The Barbaric Torture I Endured at the Dalian Forced Labour Camp

On November 22, 1999, my older sister and I went to Beijing to appeal for the right to practise Falun Gong. Plainclothes and regular police officers covered the street to the appeals office. As we got closer, someone came over and asked us where we were from and what we were there for. When we said we came to appeal for Falun Gong, the person loudly shouted, "Such-and-such Province, such-and-such City!" Several police ran over, dragged us into a car, and drove to the local agency in Beijing for interrogation. We were sent home by air. When we got off the plane, the local "610 Office" representatives were already waiting for us at the airport. The police handcuffed and videotaped us. The footage was broadcast that day by local news while slandering Falun Gong.

After we were taken to the local police station, an officer handcuffed me to a staircase railing, and the director cursed me. The next day, I was sent to a Detention Centre, where I was detained for 15 days. On December 13, the local police brought me back, attempting to make me write a statement guaranteeing not to practise Falun Gong. I refused. I was sent to my village and coerced again. Still, I did not compromise. On the following day, I was returned to the Detention Centre, and detained for another 15 days. After returning home, staff of the village 610 Office came to my home and demanded that I write a "Guarantee Statement." My husband could not bear such pressure, and demanded a divorce. After the divorce, I started walking towards Beijing to appeal in January 2000. On the way, I was arrested in Qinhuangdao City. Ten of us were sent to the Qinhuangdao Detention Centre. After our arrival, the police searched us, and one grabbed 1,600 yuan from me, which was all the money I had with me. That day, all of us went on hunger strikes and practised the Falun Gong exercises. On the next day, the police from the Dalian Public Security Bureau took us back to Dalian. Around 10 p.m., we were all handcuffed to the heating pipes. At dawn, the police began interrogating us, and then the police took us to a Detention Centre, detaining us for 15 days. Because I firmly refused to write a "Guarantee Statement," after I was sent to the local police station, I was held for another 15 days. Police officer Jin Dewen told me, "You don't need to write the 'Guarantee Statement'. You will be released, however, prison awaits you if you are caught again."

On October 25, 2000, I was arrested again and taken to the Lushun Detention Centre, because I wrote letters to relevant government departments describing the true nature of Falun Gong; I was identified by my writing. On December 4, I was sentenced to 3 years of forced labour in Dalian Forced Labour Camp.

The forced labour camp started to detain practitioners on January 9. One day, the guards read out articles that defamed Falun Gong. All practitioners began to recite a Falun Dafa text. The guards were so frightened they just stood there stiffly until we finished reciting it. After that day, all practitioners went on hunger strikes to protest the detention. That was when the inhuman persecution began. The guards monitored us day and night, force-fed us, and were quite violent. Because we practised the Falun Gong exercises together, guards beat us until the corridor was full of practitioners on the floor. Every day, cries of practitioners being tortured radiated through the building. Every night, practitioners were shocked with electric batons, beaten, or forced to stand and bend forward for a long time, just for doing the exercises.

On January 12, 2001, guards beat me from 7 a.m. until almost noon. When I regained consciousness, I found myself on the ground. Before this, senior Wang Jun and junior Wang Jun beat me at the same time. After a while, junior Wang Jun left, and Lin Yi came with another guard surnamed Sui. Sui had a high-voltage electric baton, which he used on my handcuffs and face. The skin on my face and head were burned and split open. Senior Wang Jun and Lin Yi used clubs and electric batons to beat me on my buttocks, legs, hands, face, and head. When the three of them became hot and tired, they paused just long enough to take off their coats. They continued to beat me for a while, then cuffed and hung me up on an iron railing. I did not know how long I was beaten; I felt a tremendous amount of pain. After it reached the extreme, I lost consciousness. When I woke up, I was very stiff and it was difficult to move. My wrists were the most painful, because the handcuffs had tightened while I was hung up and a piece of flesh had been dug out. One wrist still bears a scar. Guards ordered criminals to take me from the 1st floor to the 3rd floor. For the next several months, my legs and buttocks were full of bruises and it was so painful that I had to stand when using the toilet.

On March 19, guards forced practitioners to "ride an airplane(1)." The shapes of our bodies were almost circular, which damaged the muscles and tendons from the stretching. After two hours in this posture, we could not straighten up, nor move our legs. Practitioners were beaten with electric batons and clubs the whole night. On the next day, we were forced to ride an airplane again. In order to escape from the persecution, practitioners Yu Lixin and Xue Nan jumped from the building. Yu Lixin died and Xue Nan was left permanently disabled. Guards transferred a group of collaborators (2) from Fushun and Masanjia Forced Labour Camp, and told them to use any means necessary to prevent practitioners from doing the Falun Gong exercises.

This group of collaborators collectively attacked practitioners one by one using a combination of persuasion and threats, uttering nonsense and sleep deprivation. Ms. Wang Qiuxia died from the torture. On June 10, my head was severely beaten. After the beating, my head and face were purple with bruises and distorted from the swelling. My appearance was completely changed, and there were black rings around my eyes. I could not see clearly, but was still forced to ride an airplane.

