Exposing the Destruction of Human Nature Within the Jail System Created by the Chinese Communist Party

In Mainland China, more than one hundred million Falun Dafa practitioners have been persecuted by the wicked Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and tens of thousands of them have been arrested and taken to detention centres, prisons and forced labour camps where they are subjected to daily rounds of torture. The Yangjiang Prison in Guangdong Province is one of the places where the CCP persecutes Falun Dafa practitioners and has been like this for several years. Having experienced the horrendous crimes carried out inside China's jail system, we are now exposing their crimes and analysing their methods of destroying the human nature so as to give those who are involved in the persecution a chance to stop their wicked acts.

According to the talk by Warden Cai Xipeng at the Yangjiang Prison during a large meeting, more than ten thousand Falun Gong practitioners are incarcerated in the prisons of China. In Guangdong Province, the main prisons that persecute Falun Dafa practitioners are Yangjiang Prison, Sihui Prison and Guangdong Province Women's Prison. The Yangjiang Prison persecuted several dozen Falun Dafa practitioners in the past and still imprisons and persecutes several dozen to this day. The Yangjiang Prison has made a lot of illegal profits by using prisoners and practitioners as slave labour to produce knitted woollen sweaters for export. Using their connections and bribery, the prison was awarded as "Guangdong Province Civilised Prison" and "Department Level Civilised Prison of the Nation," though in reality the prison has conducted many shameful sins.

A. Seek Profits by All Means

The most obvious crime taking place in the jails is the act of slave labour to produce cheap goods for export. Of course, they are also forced to produce goods for internal consumption in China and to do other hard labour. The Yangjiang Prison mainly produces and exports knitted woollen sweaters. Nowadays, many exported goods from China are made in prisons. In order to deceive foreign buyers, the prisons have established pseudo "companies." The Yangjiang Prison has established a company called "Hot Springs Enterprise Company" that is just a deceptive name, while in fact it is the prison itself. Actually, many foreign businessmen are aware that a large portion of the commodities exported from China are made in prisons using free labour. However, these foreign merchants have sold their consciences for profit and have continued trading with the CCP.

In order to rationalise and legalise the slave labour, the CCP fabricated the theory of "Reform through Labour," claiming that labour can purify the criminal's soul and enable him to find a renewed life. This is pure nonsense. Anyone who has been jailed knows that labouring without rest and little food cannot improve a person. We often hear prisoners say that they were not that bad before they came into the prison, but became worse after being incarcerated. Criminologists and policemen have continuously reported in meetings that many released prisoners committed crimes again and their methods were more cruel and sly. Policemen have privately told the prisoners that it is not "reform through labour" but just profit making! Even some of the CCP members have realised that "reform through labour" is ineffective. For example, ex-Guangdong Province Party Committee Secretary Ren Zhongyi wrote an article pointing out that physical labour could not change people's minds and that reform through labour was impossible, and was rather an illegal method for wardens to make money.

To further deceive people, the CCP personnel has collected other countries' criminal reform policies pertaining to labour, claiming that foreign countries are following Chinese jails' footsteps to implement "reform through labour" for their criminals. Again this is simply propaganda. In civilised countries, inmates are encouraged to and compensated for participation in certain levels of labour activities that enrich their lives. The work is moderate, voluntary and fairly compensated. Whereas in China, the labour is imposed upon prisoners by force and without compensation. It is strenuous, excessive, and completely inhumane. One is forced to participate whether ill or not. And the labour conditions are extremely harsh, without any labour safety protection whatsoever.

The Yangjiang Prison's most unique "scenic picture" is when a group of disabled inmates without arms or legs, sitting in hand carts, going to or coming from work. In recent years, in order to deceive people, the prison established the so-called "eight working hour system" and "inmate's salary system." Actually, even normal businesses in China have not followed the "eight working hour system," so how could it be possible in prisons? From the head warden to staff wardens in the Yangjiang Prison, they all have openly said in meetings, "Eight hours of labour work excludes bathroom breaks, water breaks, and any brief moments to catch up with your breath!" As for the prisoner's salary, it is very paltry. For a regular inmate, a monthly salary of ten to twenty yuan is considered very good, but he has produced over a thousand yuan of economic value. In the last several years, the Yangjiang Prison enslaved and abused us. According to its calculation, we have produced over ten thousand yuan in economic profit annually, yet our annual salary is less than one hundred yuan!

