Captain Zhang Xiurong Brutally Persecutes Falun Gong Practitioners at Masanjia Forced Labour Camp

Zhang Xiurong

Zhang Xiurong is the 37-year-old female Captain of the Second Division at Masanjia Forced Labour Camp. She was promoted to the position in 2000 for her ruthless brutality and effectiveness at brainwashing and "transforming¹" Falun Dafa practitioners. For her efforts, Zhang Xiurong received the provincial "Model Worker" award. For the past seven years, Zhang has focused all her efforts on persecuting Falun Gong. Along with officer Wang Naimin, she planned and executed a wicked plot to cast eight female practitioners into the male section of the prison. Her police I.D. number is 2108051. Zhang Xiurong is number 8,657 on the list of the perpetrators of the persecution posted on www.fawanghuihui.org.

The following are some of the crimes Zhang Xiurong has committed in the persecution of Falun Gong:

Exposing Practitioners to Freezing Temperatures

In December of 1999 Zhang Xiurong locked practitioner Ms. Li Ping from Jinzhou City, Liaoning Province in a basketball court all night. It snowed heavily that night, and the next morning the earth was covered with a blanket of white. Zhang looked out the window but couldn't see Ms. Li (the guards live in fear of losing practitioners, as they could be fired from their jobs). Zhang and some others quickly went outside and dug Ms. Li out from a pile of snow. They carried her into the building and she eventually regained consciousness after warming up for a while. Several days later Ms. Li was sent to the First Women's Subdivision to perform forced labour.

Later that winter Zhang took Ms. Li outside in the cold again and left her there for a long time. Her facial muscles became stiff and she couldn't make expressions. Her arms and legs were numb and she couldn't walk. Zhang tortured Li Ping many times, and she also had some collaborators² torture her in different ways, including using electric batons, brutal beatings and pulling her hair. Male guards also participated in the torture. Later Ms. Li was sent to the First Women's Subdivision, and she was one of eight female Dafa practitioners that were cast naked into the male section of the prison.

In November of 1999 Zhang forced practitioner Ms. Wang Yanxia of Xingcheng City to stand outside in the snow. Ms. Wang was wearing only a single layer of clothes and single-sole shoes. Her face and eyes were purple from the extreme cold. She stood suffering alone in the cold wind. Since then Ms. Wang was often seen chained to a pipe in the toilet or handcuffed in some corner. Her eyes and face were always purple. Zhang was worried that Ms. Wang would scream and people would notice so she stuffed a dirty bathroom cleaning rag into Ms. Wang's mouth, then she had the collaborators use a three-foot section of a mop handle and some whisk brooms to beat Ms. Wang about her head, face and body, causing bruising and swelling. Captain Wang Naimin of the Brigade Guards often called her to his office and tortured her with electric batons. Once he stripped her and shocked her entire body.

In November of 1999 Zhang forced practitioner Ms. Li Liming to stand in the toilet wearing only a thin shirt and underpants with her hands stuck out of the window. Zhang also ordered her to kneel on the floor and bark like a dog. When Ms. Li refused, she was sent to the First Women's Subdivision for forced labour. When Ms. Li Liming was seen again in 2002, her skin was dark and sallow, her hair was nearly all white and she'd lost a front tooth; she looked like a completely different person.

Practitioner Zou Guirong Ordered to Commit Suicide; Practitioners Tortured with Electric Batons

Zhang Xiurong, Wang Naimin, Huang Haiyan and Wang Shuzheng tortured practitioner Ms. Zou Guirong with four electric batons from 1:00 p.m. until almost 4:00 p.m. Ms. Zou, barefoot and wearing only a sleeveless vest, was forced to sit on the cold concrete floor. They shocked the soles of Ms. Zou's feet, arms, legs and back. They ordered convict Rao Aijing to swing Ms. Zou around by her hair while they continued to shock her. They laughed insanely, screaming, "This is so much fun, it's more fun than watching monkeys at the zoo!" Wang Shuzheng poured a cup of water on Ms. Zou's feet and then shocked her. After this torture there wasn't a single unmarked spot left on Ms. Zou's neck, face, arms, or feet.

