A Former Judge's Experience at Nanmusi Women's Labour Camp

Ms. Pan Xiaojiang, 40 years old, is a lawyer. Before the persecution started, she was an associate judge of the Nanchong City Intermediate Court, Sichuan Province. In 1998, six months after she began to cultivate Falun Dafa, she experienced great changes in her mind and body. She had a fatal disease, which cleared up after she started practising. Her character changed continuously for the better. On July 20 of 1999, the persecution of Falun Gong began. Ms. Pan did not renounce her belief and went three times to Beijing to clarify the truth about the persecution of Falun Gong to the Chinese government.

Over the past 5 years, she has suffered from the persecution, causing great harm to her mind and body. She was dismissed from her job, sentenced three times to forced labour camps for a total of three and a half years and detained in jail for 29 months. Guards beat her, causing her to lose consciousness. One time she was unconscious for 21 days. To protest the persecution, she went 4 times on a hunger strike for a total of 24 days. During her hunger strikes, the perpetrators in Nanmusi Women's Labour Camp and Pi County Detention Centre force fed her over 10 times. During interrogation, police kept her awake for 4 days and 4 nights. The perpetrators from work units had her under surveillance for 3 months and ransacked her home. The police in Beijing, Nanchong City, and Chengdu City arrested her 19 times. In the detention centres and forced labour camp, she suffered many torture methods, brainwashing, forced labour and detainment past her term, horrible scabies, heart disease and high blood pressure. She was sent to emergency three different times. Because of the persecution, she suffered a relapse of the fatal disease she had been afflicted with before she began to practise. This endangered her life several times. To avoid the persecution, Ms. Pan was forced to become homeless, leave family and friends and wander from place to place.

The following is her story in her own words.

I am a Falun Dafa practitioner who began to practice in late 1998. I was unlawfully sentenced three times to forced labor terms (July 2000 to January 2001; July 11, 2001, to November 9, 2001; and July 11, 2003, to July 14, 2003). I was detained in the No. 5, No. 6, and No. 7 Group of the Sichuan Province Women's Forced Labour Camp.

I wish to share with you my experiences at the Sichuan Province Women's Forced Labour Camp.

In July 2000, when I was first taken to Sichuan Province Women's Forced Labour Camp on entering the front gate, I saw flowers, a lawn, a fountain, and rocks. There was an "education building" and a big basketball court. The neat and orderly appearance is to deceive the public. When my sister came to see me for the first time, she made me believe too. She observed, "The environment of the forced labour camp is beautiful, the guards are very civilized..." But her impression changed drastically when I was sent to the forced labour camp the second time. The labour camp notified my family after I was tortured until I was near death. After my sister came to see me the second time and saw my critical condition, she understood everything. Now she tells people, "The labour camp is an evil place. The beautiful surroundings are a façade to deceive people. My younger sister nearly lost her life there. Now I will no longer believe the slanderous media coverage about Falun Gong..."

When I was sent to the labour camp for the first time (in July 2000), there was a hospital, a defence group and 6 production groups. The detainees were mostly drug addicts, prostitutes, drug dealers, and thieves. As the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners escalated, more and more female practitioners were sent to the labour camp. The labour camp could not accommodate so many people. Therefore, it released many criminals to make room for practitioners. It also had additional buildings constructed to detain practitioners.

When I first entered through the camp's gate, I followed the guards without much thought. But, I immediately experienced the loss of my freedom. First, an inmate cut my hair with a pair of scissors, without asking my consent. Then I was taken to a room in the detainment building, where I was asked to take off my clothes to be checked. After that, two experienced inmates were assigned as my handlers. The two handlers took me to a cell and locked the door. From that day, I was completely isolated from the outside world. Virtually all my activities, including eating, drinking, and using the toilet were performed inside the cell and under around the clock close surveillance by the two inmates. This is the "treat" for newly arrived firm practitioners -- it is called "first degree strict control." In the labour camp, people under this "first degree strict control" are regarded as "a different kind of people." Any guard or inmate could beat, curse at, and punish us at will. Their words toward Falun Gong practitioners are "not allowed" and "must," "not allowed to speak, write letters, buy paper and pens, look outside the door, use the telephone to call family members, and family visits -- must report your number, wear a pin that slanders Falun Dafa, and read materials and watch TV programmes slandering Falun Dafa." The wish of the persecutors became the "law" for practitioners. Whatever the country's laws protect, they are against and forbid. They promote violence and force. They rule through power, completely ignoring existing rules and laws. Should a practitioner disobey in the slightest, he/she suffers immediate cruel torture.

