Accounts of Persecution at Sanshui Forced Labour Camp in Guangdong Province

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials at Sanshui Forced Labour Camp used excavators to destroy evidence in the spring of 2005. "Beautifying the Environment" they called it. They destroyed the "transformation¹" centre specifically designed for persecuting Falun Gong practitioners. Some practitioners were crippled for life and some were driven insane as a result of what they suffered there. Now, the transformation centre is gone, but the persecution continues.

What follows is what I saw, heard and recall from being detained there. The camp guards confiscated nine written diaries and a pen. These are only a few samples of the persecution endured by practitioners in Sanshui Labour Camp, but they have not been revealed before.

Many of these memories have never left my mind and maybe never will.

1. Practitioner Mr. Lai Zhijun Died from Torture Within Days of His Arrival

On April 27th, 2000, practitioner Mr. Lai Zhijun was escorted to the New Arrivals Division of Sanshui Farm (only later did it become the notorious Sanshui Forced Labour Camp). He was the first practitioner tortured to death there, only a few days after his arrival. Those in charge worked hard to conceal the news and details of his death. One year later, the details of his death were spread far and wide by the inmates on duty at the time.

Mr. Lai Zhijun was the deputy head of Fenggang Township of Dongguan City. He was in very good health. He said to the other practitioners detained at Sanshui Farm, "If a practitioner cannot do the exercises, it would be meaningless to live on." Uttering these words got him handcuffed, hung up, shocked with electric batons, and badly beaten. The beatings were done by on-duty inmates under orders from camp guard Chen Ruixiong of the New Arrivals Division. In the middle of the night several days later, the on-duty inmates found Mr. Lai near death. They reported this to the camp guards, who publicly stated, "Don't worry about him!" He died early the next morning. One year later, the camp's political commissar, Shi Shan, attributed Mr. Lai's death to refusing to take medicine.

About five months after Lai Zhijun's death, camp guard Chen Ruixiong was promoted from team leader to section leader specialising in persecuting practitioners. He became even more sadistic in persecuting practitioners.

2. Camp Guard Says, "If You Die as a Result of Torture, You Are Just Like a Dead Dog"

Chen Ruixiong forced practitioner Mr. Ye Wenxin to work all night alone. This led to the vicious persecution case of May 27th, 2001. Chen Ruixiong said to Mr. Ye, who was ill, "If you die as a result of torture, you are just like a dead pig or dog." Mr. Ye strongly protested Chen's words. Chen hit Mr. Ye's head on the glass table top. It caused a disturbance in the on-duty office. I happened to be in the reception room next door talking to guard Qiu Jianwen. I witnessed the tragedy and there was blood everywhere. The guards ordered the on-duty inmates to wipe up the blood on the floor. Chen Ruixiong then left on holiday. He was gone for many days to avoid being confronted by practitioners.

Almost all the guards pressured Mr. Ye to write a confession and threatened his well-being. Fortunately, quite a few practitioners from Meizhou City accused the guards of causing the tragedy. They told the guards that Mr. Ye should write about the tortures instead of a confession. The evildoers were afraid their crimes would be exposed and did not keep pressing.

3. The "Demons' Intensive Training Group," Also Known as the "Strict Discipline Team"

The authorities did not stop their persecution, but steadily intensified it. The camp guards put all the practitioners under strict control together and called in collaborators² to torture them. They called it the "Demons' Intensive Training Group" and corporal punishment continued endlessly against the practitioners. They physically tortured practitioners all day long, yelling things like, "I will make you die!" They forced the practitioners to recite poems in the evenings. It was an excuse to keep the practitioners from going to bed. Some would have to recite the poems until early morning. Showers were not allowed in the summer.

4. The "No. 2 Division of No. 3 Branch": Solitary Confinement and Electric Batons

The notorious division for persecuting Falun Gong was set up September 2000 in the current "No. 2 Division of the No. 3 Branch." Inside the three-story building regular prisoners from the first and second floors were moved to the already crammed third floor. This made room on the first and second floors for practitioners. The second floor was equipped with bugging devices, closed circuit TV, and an audio system.

At the beginning the guards forced practitioners to work alone, often until midnight. Then the guards increased the workloads and tortured the practitioners day and night. They forced the practitioners to recite poems while squatting in small confinement or standing at military attention. The reciting of poems was up to five poems on the first day, 10 the second day, and 15 poems after that. Practitioners were made to squat on a single brick and not allowed to step off the brick. Sometimes the torture was carried out in the toilet and many practitioners became skin and bones as a result.

Practitioners who firmly held to their righteous beliefs were thrown into confinement cells by the camp guards for any excuse. In the confinement cells they used eight or ten electric batons to shock the practitioner. Practitioner Huang Yutian from Meizhou came out of confinement with burn marks all over his body. Some very visible red and black burn marks were on his neck. Later on, the guards constantly shocked Mr. Huang's hands and legs with electric batons from behind, but Huang Yutian had no reaction at all.

