Exposure of Masanjia Forced Labour Camp's "Reform" Methods

I started practising Falun Dafa in 1996. After beginning the practice, the renal disease I had suffered from for many years vanished, as did 20 years of arthritis, brain illness and inflammation of the blood vessels. My whole body became illness-free and I felt light and cheerful, which I had never before experienced. I devoted my mind and body to practising the Falun Gong exercises and cultivating myself, and I started a practice site in my home.

When the Communist Regime started employing propaganda via the mass media to slander Falun Dafa, bad things happened. The police started targeting and arresting local practitioners. I went into hiding at my relatives. I was aware at the time that many practitioners had gone to Beijing to appeal for justice for Falun Gong. No matter how crazy the persecution was, practitioners were not afraid, which touched me deeply. A practitioner and I went together to Beijing, but half-way there, some of her relatives forced her to go back home. I decided to go by myself and use my healthy body to affirm Dafa's greatness. Because I did not have a solid understanding of Dafa, when the police stopped me on the road and asked if I was Dafa practitioner, I told them, "I am!" I was immediately handcuffed and detained at a local police station or detention centre. I went on a hunger strike to protest. Without any proper paperwork or notification to my family, they soon transferred me to Masanjia Forced Labour Camp. Many Dafa practitioners were detained there.

We persisted in doing the Falun Gong exercises and reciting the Falun Dafa teachings. Guards at the camp forbade us from doing so; two criminals monitored us and beat us when we practised or recited Dafa. The guards also beat us using electric batons. When their electric batons did not work, they would replace them with high-voltage ones. We were forced to sit barefoot on the ground while two criminals stepped on our legs. The guards shocked us in the middle of the feet, face and neck. The smell of burned skin filled the air. After the beatings, my neck and half of my face looked like rhubarb from the shocks and dripped yellow fluid for days. Sometimes they shocked us and then asked if we would still practise. In the meantime a male guard was ordered to stop us from practising and reciting the teachings by kicking us with his heavy boots and beating us hard whenever we did. We had bruises on the mouth, nose and other parts of our faces from the beatings. Our heads and ribs hurt for several months from those kicks.

Many other torture methods were used at the camp, such as brainwashing. We were forced to watch fabricated TV or radio programmes all day long while being deprived of sleep at night. We were forced to stand, squat or stay in other positions for long periods of time, squat while our wrists were handcuffed behind the back or sit in the snow. We were forced to sweep snow without gloves on. Our hands were frozen and full of blisters afterwards. When we returned inside we had to make clothes for export. Yellow pus dripped from our hands. No tools were provided to us; therefore, we had to use our hands to break metal wire. This cut our fingers deeply and caused them to become infected.

We were given excessive workloads. We got up at 5:00 a.m. and went to bed after midnight. Some practitioners were occasionally called away, and came back with bruises on their noses, eyes and the other parts of the face, or came back with soaked clothes because the guards had poured cold water on them. It was winter. Some practitioners were punished by having to stay in a single small cell, and forbidden to speak about their experiences after they returned. Some were transferred to Dabei Prison, and some were frequently forced to write the "Four Statements¹" (similar to the Three Statements) and to take a test afterwards. Practitioners were forced to buy a specific book and answer questions based on the book. Guards distributed books to us to spread their ideology, for which we had to pay for. Some practitioners were persecuted and abused so severely that they developed mental problems. They were later transferred to mental hospitals. Others became severely ill and lived with assistants, as they could not care for themselves; some practitioners were tortured until they were in life threatening or critical condition.

In summary, the methods of torture, torment and gross abuse perpetrated at Masanjia were countless. Police guards also awarded criminals who closely monitored us by reducing their prison time.

Facing these inhuman circumstances, we decided to go on a hunger strike to protest. Force-feeding was then employed as another torture method. The force-feeding was done in two ways: one was force-feeding through the nose. Rigid, non-sanitised tubes were forced into a practitioner's stomach through the nose, often rupturing or damaging internal tissue and causing internal bleeding. The tubes were sometimes left in a practitioner for days or weeks at a time, causing severe infections, or else they were pulled out and reinserted repeatedly. One practitioner was handcuffed onto a bed with arms spread to either side. The practitioner was forced to stay in this position for a long period of time, and suffered incredible pain from it. Another force-feeding method was to forcefully open a practitioner's mouth with a metal device, and pull on the tongue and pour corn soup into the mouth while six or seven guards or criminal inmates held the practitioner down. This method was also extremely painful. At those times, one felt more dead than alive. I personally experienced both force-feeding tortures, and was rendered unconsciousness for a long time.

Sometimes the police forced us to curse our Teacher and Dafa. If we disobeyed, they would beat and kick us in conjunction with other torture methods. We could hear the sound of electric baton shocks, which had become routine for the guards, and practitioners' screams. Guards were promoted when they performed more tortures. Some practitioners including myself were "reformed²" under this force.

To test whether a practitioners was truly "reformed," the guards forced us to take medication or kill mosquitoes and flies, knowing that practitioners do not kill. They used all kinds of approaches to make us do things against Dafa, and to make us give up Dafa.

As a result of being "transformed," I was released from Masanjia Labour Camp, but Masanjia did not let go of me. The officials demanded I write a monthly report of my thoughts and mail it to them, which totally controlled my mind and body. The local Political and Judiciary Committee and police, the local Residential Committee Officials, and officials from my work place, constantly came to my house and harassed my family. Our telephone was tapped. Whenever it was a so-called "sensitive date," either the police or my non-practitioner relative would stop by my house to "look after" me. I had pain starting from my fingers, and then moving into the arms, resulting in it being too painful to move. Other kinds of illnesses kept attacking me, causing enormous pain and preventing me from sleeping. The massive medications I took did not comfort me. I did not want to live anymore.

What should I do? I was remorsefully crying every day. Compassionate and great Teacher gave me the opportunity through which I returned to Dafa.

I feel eternally grateful that Teacher gave me a chance to start anew. I have written a solemn declaration to renew Dafa practice. Soon after, my body fully recovered.

Note

1. "Three Statements": Practitioners are coerced under brainwashing and torture to write "Repentance Statement," "Guarantee Statement" or 'Dissociation Statement" as proof that they have given up their belief. In the statement, the practitioner is forced to admit remorse for practising Falun Gong, promise to give up Falun Gong, and never again associate with other practitioners or go to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong.

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/2006/1/3/117924.html