Practitioner Chen Weiyuan's Account of the Atrocities She Witnessed in the Heizuizi Labour Camp

As told by Chen Weiyuan, and recorded by a practitioner

My name is Chen Weiyuan. I am 53 years old. I live in Jilin City. Since I started practising Falun Gong at the end of 1995, I have benefited greatly in mind and body. When the persecution of Falun Gong began on July 20, 1999, I went to Beijing to appeal and distribute materials, which explained the facts about the persecution of Falun Gong. I have been arrested many times for helping the public learn the truth. I was put in Heizuizi Forced Labour Camp three times and suffered a lot from the many tortures imposed on Falun Gong practitioners. I also witnessed other practitioners being tortured. I experienced some memory loss because of the overwhelming trauma to my head and brain. Only after I left the labour camp and recovered for a long time, did my memory begin to recover. I cannot remember anything before July 20, 1999, and can only remember roughly what happened afterwards. I don't remember all the details but I will tell you what I can recall. I will to reveal the brutal conduct of the guards that I do remember to the world so that the perpetrators will be brought to justice.

Witnessing practitioners being beaten to death; being sentenced to one year in a forced labour camp even though it meant breaking the law

In December 1999, I went with practitioner Wang Xiulan to appeal in Beijing. (Please see clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2003/5/30/36322.html for details on how Wang Xiulan was eventually tortured to death). Before we arrived in Beijing, we were arrested in Shenyang and escorted back by the police of Jilin Province. We were detained at the City Detention Centre. On the afternoon of December 28, 1999, a female practitioner was carried into our cell. I can't remember her name. Later I learned that she was from Jilin City. She had been severely tortured and had to be carried. She was lying on the floor, barely breathing. Other practitioners in the cell called for the guards again and again, but none responded. The inmates in the opposite cell also called the guards, telling them that she was dying and that she needed to be hospitalized immediately. Finally, a guard gave us a few aspirin tablets and left. It was impossible for her to swallow the tablets. At our insistence, the detention centre agreed to send her to the hospital. But by then, she was no longer breathing.

Wang Xiulan and I carried her into the van that took her to the hospital. The effort was only a formality. Her heartbeat was no long detectable. The doctor gave up, asking why resuscitate her when she was already dead? Wang and I saw that her body was dirty, so we asked the doctor to allow us to wash her body. The doctor reluctantly agreed, but urged us to be quick. While we were cleaning her body, we found that there was a deep imprint of the sole of a shoe on her chest right near her heart. It was very clear. The doctor can verify this. Because we had seen this, the detention centre authorities did not let Wang Xiulan and I leave. They wanted us to testify that the practitioner was not beaten to that extent in the detention centre; rather she was already in poor physical shape when she arrived from the Erdao County Police Station who had her first. Later, practitioners in my cell went on a group hunger strike to press Erdao County Police Station for an explanation.

On January 4, 2000, Erdao County Police Station said her family agreed to accept money as compensation for her death. They asked us not to file a lawsuit. It would have been no use even if we had filed a suit. Later, any of the people who knew about the incident, including several criminal inmates, were sent to labour camps or jails. They were sentenced quickly because the police wanted to silence them. As two eye witnesses to the state of the dead woman's body, Wang Xiulan and I were not allowed to be involved in the investigation at all. Therefore, Wang Xiulan began a hunger strike to protest. She lost consciousness while being force-fed and was on the verge of death. They sent her back home. Yet several days later, afraid that she might tell others what happened, they brought her back. Both of us were sentenced to one year in a labour camp. However, according to their rules, only those who were detained twice and who had gone to Beijing three times meet the conditions for being sentenced to a labour camp. Although Wang and I had only gone to Beijing and been detained once, in order to cover up the atrocity of beating a practitioner to death, the City Detention Centre broke their own rule and sent us to a labour camp.

Witnessing Heizuizi Forced Labour Camp brutally persecuting firm practitioner Wang Xiulan

At the end of 1999, I was detained in Team Four when I was first sent to the Heizuizi Forced Labour Camp. Wang Xiulan and I were detained in a room on the fourth floor. At that time, there were various methods used to torture practitioners. For example, having practitioners stand on the cold cement floor in bare feet in winter (there was no heating in the old building at that time) or holding a certain position for a very long time, sometimes for half a day, sometimes for a whole day; bashing their faces with a bamboo board; cuffing their hands behind their backs, chaining them to a door knob and using electric batons on them; filling the sink with water and putting practitioner's heads in the water for long periods of time; forcing them to sit with legs crossed in the lotus position for a long time; depriving them of sleep or use of the toilet. There were many different instruments used to beat people. Almost anything could be used, such as the pole used to carry a water bucket, a shoulder pole, three thick strands braided into one thicker piece, thick and thin rubber pipes, and electric cables. Many practitioners were thrown from the upper bunk bed directly to the floor for reciting passages and articles from Falun Dafa texts or practising the Falun Gong exercises. Seldom could anyone get up after being thrown to the floor like that. Shang Zhongxia was a female practitioner in her 30's. She was often tied to a bed and beaten and subjected to shocks from an electric club for practising the exercises. She, too, was thrown to the floor from an upper bed and sustained a concussion, which caused her to experience nausea and vomit everything she ate.

