Persecution of Falun Gong Practitioners Permeates Every Aspect of Life in Changlinzi Forced Labour Camp

In recent years, many people have got the idea that the brutal persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in forced labour camps and jails resulted from the actions of a few guards whose conduct got out of hand, or from the actions of some local governments that failed to live up to the official government policy. As a matter of fact, this is not the truth. The Changlinzi Forced Labour Camp provides a good example of the how the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners permeates every aspect of life in China's labour camps.

The Persecution Has Penetrated into Every Aspect of Life at the Labour Camp

Food: The labour camp provided only two meals a day. Generally, nobody got enough to eat. Meals were made using coarse grain, which is actually animal fodder. The guards talk it up as being rich in minerals. For six months, one of the daily meals would be porridge made from the coarse grain. For another six months, both of the daily meals were steamed bread made from the coarse grain, along with frozen Chinese cabbage and salty rutabaga soup (which is served year-round). It was a rare occurrence to find any other vegetables in the soup.

When the higher authorities of the labour camp were notified of an upcoming inspection, one could see diseased meat from a pig's belly floating in the soup bucket. Based on this fact, Mao Zhaoli and Guo Xu from the Education Division, published articles in the newspaper of the judicature system claiming that "Falun Dafa practitioners in the labour camp have meat each day." The items sold in the labour camp shop are extremely expensive. This is another way for the labour camp to extort money.

Lodging: Two double beds had to be shared by at least six people. In the Fifth Squad, there would be up to ten people per bed. Twelve to 18 practitioners had to share a room of about 12 square meters. Each practitioner was charged a "luggage fee" of 300 yuan. If family members did not pay the fee, they would not be allowed to meet with the practitioners. But there was no luggage at all, and the fee was just a ruse to extort more money from practitioners' family members.

Medical Sanitation: No money, no treatment. One could only take a hot shower once a year at the time of the Spring Festival. It was quite common for practitioners to be infested with body lice and mites.

In the canteen, the staff used one broom to sweep the floor and then used the same broom to brush off the tops of the tables. Food bowls were carelessly rinsed with a little water instead of being washed. The most odious situation was that practitioners had to eat with tableware after it had been used by the tuberculosis patients, and the cooking pot was also used as a bath.

Forced Labour: The quota was decided arbitrarily. Practitioners were forced to work overtime without being given any breaks the whole day. Generally, practitioners worked from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., and at times even as late as 12 p.m. There was no protective equipment at all, so practitioners' nails became distorted from stripping garlic.

Other types of routine abuse and bending of labour camp regulations:

1. In the name of security inspections, the labour camp incited the common criminal inmates to steal practitioners' property, including any new clothes, food, and articles of everyday use.

2. The labour camp forced practitioners to raise funds to buy haircutting tools, kettles, stationery, VCDs, and windowpanes for the camp's use.

3. The "study notes" (what one has learned from study), the conversation records, the "transformation reports," inspection of production safety reports, the thought trends analysis report, etc. are all fabricated by assigned inmates instead of being completed by the guards.

4. The labour camp authorities generally do not allow the release of practitioners for medical treatment. Their true purpose is to shirk responsibility for the results of their abuse and to extort money from practitioners' families.

5. Before meeting with practitioners, their family members are required to complete a questionnaire with ten questions slandering Falun Dafa and Teacher Li. Otherwise, they are deprived of visiting rights.

6. Routine annual inspection and survey questionnaires are all answered by the inmates selected by the guards, while the practitioners are not allowed to participate in the surveys at all. The survey questions ask if the guards have violated the labour camp policies and prohibitions.

7. "Selling the days"(1): Technical equivalence is the reduction of forced labour terms. Money is exchanged using the excuse of granting favours like plagiarising a copy of an answer sheet in routine labour camp examinations, or obtaining a licence for a haircut, cooking or electric equipment repair, or using the excuse of being engaged in performing arts, calligraphy or painting. They are sold at 35 yuan for each favour or licence thus granted, or each day thus reduced, while significant reduction of forced labour terms is sold under the name of special contribution of 3,000 to 5,000 yuan for each month reduced.

8. While carrying out their duties, the guards always perform in an arbitrary manner and use rude language laced with profanity.

The Brutal Means Used by the Guards to Physically Devastate Practitioners

Hanging Up: Practitioners were hung from the bunk beds by their hands so that only their toes could touch the ground; or practitioners were forced to sit on an iron chair with their arms and legs strapped down to it.

Breaking arms, legs, and fingers: The guards pulled practitioner's fingers or limbs forcefully, resulting in broken bones.

Forced Squatting: Practitioners were forced to squat on a piece of brick measuring 30 square centimeters. The hands had to be turned backwards and pressed onto the brick while the feet were kept together and the head was lifted, and only the toes were left touching the ground.

Cold water torture: Practitioners were thrown into a vat of extremely cold water or forced to stand under water faucets to be doused with cold water.

Burning: The guards burned practitioners' body hair and fingernails using cigarette lighters.

Shocking with electric batons: The guards shocked sensitive parts of practitioners' bodies including their eyes and genitals.

The guards pricked practitioners' fingers using needles, jabbed the shaft of a toothbrush into the spaces between their ribs, and squeezed practitioners' genitals.

