Fifteen Common Methods of Torture Used at Xinhua Forced Labour Camp in Mianyang City, Sichuan Province

I was detained twice at Xinhua Forced Labour Camp in Mianyang City for persisting in my cultivation of Falun Dafa and informing people about the true nature of Falun Gong. I was held from January 23rd, 2001, until March 24th, 2002, and again from May 22nd, 2002 until December 15th, 2004, a total of four years. During that time I witnessed many evil acts committed in Xinhua Forced Labour Camp.

There are at least 15 methods of torture commonly used in persecuting practitioners at Xinhua Forced Labour Camp.

1. Ropes and Electric Batons

There were numerous victims of this torture, and I would like to mention a few as examples to help readers understand what they actually did. One morning in April 2001, several other practitioners and I were studying the Falun Dafa teachings, sitting on the floor of a small classroom. I was reciting the teachings to them. Camp guard Deng Tao discovered us. He brought me to the office for questioning and called in other guards from the fifth floor. They pushed me to the floor and stood on my back. They tied my hands very tightly behind me and then shocked me with electric batons.

Practitioner Mr. Li Ming shouted, "Those who talk nonsense will be punished" at a so-called exposure and criticism meeting. Guards Deng Haibo, Fu Weidong and others dragged him into an office and brutally beat him with the help of some inmates. I met up with Mr. Li Ming at lunch and his lips were badly swollen from the beating. He had many burn scars from the electric batons.

One day I saw that practitioner Mr. Liu Yongsheng's lips were swollen with a thick layer of yellowish foam. I later learned that it was the result of repeated shocks by electric batons. They did this to him for tearing down a propaganda poster in the corridor of the No. 2 Section of No. 6 Division.

There was an "exposure and criticism meeting" held on February 13th, 2004. It was held by the No. 2 Section of No. 6 Division. Practitioners Mr. Li Yonghong, Mr. Wei Lang, Mr. Liu Yongsheng, Mr. Wang Renwei, Mr. Zheng Fangjun, and Mr. Huang Changdong repeatedly shouted, "Falun Dafa is good!" Guard Fu Weidong and other guards used their police ropes and batons to beat these practitioners. Practitioners Li Yonghong, Wang Renwei, Zheng Fangjun, and Huang Changdong were forced to wear helmets and endure additional torture.

Practitioners Mr. Che Lian and Mr. Liao Ancai were beaten by guard Fu Weidong for refusing to write the so-called "ideological reports." Practitioner Mr. Chen Lian was forced to wear a helmet and endure further persecution. Practitioners Mr. Xu Langzou and Mr. Li Zhiming were beaten with police ropes and batons, and kicked and punched for refusing to do slave labour at the construction site.

In autumn 2000, practitioner He Zhenyao was tortured with police ropes at the No. 3 Section of the No. 6 Division for refusing to wear a camp uniform.

Disciplinary guard Wang called in about eight guards from the No. 3 Section of the No. 4 Division. They used five high-voltage electric batons to shock practitioner Wei Lang until all the electric charges in the batons were depleted. The head guard's surname was Pan. He used the opportunity to demonstrate to the guards how to tie people up with police ropes. The guards shocked practitioner Mr. Wei Lang's carotid artery, making all Mr Wei's muscles to twist and causing him terrible pain. The guards teased him maliciously. Even so, Mr. Wei still remained firm in his belief and refused to renounce Falun Dafa. One guard punched Mr. Wei twice before he left the room. Mr. Wei Lang is now being held in Wumaping Jail.

Practitioner Mr. Lu Zhitong decided not to sing any song with Party culture content during his detention in the "special group" under the control of the No. 5 Section of the No. 4 Division. During that period of time, he was beaten by the guards using police ropes and batons three times a day for over a week. This was because the detainees were forced to sing songs before each meal. He resolutely rejected their demands. The torture cases are simply too many to list.

2. All Kinds of Lies Fabricated to Deceive Practitioners

There are numerous examples. The police have used all sorts of methods to persecute practitioners, attempting to force them to renounce Falun Dafa. These methods include separation, humiliation, corporal punishment, violence, intimidation, strict control and brainwashing with false reasoning, and heresy. Practitioner Mr. Li Xinze was held at the No. 3 Section of No. 6 Division until he died as a result of the inhuman torture.

3. Forcing Practitioners to Take Oral Drugs and Injections

I was held in the No. 2 Section of the No. 4 Division in early 2002. I was tricked into entering the guards' duty office. I was immediately set upon by four or five inmates who held me to the floor. They said I needed preventive drugs for cholera and administered the drugs. SARS was spreading in 2003. The guards from the No. 2 Section of the No. 6 Division forced Fu Weidong to have an injection and then a blood test. Many practitioners were forced to take drugs or have injections.

Practitioner Mr. Zhang Zhaohong was in the same dormitory as we were, the No. 2 Section of No. 6 Division. The more the camp hospital forced treatment on Mr. Zhang, the worse his "illness" became. The camp had to release him on bail for medical treatment because he was dying. He died the day after he returned home.

4. Forcing Practitioners to Run 50 Laps on the Drill Ground

I was standing in front of a window at the No. 2 Section of No. 4 Division one day in 2001. I witnessed the corporal punishment of practitioners Mr. Hu Ran and Mr. Wu Kaisong guards from the No. 5 Section of the No. 4 Division. They were forced to run on the drill ground, and when they were too tired to run they were dragged. I was locked up at the special group quarters with some other practitioners in late 2002. Zhao Yu was selected as one of the ten best guards by the Chinese Communist Party. He demanded that we run more than 50 laps around the drill ground.

