I Witnessed Persecution in Lanzhou Women's Labour Camp in Gansu Province

In 2004 I was imprisoned in the Lanzhou City Women's Labour Camp, where I witnessed the guards brutally torturing Falun Gong practitioners.

The police from the labour camp often forced all detained Falun Gong practitioners to write a so-called "guarantee statement" to give up practising Falun Gong. If anybody refused to do so, they would torture her with many different methods. Once, Ms. Zhang Xuxia shouted "Falun Dafa is good" in the labour camp. She was taken to a garrison room and a female guard instructed a prison inmate to beat her badly. I saw her mouth bleeding and swollen after she came back.

Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Liu Linxia from Zhuanglang City was frequently tortured by the guards. The guards forced Falun Gong practitioners to practise a different form of qigong. Ms. Liu Linxia refused to do so. Guard Fan Xiaohong (female) and Director Yue took her to a garrison room, where they locked her in the middle of the two beds. They handcuffed her feet in the air for a week. I saw her whole body, including her feet, badly swollen. The police also forced her, while handcuffed, to slander Falun Dafa at a labour camp meeting.

Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Li Dongmei was handcuffed and locked in the garrison room for a week because she didn't cooperate with the guards. Her whole body was swollen and distorted. The guards often instructed the prison inmates to beat and scold her unreasonably. They then tried to sway her with food and drink.

Another Falun Gong practitioner, Ms. Zhao Jinping was forced to write a statement to renounce her belief in Falun Dafa. Because she refused to do so, she was deprived of sleep. At the same time, they forced her to do heavy labour work during the daytime. She was tortured for a month. Since she refused to accept the brainwashing, the guards hung up the inmate who monitored her. They hung the inmate up by her hands in the office to warn other inmates who had monitored and failed to "transform¹" Falun Gong practitioners. Once guard Fan Xiaohong locked Ms. Zhao Jinping in a small cell²" for a week. She was not allowed to go to the toilet. She was detained 20 more days from the original term before she was released.

I frequently heard that Falun Gong practitioners who refused to be "transformed" were sent to a strictly controlled ward and forced to sleep on the cement floor. They were frequently beaten and scolded. Whenever a new Falun Gong practitioner came in, she was forced to go through brainwashing. If she was not "transformed," she would be beaten black and blue, with bruises covering her body. Some of them were not allowed to drink water. The guards examined Falun Gong practitioners once a month to force them to repeat what the guards taught. If anybody refused to participate, the guards failed the practitioner, deducted prison points and extended their prison terms.

Main Persons and Unit Responsible:
Head of Lanzhou City Women's Labour Camp: Yang (first name unknown, gender unknown)
Head of No. 2 Team of No. 1 Division: Fan Xiaohong (female); Director Yue (first name unknown, gender unknown)
Strict Controlled Ward: Guard Liu Sheng (male); Office Head Nian (first name unknown, gender unknown); Division Head Dai; Division Head Qu (first name unknown, gender unknown)
Female Prison Inmates: Liu Meixin; Ma Huiling; Wang Li; Chen Chunfen; Mou Juxiang; Xue Juhua; Jin Yan; Tang Yuhua and Zhang Xiaoyan

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. Locking up in a Small Cell - The detainee is locked up in a very small cell individually. The guards handcuff practitioners on their back in a fixed position, in which the practitioners can neither move nor lie down. The small cell is very damp and no sunshine comes in. Detainees have to urinate and defecate in the cell. Only half of a regular meal is served to detainees locked up in a small cell during the daytime. The stench in the small cell is so bad that it is difficult to breathe.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2007/1/11/146597.html