Torture with 2-Inch Long Needles in Masanjia Forced Labour Camp

In October of 2000, I went to Beijing for the second time to appeal for Falun Dafa, and was kidnapped at the entrance of the Appeals Office [1]. I was detained for 23 days. Merely because I refused to sign my name, I was illegally sentenced to a two-year forced labour term and was detained in the Masanjia Labour Camp.

As soon as I had arrived at the Masanjia Labour Camp, the guards searched my belongings and clothes. Then a guard leader in the camp took out a book that slandered Dafa and wanted me to read it. I told him, "The book is lying and I will not read it." The guard leader said fiercely, "We will not be easy on you if you don't read it."

He then instructed 4-5 people to tell ridiculous lies around me, trying to force me to listen to them. I refused to listen and told them how the Dafa practitioners outside the camp validated Dafa. Guard leader Qiu saw that I had a firm faith. He forced me to squat in a corner for up to 20 hours per day, and allowed me to sleep for only two hours per day. I was dizzy from squatting for such a length of time. My body felt numb and I could not swallow food, since I was only allowed to eat in the squatting position.

The labour camp authorities forced Dafa practitioners to attend brainwashing sessions, and forced them to view videos and to read books and newspapers that slander Dafa. These Dafa practitioners were under 24 hour strict surveillance and were not allowed to talk to each other. The camp enforcers cruelly tortured Dafa practitioners, both mentally and physically. I had pain in my legs, in my chest and throughout my whole body from squatting for such a long time. When I finally sat down on the ground, the police head instigated several police guards to threaten me. Some of them pulled my arms and held them up, and some pushed my legs down. They kicked and beat me.

A fellow practitioner was cruelly tortured because she firmly believes in Dafa. The guard leader instigated several camp police guards to brutally beat her. They shocked her by forcing a long electric baton into her mouth. The shocking completely blistered her mouth. She had extreme difficulty eating and talking. Her head appeared injured and her face was swollen. She could not even open her eyes because of the swelling. Her body was covered with blood. The guards beat her while sitting on her body. They forced her head down and forced a two-inch long needle into her palm, the soles of her feet, and different parts of her body. She screamed miserably. Because my faith in Falun Dafa was not yet strong enough, on the night of the seventh day after I entered the camp, and under extreme physical and mental torture, I wrote the "Repentance Statement" [2] against my will.

Because of the physical torture, which lasted as long as 20 hours a day, I lost over 30 pounds in seven days and my legs were injured. I had difficulty walking and could not lift my feet. I often fell down while walking. My legs were numb. When my husband came to see me, he requested that I go home for treatment. The guard leader would not give permission. Under pressure from my family members, the police took me to a hospital for examination. The doctor said, "Her fibular nerve was seriously injured and daily physical therapy is needed. It will still be difficult for her legs to recover, even with the therapy." The guard leader took me back to the labour camp. Seven months later, the camp police allowed me to "serve the sentence outside the camp."

I continued studying the Fa [law and principles] and doing the exercises after I returned home, and regained my health. Soon I wrote a solemn statement, saying, "All the materials I wrote in the Masanjia Labour Camp that do not conform to Dafa are void. I mailed the statement to the Masanjia Labour Camp authorities.

Note:

[1] The Appeals Office -- Office for Letters, Calls and Visitors -- Normally an office designed for people, to present input regarding appeals and complaints to the government, but during the persecution, it is used to record the appealing Dafa practitioners' names and to persecute them.

[2] The "Repentance Statement" -- In this statement, the practitioner is forced to admit remorse for practising Falun Gong, promises to give up Falun Gong, and will never again associate with other practitioners or go to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2003/4/29/49361.html