Toxic Drugs and Violence: Exposing the Crimes in the Banqiao Women's Forced Labour Camp of Tianjin City

(This article is a summary of eyewitness accounts from inside the labour camp, later compiled by Falun Dafa practitioners outside.)

The Banqiao Women's Labour Camp in Tianjin City can be called a second "Masanjia Labour Camp" (Masanjia is a labour camp notorious for its persecution of Falun Gong). According to news from the inside, the team leaders in the Banqiao Womans' Labour Camp Second Team (who have now all been transferred to the First Team) were all trained in the methods used by the Masanjia Labour Camp for torturing Dafa practitioners.

The camp began its so-called "class for breaking [the will of] determined practitioners" on February 17, 2003. All Dafa practitioners in the camp were sent to this class. First, they underwent repeated bouts of being brutally beaten, while only being allowed two hours of sleep per day. They were confined in small solitary cells. The guards, afraid that their evildoing would be witnessed, hung up curtains to block the small cells from view. The following are some of the means they used to torture Dafa practitioners:

1. Put drugs in Dafa practitioners' meals to make them confused, weak, and give up their determination toward Falun Dafa. The guards even grabbed practitioners by the throat, grabbed their hair, and force-fed them poisonous drugs that damage the nervous system.

2. In the small cell confinement, Teacher Li's photos were put all over the floor, swear words were written on them, and Dafa practitioners were forced to step on them.

3. The guards forced Dafa practitioners to bend their bodies in torturous positions all day without food or water. Teacher's photos were stuck on the backs of Dafa practitioners and they were beaten with iron rods.

4. The guards bound the hands and legs of Dafa practitioners together, dragged them by their hair and knocked them against the walls until their hair was pulled out in chunks and their scalp was visible. Moreover, the guards also forced them to write so-called "pledges" to denounce Dafa.

5. Some practitioners were stripped naked and covered with a type of substance that makes people's minds unclear, makes them lose consciousness, and eventually makes them collapse.

The guards here persecute Dafa practitioners together with drug addicts. What they have done is irrational and their conduct inhuman. The specific cases of torture known so far are as follows:

Ms. Yang Xiuying, 58 years old, was confined and beaten brutally for 35 days.

Ms. Feng Zuoru, 52 years old, was beaten up by the guards in the labour camp and then was forced to undergo brainwashing classes. She was confined in a room with no windows and nothing inside but a small bed, and she was monitored constantly by drug addicts. Each day she was given only one bun to eat, and sometimes she was not even given water. She was even forced to drink the water used to wash her face. Ms. Feng was forbidden to use the washroom. She was beaten day and night. The guards played loud music to cover the sound of the beatings. They hung her up and poured cold water on her in the middle of winter. The swear words they used are too filthy to be mentioned. This kind of torture lasted for three months. All of these crimes were directed by team leader Kou.

Ms. Zhao Dewen was put into solitary confinement on June 2 and beaten to death throughout the night. Her body was taken out the next day and such misery was witnessed by many people. Two days later, the confinement chamber was locked without any guard monitoring the situation. This was also directed by team leaders Kou and Han.
July 24, 2003.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.org/mh/articles/2003/7/24/54515.html