Vicious "Reform" Methods Used at the Women's Forced Labour Camp in Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province

In 1997, the Xindian Women's Forced Labour Camp in Taiyuan moved from Yuxiang County to Xindian in Taiyuan, Shanxi Province. Since the beginning of the persecution on July 20th, 1999, this labour camp has been assisting in the barbaric persecution of Falun Gong and its practitioners. In the past eight years, officials there have detained and grossly abused nearly one thousand practitioners. Personnel at this labour camp have used a variety of cruel torture methods against Falun Gong practitioners.

Division No. 3 is in charge of persecuting practitioners. The camp's Guarding Division is made up of thugs charged with torturing practitioners. There are also trained drug addicts for carrying out attacks against practitioners. Practitioners were forced to perform labour and savagely tortured in the workshops. The camp warden, political head and deputy head are all involved in the persecution. They direct and lead the prison guards in the notorious persecution of Falun Gong practitioners.

At the peak of the persecution between 2001 and 2003, Division 3 was divided into four teams, holding about 80 practitioners each. Division 1 and 2 had about 20 practitioners each. Currently, Division 3 has about 50 practitioners, while Division 1 and 2 each have a handful of practitioners. In the past few years, the Minghui website [Chinese version of Clearwisdom.net] has exposed the crimes of Division 3 heads Li Lizhong, Meng Hao, and Liu Zhongmei, as well as those of political heads Liu Zhongmei, Lei Hongzhen, and Shi Jian.

I. The camp's vicious "reform¹" methods

If the number of practitioners arrested together is small, they are usually sent to Division 3. The prison guards would interrogate the practitioners, while a gang of collaborators² would threaten the practitioners and force them to wear the prison uniform and name tags. They also try to convince the practitioners that they had broken the law and admit guilt. They would also bring in prisoners to monitor the practitioners. The prisoners are charged with subjecting the practitioners to sleep deprivation, denying them the chance to go to the toilet or drink water, and forcing them to stand for long periods of time. The practitioners often stage persecution-protest hunger strikes, but they are then force-fed and beaten by the guards. If a large number of practitioners are arrested at the same time, they are detained in Division 1 and 2 first before being sent to Division 3 for severe persecution.

When the guards start a "reform" programme for the practitioners. They prohibit the practitioners from sleeping for 24 hours at a time, bombard them with lies and propaganda, forbid the practitioners from practising the Falun Gong exercises, and make the practitioners write "self-criticising statements," "regret statements³," "guarantee statements⁴," and "Falun Gong criticising statements." The prison guards also force practitioners to slander Master Li and Falun Gong. The brainwashing doesn't end unless the practitioners comply fully with the guards' demands to give up their beliefs.

The reading room in Division 3 is filled with Chinese Communist Party (CCP)-published books and DVDs that slander Falun Gong and praise the CCP. The prison guards brainwash the practitioners with these materials to try to get them to give up their belief.

The prison guards also lock steadfast practitioners in confinement cells and instigate prisoners to beat them with small stools and sexually assault them. The practitioners are only given a cold steamed bun to eat each day. In addition, they are prohibited to talk with or see each other. They are entirely separated. If a practitioner protests, the prison guards would use electric batons and handcuffs on him or her. They also employ other methods such as stripping practitioners of their clothes, extending their terms, and etc.

Some practitioners who were unable to endure the torture any longer wrote the "four statements" to give up their beliefs. These practitioners are forced to watch the slanderous DVD's and study slanderous materials daily. They have to take turns standing up to give a speech and write down their responses to the brainwashing. In addition, they are forced to slander Falun Gong.

Many of them are guilt-ridden and depressed at having done this, but some became collaborators and turned against Falun Gong completely. The prison guards use these collaborators against steadfast practitioners, using them as instruments to carry out torture and brainwashing.

Prison guard Liu Zhongmei often invited collaborator Cao Yaqin from Taiyuan City to Division 3 and gave her advice on how to persecute the practitioners. Every year, Cao Yaqin and Deng Yu purchase books and DVD's full of CCP propaganda or filled with false religions to confuse and deceive Falun Gong practitioners.

The prison guards frequently examine practitioners' personal belongings for copies of Falun Gong teachings. If they find anything, they would extend the practitioners' terms. They search everyone, including even the collaborators. The Strict Disciplinary Team rooms and classrooms had monitors installed. The guards have drug addicts and other inmates to monitor practitioners. These people also secretly search practitioners' personal belongings and then report to the prison guards.

The practitioners are divided into groups, each with individual timetables to use the toilet. This is done to keep practitioners from talking to each other without being closely monitored.

II. Guards' vicious acts

In 2007, guard Liu Zhongmei detained practitioner Ms. Liu Taojiang in an upstairs meeting room. Liu stripped off Ms. Liu's clothes, and then used a wooden club to poke at her genital area, asking her at the same time whether or not she "felt good."

In June 2007, Liu Zhongmei locked practitioner Liu Taojiang in solitary confinement. She would not let Ms. Liu put on any clothes, leaving her naked. She was handcuffed to a railing. The door of the confinement cell faced the stairway, and it was Division One's family visitation day. Whenever visiting family members passed by the door, prison guard Shang Xiujuan would shout, "Come quickly and take a look at this!" This was met with disgust by the visitors.

III. Falun Gong practitioners' righteous thoughts

The steadfast practitioners are enduring brutal torture and defying the guards' commands. They refuse to accept the brainwashing or perform forced labour. They are also actively exposing the persecution and helping inmates to find their compassionate, good side. Many of the detainees have become supportive of the Falun Gong practitioners.

Division 3 used to have detainees do different kinds of labour, including making lighters, clothes, wine boxes and other items, but practitioners no longer have to do this after protesting, backed by their righteous thoughts. Before the 2007 Chinese New Year, when the Division 3 factory workshop caught fire, the detainees applauded, because the camp workshops stored toxic chemicals harmful to those that worked in them. The prison guards and division heads wear masks when they go in there.

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. Repentance Statement: In this 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.

4. "Guarantee Statement": A statement to declare that one is remorseful for practising Falun Gong and guarantees not to practise Falun Gong again, not to go to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong, and never again associate with any Falun Dafa practitioners.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.org/mh/articles/2008/1/15/170343.html