After the evil CCP came up with the theory of "Reform through Labour," it forced the "Reform through Labour" and "Education through Labour" into law, legalising the slave labour. But this in essence is the slavery system and a lie for the CCP to drive people. In the Yangjiang Prison, prisoners are forced to work day and night, without weekends or holidays. Winter or summer, they have to get up at 5:00 a.m., eat a simple breakfast outside, which means that they stay in the dark and in the cold in the winter time, then start working immediately. To achieve the maximum work time from the prisoners, the prison has strict rules about bathroom breaks. A person is only allowed to use the bathroom once in the morning! In winter, after eating rice soup in the morning, people have the need to urinate multiple times, but they are denied this most simple right! When there is an electrical power outage, the prisoners are forced to stay outside, even in the cold winter, so that they can start working immediately once the power returns. The jail system is a closed system. People outside cannot see the true picture. The prison is making sheer lies when it boasts itself as "managing by humanity" and implementing eight working hours system and providing prisoners ample rest time, holidays and salaries.

Many prisoners think of committing suicide because they are not able to endure such brutal slavery. The CCP's method to prevent suicide was laughable. First, any person who had an unsuccessful suicide attempt is "severely punished" by been hand-cuffed and placed in foot shackles. He is then taken to the "strictly managed centre," the "prison of the prison" (a most dreadful place), to feel greater pain and terror, so that he/she does not dare to re-attempt suicide. Another method is to take away all the tools that they could possibly use for suicide, including mirrors (whose glass can be broken to make weapons), metal spoons (that could be used as a weapon), ropes (for hanging oneself), metal clothes hangers and razor blades. The prison distributes standard razors to everyone. To prevent AIDS, the prison then dedicates inmates to manage the razors. At first, the prisoners were allowed to use the bathroom in the evening. But because many people committed suicide in the bathroom, the prison locked the bathrooms. Whoever wants to use the bathroom has to wait for the on-duty warden to open it for him. In addition, the prison rewards heavily those who report other's attempts of suicide and implicates those who do not. The prison also sets up "peer monitoring groups" to force the inmates to watch each other. The inmates in the "peer monitoring group" will be implicated if someone in the group commits suicide. No wonder everyone gets so scared if being appointed as the team leader of the "peer monitoring group." The prison also locks away the tools at work, making it very inconvenient for people who have to use them. However, no matter how much the prison tries, there are still a large number of suicides. Some people break thermos flasks to get pieces of glass to cut their veins, some people use bed sheets or pants to hang themselves... But the prison has never looked at the root cause of the problem: the extensive torture and slave labour work makes the prisoners' lives harsh. [Editor's note: Suicide is prohibited by the teachings of Falun Gong]

The main reason that the prison wants to reduce the number of suicide cases is to be able to face the prisoners' families and relatives and to wear a "civilised" mask to cheat the public.

B. Use Incentives and Terror to Amplify the Dark Side of One's Character

The CCP will use any methods to achieve its goals. The most frequently used methods used in jails are to utilise and amplify the dark side of the human nature, using incentives and fear to control people. This can also be clearly seen from the CCP's persecution of Falun Dafa practitioners.

The jail system has a set of rules for jail term-reductions, granting parole and other rewards. It should be based on how well the prisoners have been reformed, but the CCP jail system primarily bases it on the amount of profit the prisoner produces, and sometimes this is the sole criterion. The strong prisoners who can produce more for the prison have higher "scores" and therefore their jail terms are reduced faster. Even if a prisoner has really changed his mind and becomes a good person, his term will not be reduced unless he can make more profit for the prison.

In the Yangjiang Prison, the work time is absolutely the number one priority. Education time is secondary. For "work need" the education class can be cancelled at any time. However, there has never been a case that the work time is reduced for education classes. If the work time is reduced due to power outages or other reasons, the prison will force the prisoners to make up for the lost time without missing even a single minute. They pay so much attention to money and profit but it does not care about education or exams. When it's exam time, the prison first distributes an answer sheet to everyone, then gives the exam and lets everyone copy the answers onto it. The prison has never really spent time on educating the prisoners. That's why the prisoners are not reforming themselves, instead, only trying to seek opportunities for personal gain. Many prisoners bribe wardens to gain better work assignments or the "inmate leaders" "increase" their productivity... Under such a stick and carrot system, the prisoners state of mind can only decline.

The persecution of Falun Dafa practitioners is a manifestation of the evil CCP amplifying the dark side of human nature instead of teaching people to do good. Falun Dafa practitioners practice "Truthfulness, Benevolence, Forbearance" and try to be good people. This is known to everyone, including the wardens at the prison. However, the prison wants to force Falun Dafa practitioners to "transform." The wardens keep telling practitioners, "It is good that you insist on Truth, cultivate your mind and improve your characters. 'Truthfulness, Benevolence, Forbearance' are good. However, what benefits did you get from doing this? You see, you lost your job, your future is bleak, others have money, houses, cars and enjoy their lives, and people of your age are having a good time right now. Why are you so stupid?"

