| “Weifang officials told Ms. Chen that they had been told by the central government that 'no measures are too excessive' to wipe out Falun Gong. The beatings continued and would stop only when Ms. Chen changed her thinking.” -- Excerpt from Ian Johnson’s Pulitzer-prize winning Wall Street Journal article “A Deadly Exercise” |
“There is absolutely no such thing as persecution here,” they tell the TV audience.
Eyewitness accounts from the Dalian Forced-labour Camp, however, detail a different, darker reality of Jiang Zemin’s often brutal, nation-wide campaign to eradicate Falun Gong by any means necessary.
“Re-education” Torture; Confirmed Deaths amidst the Violence
Since 1999, terror and violence have permeated the Dalian Forced-Labour Camp, as authorities implement orders to “transform” Falun Gong practitioners.
In a report received by the European Falun Gong Information Centre in December 2003, eyewitnesses provided details of 47 cases of torture that occurred from 2000 to May 2003, and confirmed 6 deaths from torture. The report describes the number of cases it details as “just the tip of the iceberg.”
Among the cases are the events that unfolded on the afternoon of March 19, 2001, when the Vice-President of the labour camp, Zhang Baolin, directed a group of labour camp personnel in torturing Falun Gong practitioners.
They first locked the practitioners in a room and then, one by one, took them to another room to try to force them to sign a letter renouncing Falun Gong. Those who refused to do so were electrocuted with cattle prods and beaten with batons. Outside, loudspeakers boomed threats against Falun Gong practitioners throughout the camp. The report says the electric buzz of the cattle prods, the shouting of the torturers, the screaming of the practitioners combined with the threats belted out from the loudspeakers covered the camp with a sense of fear and terror.
After torturing the practitioners, many were placed in the hallway. They had wounds all over their bodies. Some of them were shaking or groaning in pain.
Other cases mentioned in the report include:
- 32-year-old Mr. Chu Hui was tortured with beatings and cattle prod electrocutions from 9pm to 8am the next morning. The torturers used the cattle prods all over his body, including inserting them into his anus. Chu passed out several times during the torture.
- Mr. Cong Wei was stripped naked with his hands tied behind his back, and then pushed to the ground. An officer placed a chair over him and sat on the chair with a cattle prod in each hand. Two other officers holding cattle prods in both of their hands flanked the first officer. Using all 6 cattle prods, the officers proceeded to electrocute Cong on sensitive parts of the body. Cong's body convulsed violently throughout the torture.
- Mr. Liu Yonglai was tortured in a similar manner to Cong Wei; stripped of his clothes, gagged with a cloth and thrown to the ground while officers electrocuted him with 4-5 cattle prods. They doused Liu with water to intensify the electric currents, and especially targeted sensitive areas of the body, such as the genitalia, neck, mouth, etc. The smell of burning flesh filled the room and both sides of Liu’s mouth sustained tear wounds.
- Mr. Chen Jiafu, a man in his fifties, died from torture in 2001 – one of 6 confirmed deaths in the labour camp.
Women Tied Spread-eagle; Raped with Mops, Toilet Brushes
The report also provided details of eight women who suffered savage forms of sexual assault as labour camp authorities sought to “re-educate” them.
60-year-old Ms. Fu Shuying was tied up spread-eagle, while a torturer violently inserted a long rod into her vagina causing severe inflammations and infections.
27-year-old Ms. Chen Hui and 30-year-old Ms. Sun Yan were also tied up in a spread-eagle position as torturers repeatedly thrust long rods into their vaginas causing bleeding.
Three other women suffered similar tortures with chili pepper sauce shoved into their vaginas causing extreme pain, while in three additional cases toilet and shoe brushes were used causing severe vaginal bleeding.
According to the report, the torturers frequently tell the practitioners “we represent the government in transforming you” or “it means nothing if you die here.”
Hundreds of reports from Falun Gong practitioners in China quote police and labour camp officials saying they are under orders that “no method is too extreme” to force Falun Gong practitioners to renounce their beliefs, and those who are killed amidst the torture “should be reported as suicides.”
Background
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa (about), is a practice of meditation and exercises with teachings based on the universal principle of “Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance.” Practiced in over 50 countries world-wide, Falun Gong has roots in traditional Chinese culture. With government estimates of as many as 100 million practicing Falun Gong in China, China’s then-Communist leader, Jiang Zemin, outlawed the peaceful practice in July 1999 (report). Since that time, Jiang’s regime has intensified its propaganda campaign to turn public opinion against the practice while imprisoning, torturing and even murdering those who practice it. The European Falun Gong Information Centre has verified details of 856 deaths (reports / sources) since the persecution of Falun Gong in China began in 1999. In October 2001, however, Government officials inside China reported that the actual death toll was well over 1,600. Expert sources now estimate that figure to be much higher. Hundreds of thousands have been detained, with more than 100,000 being sentenced to forced labour camps, typically without trial.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT THE EUROPEAN FALUN GONG INFORMATION CENTRE
Peter Jauhal 44 (0) 7717 508 268 Nicolas Schols 32 (0) 479875734
More contacts. http://www.falungonginfo.net/europe.htm
Email: [email protected]
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