Because I led others in practising the exercises, I was beaten severely and my right leg was broken. I was tied to a bed for over ten days in a row. The policewoman Hou Zhihong (now the chief of Team Seven) said, "Only she deserves it. The rest of you, even if you want to be tied up, you wouldn't have a chance." This policewoman tortured many practitioners and left them handicapped. She liked to shock people with the electric baton. She didn't hesitate for a second before torturing practitioners. For exhibiting this nasty trait she was promoted to a higher position.

In April 2000, Wang Yunkun, governor of the province, came to the labour camp and gave a speech. After his visit, each team in the camp started escalating the torture of practitioners. The Minister of Public Security also visited the labour camp and said he required a "transformation rate of at least 90%" [refers to number of practitioners who will publicly renounce their belief in Falun Dafa and affirm the Party's persecution policies against Falun Dafa as being correct]. They sent people to learn "transformation" techniques from the guards in the Masanjia Forced Labour Camp in Liaoning Province. They also gave a large sum of money to the labour camp to purchase high-voltage electric clubs, all type of handcuffs, and other implements of torture. They created more "special confinement compartments," and increased the number of guards.

During the period of the labour camp's "crackdown," the whole labour camp became a living hell for practitioners. From the top floors to the bottom floors, each team and every cell became a place to torture practitioners. From dawn to dusk, you could hear practitioners' screams reverberating everywhere, the sound of electric clubs discharging, and the sound of whips and beatings conducted with various instruments on human bodies. In a couple of days, I saw some practitioners heads were swollen, others had black and blue bruises on their faces, their walking was impaired, and others had to be held up by the arms by one or two people, or carried on the backs of people.

Wang Xiulan was severely tortured by several police officers, including Lian Guangri (male), head of the managing office, Officer Liao, Officer Xu, Chief Wang Limei of Team Five, Guard Wang Lihui, Chief Zhang Guimei, and Chief Guan of Team Four. She was tied to the "Dead Man's Bed" (1) [a special torture device], locked up in a confinement compartment, and force-fed countless times. She lost consciousness many times and was on the verge of death due after being force-fed. (She used to have heart problems and was healed after she started practising Falun Dafa.) Officer Liao of the Managing Office had tied her to the bed and stuck the high-voltage electric baton into her mouth to shock her. Liao also used several electric batons to shock all the sensitive places on her body. The flesh on her chest, back, and thighs was burnt. Because she didn't cooperate during the force-feedings, her face was slapped with a bamboo board. The guards also used an electric club to pry open her mouth. Her front teeth were all pried out. Wang Xiulan's left hipbone was dislocated once during a beating, causing her to lose consciousness on the spot from the intense pain. Her whole body was soaked in blood. Because she was severely injured and on the verge of death, Fan Youlan, the head of the labour camp, and another evil policewoman, came to check the situation. Yet they never really gave her any medical treatment.

One time, Wang Xiulan tore a poster that defamed the founder of Falun Gong off the wall. For this she was locked up in a confinement compartment and experienced all sorts of torture for over a month. On many occasions, she vomited blood and was left barely breathing. The labour camp was afraid she might die there, so they decided to let her go home. Four people carried her down the stairs. In order not to attract too much attention, when they got to the main entrance, only two people held her arms and brought her out. At that time, Fan, the head of the labour camp, sarcastically said to her, "Wang Xiulan, you won't die. You have your Master protecting you. Your Master said that breaking away from Falun Gong is wrong." Before that, they had tried many times to press Wang Xiulan's fingerprint onto a "repentance letter" (2) composed by other people, but failed. Some police were admiring her from their hearts. Due to the force-feeding, Wang's stomach and esophagus had been seriously damaged. She couldn't eat anything when she was finally at home. During the last few months of her life, she didn't eat at all. Even though she was abused to such an extent, the police from Yushugou Police Station in Longtan District of Jilin City often went to harass her and stayed for a long time at her home to arrest practitioners who went to there to visit her.

Seeing the firmness of practitioner Liu Guiru, the police said, "The labour camp could do nothing to change her. Send her anywhere you want, but we won't accept her."

