Masanjia Labour Re-education Camp Tortures Steadfast Falun Dafa Practitioners

On February 26th, 2002, I was detained at the notorious Masanjia Labour Re-education Camp in Liaoning Province. I witnessed how the prison guards at Masanjia brutally torment steadfast Falun Dafa practitioners.

When practitioners are first brought to Masanjia, the first trick the guards use on them is the "exhaustion tactic": a practitioner has to get up at around 4:00 a.m. and face collaborators¹ who try and "transform²" them until midnight. The practitioners are not allowed to go back to their own cell to rest until all the others have gone to sleep. This is repeated every day. If after a long period of time the "exhaustion tactic" doesn't work, the labour camp then uses physical punishment like hanging practitioners up in the air and other forms of torture until the person cannot take it any more.

When I first arrived at Masanjia, I was sent to the No. 5 Team in the First Division. I could often hear gut-wrenching cries coming from the first floor. Later, I found out that some practitioners who refused to be "transformed" had been tortured severely. Ms. Sun Jianjun (a teacher from Benxi) in the No. 1 Team was sent to a mental hospital just because she chose to uphold her belief in Falun Dafa and resisted the prison guards. After she returned from the mental hospital, she had a dull look and was not able to take care of herself. A formerly intelligent person had been turned into a real mental patient due to the persecution.

Practitioner Zhao Caihua from Hurudao (about 30 years old) was detained in the No. 2 Team and was confined in a solitary compartment because she refused to do hard labour. She was forced to squat the whole night and was not allowed to sleep. After Zhao Caihua went on a protest hunger strike for more than a month, her body started to reject food. As soon as any food reached her stomach, it would be vomited. Ms. Zhao's body weight went from more than 50 kg (110 lbs) to just over 30 kg (66 lbs).

Zhang Yunxia, an older practitioner (over 60 years old) from Yi County, Jinzhou City, was also confined to a solitary compartment because she stopped the prison guards in the No. 3 Team from playing a video that defamed Falun Dafa. When she returned after 15 days of being confined, her legs were so swollen that she was not able to walk. Because she didn't go out for military drills, the team leader and several collaborators dragged her down from the second floor. They wouldn't even leave an older person, over 60 years old, alone.

Prison guard Cui Hong forced practitioners Cai Yan and Wang Hong in the No. 4 Team to endure the freezing cold weather in the clothes hanging area, wearing only one layer of thin clothing in the cold winter days of northeastern China. They had to suffer for several continuous hours in the freezing cold each time.

Zhang Haiyan from Heishan County, Jinzhou City (in her thirties), in the No. 5 Team, was hung from the bunk bed with her hands tied when the "intensive transformation" was going on. After the "intensive transformation," she became disoriented and was not able to recognise her family members. Ms. Zhang passed away soon after she was released home.

Su Ming, from Jinzhou District, Dailian City, was never allowed to sleep in a bed. She was forced to sit on a small bench for 24 hours a day. Her legs and feet became so swollen that she was not able to walk properly. Later, Ms. Su was secretly sent to Dabei Prison.

Ms. Liu Baohong, who was detained in the No. 6 Team, suffered persecution in the Masanjia Labour Re-education Camp for three years, from July 20, 1999 onward. After she was released, she was again arrested and sent back to Masanjia. Ms. Liu was kept in the warehouse located on the first floor. The division leader, Wang Xiaofeng, tied her legs up in the full lotus position, with both legs crossed, for a long period of time without any break, causing big blisters to develop on both of her legs. The prison guard also shocked her neck and other areas of her body with an electric baton.

I urge all Falun Dafa practitioners and people around the world who believe in justice to pay attention to the crimes that Masanjia Labour Re-education Camp is committing. Please help stop the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners.

Note

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

2. "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://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2007/4/27/153607.html