The guards hit or kicked practitioners in the throat, smashed practitioners' vertebra by hitting them across the back with a long bench, filled practitioners' eyes or noses with chili oil, hot pepper water, or black mustard oil, and deprived practitioners of sleep. Kicks and punches are routinely administered. Some practitioners were even force-fed a whole bag of salt after being immobilized and having a feeding tube inserted into them. Other acts of torture are even hard to describe.

The Fifth Squad is shrouded under a blanket of terror all the time. All practitioners' activities, including going to the toilet, sleeping, eating and slave labour, are done under supervision. At any moment, they may be punched, kicked, hit on the back of the neck with a plank as wide as a hand, or shocked by electric batons. Director Zhao Shuang and Deputy Director Zhang Shengguo, as well as guard Yang Yu (now moved to the First Squad), have especially devastated practitioners using various means. The guards abuse practitioners almost endlessly.

Currently, practitioners in the new building have all been moved to the Third Squad for forceful "brainwashing." There, they are persecuted by having cold water poured on them, being forced to squat for long periods of time, and being deprived of sleep.

The following practitioners were persecuted to death or disability by the guards:

Yu Guanyun: Mr. Yu died in Wanjia Hospital in March 2003. At the time of his admission to the hospital, he was infected with scabies which had been untreated for so long that his arms and legs had become swollen and were oozing pus. He was sent to Wanjia Hospital by the then director, Li Jinhua, after being diagnosed with heart disease. While in the hospital, he was not allowed to eat enough or drink any water even though he had diarrhoea.

Tian Baobin: On September 13, 2003, while eating the evening meal, he suddenly suffered a brain hemorrhage and died in the hospital. Previously, in April 2003, he had unsuccessfully applied for release for medical treatment. The reason for the denial is unclear. During this period, Mr. Tian still was forced to perform labour.

Zhou Jingsen: Mr. Zhou was a lecturer in Heilongjiang Education Institute. He was persecuted until near death, and died after being sent back home.

Zhang Fangcheng: In February 2004, when he was on the way to wash at 6 a.m., Mr. Zhang suddenly became paralyzed on one side of his body. He was left unattended for three days in this condition. He applied for release for medical treatment in April 2003, September 2003, and before the Spring Festival of 2004 without success. His wife is also a practitioner and was put in jail. He questioned the guards. As a result, director Yang Jintang forced him to go to Wanjia Hospital instead of releasing him. He refused to cooperate with the unreasonable situation. Thereupon guards Guo Richeng and Liu Feng ordered inmates to dress him forcefully and carry him into a car. During that period Mr. Zhang could not take care of himself.

Li Wansuo: Mr. Li suffered from a lower back injury due to intensified labour. Yang Jintang only gave him a bottle of spray for applying to bruises and strains. He has still not received proper treatment for his back injury. Initially, he was a little hard of hearing. Guard Zhao Shuang always hit his ears so forcefully that Li Wansuo was knocked to the ground right away. As a result, he has lost more of his hearing.

The Guard's Atrocities Are Ongoing

Zhang Xiangfu: Mr. Zhang suffered brutal torture during the so-called "one-hundred-day fortification campaign," which started on September 2, 2002. On August 4, 2003, after the evening meal, Zhang Wenbo, the deputy director, incited guards to pull Zhang Xiangfu into the baggage room for torture, while Zhang Wenbo sat at the entrance giving orders. All ten of his fingernails were burned off with a cigarette lighter. His face turned blue and became swollen from the severity of the pain. After that, he was forced to march double-time. This torture lasted for 6 hours.

Hao Yunshu: On April 10, 2004, when he was working in the toothpick workshop, Mr. Hao spoke loudly so he could be heard over the noise of the machinery. For this, Yang Jintang punched and kicked him. When Yang Yu took his turn on duty, he tortured Hao Yunshu by shocking him with an electric baton.

Pan Mingzhen: Mr. Pan was not qualified for hard labor due to his old age, and requested to be excused on June 13, 2004. As a result, he was charged with willfully making trouble. Guard Yang Yu tortured him by shocking him with an electric baton, while taunting him by saying, "The Chinese Communist Party issued me this electric baton just for shocking you!"

At the end of February 2004, practitioners Zhang Yangfu, Gong Wenyi and Yang Wenjie requested to practise the Falun Dafa exercises. For this they were sent to a small cell and beaten by guard Yang Jintang. The beatings were so brutal that there were bloodstains left everywhere in the corridor. Simply for making this request, they were persecuted for one month.

On September 30, 2004, practitioners in the Fifth Squad took the lead to call out "Falun Dafa is good" during morning drill, and practitioners in other squads followed. In retaliation, the guard in the Fifth Squad incited inmates to punch and kick practitioners, and many practitioners were injured. On October 12, practitioners in the Fourth Squad staged a hunger strike to protest their illegal detention and demanded their unconditional release. On October 17, practitioners in the First Squad also started a hunger strike. From the third day onward, they were force-fed with a salt solution.

The guards also coerced criminal inmates to monitor and persecute practitioners by threatening to deduct the inmates' points or extend their detention periods if they refused. However, the inmates had come to know the truth of Falun Dafa and they all resisted.

(1) "Selling the days" is a way corrupt labour camp officials extort cash bribes from inmates in exchange for reducing their forced labour terms.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.ca/mh/articles/2004/12/21/91889.html