Qiqihar Labour Camp Guard: "Deaths from Beatings Are Counted as Suicides!"

On February 16, 2004, the guards at Shuanghe Forced Labour Camp of Qiqihar City, Heilongjiang Province, forced all steadfast Falun Dafa practitioners into the hall during their so-called "Breaking the Ice Operation." The guards read materials that defamed Falun Dafa loudly and attempted to force the practitioners to write the Three Statements. Because the practitioners refused, the guards dragged them to the fourth floor. All of the walls of the twelve fourth floor rooms were covered with slogans that defamed Falun Dafa and its founder.

The guards blindfolded the practitioners and shackled a couple of practitioners to an "Iron Chair". [The Iron Chair is made of iron pipes. Victims' arms and legs are restrained on the iron chairs for a long period of time. See http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2002/1/9/17577.html for an illustration.]

Their hands and feet were shackled onto the iron chair and ropes were tied around their limbs so that the practitioners could not stand, sit or squat. Then the guards would order their assistants to pick the practitioners up by the ropes and drop them on the floor. They also yelled at the practitioners, "We have contacted the cremator. If you die from this, it will be counted as suicide." One practitioner refused to write the Three Statements and was therefore forced to go into all the rooms to read all of the statements. Then he was forced to go downstairs to other rooms to read more of such statements.

The chief of staff Wang Yufeng gave orders with a wicked smile on his face. "Use a big club. See who still refuses to write..."

As a result of the brutal beatings, practitioner Wang Yanxing could no longer breathe normally. Ms. Zhang Liqun arms were bruised and her back was badly injured. Ms Xu Hongmei could no longer stand. Ms Gao Shuying could not get up from the floor and Ms Jiang Yuzhu was unrecognizable after the beatings. Wang Guofang from Daqing City died and the guards claimed that she committed suicide.

The guards were given a reward if a practitioner wrote the statements. Therefore, they tortured practitioners around the clock. They forced the physically weak practitioners to perform hard labour from 6 a.m. until midnight, with only half an hour for lunch and another half an hour in the evening for supper. If they did not complete the work, they were not allowed to sleep.

During inspections, the guards locked up the practitioners and arranged for a few to say that practitioners were not beaten, yelled at, or tortured. They were forced to say that they were well fed and cared for. The camp guards told their superiors that all of the practitioners had been "Reformed". Once at an assembly, when the guards announced their achievements, practitioner Li Shunying declared, "I am not reformed." She was informed right away that her term was extended for additional three months. The guards kept extending our terms in an effort to make us renounce our faith in Dafa

There are many torture methods used at the forced labour camp, including sleep deprivation, forbidding family visits, 24-hour surveillance, constant monitoring by inmates, beatings and screaming obscenities at practitioners. Practitioners are forced to watch videos and listen to recordings that defame Falun Dafa. The guards force practitioners to speak, write and read materials that defame Falun Dafa. Intense physical labour for long hours is the norm.

On May 13, 2002, practitioners at the forced labour camp hung up a banner, "Falun Dafa is good." Consequently, nine practitioners were locked up in a small cell. One practitioner spoke up and asked the guards to release the nine practitioners. He was shackled to the "Iron Chair." In the small cells there was no heating, no windows and only a vent about one inch wide and five inches long. The guards monitored the practitioners through that vent. To force the practitioner to give in, they brought in about 30 guards from other divisions within the camp and even from another forced labour camp. They tortured the practitioners around the clock

After the guards shackled practitioners' hands and feet to the "Iron Chair" and tied their hands and feet together with ropes, they would not give them water and did not allow them to go to the toilet. At 9 a.m., 11 a.m. or noon, the inmate Zhang Cui, a prostitute, would deliver the so-called breakfast. Supported by guards, this woman treated practitioners viciously. She would carry the portable toilet in one hand and a pot of rice in another hand. Then, with the hand she had carried the portable toilet, she picked up the dried up buns and put them on the dirty cement floor. We were fed cold vegetable soup that had been diluted with water. Those who generally appeared hungrier would get the small buns, and those who appeared less hungry were given a big one. Those with weak teeth would get the hard ones. Every one only was given one bun and half a bowl of soup, with a little frozen lettuce or potato. Little bugs floated in the soup and sand was found at the bottom of the bowl. This was the only time we were allowed to go to the toilet. After this we could not use the toilet for 11 to 12 hours. In May and June, it was hot and humid during the day and cold and damp at night. We suffered at all times.

Mr. Kong Xiangli was forced to sit on the "Iron chair" for 14 days, Ms. Zhang Liqun and Li Jing for 17 days, Liu Jinyu for 29 days, Gao Shuying, Shi Shufang, Xiao Hongwen and Zheng Weili for 33 days. Ms. Zhang Shuju was forced to sit there for 45 days, which is the longest time that we noted.

Those that were jailed at the Shuanghe Forced Labour Camp continued to clarify the truth and protest the persecution. Wang Yanxing was locked into a small cell and shackled to the "Iron Chair" for 10 days because she refused to write a "Guarantee Statement". One day, the guards searched for articles in the No.2 Cell. When the practitioners refused to be searched, a group of guards stormed into the cells and beat them. Li Jing was thrown to the floor and sustained head injuries. Her injuries affected her nerves and she lost her eyesight. She no longer was able to move freely around and had to be carried to the toilet.

On October 31, 2002, a group of guards came to No. 3 Cell to confiscate Dafa articles. Ms. Gao Shuying, Kong Xiangli, Wang Yanxing and Zheng Weili refused to hand them in. Consequently, they were forced to sit on the "Iron Chair" in the small cells. Several guards beat us up and twisted our arms around the armrests of the "Iron Chair" before putting our hands into the ring on the armrest. Then they handcuffed our two hands together. The handcuffs were put on so tight that they cut into the bones, causing great pain. It took the guards much effort to put the handcuffs on. Because our arms and hands were fixed on the armrest, small people with short arms could not sit down in the chair. Of course, we could not stand up either. Our legs were also fixed into the iron rings on the legs of the chair. Shackles were used to link the two feet together.

We could not move. Although we just finished our menstrual periods, the extremely cold weather caused us to get our periods again. The blood ran down the chair, dried up and was then covered by more fresh blood. The guards did not allow us to wear shoes or our jacket. Ms. Gao Shuying wore only one sweat shirt, long johns and a pair of cotton pants. We all wore warm weather clothes, but it was a very cold November. There was no heat in the cell and we were trembling. The shackles felt tighter and tighter and more and more painful as time went by. We were forced to stay like this around the clock. One second seemed like a year.

After sitting in the "Iron Chair" for 13 days, Ms. Zheng Weili lost control of her bladder and bowels. Ms Wang Yanxing was unrecognizable after this torture and Kong Xiangli and Gao Shuying could no longer stand and had difficulties moving their hands and feet. Guard Wang Yan said to Ms. Gao Shuying after kicking her over 100 times, "I beat you up. So what? There are no witnesses."

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.ca/mh/articles/2004/11/29/90281.html