1. Brutal torture methods -- the atrocities perpetrated in the labour camp.

A. The Guards torture practitioners

I witnessed the guards crimes immediately after I arrived at the labour camp. At the time, ten of the most "firm" practitioners were detained in the same section. It was during the hot summer. The guards detained the practitioners and isolated them in a cell. During a period of over 10 days, the practitioners were not allowed to leave their cells or have water to drink. They were not allowed to take a bath. One day, it was rumoured that some superiors were coming for an "inspection." The guards then forced the 10 practitioners to stand in a row outside and attempted to have them wear badges that slander Falun Dafa. The practitioners firmly believed that we are good people, not criminals, so we should not wear the badges. Holding the distorted principle of "You have to obey in here whether or not you are here unjustly," the guards took the practitioners one by one to a room and closed the door. At that time, I was outside the room. I heard the guards inside roar, "Will you wear the badge or not?" Then I heard the noise of electric batons, followed by more roars of the guards, "Stand up! Will you wear the badge or not?" Then again the sizzling noise of electric batons being used chilled us to the bones. However, not a single practitioner gave in under the brutal torture.

Once, during a meeting, some guards slandered Falun Dafa. A practitioner protested solemnly and spoke out "Falun Dafa is good!" The guards shocked her back, leaving two black holes.

The defence group is one of the evil tools used to torture practitioners. This is a group of specially trained male guards. Whenever there was a meeting during which the perpetrators slandered Falun Dafa in public, the fully armed defence group would surround the meeting place. The guards wore leather shoes and steel helmets, and held electric batons and handcuffs in their hands. When practitioners protested, they would drag them from the assembly and torture them. They used electric batons and wolf-teeth clubs to torture them. They beat them and kicked them with their leather shoes. The female practitioners' bodies were often covered with injuries as a result of the torture. Some practitioners' started to bleed profusely, and some lost consciousness. Around July 2000, guards in the defence group shocked practitioner Ms. Zhang Yuchun and Ms. Bai Helin's faces with electric batons. The faces of these two practitioners immediately began to swell and became disfigured. The leader of the defense group, Yang Xiaoping, ordered his staff to use their leather shoes as whips to whip Ms. Bai. Ms. Bai lost consciousness and fell to the ground.

B. They bribe, order, and instigate criminals to torture practitioners

The labour camp guards select some strong and wicked drug addict inmates from a newly arrived batch of prisoners and from the production groups, and assign them to Falun Gong practitioner as "handlers." Most of these inmates are highly addicted to drugs. The guards call them "human trash." They can harm people without any thought or feelings just for a small benefit. They have lost all humanity and are irrational. They don't consider the consequences of torturing practitioners. Because of bribes and orders by the guards, they used a number of torture methods. They tortured the firm practitioners by forcing them to stand or sit for a long time, such as from 5 a.m. until past 11 p.m. daily. The practitioners were forced to stand unmoving under the baking sun. Each "handler" closely monitored a practitioner, not allowing the practitioner to blink an eye, close her eyes, look around, talk, walk around, use the toilet, or go to sleep. The slightest disobedience resulted in cursing and beating.

The winter of 2001 was extremely cold in Nanmusi. One day as I walked along the hallway on the second floor where the No. 5 Group is located, I saw a practitioner (in her 50s) inside a cell. The drug addicts had removed her clothes, except for her underwear, and forced her to stand still facing the wall. Their excuse was that the practitioner had some hand-copied articles from Teacher. In order to force practitioner Ms. Zhang Qinfang to "reform," the perpetrators tortured her cruelly. Her body was covered with bruises. Furthermore, they forced her to stand for several days and several nights without sleeping or any movement, resulting in grossly swollen legs. In the end, her legs became numb and she was unable to walk. At that time, Ms. Zhang's body was covered with scabies, and she was having her period. The persecutors did not allow her to change pads or take a bath. Neither extreme tiredness, pain or itching made Zhang Qinfang renounce her belief.

Another torture method used by "handlers" and "monitors" alike is force feeding practitioners with excessive water every half an hour, but not allowing them to use the toilet. They also forced practitioners to squat down and stand up for over a thousand times, to run for several hours without stopping, and to sit on a bucket of faeces.

They tortured the practitioners using the method of "flying an airplane," (a brutal torturing method, for illustration, see http://clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2004/6/10/49058.html), while whipping them with bamboo branches, and not allowing them to brush their teeth or take a bath. In the summertime, they forced the practitioners to stay under the baking sun. In the wintertime, they forced the practitioners to wear barely any clothes. They also poured cold water on them. In order to force a practitioner named Zhang to "reform," the perpetrators forced her to wear only one layer of clothes in the winter and beat her. As a result, the skin on her feet was torn open, and her bones were visible -- what a horrifying scene! In 2002, some persecutors ganged up on a practitioner in the No. 8 group and beat her, fracturing her arm.