While holding the airplane position, Qu Weimei, holding an iron pipe and straddling a stool, stared at me. She hit me as soon as my legs bent the slightest bit. The sweat soaked through my clothes and dripped onto the floor below my head. After holding this position for a whole day, I was like a blind and crippled person, and had to hold the wall when using the toilet. I was deprived of sleep at night, sat in the corner to eat, and was surrounded and attacked by a group of people. My face was black with bruises. The bruising gradually changed to yellow, and took about three months to heal.

I was besieged in this way for nearly two months, then punished by being made to sit on a stool from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. or midnight. At least two people watched me 24 hours a day. I was not allowed to talk, and even showing any expression on my face would be grounds for punishment. Everyday, I was immersed in verbal abuse. Around November 10, Yuan Mingyue deceived me and took the only Falun Dafa reading materials I had. In order to protest his treatment, I started a hunger strike. For this I was dragged out of my cell and barbarically force-fed. A group of prisoners held me down, and tried to insert a tube into my stomach through my nose causing incredible pain. They were unsuccessful, so they repeatedly inserted the tube. Eventually, when the tube was pulled out, my nose bled continuously. They put a helmet on me and tied a string around my neck. It was tied so tight that it was difficult for me to breathe. In the torture room, I was handcuffed, my legs were tied with ropes, and then my legs were pulled in opposite directions. The flesh on my ears was torn, which took three months to heal. The scars are still visible.

On January 15, 2002, I started another hunger strike and practised the exercises; my righteous thoughts were stronger. The guards intended to force-feed me the next day, however I resisted their plans. On the sixth day, they deceived me into going downstairs by saying my family had come to visit me. When I walked to the corner of the staircase, I could see two prisoners waiting downstairs. I quickly turned back, but they lifted me up and carried me down the stairs. They took me to the force-feeding room, but as soon as they put me on the ground, I started convulsing. The guards quickly checked my blood pressure, called for a stretcher and a vehicle, and sent me to Chunliu Hospital. I was taken to the emergency room, where a doctor administered oxygen and injections. They suspected that I had brain damage and ordered a CT scan. They wheeled me towards the CT scan room.

At that time, there were many patients in the hospital, so I loudly shouted, "Falun Dafa practitioners have done nothing wrong! I am being persecuted!" My sudden shouting frightened the police and prisoners. They quickly covered my mouth with their hands and sleeves, and started running towards the CAT scan room. I struggled with all my strength and continued to shout. The doctor said he could not do the test without the cooperation of the patient, so they wheeled me towards an examination room to inject a sedative. Along the way, I struggled and tried to shout. With great effort, they managed to inject me twice. After the injections, I could not open my eyes, and indistinctly heard someone say that they were ordering take out food, and would put me on the trolley after they ate. Suddenly, I woke up. The guards and prisoners were scared and said, "How could she wake up?" The doctor said he would not be able to do the CT scan.

They brought me back to the forced labour camp, handcuffed me, put on the helmet and pushed me into an iron cage. All of a sudden, I bent over. Ma Huajin and another female guard came over with paper and a pen, sat in front of the cage and said, "Man Chunlai, write down the process of your hunger strike. If you die, don't blame the forced labour camp!" I crawled on the ground, with my eyes closed and shouted, "Go away! I won't write anything for you!" After a while, the prisoners opened the cage, pulled me out, took off the handcuffs and helmet, and brought me to a room. There were about seven guards in the room, my two older brothers, my son, and a driver. The guards asked my brothers and son to persuade me to eat. I said to my brothers, "I am being persecuted." Officer Yuan Mingyue would not allow me to speak. My brother became angry and said, "Today we will not discuss whether Falun Gong is good or not, we'll let my younger sister say why she practises it." My older brother's words shocked the guards, and no one said anything. Then I loudly told my brothers how I had been treated since I had been in the forced labour camp and told my brothers, "If I die, it is because of their persecution."

The guards roared at the prisoners to take me away. They handcuffed and put the helmet on me again, and locked me in the cage.

A guard asked how I was doing. I said I felt pain in my chest. The officer instructed some other prisoners to bring a stretcher, take the handcuffs and helmet off me, and send me to Chunliu Hospital. The guards probably thought I would die, so they called my brothers, who were just arriving home, to go the hospital. The doctor touched my stomach, which had ballooned up. I loudly said, "I have no illness!" The doctor replied, "No illness? Take her to surgery immediately!" I heard guard Yuan Mingyue tell my brother that they would clear out a room at the forced labour camp, and the family members could nurse me there. They probably felt I would not make it through the night. Actually, I did not feel any discomfort. I knew Teacher was protecting me, so I could not hold back my tears and loudly cried.

When my brothers, sisters, and friends saw that my stomach had become as big as a child's head, they were frightened. I was taken to the home of one of my brothers, where I recuperated for three days. I did not feel any pain, just as if nothing had happened, and the lump disappeared without a trace. Afterwards, my brother told me the forced labour camp had asked him to pay 2,500 yuan for medical expenses and bail for medical leave.

