The Dark Side of Daqing Forced Labour Camp Unveiled

In the spring of 2002, the Daqing Forced Labour Camp in Heilongjiang Province began a program of brutal and vicious persecution towards Dafa practitioners to "transform" them and to thereby earn rewards.

They declared to the public that the Falun Gong practitioners detained in the Labour camp were being treated in a civilised manner, and that practitioners were never subject to scolding or beating. In reality, criminal inmates were ordered to lock Dafa practitioners in small cells, and all kinds of barbaric methods were then used to torture the practitioners both mentally and physically, in attempts to force them to write "guarantee statements" [A statement to declare that he or she is remorseful for practising Falun Gong and guarantees not to practise Falun Gong again, not to go to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong, and never again associate with any Falun Dafa practitioners].

Some of the methods commonly used to torture Dafa practitioners include: coercion, threats, scolding, beating, sleep deprivation, tying with ropes, binding tightly with wood sticks or broomsticks, forcing practitioners to sit on an iron chair and pouring icy water on them, then drying them with the cold air of an electric fan, sticking needles or nails into the flesh, rubbing practitioners' skin vigorously, forced-feeding with feces or urine, sticking icicles into practitioners' mouths or rectums forcefully, and so on. This camp was being praised as "a civilised provincial forced Labour camp!"

On July 2, 2002, Mr. Shui Honghai, a Dafa practitioner from Zhaoyuan, was sent to Daqing Forced Labour Camp. Mr. Shuei's arm was broken on that night because he refused to write a "transformation statement," and was thus detained in a small cell where his arm was forcibly twisted.

In the afternoon of December 23, 2002, A Dafa practitioner, Mr. He Huajiang who worked at the Daqing Sixth Refinery was sent to Daqing Forced Labour Camp. He was tortured to death by the cold water and electric fan treatment at 11:48 p.m. that night. But the Labour camp police told a different story, claiming that "He died from a heart attack."

Sixty-eight-year-old Mr. Feng Guangyun and Mr. Huang Tairen in his fifties are both Dafa practitioners of noble character. The Labour camp police spared them from the cruel torture for fear of having to take responsibility in the event that they died from the torture. Instead, the police ordered them to work unendingly. Criminal prisoners were encouraged to physically and verbally abuse them. Each night, they were forced to sit on small plastic stools until 3 o'clock the next morning.

In Daqing Forced Labour Camp, any prisoner will be rewarded with a three month reduction of his prison term if he can make a Falun Gong practitioner sign the "transformation statement." Driven by this incentive, many criminal prisoners became even more vicious towards Dafa practitioners.

In October 2002, the persecution against Dafa practitioners had reached its peak. When Dafa Practitioners recounted stories of the torture they endured there, it often makes all the listeners shiver in horror.

One day during working hours, a Dafa practitioner warned Wang Yongxiang, the vice camp director, to stop using his power to persecute Dafa practitioners. Yet, Wang Yongxiang shamelessly told the practitioner in front of many others: "Now you'll get it!"

In December 2002, the same Dafa practitioner bumped into Wang again and warned him once more not to abuse his power, because if anything were to happen to a practitioner, he would not be able to dodge responsibility. But, Wang said carelessly: "What do I have to be afraid of? If anything happens, it's the leadership of the Camp who's guilty." From these words, we can understand that all camp leadership knew about the cruel persecution taking place in the camp, but some were secretly supportive and others simply pretended that they were not aware.

In 2003, Daqing Forced Labour Camp added one more regulation called the "hundred points appraisal." This is an arbitrary and unlawful rule: If a Falun Gong practitioner isn't "transformed," ten days will be added to their prison term each month. Consequently, Dafa practitioner Mr. Tie Zhixin was detained an extra month over his two years term before he was finally released.

On June 12, 2003, Tie Zhijie spoke with Wang Yongxiang and the managing director, Han Qingshan, about the illegality of his prolonged prison term. He was beaten by Han Qingshan in front of others as Han proclaimed: "I will continue extending prison terms and I'll extend yours even more! I'll beat you! Go ahead and sue me!"

In Daqing Forced Labour Camp, the so-called "peoples' police" disregarded the law and used cruel torture methods. The higher authorities used outrageous persecution against innocent practitioners; they neglected the law and abused their power. They even rewarded and appraised the police for what they had done, causing many innocent Dafa practitioners to die under cruel torture. This is what Jiang's regime called "warm," "loving" and a "civilised way of carrying out the law."

Chinese version available at: http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2003/9/19/57624.html