people in his village. He appealed in Beijing for justice in October 2000, but was sentenced to one year of forced labour by the Wuxi Police Department.

While detained in Ward No. 7 of the Fangqiang Forced Labour Camp, Mr. Shi was forced to do heavy work from dawn to night. Even in the evening, the guards called him for "conversations," during which they pressured and interrogated him.

In October 2001, Mr. Shi was transferred to Ward No. 2, which was specifically set up to persecute Falun Gong practitioners. He was forced to stand still for long periods of time and was deprived of sleep. The guards interrogated him till 10:00 p.m. and often beat and kicked him.

Because Mr. Shi refused to renounce his belief, the guards extended his term by a month and shaved his head before he was released. Afterward, officials from the local 610 Office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong) and police station often went to his home to harass him.

Persecuted in a Brainwashing Centre

Mr. Shi was arrested again by agents from the Wuxi Domestic Security Division in March 2003. He was sent to the Wuxi Brainwashing Centre and detained for more than three months.

Every day he was forced to stand still for long periods of time. His feet became so swollen that his shoes had to be cut open. The guards also deprived him of sleep and denied him use of the toilet.

In order to ""reform" or "transform"" [forcibly renounce Falun Gong] him, the guards repeatedly tortured him. They either put his head under water or inserted two lit cigarettes into his nostrils and sealed his lips.

Persecuted in Forced Labour Camp the Second Time

Mr. Shi was arrested again in November 2005 and sentenced to two and a half years in Fangqiang Forced Labour Camp.

The guards, under orders from Tang Guofang, head of the Jiangsu Province Forced Labour Bureau’s Education Department, tortured Mr. Shi even worse starting in November 2006.

Mr. Shi was sent to a cell in an uninhabited building and watched 24 hours a day. The guards, who were specifically trained to torture practitioners, worked in this building and brutally tortured him physically and mentally for over two months.

Persecuted in Forced Labour Camp the Third Time

Mr. Shi was not released until April 2008. Due to the long-term persecution, he had little money and had difficulty finding a job. He was arrested by officers from the Wuxi 610 Office during the second half of 2011 and sentenced to two years of forced labour in the Fangqiang Forced Labour Camp.