The prison uses many methods to torture Falun Dafa practitioners:

1. Illegal imprisonment. Using jail to imprison practitioners is one of the most cruel methods that the CCP uses. Because once a person is imprisoned, especially in the small, poor jail environment, he is severely injured both physically and mentally.

2. Slave labour. As mentioned earlier, during the illegal imprisonment, the evil CCP commits more crimes by forcing practitioners through slave labour for its own private desire and profits.

3. Brutal torture. The CCP jail system uses many cruel torture instruments to torture practitioners. For example, I have gone through or witnessed the following instruments in the Yangjiang Prison:

(a) Depriving practitioners of sleep for long periods. The wardens take turns watching them. They also order inmates to form "peer monitoring groups" to take turns in the torture. Practitioners are not allowed to sleep at night or take naps at noon (other inmates have nap time). The prison's goal is to weaken practitioners' spirits and minds, so that they can "transform" them.

(b) Strictly restricting practitioners' freedoms during their imprisonment. Any person when imprisoned has basically no freedom, but the prison further restricts this by forming "peer monitoring groups for Falun Gong practitioners" to monitor them. Practitioners are not allowed to make contact with other people. They have to make requests for using the bathroom, and when approved, they have to be "accompanied" by other inmates.

(c) Malicious "drill" practice, including running, squatting, doing push-ups, etc. Practitioners have very healthy bodies from practising Falun Gong and do not need these kinds of drills at all. The prison's goal is not for their health, but for physical abuse.

(d) Verbal abuse and beatings. Sometimes the wardens themselves beat or verbally abuse practitioners, and sometimes they order inmates to do so often rewarding them with reduced prison terms or other such incentives for doing well.

(e) Electric shock torture. The wardens frequently generate electric sparks from their electric batons to create an environment of terror. They shock practitioners who refuse to be "transformed."

(f) Applying hand-cuffs and foot shackles. When practitioners' hands and feet are tied together, their bodies are bent over like the letter "n". The wardens then force the practitioners to walk to the factory plant from their rooms. It is extremely difficult for them to walk. If a practitioner is not able to move, the wardens order two inmates to drag him on the concrete ground and run. Sometimes clear traces from dragging on the ground from the dormitory room to the factory plant can be seen.

(g) Strict management. That name stands for the most dreadful torture. When the "strictly managed centre" is mentioned, there are rarely any prisoners who are not frightened. At the "strictly managed centre," people have very little to eat, no rest, and are forced to face a wall at noon and perform "physical training" in the morning, afternoon and evening, which is actually physical torture. When sleeping, their four limbs are cuffed to a hard bed board and they cannot rotate or use the bathroom. They are beaten frequently. It is hard to find someone coming out of the "strictly managed centre" who does not have internal injuries.

(h) Rampant forced-feeding. The wardens order inmates to force-feed practitioners who are on hunger strikes in public. Falun Dafa practitioner Mr. Li Jinghui, who refused to be "transformed" was tortured into an extremely weak state using this method.

4. Mental torture. That is to force practitioners to read, listen, copy, remember and recite the "brainwashing" materials from the books and CDs that slander Falun Dafa. Practitioners are tortured with torture instruments if they refused to comply. The prison pressures practitioners and creates horror, without being reasonable or following the law. When they are wrong, the wardens say, "I am not going to reason with you. The jailing is part of the CCP dictatorship system. You must follow the order. If you don't, you are the enemy and are to be punished." They also try to lure practitioners with jail term reductions. When practitioners say that they do not want the prison's reward, the warden says, "You must take it even if you don't want it. If you don't want jail term reductions, you have clearly expressed that you are a person against reform and therefore you are the target for severe punishment!" If the practitioner says, "I will never be 'transformed' and I do not care how long you imprison me." They say, "This is the order from the top. If you don't transform, we are impacted. So you must transform." They also threaten that practitioners refusing to be "transformed" will not be released when their jail terms are completed and that they can imprison Falun Gong practitioners however long they want without following the law. They also try to find practitioners' families and relatives to pressure them.

From the fabricated materials to their "reasons," the evil CCP uses the methods of lure and horror, amplifying the dark side of human nature to reach their goals. A cultivator might still have some shortcomings in his/her human nature, so the evil studies and focuses on these shortcomings in order to torture the practitioners. Even if a practitioner accepts "transformation" unwillingly, the CCP's goal is reached. So no matter how kind-hearted they appear, they are doing damage to practitioners because they attempt to force them to change their beliefs, leaving benevolence and going toward evil! They are also doing damage to everyone because they are suppressing benevolence, the best part of human nature, and instead promoting the darkest, most evil side. So the CCP is poisoning the human being in his/her entirety.

I appeal to all the people of the world to stop these crimes, the biggest sins in history, and return justice to human world.