On October 17th, 2000, Ms. Zou revealed the facts of the persecution she'd suffered to the outside world. Zhang Xiurong and some other officers and collaborators held Ms. Zou down and slapped her face. She was left bleeding from the corners of her mouth. Zhang locked the door from inside and told Ms. Zou, "Didn't you tell people you'd been tortured at Masanjia? Today you'll find out what it's like when I torture you!" Zhang was wearing hard-soled leather shoes, and she kicked and beat Ms. Zou brutally. She kicked Ms Zou's legs and the pit of her stomach. She found a padlock in a drawer and smashed Ms. Zou in the face with it. Ms. Zou's face was black and blue from the beating. Zhang choked Ms. Zou three times. Finally Zhang produced a blade and ordered Ms. Zou to commit suicide. Ms. Zou refused, so Zhang forced the blade into her hand and tried to stab her with it. The next day Zhang angrily summoned Ms. Zou to the office and beat her again. Even more frightening was the day that Zhang took Ms. Zou to a room, opened the window and ordered her to jump. Ms. Zou Guirong was eventually tortured to death at the end of April 2002.

In May of 2000 Ms. Su Juzhen and nine other Dafa practitioners in the First Women's Subdivision were sent to the Second Women's Subdivision to be subjected to experimental forced brainwashing. Zhang handcuffed Ms. Su's hands behind her back to a metal bed with her feet off the ground in an upside down position. Captain Qiu Ping of the Second Brigade and secretary Wang Shuzheng shocked Ms. Su with electric batons. They injured her so severely that she couldn't walk anymore, and there were burns all over her hands. They forcefully administered drugs that caused nerve damage and psychological problems. When Ms. Su was released, her eyes were dull and she had severe memory loss; she couldn't walk, feed herself, or even use the toilet without assistance. Ms. Su Guizhen passed away at 8:30 a.m. on April 8th, 2006.

Nearly Killed by Brainwashing Sessions

On July 1st, 2000 Captain Zhang Xiurong of the Second Brigade and Zhou Qian subjected practitioners to brutal brainwashing, and they almost killed some of them. Practitioner Ms. Lin Yan from Shenyang was in her early thirties at the time. To resist the brainwashing Ms. Lin stabbed herself in the chest, leaving a wound more than five inches long, less than one inch from her heart, and was sent to Shenyang's Fourth Hospital. [Editor's note: The teachings of Falun Gong strictly prohibit inflicting injury on living beings, including oneself. While Ms. Lin's action is not condoned by Falun Gong, the fact that this practitioner felt driven to commit such a desperate act underscores the extreme brutality of the persecution.] Ms. Lin was sent back to Masanjia from the hospital on July 24th and subjected to forced labour. Because Ms. Lin has suffered long-term persecution, she has chest pain, congestion, and shortness of breath, and she is restless and can't easily sit, stand, or get out of bed; she feels weak all the time and her joints have a limited range of motion. The officials at the forced labour camp came up with all kinds of excuses to refuse Ms. Lin's family's requests for a medical examination.

Beating and Torturing Practitioners, Zhang Told Them, "All I Care About is the Appearance; I Don't Care if You Are Truly Transformed or Not, as Long as You Have Signed the 'Three Statements³.'"

Zhang Xiurong and others tortured Dafa practitioner Ms. Li Yanjun continually for three days and nights. Ms. Li was beaten and shocked with electric batons. Her body was so badly injured that it was hard to look at.

In July 2000 Captain Zhang Xiurong and the others continuously tortured Dafa practitioner Ms. Ge Chunling for more than twenty days. She was deprived of sleep and water, and wasn't allowed to use the toilet. In May 2001 they were again refusing to allow her to go to the toilet, which caused her body to swell and her heart rate to decrease. Though Ms. Ge was extremely weak, she was still forced to labour excessively.

In the end of September 2000, Zhang angrily ordered Dafa practitioner Ms. Zhao Shuhuan of Shenyang to be taken to the toilet. They forced Ms. Zhao to the floor and made her crawl back and forth with her hands supporting her body and her legs straight. Zhang Xiurong called it, "The head of the dragon touches the tail of the dragon." One night Zhang took Ms. Zhao to the bathroom and forced her to sit with her legs double-crossed (in the lotus position) and used rope to tie up her legs. Then Zhang and some others began to torture Ms. Zhao. Chen Xiaoyu slapped Ms. Zhao's face repeatedly and slammed her head into the wall so hard that some of the bricks were damaged. Zhang told her, "You will beg me to let you die!" Zhang Xiurong and the others tortured Ms. Zhao day and night.

In the middle of November 2000 they took Ms. Zhao to the toilet to torture her again. They took off their shoes and used them to hit Ms. Zhao in the face and head. They took turns hitting her and shoving her head into the wall. They continued to torture Ms. Zhao like that until the rest of the camp started to get up the next morning. Ms. Zhao's head was swollen and deformed and there were bruises all over her face. Her head was almost twice its normal size and she was unrecognisable. The persecutors were afraid that people would see Ms. Zhao, so they made her squat facing the wall. When Zhang saw Ms. Zhao's condition she shouted at the others for not knowing how to torture her properly. Zhang Xiurong told them to hit her in the body instead of the head to conceal the wounds, so they started kicking her instead. They took off Ms. Zhao's pants, and six of them started pinching her legs and digging their nails into her skin. They insulted Ms. Zhao as they tortured her, then they sat on her neck. Ms. Zhao's legs were covered with oozing wounds that were soon infected. The pain was unbearable.

