The Brutal Persecution of Practitioners in Changlinzi Forced Labour Camp

The following is an account of the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in Changlinzi Forced Labour Camp from 2003 to 2005.

The Persecution in the Fifth Team

The guards, led by their head Liu Shuang, brutally tortured practitioners at will. The torture methods used on practitioners include "pushing, breaking and bending.¹" The torture is to use force in the direction that's opposite of the human body's structures such as the joints. It can cause extreme pain to the victims.

On June 27th, 2003, 11 practitioners transferred from the Wanjia Group Education Team in Wanjia Forced Labour Camp to the Fifth Team of the Changlinzi Forced Labour Camp. The practitioners were given physical exams. If they were healthy and not yielding, guard Li Shuang and accomplices beat, kicked, and shocked them with electric batons for three hours straight.

After the beatings, practitioner Mr. Zhao Xiaodong's face was disfigured and covered with bruises. His face was swollen and he couldn't open his eyes. Hong Baojia, Mo Zhikui, Wang Haifeng and Li Wansuo were brought to their cells and forced to squat down facing the wall from 3 p.m. until some time between 5 and 6 p.m. The perpetrators then handcuffed and hung up Hong Baojia, Mo Zhikui and Wang Haifeng on the bunk beds. Hong Baojia was handcuffed for one night and half a day. Wang Haifeng and Mo Zhikui were hung up for two days and two nights. The perpetrators also beat Haifeng and Zhikui while they were suspended. The practitioners were punched, kicked and slapped, and struck on their chests. The perpetrators watched them all the time. Whenever the practitioners were too exhausted and closed their eyes, the perpetrators would beat them.

The Persecution of Practitioners Mr. Zhou Peihong and Zhang Siyuan

On September 13th, 2005, inmate Qi Kunlei reported practitioner Mr. Zhou Peihong from Shuangcheng to the guard Zhao Shuang, and accused Mr. Zhou of doing the Falun Gong exercises. During the night, guard Zhao Shuang came and slapped Mr. Zhou twice. When asked if he would follow the order and quit doing the Falun Gong exercises, Mr. Zhou said, "No." Guard Zhao Shuang and seven to eight inmates, including Qi Kunlei and Dong Hebin, pushed and dragged Mr. Zhou into the hallway and pushed him down to the ground. They rode on him and did the "Pushing and Breaking" torture to him. They tortured him in this way three times. Each time it lasted around 20 minutes. Later they did the "bending" torture on him. Mr. Zhou was tortured like this for more than one hour, and his arms were swollen and covered with bruises. Zhao Shuang ordered inmate Qi Kunlei to use force to push and press on areas where Mr. Zhou was injured. Mr. Zhou screamed due to the intense pain. On September 16th, Mr. Zhou was sent to a hospital for examination. His elbows were dislocated, and one of his arms was fractured.

Because of the torture, Mr. Zhou Peihong became disabled. He was unable to take care himself, and he could not hold anything in his hands, not even a pair of chopsticks, to eat a meal. A practitioner wanted to feed him, but was forbidden to do so. To help Mr. Zhou, the practitioner inserted a sausage into a box, so Mr. Zhou could lower his head and bite the sausage.

Before Mr. Zhou was sent to the hospital for a physical examination, guard Zhao Shuang forced him to do hard labour until he was too weak to do anything. After the brutal torture, the forced labour camp refused to let Mr. Zhou's relatives visit him.

Inmate Qi Kunlei also reported practitioner Zhang Siyuan. Under Zhao Shuang's threats, Zhang Siyuan was forced to say that he would follow their orders and escaped from the torture of "pushing, breaking and bending." But Zhao Shuang was still not satisfied and made Zhang Siyuan drink alcohol. (Falun Dafa practitioners do not drink alcohol.)

The persecution of Mr. Song Guanghua, in his 50s, and Zhang Yiwei, 57.

Around March 25th, 2005, inmate Qi Kunlei told guard Zhao Shuang that Harbin practitioner Mr. Song Guanghua said to him, "Good is rewarded with good, and evil meets with retribution." Zhao Shuang had Mr. Song sent to the team office, where Mr. Song was subjected to the "pushing and breaking" torture. Mr. Song could no longer move his arms due to the torture and had to be carried back to the cell. Yet on the second day, Zhao Shuang still forced him to do labor, pushing carts of coal to the boiler room. One to two months after the torture, Mr. Song's legs were still crippled.

After torturing Mr. Song Guanghua, Zhao Shuang asked in a goading tone, "Who else won't obey my orders?" Nobody answered him. Zhao Shuang looked at 57-year-old practitioner Zhang Yiwei and asked him the same question. Mr. Zhang Yiwei said, "I won't." Zhao Shuang immediately did the "pushing and breaking" torture on Mr. Zhang in front of everyone in the cell. He also hit Mr. Zhang in the face with an electric baton.