Wu Hao, head of the No. 4 Division, was put in charge of the "special group" established on December 9, 2002. Zhao Yu was named Deputy Leader over Tang Xufeng, a guard from the No.1 Section; Mao Yuan, a guard from the No. 2 Section; a guard with the surname of Wang from the No. 3 Section of No. 4 Division; and another guard with the surname of He. All the practitioners from the four sections under No. 5 Division were all transferred to the No 5 Section of No. 4 Division, which was under Zhao Yu, a political commissar. The practitioners were persecuted there.

5. Practitioners Forced to Squat Down for Long Time Periods and Subjected to Beatings

During the summer and autumn of 2002, the practitioners held at the No. 2 Section of No. 6 Division were all subjected to corporal punishment. The practitioners were ordered to do formation drills or stand in "army corps" positions. They were forced to squat down with their arms stretched out, going up and down repeatedly. Sometimes the guards just beat the practitioners without reason.

In 2004, practitioner Mr. Gu Zhiguang in the No. 2 Section of the No. 6 Division was called to a room where he was forced to stand in the "army corps" position. At the same time, Mr. Gu was being beaten by the "personal cangues."¹ In early 2003, guard Fu Weidong ordered practitioner Mr. Wang Renwei at the No. 2 Section of No. 6 Division to do formation drilling. Mr. Wang refused and was severely beaten by guards Dong Haibo and Fu Weidong.

6. Forcing Practitioners to Stand in "Army Corps" Positions and Do Formation Drills Under the Scorching Sun

The No. 5 Section of No. 4 Division, the No. 2 Section, and No. 3 Section of the No. 6 Division all forced practitioners to drill more than 90 minutes every day under the scorching sun.

7. Using "Strict Control" to Persecute the Practitioners

The practitioners were not allowed a lunch break. They were forced to stay awake until midnight or even later. Then they were awakened at 6:00 a.m. to clean toilets and do long periods of standing. During the day they had to do extra heavy manual labour, such as pulling a wagon or a large flatbed tricycle, or a trolley fully loaded with mud bricks.

8. Using Former Practitioners to Try to Persuade Steadfast Practitioners to Renounce Falun Dafa

In February 2001, Dong Haibo, head of the No. 2 Section of No. 6 Division, brought eight collaborators² to the office where they jointly spoke out against me. I refuted their false reasoning and heresy.

9. Using Excuses to Bring Practitioners to the Office For Verbal Abuse or Beatings

The camp guards and group leaders often brought practitioners to the office. If the practitioner refused to obey their orders he would be attacked, verbally abused, or subjected to corporal punishment, which often included wearing a cangue. A cangue is a wooden yoke that encases the neck and shoulders of the prisoner as punishment. The guards kicked, punched the practitioner or even used a wolf-tooth club³ to beat the practitioners.

10. Forcing Practitioners to Read Books Critical of Falun Dafa Used for Brainwashing

I found five books that viciously slander Falun Dafa on the bookshelves of the No. 1 Section of the No. 4 Division. These books were all written and compiled by related units of the Chinese Communist Party.

11. Use of "Exposure and Criticising Meetings" to Viciously Slander the Founder of Falun Dafa and Practitioners

Zhao Zeyong, Yu Xingcai, and Deng Gang organised "Exposure and Criticising Meetings" on a regular basis to openly attack the founder of Falun Dafa and practitioners while I was held in various sections of Divisions 4, 5 and 6. The meetings were usually held on the drill grounds or in the canteens, and all the prisoners were forced to attend. Practitioners who stepped forward to shout truth-clarifying words were dragged out to the guards' office by the guards. They were then tortured with police ropes and electric batons, and the inmates kicked and punched them. Afterwards the administrative division extended their forced labour terms.

12. Putting Practitioners in Solitary Confinement

Practitioner Mr. Wei Lang and some other practitioners were subjected to solitary confinement torture.

13. Forcing Practitioners to Work or Stand in the Brick Kiln

The temperature in the brick kiln was normally several hundred degrees Celsius. During my detention at the No. 2 Section of the No. 4 Division, I witnessed practitioners detained at No. 6 Division being taken to the kiln of No. 4 Division to "pass the test of physical labour."

14. Xinhua Forced Labour Camp Invited the "Help-and-Teach Group" or the "Lecture Group" to Force Practitioners to Renounce Falun Dafa

One day I learned from "Qidie," an internal newspaper at Xinhua Forced Labour Camp in Mianyang City, that the camp guards had adopted a set of guidelines for forcing the practitioners to renounce Falun Dafa. I saw on television with my own eyes that the head of the notorious Masanjia Forced Labour Camp came to Xinhua Camp in person to visit and teach their brutal methods of persecution.

A psychologist from an institution of higher learning in Mianyang City was invited to Xinhua Camp to conduct psychological experiments. (I did not cooperate with the experiments). Specialists from Sichuan Academy of Social Sciences were invited to Xinhua to help "transform⁴" the practitioners. I had to talk with them.

15. Randomly Extending Steadfast Practitioners' Forced Labour Terms

When I was first sentenced to forced labour my term was extended three months simply because I signed my so-called "ideological report" as a Dafa practitioner and boycotted the manual labour. My second detention term was extended 55 days for boycotting the slave labour, exams, and the signature activities. Many steadfast practitioners had their terms extended for refusing to cooperate.

What I have listed above cannot represent all the crimes committed by Xinhua Forced Labour Camp in Mianyang City. It can only play the role of giving people a better understanding of the persecution. Xinhua Forced Labour Camp is indeed a hell on earth.

Note

1. Personal cangue: Cangue, the name of an instrument of torture, is now used to indicate the person designated to supervise a practitioner.

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. Wolf-tooth club: A club with spikes on one end and a long handle on the other, formerly used as a weapon

4. "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")

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2007/4/13/152681.html