One morning Zhang Xiurong called Zhao Shuhuan to the on-call room and she and some others began to beat her. Ms. Zhao was kicked to the floor, and her torturers began to kick her legs. Her infected wounds began to seep, and there was a bad smell. Her legs were swollen black and blue and were as stiff as boards. Even so, they wouldn't let Ms. Zhao go. They held her down and took her trousers off, and started pinching her again.

Captains Zhang Xiurong and Wang Qiuju prepared wooden sticks and a metal spoon. They ordered the others to hold Ms. Zhao down on a chair and held her nose so she couldn't breathe. When she opened her mouth to breathe, they stuck the spoon into her mouth. In doing so, they dug a deep cut into Ms. Zhao's tongue. They said, "This spoon is way too soft, go find a harder one." Zhao went limp and almost passed out. Ms. Zhao was tortured this way repeatedly and was force-fed four times. Captains Zhang Xiurong and Wang Qiuju told Ms. Zhao, "We won't let you die, but we'll make you wish for death. We'll torture you and let you suffer alive."

On the afternoon of May 27th, 2005, Zhang Xiurong called Ms. Zhao Shuhuan to the office and ordered her to take her shoes and socks off and sit on the ground. Zhang shocked the soles of Ms. Zhao's feet, her legs, her upper body, and her lips and scalp with two electric batons. Then she threw down the electric batons and grabbed Ms. Zhao's hair, swinging her back and forth. Zhang slapped her violently in the face for more than forty minutes. Zhang punished Zhao Shuhuan by forcing her to bend over with her arms parallel to her legs. Ms. Zhao wasn't allowed to rest her hands on her knees or bend her legs. To increase her suffering, Zhang ordered her to touch the floor with her hands. Ms. Zhao was forced to stay in that position the whole morning.

In June 2002 Captain Zhang ordered some inmates to tie up a practitioner, saying, "Hit her hard, I'll take responsibility for everything! Anyone who refuses will have their sentences extended!" They hit the practitioner in the midsection for more than twenty minutes. The practitioner's clothes were stripped off and her shoes couldn't be found after the beating. She was thrown to the floor wearing only her bra and underpants. She couldn't bend her waist. Later she was taken to a solitary compartment and handcuffed to a pipe. She was very cold that night in the dark and wet cell, and they didn't let her sleep.

One day there were visitors to the camp, so Captain Zhang Xiurong, Zhou Jian, Yang Xiaofeng, Zhang Zhuohui, and section leader Wang Xueqiu pulled Shenyang Dafa practitioner Li Dongqing off her bed and dragged her to the office. They snatched away her pen and notebook and started to beat her and prick her hand with the pen. Afterwards they locked her up in a secret room to hide her from the visitors because she kept a record of the torture. She was kept in the room for about three months.

At the end of 2003, Zhang Xiurong and team leader Qi Fuying ordered collaborators to beat practitioner Chen Yufeng, from Shenyang, at midnight. They grabbed her hair and slammed her against the heater. The beating lasted until five in the morning, when Ms. Chen finally fainted. They woke her up and continued to beat and verbally abuse her. They hit her head and pulled her hair. Jiang Chunxiang found hair all over the floor when she swept up the next morning. Chen Yufeng's head was covered with bumps. Later she was taken to the first floor where the torture continued.

On December 1st, 2004, Zhang Xiurong grabbed practitioner Liu Yuzhi's hair to force her to wear a card on her chest. Liu Yuzhi started to vomit, so Zhang wiped it up with Liu Yuzhi's clothes.

In 2004 Captain Zhang and a few team leaders broke into practitioner Xu Qingyan's room and sealed her mouth with tape. Team leader Xiang tied Ms. Xu's hands to the bed. Xu Qingyan felt tightness in her chest and nausea, and she blacked out with her head and left leg on the floor. When Ms. Xu woke up, she was covered with cold sweat and her face was as white as a sheet. She was handcuffed and not allowed to use the toilet or eat until eight at night. She was kept this way for a few days and was later sent to a psychiatric hospital for further persecution.

In early September 2004, Xu Qingyan was handcuffed in the shape of a cross to an iron frame in the storeroom for nine days. She wasn't allowed to sleep. The small, windowless storeroom was triangular in shape and located under the stairs. It was hot and stuffy in the room. She couldn't stand upright, her body leaned forward and her arms were handcuffed behind her. The pain was unbearable. When Captain Zhang saw her, she humiliated her. Ms. Xu's legs and feet became very swollen.

