Atrocities in Gaoyang Forced Labour Camp

During the morning of May 1, 2005, practitioner Ms. Wang Junhua, who was unjustly held at the Gaoyang Forced Labour Camp, was forced to feed ostriches at a courtyard segregated by electrified wires. She did not return to her dormitory at noon as usual, and her current whereabouts are unknown. An informant claims that political head, Li Xuejun, said she was hospitalized due to sudden illness. According to an investigation however, the labour-camp-designated hospital had not admitted any patients from the ucamp. At noon, political head Li Xuejun went to the dormitory many times but it's uncertain what she did there.

Persecutors Chang Jinliang and Fang Bao from the labour camp have beaten female inmates to death and raped some female inmates, which resulted in their becoming pregnant. These perpetrators conspired with the hospital, and the doctor fabricated medical documents.

Male inmates were beaten to death then secretly buried. The labour camp authorities then publicly declared that the victims had escaped. Due to the vicious nature of the incidents taking place at this labour camp, we call for urgent attention from related government departments in pressing the officials at the Gaoyang Labour Camp and at the Hebei Labour Reeducation Bureau to investigate Wang Junhua's disappearance, and to prosecute all who are responsible.

Due to condoning and even encouragement from the Hebei Labour Reeducation Bureau, Yang Zemin and Li Xuejun, the division heads in charge of persecuting Falun Gong, along with guards Fang Bao and Chang Jinliang, ruthlessly tortured the practitioners. Yang Zemin forced many female inmates to have sex with him. He also seduced or coerced female guards to have sex with him. Many young female guards were traumatized after being forced into sex, but most of them remained silent and dared not speak out.

Dafa practitioner Ms. Wang Junhua, 43, lived in Chaigoubao Town, Huaian County, Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province. In October 2004 she was abducted while exposing the persecution to a young man. After one month of detention she was sent to the Gaoyang Forced Labour Camp.

On April 26, 2005, government officials came to inspect the Gaoyang Forced Labour Camp. The labour camp authorities sent sick inmates, Falun Gong practitioners, and others who they thought might cause "trouble" for them, to the backyard. They took the rest of the detainees to a room on the second floor and gave them a "talk." Yang Zemin threatened, "If you say anything you are not supposed to during the inspection, you can expect something very unpleasant afterwards." Yang Zemin then called eight of his cronies and told them to lie to the inspectors according to a pre-written script he provided. He told them that if they did "well" they would be released early.

The Gaoyang Forced Labour Camp has always claimed to be concerned with the health of Falun Gong practitioners, yet the truth is:

(1) The labour camp often accepts people with high blood pressure, heart disease and mental illness, who according to law, should be rejected.

Detainee Wang Lei often goes into episodes of mental collapse. The division guards "cared" for her by gagging her with socks and handcuffing her wrists. Falun Gong practitioners who spoke out against the abuse were shocked with electric batons.

(2) The persecutors torture nearly every detainee.

In March 2005, practitioner Wang Sufang was beaten so brutally that she was rushed to the hospital emergency room several times, and was eventually released on medical parole. The guards use an old crank telephone device (turning the crank generates electricity) and electric batons to shock the practitioners.

(3) The guards often insult and threaten the practitioners. In March 2005 the division held a meeting. Practitioners who were seriously ill were carried to the meeting. During the meeting Chang Jinliang pointed at the practitioners with his electric baton, and Yang Zemin cursed and cursed, complaining that his scandals were exposed on the Minghui/Clearwisdom website.

(4) They force practitioners, including those who are sick, to work in a shop, and later in their quarters. Practitioner Zhao Shuying was extremely weak. When she passed out the division heads poked fun at her.

(5) Other than emergencies and work times, the practitioners were forced to stay in the room and sit on stools, and were cursed at when they made a small movement. They were forced to count off and greet the division each morning.

(6) The authorities also embezzle the practitioners' food money. Each practitioner has 200 yuan (1) food money per month, yet they are given vegetable soup with very few vegetables in it. Because of the aforementioned reasons, many practitioners are weak. During a provincial inspection on April 26 they were carried out to a vegetable field to avoid being seen by the provincial officials.

A while ago, the persecution of Dafa practitioners by Yang Zemin and other personnel at the Gaoyang Forced Labour Camp were exposed on the Minghui/Clearwisdom website several times. The authorities were afraid. They ordered the windows and doors shut. They cursed at the practitioners, held meetings, and threatened their subordinates, who threatened the practitioners, trying to find out how the news got out. The food improved for a few days before returning to its previously poor condition.

On April 26, another provincial inspection team arrived, and Yang Zemin again ordered the practitioners in the male division to be taken out and hidden in the vegetable field. Five sick female inmates, one of whom suffered a mental collapse after being tortured, were also dragged to the vegetable field. Practitioner Li Cuiping tried to stop them. Yang Zemin ordered her to be handcuffed, thrown on a cart, and pushed into a room used to torture Falun Gong practitioners. She was tortured for the better part of the day. Yang Zemin said to his subordinates, "Give her a good electric shock." The name above this room's doorframe reads "Heavenly Abode." Inside they shocked the practitioners with a crank telephone device, and savagely beat them.

For doing the exercises, practitioner Mr. Li Zhenhai from Yi County, Hebei Province suffered a mental collapse after being beaten and shocked with the crank telephone device in November 2004. He still has not fully recovered and often has nightmares. In October 2003, Li Zhenhai was deceived into coming to a police station while at work, and was detained at the department for one month, after which he was sent to the No. 4 Division of the Gaoyang Forced Labour Camp. Li Zhenhai was forced to work twelve hours per day on a daily basis. Because he did the Falun Gong exercises at night, team leader Wang Dong ordered inmates Luo Jian and Sun Peng to beat and kick him, claiming he wasn't doing a good job. In August 2004, Li Zhenhai was beaten until his left eardrum ruptured. After three examinations at a hospital confirmed the diagnosis, he was transferred to a division specializing in the persecution of Falun Gong.

The Gaoyang Forced Labour Camp is known for its brutality in torturing Dafa practitioners, and nicknamed "heaven on earth." Since the persecution of Falun Gong began, personnel and atrocities at the Gaoyang Forced Labour Camp topped the national list in several regards. The most number of victims (ten rows of detainees were chained to the ground then beaten and shocked with electric batons, over 1,000 people were tortured), the longest torture time, and the use of banned torture tools including the crank telephone device as electric shock tools. The guards here are ruthless and their torture is most widespread. Authorities from other labour camps came to the Gaoyang Forced Labour Camp to get "tips" on how to torture people more effectively. Yang Zemin personally demonstrated these tips. Toward the end of 2004, practitioner Wang Zhankun from Mongolia was beaten and shocked with the crank telephone device for several nights in a row while being deprived of sleep. It was learned that because the Gaoyang Forced Labour Camp is among the most "advanced" in its persecution of Falun Gong, the CCP leadership has already planned to use Yang Zemin and other head perpetrators at the labour camp as scapegoats, once the Jiang Zemin regime's crime of persecuting Falun Gong is widely exposed.

During the past few years, after the persecution was exposed, the provincial government did not organize an investigation or order the local governments to monitor the investigation and outcome. Instead, they sent the reports to the labor camp divisions in charge of persecuting Falun Gong and let them deal with it on their own. Obviously, all investigations by these divisions, if conducted at all, will only serve as formalities or as attempts to silence public outcry. The real purpose is to cover up, encourage, or directly conduct these crimes.

Note:

(1) "Yuan" is the Chinese currency; 500 yuan is equal to the average monthly income of an urban worker in China.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2005/5/11/101583.html