Tianjin Banqiao's Female Forced Labour Camp: Two Women Suffer Mental Collapse From the Stress of Severe Torture

Policewomen Liu Hong, Kou Na, and Gao Huachao at the Tianjin Banqiao' female forced labour camp have viciously tortured and beaten the women Falun Dafa practitioners detained there. The following are only a few examples of the police brutality taking place in the labour camp.

Two persistent practitioners, Ms. Zhou Xuezhen and Ms. Bai Hong, were tortured in an isolation chamber. During a physical checkup, they were seen to have greenish and purple bruises all over their bodies, and evidence of painful encounters with electric-shock batons on their faces. They went on long-term hunger strikes to protest the illegal persecution. The police applied force feeding to the practitioners. Several police held their arms down, forced their mouths open and brutally shoved in plastic feeding tubes. They then poured vile liquids into their stomachs through a funnel. The brutality is so severe that it usually resulted in the ladies throwing up lots of blood. In January of 2003, the camp police also forced Ms. Bai Hong to wear a straight jacket, and hung her up from behind by her arms.

Ms. Zhao Binghong, in her 30's, was a worker at Dagang Oil field. She was sent to the forced labour camp because she practises Falun Gong. At the camp, she was inhumanly beaten and tortured. Due to her suffering under tremendous pressure, she suffered a mental collapse, yet the camp police still ordered other offenders in the camp to bully, hit and kick her, leaving bruises all over her body. A group of detained practitioners' went on hunger strike to protest the brutality, and the Director of the so-called "Labour Education Bureau" spoke out and as a result, Ms. Zhao was subjected to less severe torture.

Another practitioner, Ms. Bao Zhi, in her 20's, was also tortured in many ways by both camp police and other prisoners. She too was tortured to the point of mental collapse.

When another practitioner, Ms. Ma Zezhen from Wuqing first arrived at camp, she was able to pick up 110 pound sacks of beans and carry them for long distances. She could do any chores without problem. During her physical checkup, the camp police said that she had hypertension. However, she still felt that her physical condition was excellent. Despite this, policewomen Kou Na and Gao Huachao directed others to force-feed drugs into her twice every day for two years. Each time, many prisoners would hold her tight and squeeze her nose to force open her mouth for the drug-feeding. After a short while of the forced drug-feedings, Ms. Ma's physical condition became worse and worse and she became unable to walk normal distances.

Ms. Sun Shuqin is 64 years old. She was detained in 1999 because she went to appeal for Falun Gong with more than 10 other practitioners. The county office took the practitioners back to be jailed in their hometown. Meanwhile, the local police ransacked the practitioners' homes to confiscate their dry food stockpiles which were meant to supply the family for years. They stole all of the money they could find. Ms. Sun was sentenced to 3 years of forced labour. At the camp, she was detained in a Brainwashing Class for further torture. She was allowed only two hours of rest every day, and was forced to sit constantly. She was fed only one piece of steamed dough (the Chinese "mantou") at each meal. In attempts to force her to renounce Falun Gong, the camp required drug offenders and other camp prisoners to beat her, curse her, deny her water, baths, and so on. Ms. Sun is still suffering from torture in the camp.

Ms. Dong Yuying, a 50 year old from Ninghe county is a practitioner. Due to her going to appeal to Beijing in 1999, Ms. Dong has been detained several times. Ninghe county demanded that she give them 10,000 yuan [Chinese currency, the monthly salary for an average Chinese urban worker is about 500 yuan] savings bonds which they would returned after 6 months. They never returned the money. In 2000, because she distributed Falun Gong fliers Ms. Dong was detained by the Fengnan police. They confined her to a room she had to share with an elderly man for half a year. Soon after her release, Ms. Dong was sentenced to 3 years of forced labour. In March 2003, she was sent to a brainwashing class. The camp police hit and beat her, bullied her, and ordered drug offenders to keep an eye on her. They poured cold water over her to wet all her outer and inner clothes. Their continuous tortures caused her to become mentally disoriented. They took her money to buy snacks for others. Since she refused to renounce her practice of Falun Gong, the camp police escalated her punishment. Ms. Dong is still suffering from torture at the camp.

Ms. Chen Yuanhua, a 50 year old practitioner was detained twice in 1999 due to her going to appeal in Beijing. She was forced to give a cash pledge of 10,000 yuan which has still not been returned to her. They arrested Ms. Chen at her home in January of 2001 and sentenced her to 2 years of forced labour. Her family members were scared and shocked to the point where they almost lost their lives due to the worry and stress. At the camp, Ms. Chen acted righteously. Because she resisted the police persecution, the camp sent her to a brainwashing centre. Several head policemen brutally hit her and swore at her, and had drug offenders do the same. For a few days and nights, they would not let her sleep. Eventually Ms. Chen could not stand during the tortures and collapsed. Still, they continued torturing her until she was due to be released from the camp.

Collaborators [former Falun Dafa practitioners who have given up their practice under severe pressure and torture and now assist the authorities in the persecution of Falun Dafa practitioners] led by Zhang Huiping used boiling water to burn the determined practitioner Ms. Gao Jianling. A few days before the Chinese New Year, Zhang Huiping brutally hit and beat another firm practitioner, Ms. Bei Hong. She also asked the camp lead police officer to confine Ms. Bei to an isolation chamber, while the rest of the collaborators enjoyed Ms. Bei's misfortune. Due to the camp practitioners' collective protest, and to avoid causing a big event, the police had to let her out of isolation.

At the forced labour camp, police and detainees torture Dafa practitioners. They claim that "Any practitioner that dies from hitting or beating will be counted as suicide. TV will announce the news as suicide." In the brainwashing centre, the collaborators help the police treat firm practitioners badly. They let camp police and offenders frantically hit and beat the practitioners who refuse to give up practising Falun Dafa.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2004/2/11/67117.html