Ms Cao Yanzhuo and Other Practitioners On Hunger Strike to Protest Persecution at Masanjia Forced Labour Camp

Ms. Cao Yanzhuo, 43, is from Lanjiagou Village near Huludao City, Liaoning Province. Since the persecution began on July 20, 1999, the local police have constantly harassed her because she refuses to give up her belief in "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance." Ms. Cao was forced into a homeless situation, but she kept appealing for Dafa. On July 10, 2002, Cao Yanzhuo was reported to the police when she was exposing the persecution about Dafa. She was arrested and sent to Masanjia Forced Labour Re-education Camp, where she has been detained ever since.

According to reliable sources, Cao Yanzhuo has been on a hunger strike for several weeks to protest the persecution. When the guards force-feed her, she protests loudly, shouting, "Falun Dafa is good!" The guards cannot stop her hunger strike, so they tell Ms. Cao that they will prolong her detention term - they will add 10 more days each time she refuses to eat.

A "Strictly Controlled Division" has been set up at Masanjia Labour Re-education Camp. Steadfast practitioners at Masanjia do not cooperate with the evildoers because they have not committed any crime; they refuse to wear the prisoners' uniform, they do not attend the prison exercises, and they do not participate in the prison re-education activities. These practitioners are all kept in Division One (the Strictly Controlled Division), and many of them have been on hunger strike to this day. The guards of Division One dare not wear their nametags, fearing that their names and wicked deeds will be exposed to the public.

There are more than ten other practitioners on hunger strike besides Cao Yanzhuo. The guards force-feed them with soy powder, milk powder, flour, vegetable soup, and so on through a stomach tube once a day. Whenever they try to force-feed the practitioners, the practitioners shout, "Falun Dafa is good!" Among the practitioners, Ms. Sun Jiping shouts the loudest, and the guards are very afraid of her. They beg her to just shout once for the day. People in the whole building can hear Ms. Geng Yulan's voice. She is force-fed twice a day with her hands handcuffed and her head and feet held by the police. The Strictly Controlled Division guards often search prisoners' belongings for Dafa books or articles, and they do not allow practitioners to practise the Falun Gong exercises. Practising the exercises always results in the guards torturing the practitioners. Geng Yulan has been detained in the Strictly Controlled Division for 20 months, and has been forced to watch TV programmes that slander Falun Dafa all day long. Practitioner Cao Yanzhuo is detained on the second floor, and she has been on hunger strike for a long time. Practitioner Chen Hong has been beaten severely.

It is the second time that Ms. Ying Liping has been sent to Masanjia. Before she was transferred to Zhangshi Labour Re-education Camp (from Masanjia), she was stripped and thrown into a male inmates' cell. Practitioner Ms. Li Ming confronted Su Jing from Masanjia Labour Re-education Camp about the lie that no female practitioners had been put into male inmate cells. Li Ming herself was mistreated this way before and she is still imprisoned at present.

Practitioner Dong Jingzhuo has been on a hunger strike for more than 3 months. She was transferred from a detention centre to the Masanjia on March 5. Gong Xuerong, a practitioner from Dalian City, is on a hunger strike and has already lost the ability to walk.

Practitioner Sun Guixiang, Li Hong, and others shout, "Falun Dafa is good" aloud every day at Masanjia. Since April 19, they have been locked in an extremely small cell for more than 2 months because they tried to sit in the lotus position [both legs crossed, on top of the other]. The small cell is only as big as a straw mat. A high-volume speaker is on all the time and the practitioners are not allowed to have water to drink.

I was arrested on September 26, 2003. When I was on a hunger strike at Huludao Detention Centre, I was beaten severely by the policewomen and force-fed by inmates. I was sent to Masanjia Labour Camp on the sixth day, and I continued my hunger strike there. My hunger strike lasted for 63 days. We were watched all the time in the cells. We only have five minutes for washing ourselves, and we were not allowed to have showers, wash our clothes, or even drink water. I was tortured physically and not allowed to sleep. The criminal inmates beat me. I was diagnosed with uterine tumours and ovarian cysts. They forced me to take an ultrasound scan on the tenth day of my hunger strike. I could not urinate soon after, and my body was dehydrated. Later, the camp staff informed my family to come and take me home. My family came to the camp on October 14, and they were extorted out of 1,800 yuan (1) for "forced-feeding fees." Finally, my family had to give them 200 yuan, and altogether they paid the labour camp 700 yuan.

The former head of Division One, Wang Xiaofeng, is currently the head of Division Three. He curses whenever he speaks, and beats people whenever he wants, especially when he sees Dafa practitioners resisting the torture.

At present, Dalian Labour Re-education Camp and Longshan Labour Re-education Camp are being closed down; all the remaining prisoners at the two camps have been sent to Masanjia Labour Re-education Camp. There were about 300 prisoners at Masanjia, and now there are about 600 prisoners there.

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://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2005/7/2/105301.html