Peeling Off the Hypocritical Mask of the Hebei Province Gaoyang Forced Labour Camp

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The Hebei Province Gaoyang Forced Labour Camp is advertised as a civilised place, but actually, it is an evil den where Falun Gong practitioners are brutally persecuted. The practitioners who newly arrive are forcibly searched. They then face daily brainwashing. If they still do not give up their beliefs, they are tortured. Falun Gong practitioners are being humiliated and persecuted, and denied any freedom.

On October 27th, 2004, Falun Gong practitioners Zhang Chunlan, Sun Zhuntao and Jia Fengmei from Guyang County went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Dafa. When they were at the Beijing Railway Station, they were required to slander Teacher Li and Dafa. When they refused, police arrested them and took them to the Guyuang County Detention Centre. They held a hunger strike to protest the persecution. Meng Xianguei, head of the Guyuang County 610 Office1, directed several people to force-feed them. A tube was forcibly inserted into Zhang Chunlan's stomach five times, and she was force-fed three times. Her nasal cavity was bleeding profusely. Later she was forced to receive injections. On October 29th, she was sent to the Hebei Province Gaoyang Forced Labour Camp.

When they arrived at the labour camp, it was found through physical examination that they had heart disease and lung disease, so the labour camp refused to take them. Meng Xianguei bribed the labour camp through Zhao Yanping in order to make the labour camp take the practitioners. Besides brainwashing practitioners, the labour camp also uses them as cheap labour. Practitioners are forced to work every day to make money for the labour camp. In the middle of June 2005, Zhang Chunlan was sent to a carpet factory to work despite feeling ill. She was poisoned by rubber fumes and became very ill. Guard Wei Hongli dragged her downstairs to force her to work. On the second day, she was called to the West Building, where guards Wei Honglin and Zhao Yanping threatened her. She was released only after she fainted and fell to the floor.

Practitioners are often searched at the Hebei Province Gaoyang Forced Labour Camp. Their pillows and duvets are torn open. They are even searched without underwear. The female practitioners cannot avoid this kind of search even during their menstrual periods. On July 20th, 2005, Division Head Li Xuejun promised reduced sentences to coerce the criminal inmates to search practitioners. Teacher LI's articles were found and confiscated.

One day in August 2005, a guard punished practitioners and made them stand from noon until 5:00 p.m. Squadron commander Shi Jiangxia also shocked Li Yanzhen using an electric baton.

On August 14th, 2005, at eight o'clock, bad weather alerted people to danger. First the labour camp lost power and then it rained, accompanied by thunder and lightning. The red flags were struck by the lighting as if cut by a knife, and they all fell down. But the guards at the labour camp did not take this as a warning and continued to persecute Falun Gong practitioners.

On August 15th, after lunch, Division Head Li Xuejun went to the small cell where Ding Xiaomei was detained, and he saw practitioner Cheng Aihong sitting there. He punched Cheng Aihong in the face, which triggered Cheng Aihong's heart disease.

When police torture a practitioner, they lock the door and close the curtain, because they are afraid other practitioners will see it.

To protest the persecution, practitioners at the labour camp held a group hunger strike. They refused to wear prison uniforms and refused to recite prison rules. Division Head Li Xuejun said that Gaoyang Forced Labour Camp was number one in terms of forced feeding. They dragged Cheng Aihong, Zhao Suying and others to the hospital to force-feed them, and also locked Zhao Suying in a small cell.

Falun gong practitioner Liu Yanzhen refused to wear a prison uniform. Squadron Commander Shi Jiangxia and Staff Commissioner Li Yanji tore her clothes off down to her underwear. They then shocked her with electric batons. However, the electric batons ran out of power, so the policemen used them as sticks to strike her bottom. Her bottom was swollen as result of the beating. They also took her clothes and comforter away. Other practitioners gave her some clothes to wear, so the policemen cut the clothes up and threw them away. She had nothing to wear besides underwear for two weeks. They also dragged her downstairs in only underwear to stand and bake in the sun. They also coerced the criminal inmates to kick her and push her head down by her hair. On September 29th, Li Xuejun, Li Yanji, Shi Jiangxia and five other labour camp officials and inmates dragged her downstairs. They beat her and shocked her using electric batons. She was badly injured and her eyes were lifeless after the beating. She was carried back to her cell.

During the hunger strike, guards blocked all the doors to prevent practitioners from getting out of the rooms. They took five practitioners to another place, and policeman Zhao Yuanshan beat Li Guizhi in the meantime. He also dragged Li Guizhi, who was very weak, to the West Building to threaten her. She could no longer walk on her own as a result. They also handcuffed practitioner Li Xia at the West Building. Li Xia tried to clarify the truth to them, but they did not listen. One of them kicked Li Xia in the back, and she has suffered back pain ever since. Guards tied Cheng Aihong's thumbs with steel wire, and shocked Cheng Aihong using electric batons and a hand generator. Cheng Aihong's body was black and blue.

On September 29th, Division Head Li Xuejun hired people for over 200 yuan2 each to beat practitioners who are detained at the Fourth Building. Two practitioners were beaten and then locked in the trunk of a vehicle. No one knows where they were taken. They also locked practitioners at the Fourth Building in small cells. Li Xuejun got Dong Guirong, a 50-year-old practitioner, to go downstairs in order to talk. They tried to use electric batons to torture her, but the electric batons did not have any power. They used them as clubs to beat her. Dong Guirong's could not use her left leg as a result of the beating. When others gave her a stick to help her to walk, guards coerced inmates to take it away and said, "If she cannot walk, she can crawl."

On October 1st, they not only beat and cursed Falun Gong practitioners, but also used electric batons to torture many practitioners. When high-ranking authorities came to inspect the labour camp, they hid those practitioners from inspectors. They are afraid that the tortures will be exposed.


Note

1. "The 610 office" is an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other political and judiciary systems.

2. "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.ca/mh/articles/2005/11/4/113729.html

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