Pingdong Labor Camp of Jilin Province Persecutes Dafa Practitioners

Zheng Jin (pseudonym for a practitioner) was kidnapped from his family and taken to the Pingdong Labor Camp. The moment he arrived, he was brutally tortured by political instructor Zhang Xiaosen. He was beaten mercilessly, pummeled in the chest and wounded by the instructor's elbow. Zheng was staunch and unyielding, and resolutely endured the torture. He was struck again and again until he vomited blood. In order to prevent information of the torture from leaking out, the camp initially prohibited any visits from the victim's relatives. When his condition worsened, however, the camp returned Zheng to his home in an attempt to escape responsibility for their actions.

Li Qin (a physics teacher and practitioner) was held at the labor camp simply because he had expressed his desire to appeal in Beijing while attending brainwashing class. He refused to give in, so he was restrained with arms cuffed from behind and feet held in place. The police beat his ankles numerous times with a heavy wooden club. Li was then unable to stand, unable to raise his arms, and his feet were so badly swollen that he could not put shoes on. He was unable to care for himself. In order to appeal for an end to such evil treatment, more than 20 practitioners went on hunger strike.

A few days later, the Vice Governor of Jilin Province, Yang Qingcai, came to the camp for an inspection. Dafa practitioner Zhang Jieshan went up to him to expose the persecution and clarify the truth. Unexpectedly, Yang became enraged and yelled: "Beat him up hard for me. If he dies, he dies for nothing. You bear no responsibility!" This was totally unlike the friendly Vice Governor we had always seen on TV. We were shocked to find such hypocrisy, and saw the truly ugly face of evil behind the friendly public facade.

That same day, Zhang Jieshan was viciously beaten and his term was also extended another three months. From that time on, the labor camp sank into even darker gloominess and terror. Shortly afterwards, a group of Siping Normal College students paid a visit to the labor camp and Zhang Jieshan handed a student a paper he wrote describing the true situation there. When a guard found out about it, Zhang was thrown into another round of torture.

Dafa practitioner Han from Jiutai was brutally beaten for reading Falun Dafa materials in his cell. The police endlessly searched for the source of these materials, but Han firmly refused to cooperate with them.

After being held for two months at Lishu Detention Center for going to Beijing to appeal, practitioner Yang Huiyong was required to pay a ransom of 2000 yuan (Chinese currency, the average monthly income in urban areas is about 500 Yuan) and was released. In the winter of 2000, however, he was again arrested because he was suspected of placing a loudspeaker to broadcast the truth about Falun Dafa and the persecution. He was sentenced to two years in Pingdong Labor Camp. Yang refused to give in to the authorities there, and as a result, his persecutors added another three months to his term.

In their attempts to force practitioners to give up their faith in "Truthfulness, Benevolence, Forbearance," the despicable camp police have tried all of the methods they can think of to torture practitioners. Very often several of them will get drunk and then use an electric cattle prod to violently shock practitioners, or they will beat them violently with wooden clubs. This has become a routine practice for them. In order to seek more praise from their superiors, the guards once deprived practitioners of sleep for several days and nights. In early 2001, policeman Zhang of Siping Liaohe District came to Lishu Detention Center and declared with a sinister look on his face: "Strip the clothes off the women who practice Falun Gong and throw them into cells with men!"

The police from the forced-labor Lishu Farm frequently lead a band of local hooligans to ransack practitioners' homes and extort money or goods. This has brought tremendous loss and damage to practitioners, their families and their relatives. What a band of bandits the government officials are!

Police from the Lishu Detention Center constantly blackmail relatives of arrested practitioners, demanding ransoms of 4000 to 8000 yuan for their release. This has resulted in further difficulties in practitioners' lives.

Practitioner Chen Shouzhong from Lishu was released not long ago from the Siping Labor Camp. On 8/29/2001 he was once again arrested with no reason given.

There are a very large number of cases similar to those mentioned above, and all occurring in just a single place! We call on people in the community with any conscience left to see clearly the ruthless torturing of these kind-hearted Dafa practitioners. We call on them to help safeguard the most basic rights and dignity of humankind. Do not turn a blind eye to things that you feel may not directly affect you. As a human being, how could you have no attitude to such a war between good and evil? How could you be unconcerned when you see murder and torture happening around you? Who would then come to rescue you when you are in danger?

http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2001/10/20/14883.html