Partial Account of Illegal Persecution at the Xindian Women's Forced Labour Camp in Shanxi Province

Known as a "Ministry Level Civilised Labour Camp," the Women's Forced Labour Camp in Shanxi Province (Xindian Women's Forced Labour Camp) has persecuted Dafa practitioners since July 20th, 1999. The police there have colluded with the 610 Office¹, the police station, the prosecutor, the legislative districts, the courts, the National People's Congress, and other organisations. Inside the prison, they have incited criminals to subject the inmates to all kinds of excruciating tortures and mental torment in their attempts to "reform²" the practitioners. What follows are some of the criminal acts that have been committed at this facility.

This camp is also called the Xindian Women's Forced Labour Camp. Most of the women Dafa practitioners from the province were held at this location and were subjected to forced labour. The camp is located at Xindian Street #5 in the Xinghualing District, Hengshan Street, Xindian Road, Taiyuan City. The camp supports approximately 60 police guards and approximately 500 detainees. Currently, 46 of the detainees are practitioners. Over the past six years, approximately 500 female Dafa practitioners from Shanxi Province have been illegally detained here. They were persecuted with savage physical abuse and mental torment.

In February 2005, some of the practitioners who were abused and mistreated wrote to the provincial department to sue the Xindian Forced Labour Camp guards and criminals who ganged up on practitioners. Incredibly, the political officials handed the lawsuit letter over to the police guards named in the suit, making the guards even more aggressive. Guard chief Meng Hao (female), political head Liu Zhongmei (female), guard Chen Chunxiang (female), guard Lei Hongzhen (female) and others, gathered the 12 practitioners whom they suspected to have written the letter together and made them stand for 24 hours. In the meantime, there were verbal abuse, threats, extended work time, reduced rest periods and other abuses.

Heartbroken and brainwashed, the spirit collapses

The camp guards frequently exchange information with the outside police on how to maximise the physical and mental abuse of practitioners in an attempt to destroy their will. Incessant exposure to slander and rumours is the most frequently used method. They forced practitioners to read slanderous materials and watch videos that attack Dafa. They forced students to take turns talking, and everyone had to speak up. Whoever refused had points deducted and their terms extended, or had to suffer torture.

Excruciating torture

The police used all kinds of excruciatingly painful and harmful tortures. The first choice was sleep deprivation. This included working during the daytime, standing in the corridor or hallway in the evening, not being allowed to return to the dormitory, and having a criminal inmate monitor the practitioner. It was said that the police learned these methods from an "exchange programme" with the Beijing Tuanhe Forced Labour Camp. They assigned six inmates to a group to carry out follow-up "persuasion," dividing the practitioners into three classes and monitoring them around the clock. Once a practitioner closed her eyes, she would be awakened. It was an ordeal for the practitioners' will. For committing these atrocities, the inmates would earn extra points or have their sentences reduced as a reward. Practitioner Ms. Zhang Mizzen was deprived of sleep for four days and nights. Eventually, only partly awake, she fell while walking, causing her legs to swell up. She could not wear shoes or even socks. The police frequently insulted and punched and kicked her.

Treating humans as animals and extending their working hours

The work in this camp included producing cigarette lighters. The Chinese Communist Party's police certainly enjoyed the profits. The practitioners, whether they were old or young people (the youngest was 22, the oldest was 70), had to get up as early as 5:00 a.m. and finally were permitted to sleep at midnight. At noon they were allowed one hour to eat, use the toilet, and rest. All the remainder of the time was for labour, which consisted of one or two processes in the making of cigarette lighters. Each day had a quota to be met, which the guards assigned at will and inevitably increased. If an inmate did not finish, the perpetrators would subtract points, extend her term, or even subject her to excruciating pain. After a while, many of their finger joints became swollen, distorted and curved. The most seriously hurt became disabled.

A criminal's paradise

Camp criminals who acted as police goons could do whatever they wanted. For example, they did not need to work, ate well, beat and verbally abused people at will, had no need to reform, and had the added benefits of extra points and reduced incarceration terms. Those who acted out their homosexuality were not interfered with. Drug addicts Xing Xiaoyan, Tie Yandong, Wang Yong, Li Yuping and others openly acted out their homosexuality. They even persuaded former practitioners who had given up Dafa to undermine the reputation of Dafa. The police guards didn't conduct an enquiry or investigate. On the contrary, they used these incidents to slander practitioners' reputations and used it as an excuse to persecute practitioners.

Partial case histories:

Datong Dafa practitioners Ms. Ma Yueying, 43, and Ms. Li Runfang, 35, originally from Taiyuan City, were illegally sentenced to three years of forced labour. Since December 2004 they have not had a chance for normal rest. Besides getting up as early as 5:00 a.m. and not being permitted to go to sleep until midnight on overtime labour, they sometimes had to join the so-called "heart-to-heart talks" till 3:00 or 4:00 a.m.

On February 6-7, 2005, practitioners Ms. An Xiaorun, Ms. Yang Shengping, Ms. Zhao Runmei, and Ms. Zhu Xianhua and were discovered making private copies of Teacher Li's scripture. Falun Gong persecution brigade captain Meng Ha discovered them. They were forced to stand for four days and nights at the office in the main building. They were not allowed to eat or drink anything. In addition, they were repeatedly forced to study slanderous materials and write repentance "understandings." Their term was also illegally extended by an extra three months.

Something happened on August 17th, 2005, between 1 and 2 p.m. in the medical office on the second floor. Practitioners Ms. Ma Yueying, 43, from Datong City, and Ms. Li Runfang, 35 years old, presently from Taiyuan City, were force-fed by police officer Meng Hao and criminals Li Yuping, Tie Yandong and Wang Yong. The practitioners had gone on a hunger strike to protest the 15-day persecution. The criminals used a piece of metal hardware over a foot long to pry open the two practitioners' mouths, causing their mouths serious injuries. Blood spurted not only on these two women and on the guards and criminals, but also onto the bed, the wall and the floor of the medical office. The guards and criminals feared that others would discover this proof of their criminal deeds, so they hurriedly changed Ms. Ma and Ms. Li's clothing. Then they ordered Ms. Ma and Ms. Li not to disclose this matter.

Falun Gong Persecution Brigade (Partial list of the police involved):

Captain: Meng Hao

Political head: Liu Zhongmei

Police officers: Wang Dali, Wang Xinhong, Shi Jian, Yang Bin, Kong Jianying, Liang Junxia, Chen Chunxiang, Cheng Donghui, Lei Hongzhen, Zhao Wenlian, Xiao Yan, Gao (captain), Liang (captain).

Labour Camp:

Switchboard: 86-351-2810517,
Manager: 86-351-2810888 86-351-2810866,
The First Team: 86-351-2810801,
The Second Team: 86-351-2810802,
The Third Team: 86-351-2810803,
The Fourth Team: 86-351-2810804.
Tie Tong information desk: 86-351-10050 (The labour camp's switchboard belongs to the Tie Tong company), Hengshan Road Xindian Street #5, Zip Code: 030003

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. "Reform or Transform" Implementation of brainwashing and torture in order to force a practitioner to renounce Falun Gong. (Variations: "reform", "transform", "reformed", "reforming", "transformed", "transforming", and "transformation")

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2005/11/4/113744.html