Exposing the Persecution Crimes in Baimalong Women's Forced Labour Camp in Hunan Province

The No. 7 Division at Baimalong Women's Forced Labour Camp is a team specialised in persecuting Falun Gong practitioners. It includes three teams. The No. 1 Team detains practitioners who are imprisoned for the first or second time. The No. 2 Team detains practitioners who have been imprisoned for the first time and who have been "transformed¹" by force. The No. 3 Team is a strictly controlled team.

No matter which team they are in, practitioners are all under strict surveillance and close management. Every action and movement—eating, using the toilet, using the sink, taking a shower, etc—are all strictly controlled. The guards arrange for criminal drug-addict and sex offender inmates to monitor each practitioner around the clock.

Practitioners are forced to perform slave labour. Those who refuse are berated on the spot, forced to stand for extremely long periods of time, and not allowed to use the toilet, drink water, or take a shower. Moreover, their terms in the labour camp are extended. Practitioner Ms. Hu Xiaoxian was released only after her term had been extended by more than four months; Ms. Lei Jianli has not yet been released even though her term is past due; and Ms. Duan Xiaoying was detained several more months after her term expired. Ms. Zeng Liping was supposed to be released in October 2005, but she was imprisoned for several more months. She was not released until she had become very weak after a two-month hunger strike. Ms. Zhu Guilin’s term was increased by several more months. Ms. Sui Yuxiang, Ms. Lu Yuzhu, and Ms. Liu Juhua were not released after their terms had expired. They were inhumanly force-fed when they went on hunger strikes.

My term was to expire on April 23rd. They transferred me to the No.1 cell in the Third Team on March 28th, where there were three people on duty. As soon as I entered the door, they impatiently wanted me to write a guarantee statement², which they had already composed in advance. They demanded that I write a copy without leaving out one word and without changing one single character. When I paid no attention to them, they started to beat me, claiming that it was a demonstration of their authority, and it was to beat out my righteous thoughts. They also forced me to watch many brainwashing videotapes. I did not open my eyes, so then they hit me again. At first they hit me with their hands. Lei Xiaoling, a wicked woman, said that her hands had become too sore from beating me. Then they used plastic shoes to slap my face, eyes, ears, and mouth. As a result, my upper lip was hugely swollen, and my ears were bleeding. Having beaten me, Li Ying again demanded that I write the guarantee, saying that I should do so if I wanted to avoid more torture. She said that this was just the beginning, and that there had been no one so far who hadn’t written the statement after she entered this room. I paid no attention to her. Then she forced me to squat down onto a fixed floor brick to watch a videotape full of fabricated lies. The brick was just a little over 30 centimeters (12 inches) in size. I was not allowed to step beyond a drawn line, and I was supposed to crouch there with my hands on my knees, or be beaten. I was wounded all over yet I was not allowed to speak out. I asked them, "Why do you beat me?" Li Ying said, "You don’t know what ‘attack team’ means, do you? (i.e. "to make you surrender by ruthlessness, beatings, and force.) No one would know if someone was killed here." They forced me to kneel down. I requested to stand for a while. Lei Xiaoling said, "You are not allowed to stand. I know you can stand. Some (of you practitioners) can stand for several hours. If you’re afraid of squatting, write (the guarantee) quickly." I said that force couldn’t change people's minds. Li Ying said, "(We) do not want your heart but just your surface. It’s all unimportant, no matter whether you write it voluntarily, or we force you by holding your hand to write, or we write by fabricating lies."

People brought to No. 3 Team of the Seventh Division for persecution often changed. The police frequently brought practitioners imprisoned in Teams 1 and 2 to Team 3 to severely persecute them. Dafa practitioner Ms. Liu Juhua was under "intensified" persecution there three times. Each time she left, her face was covered with wounds. The length of intensified persecution varied from twelve days to several months. As soon as I got out, an older woman, Ms. Yang Sanchun, who was 68 years old, was confined in the No. 1 room. Li Ying told me that as soon as one person leaves, another steadfast one comes in. She said that the room always had someone in residence.

Because of its policy of "educate, influence and save," the labor camp has deceived many everyday people. Seen from the surface, the guards did not beat people, and they didn’t get involved in persecuting Falun Gong practitioners. In reality, they planned, controlled, and manipulated all the evil deeds. Sometimes practitioners’ fingers were bundled together with a string and were then rubbed with a very rough stick, which made the fingers bleed a lot. Ms. Zhou Xiaohong was tortured like this. Several people held her hand to write the "three guarantees." The guards forced Ms. Hu Xiaoxian to sit on the building floor in the wind during the cold winter at temperatures of 3 to 4 degrees (Celsius) below zero (25-27° F). In the summer at temperatures as high as 40 degrees (Celsius) (104° F), seven Dafa disciples were laid out on the ground to be exposed to the baking sun. Among them was Ms. Li Jumei. As a result of forced-feeding, Ms. Zeng Liping’s front teeth were knocked out in 2004. Boiling water was mixed with gruel at temperatures of 80 degrees (Celsius) (176° F) and poured onto the face of Ms. Jiang Meilan. In 2004, Dafa practitioner Ms. Hu Dongxia from Xiangtan had her foot broken. After she became disabled, her family strongly requested her release on bail for medical treatment.

Ms. Zhou Aihua suffered inhumane tortures. She was beaten with a small stool until the stool broke. She was injured all over. They held a long coffee table right on top of her head and pinched her throat with their hands. Six or seven people held her hand and forced her to write the three statements. She complied as a result of this brutal, inhumane treatment. The guards secretly directed murderers to torment practitioners, frequently adopting the party’s "false, wicked and violent" measures. They used deceit, pretending to be ignorant, as if they didn’t know about the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. In order to flatter the guards, the inmates that had committed murder persecuted practitioners with high-pressure, just to gain a little personal profit. When persecuting Ms. Zhou Aihua, guard He Yulian said, "Do whatever you can to her as long as you don’t kill her." Ms. Li Qing was persecuted until she was mentally traumatized, but they still beat her mercilessly every day.

Here, I am exposing the inhumanity and brutality in Baimalong Women's Forced Labor Camp. What I saw and know is just a tip of the iceberg. There are still many more Falun Gong students who have been wounded, crippled, or killed. So far the exact number is not known. There are many Falun Gong practitioners suffering from the persecution every day.

Everything I stated above is true. Here, I appeal to the governments of other countries, social groups, and people working for democracy in the world to denounce, condemn, resist, and help stop the atrocities taking place in Baimalong Women's Forced Labour Camp under the tyranny of the Chinese Communist Party. We request the unconditional release of all Falun Gong practitioners who are imprisoned.

Note

1. "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")

2. "Guarantee Statement": A statement to declare that one is remorseful for practising Falun Gong and guarantees not to practise Falun Gong again, not to go to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong, and never again associate with any Falun Dafa practitioners.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2006/5/29/129065.html