On September 18, someone reported me to the police for clarifying the truth about the persecution, and I was again taken to the forced labour camp. As soon as I got there, the guards ordered some prisoners to strip off my clothes and search me. However, I did not cooperate, and consequently was continuously struck in face. I refused food to protest the treatment, so I was force-fed. They locked me in a room on the north side of the 3rd floor, took off my clothes, and tied me to a "Death Bed." There were only five pieces of narrow boards on the bed. I was handcuffed to the headboard, my legs were stretched apart, and my feet were tied to the bottom of the bed with ropes. There was a pot underneath the bed. The window was left open for two hours. Pei Ling continuously beat my legs and feet using a plank that was next to the bed. I was left in this position for 15 days. My legs and feet turned dark purple from the beatings, and the flesh on my back and buttocks became ulcerated.

While tied to the bed, guards brought a hot pepper powder mixed with hot sauce. Zhao Hui shoved her whole hand into my vagina to stuff the mixture inside me. This is a method that Jiang Zemin and his cohorts use to persecute Falun Gong practitioners.

They locked me up in an iron cage, forced me to stand nearly the whole day, and deprived me of sleep. Only when I became really weak did they allow me to rest for a while. Both of my legs and feet became so swollen from lack of circulation that the skin broke open. They restricted my use of the toilet, and inhumanely tormented me. Around November 10, they used a torture method called "five horses split the body." The brigade chief Wan Yalin, ordered prisoners to tie me up. They handcuffed me to the upper corners of the iron cage and tightly stretched my arms apart. The handcuffs were so tight that both wrists became black from the bruising. One of my legs was tied to the upper side of the cage in the same direction as the arm, and my other leg was pulled up and off the ground. Li Jing and Zhao Hui lifted the other leg in the opposite direction with all their strength. It felt like my body was splitting in two. I felt dizzy and sweat broke out all over my body. I fainted from the pain. Then they repeatedly hit my private parts with a wooden plank.

After they put me down, I laid motionless in the cage. Every time I used the toilet, several prisoners had to drag and carry me. Prisoner Wang Yinfen told me with tears, if she did not beat me, the guards would extend her detention time. She felt she had no choice.

After a period of time, they forced prisoners to drag me downstairs to work. After another period of time, I could stiffly walk by holding the stairs and railings, but my knees could not bend. They feared I would be paralyzed in the cell, so four months later in February 2003, they transferred me to the 2nd Squadron. At that time, I was extremely thin because of the abuse I had suffered; the skin on the back of my hands could not even be pinched. I was completely distorted.

A guard with the surname Yang was very vicious in persecuting practitioners. Yang tortured practitioner Gao Yadong who had heart problems. When Gao fell to the ground, Yang kicked Gao while continuously cursing her. She forced me to carry a trunk up to the 4th floor, recite the prison rules, do physical exercises and sing. When I refused to obey her, she forced me to stand facing the wall for long periods of time. I firmly resisted their persecution. On June 30, they again dragged me into a cell and tortured me. Prisoners cuffed my hands behind my back, pressed my face to the ground, tightly wrapped my legs with tape, and sat on me. Zhao Hui groped my breasts in an obscene way. With one foot on my temple, Zhang Xiujuan pried my teeth apart with a knife, and quickly stabbed a large stick into my mouth, knocking one tooth out and causing the rest of my teeth to become loose, severely wounding my entire oral cavity. Han Jianmin ordered prisoners to put a dirty rag into my mouth. Han Jianmin claimed it was to "protect" me. Then they handcuffed and put the helmet on me, and tied me up in a cage. They supervised me 24 hours a day, not allowing me to close my eyes or bend my legs. I could not bear any more after 4 days and nights, so they let me sleep for one night. Every day after that, they forced me to stand up until midnight, or even until 1 a.m. or 2 a.m. Sometimes I was only allowed to sleep for one or two hours. This lasted for 17 days. I was abused in the cage for six consecutive months. Due to the physical torture, I needed to hold railings to go up and down the stairs. My eyesight was very blurry, and so every day when we were made to pick through beans, I had to do the job over again. When it became obvious that I could not work anymore, I was held for an additional 19 days before being released.

After I returned home, the local "610 Office" often harassed me. On February 26, 2004, they again sent me to a brainwashing centre. Due to my righteous conviction and my relative's speaking out, eventually I was harassed less often.

Notes:

(1) Riding an airplane: In this torture, the head is bent down until it cannot go any further, and the hands are pulled up behind the back and tied at the highest point. The hips have to face up. One is forced to stay in this position for a long time. The body in this position looks like the shape of an airplane, which is how this torture got its name.

(2) Collaborators: Former Falun Gong practitioners who have gone astray due to brainwashing and torture and now aid the authorities in the persecution.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.ca/mh/articles/2004/11/4/88283.html