Practitioner Mr. Yu Enxiang's Ears Damaged from Zhao Shuang's Beating

Because of the torture, practitioner Mr. Yu Enxiang, 43 years old, developed high blood pressure and an irregular heartbeat. Zhao Shuang forced him to do hard labour. Because Mr. Yu did not meet the labour requirement, Zhao Shuang tried to force him to take drugs. Mr. Yu refused. Zhao Shuang slapped his face and damaged both of his ears. Now, Mr. Yu cannot hear normal conversation from two metres away.

Practitioner Mr. Sun Hongda, in his 30s, was subjected to the "pushing and breaking" torture. Zhao Shuang and another four to five perpetrators were responsible. Zhao Shuang also shocked him with electric batons.

Forty-eight-year-old practitioner Zhang Delong from Yilan County and a practitioner with the surname Hu from Wuchang City were also tortured by Zhao Shuang using the "pushing and breaking" method.

There are many more practitioners who have been tortured by guard Zhao Shuang.

The Persecution of Practitioners in the First Team

Practitioner Mr. Guo Shijun Tortured to Near Death

In November 2004, the detained practitioners in the Fourth Team went on a hunger strike to protest the guards persecuting practitioners. On November 17th, 11 practitioners in the First Team also went on a hunger strike to support them. Practitioner Mr. Yu Enxiang had the longest hunger strike, lasting almost one month. During the hunger strike, the guards force-fed the practitioners. The guards separated the practitioners into groups of three or four, monitored by inmates. The practitioners were forced to sit on a small stool all day long and had to be motionless, otherwise, they would be beaten.

Practitioner Mr. Guo Shijun was forced to sit on a metal chair for three or four days and on a small stool for seven days. Later, Mr. Guo had severe illness symptoms and was sent to a hospital for examination. He was diagnosed with fluid accumulation in his chest and two cancerous diseases. The guards refused to give any more details about the diseases. Around Chinese New Year 2005, Mr. Guo got extremely sick and was sent to the hospital in the Wanjia Forced Labour Camp. The hospital refused to admit him because he was too sick. The Wanjia Forced Labour Camp was afraid to take any further responsibility, so the authorities sent Mr. Guo home. At that time Mr. Guo Shijun was very near death.

Drawing Blood from Every Practitioner

In February 2005, the forced labour camp used the ploy of a "physical examination" to draw blood from every practitioner. The practitioners resisted this form of persecution. To force the practitioners to renounce Falun Dafa, the heads of the Education Section, the Life Health Section, and the Management Section enlisted their staff to draw the practitioners' blood. Five to six guards held down the practitioners who resisted, and their blood was drawn against their will.

The Enslavement of Detained Practitioners in the Changlinzi Forced Labour Camp

Most of the detained practitioners are forced to prepare toothpicks and small sticks for food products. The young people are ordered to finish 25 boxes. Every box weighs 2.76 to 3.3 pounds. Elderly people are ordered to finish 15 to 20 boxes. They are supposed to work from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m., but usually are forced to work until 10 or 11 p.m., sometimes even midnight. If anyone doesn't finish the work, he has to bring the unfinished work back in the cell. As punishment, the person has to do more work in addition to his unfinished work. Some people have to work until 3:30 a.m. At the same time, the work quota for the second day won't be delayed or reduced. Many practitioners' eyes have been damaged due to the intense work. Elderly people without good eyesight are forced to wear glasses to finish their work quotas. For the practitioners whose eyesight is too poor to do the work, they are forced to sit and wait until the last piece of work is finished. One time when the delivery vehicle came to pick up the boxes of toothpicks, the practitioners were forced to be half-naked and move the boxes to the vehicle in the rain for two hours.

Note

1. "Pushing, breaking and bending:"

Pushing is known as "Pushing Back and Forth." Four prisoners press the practitioner face down on the floor and pull his arms to his back. One prisoner then sits on his body and holds his wrists, lifting his arms forward and upward with full force starting from the side of his body, straight up over his back, then his head, and finally pressing his palms on the floor. In this way, the prisoner repeatedly pushes the practitioner's arms back and forth along an angle of 180 degrees. As a result, the shoulders feel as if they are being torn off. The pain from the tearing muscles and ligaments is excruciating.

Breaking is also known as "Breaking Off." Two prisoners press the practitioner on the floor and hold his feet still. Then they move the practitioner's arms to his back and bend the lower arms against the way the joints naturally bend. The practitioner cannot breathe properly while being tortured. The arms feel extreme pain, as if they re being broken off.

Bending is also known as "Pushing Up." Two prisoners press the practitioner on the floor. While one of the prisoners is "breaking off" the arm, the other places his foot on the practitioner's bottom, grabs the practitioner's leg and uses his shoulder to push the practitioner's leg up with his full force, causing extreme pain in the hips.

More information on the torture can be found at http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2004/10/31/54054.html

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2005/12/13/116437.html