Viciousness at Hebei Province Women's Forced Labour Camp During the Olympic Games

Hebei Province Women's Forced Labour Camp was established on November 19th, 2007. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) transferred most detainees from different women's labour camps across Hebei Province to this labour camp, focusing on the persecution of Falun Gong. At first, it detained about 200 people but reached about 400 during the Olympic Games. Among them, about 70 per cent are Falun Gong practitioners and 20 per cent have other beliefs or had gone to appeal. Less than 10 per cent have actually committed wrongdoings. Mass arrests during the Olympic Games was rampant, sometimes reaching more than 30 per day. Even the handicapped and people with infectious diseases, high blood pressure, or heart disease are accepted and detained here. Currently, nearly 100 determined Falun Gong practitioners are detained on the first floor. There are also nearly 100 practitioners detained on the fourth floor. They were arrested at various locations during the Olympic Games and are steadfast practitioners. The so-called "transformed¹" practitioners are detained on the second and third floors. Some of them decided to resume practising Falun Gong and wrote solemn declarations indicating this.

Practitioners stripped of their clothes and chained to a bed

There were relatively fewer beatings prior to the Olympic Games. But as soon as the Olympics started on August 9th, 2008, the situation began intensifying and practitioners were severely persecuted, the worst point being around August 20th. Practitioners were physically abused, beaten, cursed at, and humiliated--all of which are prohibited according to policy. In order to force determined practitioners to wear the uniforms, they ripped the clothes from female practitioners, cut apart their underwear with scissors, and chained them to a wooden board bed. These practitioners were then beaten, electrically-shocked, tied up, and tortured by other means.

Camp officials also threatened to extend the practitioners' terms of detention. The Labour Camp Bureau in Shijiazhuang City gave notice to extend their terms by three-and-a-half months for determined Falun Gong practitioners. They also threatened that the determined practitioners would not be released but would instead be sent to a brainwashing centre for three months and then to a women's prison. Camp officials sent determined practitioners to Shijiazhuang City Forced Labour Camp or Tangshan City Forced Labour Camp. Inside the labour camp, in order to intimidate other practitioners, they announced that these practitioners had been transferred directly to prison.

On September 20th, female guard Liu Ziwei ripped the clothes off practitioner Ms. Zhang Yanchun, an unmarried practitioner. She also brutally beat her. Ms. Zhang had so many bruises on her body and face that it defied description. In order to cover it up and intensify the persecution, Liu Ziwei detained Ms. Zhang separately in a storage room used as solitary confinement. Ms. Zhang was not allowed to leave to eat, drink, or use the toilet.

On July 15th, practitioner Ms. Sun Tao met another practitioner in the toilet. Inmate Zhu Liying thought they had talked to each other and started to beat Ms. Sun. Another inmate, Liu Juan (from Handan City), helped her beat Mr. Sun. Ms. Sun's head swelled in two places, and her nose was bruised. However, guard Wang Weiwei not only didn't punish them, but chained Ms. Sun for the whole afternoon. Guard Shi Jiangxia was also at the scene, but she pretended nothing had happened.

The brutality of Guard Liu Ziwei

Practitioners are beaten every day, especially by Guard Liu Ziwei, who often beats practitioners brutally. She has asked two inmates, Liu Juan (who has practiced Taekwondo and Yoga) and Zhu Liying, to help her. As long as Liu Ziwei is on duty, she looks for opportunities to persecute practitioners.

One day in mid-July, Liu Ziwei and four or five other female guards, along with Liu Juan, detained practitioner Ms. Lu Suhua separately in a storage room used as solitary confinement. They chained her to a heating pipe and window frame, extending her arms as far as they would go. Liu Ziwei then said, "We can't let her be too comfortable."

So they chained her in a position where she couldn't stand up or squat down. When Ms. Lu said, "Falun Gong is good," the guard stuffed her mouth with towels and taped it shut. Liu Ziwei and Liu Juan then started beating her about the face. It was so brutal that Ms. Lu was dizzy and unable to see things clearly for about a week. Liu Ziwei also kicked Ms. Lu in the ribs with all her might. It hurt so much that Ms. Lu could hardly breathe. Ms. Lu asked to call her husband to publicize the brutality, but official Feng Kezhuang, the deputy director, denied her request. Later Feng said Ms. Lu could write a letter, but after the letter was written, all of the guards read it, and it is unlikely that the letter was actually sent out. As a matter of fact, determined practitioners seldom received letters sent by their families.

In mid-September, Liu Ziwei once again forced Ms. Lu to wear a prison uniform. Otherwise, no bathroom use was allowed. Ms. Lu had no choice but to go on a hunger strike to reduce the need to use the bathroom. After this continued for six days, Liu Ziwei beat Ms. Lu so severely that she had countless bruises and her left arm was fractured. She couldn't move it for a long time.

At around noon on August 20th, Liu Ziwei and Liu Juan secretly ordered practitioners out one by one to give blood samples. No explanations were given. Whoever refused to cooperate was forced. Guard Shi Jiangxia and the prison doctor, surnamed Ma (male), held practitioners down on the floor to take the samples. And they instigated inmate Liu Juan to beat them. After practitioner Ms. Qiu Liying refused to give a blood sample, she was pushed to the floor. Shi Jiangxia and Ma stomped on Ms. Qiu's legs while Liu Juan beat her about the head. As a result, Ms. Qiu experienced a severe headache, dizziness, nausea, and vomiting. She was unable to eat and requested a medical examination, but her request was denied. Because of the nausea, she couldn't eat anything for three days. The guards then allowed her to make a sham visit to the clinic inside the labour camp.

On August 21st, Liu Ziwei and Zhu Liying ripped the clothes off practitioners Ms. Zhang Junmei, Ms. Meng Shufang, and Ms. Liu Yuekun. They also cut apart their underwear and forced these practitioners to stand naked for a long time. Ms. Zhang was menstruating but was still not allowed any clothing. She had to use a bed sheet to cover herself when using the toilet. Her bedding was then taken away and she had to sleep on the wooden boards. The following day, Liu Ziwei beat these practitioners again, one by one, and much of their hair was pulled out. Two practitioners were beaten so severely that there were bruises all over their faces, and their eyes could barely open.

Liu Ziwei often uses caustic remarks to humiliate Falun Gong practitioners, and she frequently forces practitioners to stand for an entire day without eating or drinking, even practitioners over 60 years old. Liu Ziwei also frequently beats and electrically shocks practitioners in the office. In addition, she often kicks practitioners (including in the face) with her leather boots.

Hebei Province Women's Labour Camp:
Director Hao Lin: 86-311-83939188
Deputy Director Feng Kezhuang: 86-311-83939177
Deputy Director An Huaner: 86-311-83939168
Division 1 (practitioners are detained here): 86-311-83939136 (Guards Liu Ziwei, Shi Jiangxia, Gu Hongye, Zhao Yali, Wang Weiwei, Chang Lin)

During the Olympics, labour camp officials invited these collaborators to "transform" practitioners:
Zheng Pengrang: 86-318-7032896 (from Raoyang County in Hengshui)
Li Junxia: 86-318-7322687 (from Raoyang County in Hengshui)
Li Yufang: 86-310-5780628, 86-13290501193 (Mobile) (from Wuan City, Hebei Province)
Li Juxiang: 86-13290501191 (Mobile)
Wu Yuxia: 86-13932112251 (Mobile)
Shi Jinhua

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")

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2008/11/1/188978.html