How Zhang Xiangfu Suffered in Changlinzi Forced Labour Camp in Heilongjiang Province

Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Zhang Xiangfu was an employee of Fangzheng County Coal Mine in Heilongjiang Province. When he refused to give up his practice of Falun Gong, he was arrested and tortured many times. Police from the Fangzheng County Police Department and the 610 Office¹ sent him to Changlinzi Forced Labour Camp in 2002. There the guards used over twenty different torture methods on him. They broke several ribs and chest bones, his skull was fractured and the backs of his hands were scorched. The guards invented a new torture to increase his suffering. They shot needles from a homemade gun at the practitioners. The needles go deep into the flesh, where they cause excruciating pain. Mr. Zhang died on October 15th, 2005, from brutal torture, at the age of 33.

The following is part of a video interview of Zhang Xiangfu when he was alive, where he describes the torture inflicted on him.

Q: You said that you picked up toothpicks. Does this mean they poured the toothpicks on the ground for you to pick up and package in the forced labour camp?

Zhang: When we packed toothpicks, some would drop on the floor. The foreman told us to sweep up all the dust, dirt and garbage together. Then the foreman told us to pick out the toothpicks and pack them for sale. Some toothpicks had phlegm on them, our hands were very dirty and we had scabies on our hands.

Q: Are the scabies contagious?
Zhang: Ah...

Q: Your hands had blood and yellow pus on them?
Zhang: Yes, blood and pus...

Q: Were the toothpicks to be sold on the market?
Zhang: Yes, some were exported and some were sent to other places in China.

Q: They were sold overseas?
Zhang: Yes, many were sold overseas. Later in my stay, Zhao Shuang (brigade chief) ordered three prisoners to torture me using one of the cruellest methods. I felt extremely ill from the compression of my internal organs and was nearly suffocated.

Q: Suffocated?
Zhang: Yes, then Zhao Shuang tortured me by using an electric baton on my head for a long time. Another time, when Wang Kai was on duty, he used...

Q: What position does Wang Kai hold?
Zhang: Wang Kai is an instructor. When he was on duty, he ordered three prisoners to torture me. One of the prisoners was Li Chunlong, who made my nose bleed. He also clenched my private parts, causing me enormous pain.

Q: Those methods are extremely obscene.
Zhang: Extremely obscene.

Zhang: After a period of time, Yang Wenjie was again transferred back to Division 5. They tortured Yang Wenjie in the same way, and as a result Yang Wenjie lost control of his bowels. Then they pulled him to the big line (a line of prisoners). They slapped his face and tortured him.

Zhang: After a period of time, my legs would often cramp when I tried to sleep at night. The long persecution and torture severely injured my muscles. They were extremely painful.

Q: Were you getting muscle cramps many times during the day?
Zhang: If my legs were in a slightly wrong position at night, they would cramp. I had to use lots of effort to bring the muscles back to a position without pain. It was very painful to do that.

Q: Was it always like that or did it happen many times during a day?
Zhang: When I slept at night.

Q: Many times a night?
Zhang: Many, many times during the night.

Q: Basically, you could not sleep well.
Zhang: I could not sleep well. They cramped as soon as my legs were not in the right position. I had to stretch them out right away.

Q: That is a lot of suffering.
Zhang: After this long-term persecution, I had a high fever all day. I was emaciated and the hospital diagnosed it as tuberculosis. I was in pain all day, my high temperature did not go down and my chest felt like I was suffocating. All of these things done to me were only a drop in the ocean of crimes the Changlinzi Forced Labour Camp committed against Falun Dafa practitioners. Many people experienced the same things I did. Many died from the persecution. In comparison, the degree of persecution I suffered was relatively small compared to what others suffered. For example, Huang Tiecheng was left hanging up in the air for three days and nights. During those days, they also tortured him in other ways. That caused his joints to swell. He was in great pain, and whenever he stood he had to hold onto the wall to walk. Two people supervised him on every shift and they did not allow him to sleep. Many people tortured him in shifts, often punching him in the chest. Yang Yu used an electric baton on Huang Tiecheng while he was hung up.

Q: What position does Yang Yu hold?
Zhang: Yang Yu was a head (a leader). He tortured Huang Tiecheng with an electric baton for a long time. When Zhao Shuang was on duty, he would torture him again with the electric baton, pour water on him, and then shock his private parts. He used the baton all over Huang's body, including his mouth, abdomen and head. After pouring water on the body of Huang Tiecheng, they would open up the window to let the wind blow directly on him. It was nearly November and the weather was very cold. The prisoners who supervised him closed the window when they got very cold. During the three days, he was deprived of sleep and his arms lost all feeling from the hanging. Therefore, the prisoners let him down, forcibly revived the feeling in his arms and then hung him back up again.

Q: How high was he hung?
Zhang: He was standing straight up.

Q: With his arms and legs separated?
Zhang: Yes, hung with the handcuffs on...

Q: Hung on two sides of a bunk bed.
Zhang: Yes, hung on a bunk bed and tortured for three days. They continuously beat him. As a result, he could not eat and vomited bile. Then, head Yang Yu thought his life was in danger, so he let him down. Huang Tiecheng fainted and was sent to the infirmary for a check-up. He was diagnosed with liver disease and was sent to the Wanjia Hospital. Huang Tiecheng was persecuted severely. Dong Wencheng and another Falun Dafa practitioner from Shuangcheng were hung up for several days, during which time they were suffered beatings. A practitioner named Shi Zuosheng also encountered severe persecution. He shouted, "Falun Dafa is good" one day. He was wearing a cotton shirt and underpants when he was pushed onto the iron chair. He was forced to sit on the iron chair for one day and night.

Q: Was it during the winter?
Zhang: It was in late January and it was very cold.

Q: He had to sit on the iron chair wearing cotton underclothes? The iron chair would be icy-cold in the winter.
Zhang: Yes, extremely cold, and they tied him with bandages.

Q: Where is Shi Zuosheng from?
Zhang: He is from Shuangcheng. When Zhao Shuang was on duty, he tortured Shi Zuosheng with two electric batons for around 30 minutes. He tortured his private parts and his face became swollen from the long periods of electrocution. Another time, Head Qiang was on duty and he entered the small cell. Then we heard the sound of someone bumping against the wall. I heard Qiang tell the people who supervised practitioner Shi Zuosheng to throw him against the wall until he was close to death. One of the prisoners kicked Shi Zuosheng's head with great force and did not stop until his shoes broke from kicking him. We could still hear the bumping sounds the next morning. Shi Zuosheng was protesting and his head was bleeding. They sent him to the infirmary. When the infirmary released him, Zhao Shuang tied Shi Zuosheng to a bed for seven days. Shi became emaciated, vomited everything he ate and had frequent headaches. His body suffered great harm.

Zhang: The above are my personal experiences in Changlinzi Forced Labour Camp. They are all facts. I hope fellow practitioners outside of China will send this footage to the United Nations Human Rights Committee, the International Justice Committee's special court and other human rights organisations. I hope the kind-hearted people around the world can together stop this brutal persecution of kind Falun Gong practitioners in China. This is genocide of good people who follow "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance." They are a benefit to society, causing no harm. Although I have experienced many tribulations, I won't give up "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance." Human beings need sincerity and kindness.

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.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.ca/mh/articles/2006/5/13/127570.html