During the period that the police were trying to force me to give up my beliefs, I don't know how many times they used the electric clubs on me and beat me. Because I recited the articles from Dafa texts, Guard Jiang Hong shocked my armpits, heels, and other sensitive place for over an hour. I was lying on the ground, unable to move, and couldn't get up. I also lost control of my bowels, often wetting my pants. I had to ask for people's help to use the toilet. My body was covered with bruises from the beatings and electric shocks. More seriously my brain was severely damaged and I lost almost all of my memory. I often felt my head was not clear and I vomited blood. Even now, I cannot eat meat or poultry. I cannot use the electric fan. When it is turned on, I twitch and my body becomes stiff.

In the labour camp's "crackdown" in May 2000, Team Six was an evil den of torture. All the firm practitioners were sent there. Practitioner Liu Yuli from Changchun was a university teacher in her 60's. When she was in Team Six, her thighs were covered with large blisters and she lost control of her bowels after receiving many shocks to her body. For more than a month she was shocked all the time. As long as she expressed her opinion, the guard would shock her with and electric club. Eventually, a guard tried to force her to write a "repentance letter" while threatening her with an electric club. If she didn't follow his instructions, the guard would shock her hand. The blisters on her body took a long time to heal.

Practitioner Liu Xiujuan from Dehui City is in her 50's. She was one of the most severely tortured practitioners that I encountered in the labour camp. During her seven months being detained there, she never stopped being tortured for practising the Falun Gong exercises. She was put in various special confinement compartments, tied to the "Dead Man's Bed," heavily handcuffed and shackled, and hung up and beaten. Officers Lian and Liao in the managing office, Xu, and Chief Wang Limei in Team Five, all tried different ways of torturing her. Once Liu Xiujuan was put in a confinement compartment for practising the exercises. Her hands were pulled behind her back and tied to her feet. In such a position, she could not sit or stand. In addition, the guard used high-voltage electric clubs to shock the sensitive areas of her body. A drug addict inmate beat her fiercely with a club and a bamboo board. The sounds of the beating could be heard in the corridor. Such torture lasted for over a month until she suffered a mental collapse.

Once, Officer Lian in the managing office and Chief Wang of Team Five put Liu Xiujuan under torture in Team Five. They did it in a room down a deep corridor. I didn't know how long she was tortured. I just saw Liu Xiujuan run out. She was not herself since that. I went to clean up the room. Seeing me coming in, Chief Wang yelled at the guard, "Why did you let her in?" I saw a lot of hair and fresh blood on the floor. Chief Wang drove me out. When I returned to the cell and helped wash Liu Xiujuan's body, I found that her body was deformed from the torture. She was covered with wounds. There was no intact part. Her chest, back, and neck were black and blue. From her legs down to her feet, it looked like a washing board, covered with narrow ridges one after another. Her head was extremely swollen, so were her arms and thighs. Her fingertips were burnt from the electric shocks. Whenever I touched her body, she shuddered with pain. It was outrageous, a dreadful sight. Tears ran down my face as I washed her body. All the inmates were crying. In my 50 years of life, I have never seen or heard of anyone being devastated to such an extent. Whenever I think about it, I can't hold back my tears.

Two months later, Liu Xiujuan's wounds were running with pus and she was in extreme agony. Even now, she is in a confused mental state. When she sees someone in a police uniform, she'll hide behind others. Practitioner Jin Lifen from Shulan suffered a nervous breakdown on the same day. Liu Xiujuan broke down in the morning, Jin in the afternoon. She still hasn't recovered. Practitioner Zhu E from Jilin City also received electric shocks and her face and neck were covered with wounds. Her head was severely swollen. These are just some of the things that occurred during the period of the "crackdown" in Team Five, the team of the old, weak, sick, and handicapped in the labour camp. That is what I can recall. There is also a lot that I cannot remember clearly. As to how many practitioners were tortured to death, maimed, driven insane, or hurt in one way or another is beyond my knowledge. The preceding is a small part of what I witnessed when I was first put into the labour camp.

(1) Dead Man's Bed - The four limbs of the practitioner are stretched out and tied to the four corners of an icy-cold metal bed. The practitioner cannot move at all. Neither is he allowed to get up to eat, drink, or go to the toilet. This treatment would last from several hours up to more than a dozen days. This type of cruel torture causes severe damage to the practitioner both mentally and physically.

(2) repentance letter - In this statement the practitioner is forced to admit remorse for practising Falun Gong, promise to give up Falun Gong, and never again associate with other practitioners or go to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong.

(3) yuan - 500 yuan is the average monthly income for an urban worker in China.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2004/5/23/75351.html