5. "Nut Cracking Base" Practitioners Crippled by Torture

Several times in this labour camp I witnessed bloody scenes that were too horrible to imagine. I saw an unconscious practitioner, his head all bloody, dragged from a confinement area by the guards. I heard screams and howls while electric batons sizzled. I could see seven extremely low-ceilinged confinement cells about ten meters away through the abandoned canteen window or a toilet window. That was the notorious "transformation" base. It was turned into a two-story building in the winter of 2002. A great number of practitioners were tortured there. Some were rushed to hospital emergency rooms, some were crippled for life, and others went insane as a result of inhuman torture.

Since the "Nut Cracking Base" was located beside the confinement cells, it was very covert and isolated from the outside world. There were all sorts of instruments of torture of both Chinese and foreign origin. On the first floor four or five guards and dozens of inmates tortured the practitioners. These inmates had to obey very strict rules and regulations. They were not allowed to talk to the practitioners and not allowed to discuss anything among themselves. They were under the absolute authority of the camp guards and had to follow any orders given by the guards. Their job was to watch the movements of the practitioners.

Practitioner Lin Fengchi from Foshan was among the first group of practitioners escorted secretly to this "base" in the winter of 2002. A banner hanging low on the exercise yard read, "Obsessed Falun Gong Practitioners Have No Way Out But Going on the Road to Ruin." The new arrivals were forced to squat on the ground endlessly, a punishment called the "Crucifixion of Jesus." In the torture chamber there were two one-meter square columns made of quilts folded into squares. Four to eight inmates were on-duty by turn. They would pull the victim's arms apart, forming a line with the shoulders. The victims hands were handcuffed to the pillars one metre above the ground. Then the inmates pulled the victim's body out straight. In this way, the victim could not stand up or sit down. The victim would become numb very quickly in this awkward position. Some even lost consciousness. The victim had no drinking water and was not allowed to use the toilet until they had feces and urine in their pants. After the victims "passed this test," they would suffer another torture called, "levitating during daylight." The victim's hands were cuffed. Then they were hung like planes in the air. Lin Fengchi suffered from these tortures. In winter, the camp guards ordered the inmates to strip off Mr. Lin's clothes and pour scalding water down his back. He instantly had blisters all over his back. However, they failed to make Mr. Lin submit. The camp guards ordered the inmates to brush the blisters with toothbrushes. Mr. Lin gritted his teeth and resolved to hold out.

Mr. Lin Fengchi's term of forced labour was gradually extended. He was still there when SARS was rampant in China. Still, the camp did not stop persecuting him. On occasion Mr. Lin was deprived of sleep for more than 40 days at a time. This base was dissolved by September 13th, because of international pressure. The camp authorities transferred all the practitioners out of there overnight to avoid being investigated.

On September 11th, I saw Mr. Lin, who was only about ten metres away from me. The on-duty inmate told me that the stool that Mr. Lin used was wet. After having scalding water poured down his back, his back was festering. Only shortly before the "base" was disbanded, the camp authorities allowed him to have a few hours of sleep, some times from 4 to 6 and sometimes from 2 to 6 early in the morning. The on-duty inmate said that Mr. Lin had had his term of forced labour extended for over eight months. Normally he seldom talked to anyone. The inmate said if they talked to him about the things that had nothing to do with cultivation, he would never answer. If the inmates helped him he would thank them.

Even during the time when SARS was rampant, practitioners Lin Fengchi, Huang Zhufeng, Li Yuandong, Chen Jingping, Zeng Liuming, Zeng Guangxing, Liu Qinming and Xie Chunfeng were still suffering from the inhuman torture. Among these practitioners, Huang Zhufeng was crippled for life as a result of the torture. Li Yuandong was a former government cadre. He was deprived of sleep for one month. The camp guards ordered the on-duty inmates to slap Mr. Li's face with slippers if he closed his eyes. His face was swollen as a result of the torture, and Li's younger brother could not even recognise him. The on-duty inmates said that Mr. Li would close his eyes if they stopped slapping his face for barely two seconds. He was finally sent to the hospital for emergency treatment.

Mr. Chen Jingping from Huizhou became mentally disordered as a result of torture. He would always say that he saw a big hole in the sole of his foot and saw his hair all over the floor. As a result, he kept himself busy picking up the invisible hair from the floor and filing up the hole that did not exist. This was the consequence of more than 20 days of sleep deprivation.

Zeng Liuming from Zijin was a high school teacher. Mr. Zeng was kept in confinement for 17 days and shocked twice daily. Each time they shocked Mr. Zeng with at least four electric batons until he passed out.

Liu Qinming from Shaoguan was an employee at the Mengzhou Power Plant. The tortures he suffered were too horrible to describe. Normally, there were 40 to 50 guards and inmates on duty to torture several practitioners day and night at the base. The torture chamber was totally sealed off. All the walls and the floor were covered with thick layers of cardboard. In this way, even if the victim wanted to commit suicide, it would be impossible to do so. The mattresses in the torture chamber were covered with feces stains, traces of blood, and scratches.

This living hell was closed in the spring of 2005, when the international community wanted to investigate the crimes reported. The Chinese Communist regime used excavators to dig deeply in order to destroy the evidence, claiming they were "beautifying the environment." However, the persecution is still going on in new forms and by other tactics.

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.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2007/5/24/155472.html