C. The labour camp's hospital tortured practitioners who were on a hunger strike by force-feeding them

In July 2002, persecutors from the No. 1 Section of Shunqing District Police Department in Nanchong City and Wufeng Police Station arrested me again and sentenced me to forced labour. They robbed me of my right to appeal, put handcuffs and shackles on me and took me again to the Sichuan Province Women's Forced Labour Camp in Nanmusi. To protest against the persecution, I immediately went on a hunger strike as soon as I arrived at the labour camp. The next day, the guards took me to the labour camp hospital and force-fed me. They advised me wickedly, "Refusing to eat food is refusing to be re-educated." At the time, five persecutors ganged up on me, including drug addicts (two of them were very strong and very mean), a guard and a doctor. One of the drug addicts grabbed me quickly and threw me on the bed, then some held my hands and feet, others kept me in a half-sitting position pushing my back hard, one grabbed my hair and pulled my head backward to a very painful position, and someone pinched my chin and nose. Another used an iron instrument to pry open my mouth. I shut my eyes and mouth tightly and was determined to resist the evil persecution. I firmly refused to cooperate and did not let them force-feed even a drop of dirty stuff into my mouth.

The perpetrators were actively trying to have me cooperate. Someone even tempted me, "Please talk to me about Falun Gong." Someone scratched my armpit and the sole of my foot. With a lot of effort, they forcefully pried my mouth open and hurt my upper jaw and teeth. Blood was all over the place. I firmly held my breath. They pushed the feeding tube through my mouth into my stomach. Yet the tube backed out on its own. All my limbs started to turn cold, numb, and stiff. I heard them saying in fear, "Oh, her limbs are cold and stiff now, I cannot even move them, Her mouth and face are turning black." Then someone opened my eyelids and looked into my eyes with the help of a flashlight.

The persecutors stopped out of fear. They spent an entire afternoon trying to force feed me, and pried open my mouth six times. Yet they did not succeed in putting the feeding tube into my stomach. When I regained consciousness for the sixth time, the guard, doctor, and the two mean drug addicts were all gone. There were only two other drug addicts in the room. One of them held my hand and said softly "Don't move..." I could see care and helplessness in her eyes, and no hatred.

In the evening, they put handcuffs and shackles on me and infused six bottles of liquid into my veins. During the infusion, I clarified the truth to the drug addicts monitoring me. They all listened quietly and did not interfere in my talking. They did not force-feed me the next day. Director Wu of the labour camp talked with me in private. She asked me the reason for my hunger strike. I told her that police in Nanchong City arrested me unlawfully and robbed me of my appeal rights. The labour camp took away my paper and pen. As a result, my right to appeal lost its meaning. I also inquired of her, "Instead of supporting justice for people and protecting their legal rights, the labour camp tortured me through force-feeding. Who will take responsibility in the future?" Director Wu replied immediately, "You do have appeal rights, and we should support you. You can write your appeal down, and we will send the appeal to the provincial Forced Labour Reeducation Committee." She also persuaded me to eat food and keep my health. I thought that I was using every chance to clarify the truth to people, not competing with people, so I said to Director Wu, "Falun Gong practitioners cherish lives the most. Have you seen any practitioner outside who refuses to eat? Only in the situation where we are illegally detained do we go on hunger strikes to protest the persecution. So going on hunger strike in this situation is a righteous action of a citizen. Now that the labour camp agreed to facilitate my appeal, I will eat food. I will decide to go on a hunger strike or not, depending on the response from the appeals office. Later on, the labour camp gave me paper and pen and submitted my appeal to the Provincial Forced Labour Reeducation Committee. Soon after that, the committee sent someone to verify the facts about my appeal. Nearly 3 months after I submitted my appeal, the forced labour camp released me.

D. The forced labor camp uses practitioners to do slave labour and extorts money from them

One important reason for the forced labour camp to actively support Jiang's regime in persecuting practitioners is that the perpetrators can hold on to their positions and jobs and make money.

An official named Li told me, "The country's government gives the labour camp money for each practitioner it takes. On top of that, the government also allocates money for the construction of prisons and gives awards for those who 'achieve' (people who torture practitioners)." However, the persecutors in the labour camp are not satisfied with these benefits. They earn more money by using the practitioners to do slave labour.

After I was detained in isolation for half a month during my first detainment at the labour camp, I was transferred to the No. 6 Group because I persisted in my cultivation. I was forced to make light bulbs for over 16 hours daily: from 5 a.m. to after midnight (no dedicated rest periods were set other than the time for meeting, eating and travel to and from the work place. We were allowed to use the toilets 2 to 3 times a day.). When there was a heavy load or a deadline to meet, we were forced to work through the entire night, with no rest time afterward. Some practitioners were forced to polish gemstones (the work is more laborious and more painful), some were forced to pick pig hairs and do other handicrafts. Some practitioners refused to cooperate in the persecution, so they refused to work. The persecutors then cursed at them and tortured them brutally. They locked them in "small cells," extorted money from them and extended their terms.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2005/1/22/93702.html