On December 1st, Captain Zhang Xiurong and team leader Zhang Zhuohui beat Xu Qingyan in the face and then locked her up in a solitary compartment, where she was tortured for nine days. Xu Qingyan's limbs became red and swollen, her joints were painful, and she couldn't walk without help. One elderly practitioner who was also locked up in a solitary compartment was heard crying while being beaten.

Zhang Xiurong beat practitioner Li Yanjun, from Xingcheng, with a broom until the broom broke. More than thirty practitioners in the same cell were also tortured. Physical tortures like these defy enumeration.

In June 2004 Zhang Xiurong, Dai Lihong and Ma Xiaodan verbally abused and beat practitioners. They handcuffed practitioners' hands to a bench and wouldn't let them sleep for seven days.

On December 1st, 2004 Captain Zhang and a section leader tied up Jinzhou practitioner Liu Yuzhi, beat her and yanked her hair while holding her down. They wouldn't stop even when white foam came from Liu Yuzhi's mouth, and they continued to kick her. They took her from her cell at half past four in the afternoon until well after 9 p.m. to torture her.

Around 2002 Zhang Xiurong, Dai Lihong and Yang Xiaofeng had collaborators beat Zhuanghe practitioner Ms. Wang Dandan. They tied her up in the sitting meditation position and made her sit on the floor for two or three hours in winter.

Zhang Xiurong and Wang Xiuju often sent the guards on errands while they tortured practitioner Yang Yuejun. When the guard returned he would find Ms. Yang beaten black and blue. To hide the truth from the other practitioners, they wouldn't let Yang Yuejun return to her room for more than ten days. Prison guard Wang Xiuju hung up Yang Yuejun with a rope with her head down half a chi (a traditional unit of length) off the floor. Afterwards, Yang Yuejun suffered mental problems and was always seen staring blankly.

In 2005 Zhang Xiurong ordered the prison guards to hold a practitioner down and put a prison uniform on her. They handcuffed the practitioner to a heating pipe. Some practitioners were locked in a storeroom where there was no window, light or fresh air. The door was tightly closed so no one would find them. On Zhang Xiurong's orders, prison guards tortured Dafa practitioners who refused to renounce their beliefs. The duration of the torture varied from ten days to a few months.

Captain Zhang Xiurong, Tang Yan and several prison guards viciously beat Dafa practitioner Xin Suhua, from Benxi, until she fell to the floor. Prison guard Wang Zhengli continued to kick her after the others had stopped, until Ms. Xin couldn't speak anymore. Xin Suhua was put in a solitary cell many times, once for twenty days. She was handcuffed day and night on a chair and deprived of sleep. Xin Suhua's hands and feet became numb and she couldn't use them for several days.

On November 8th, 2005, all the Dafa practitioners of the Second Brigade removed their prison uniforms in protest of the detention and torture. In retaliation, they were all beaten and abused, and weren't allowed to use the toilet for three days. Captain Zhang Xiurong, section leader Zhao Jinghua, Shi Yu and Tang Yan called practitioner Wang Shufen to the on-call room and said, "If you want to use the toilet you must wear the uniform." Wang Shufen told them, "I have loose bowels." They shouted, "Bad luck!" Then the four of them beat Wang's head. Wang Shufen is more than fifty years old, and they beat her to the floor.

On the morning of November 20th, 2005 the guards tried to cut He Guirong's hair, but she wouldn't let them. The political commissar ordered the guards of the Second Brigade, including Captain Zhang Xiurong, team leader Zhou Qian, Xiang Liqui, Shi Yu, Zhao Jinghua, Fei Feng, Ma Xiaodan, Zhang Zhuohui, Li Xiuling, Li Shujuan and another four male team leaders to beat He Guirong. They beat her so hard that she was rolling all over the floor. Afterwards, they cut her hair and handcuffed her and locked her up in the storeroom for many days. They finally stopped torturing Ms. He after they forced her to wear the uniform.

The May 5th, 2006, the Dafa practitioners in the Second Brigade again protested the unlawful persecution. They shouted, "Falun Dafa is good!" in unison in the dining hall. Duty team leader Dong Shuxia immediately began to beat practitioner Zhang Shuzhen, who was then handcuffed and dragged to the team leader's office. Captain Zhang, Xiang Jili and Dong Shuxia tied Zhang Shuzhen to a heating pipe and beat her until they were tired.

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. "Collaborators": Former practitioners who have turned against Falun Gong under brainwashing and torture. They are then made to assist in brainwashing and torturing practitioners.

3. "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.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2007/1/18/147088.html