Practitioners Suffer Continual Abuse and Torture at the Heizuizi Women's Forced Labour Camp in Changchun City, Jilin Province

Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Wang Pingrui, 21, from Nong'an County, Jilin Province, was arrested along with her mother in Baicheng City, Jilin Province in May 2008. She was sentenced to two years of forced labour and taken to the Fifth Division of the Changchun City Heizuizi Women's Forced Labour Camp, where she was tortured beyond her physical and emotional endurance. The forced labour camp officials did not allow her family to visit her.

Ms. Wang Pingrui started practising Falun Gong with her parents at the age of eleven, and maintained a steadfast belief in Falun Gong. The guards tortured her and tried to force her to renounce her beliefs in writing. She refused, and a group of guards cursed and threatened her. Director Wang Limei of the Fifth Division shocked her with an electric baton. Ms. Wang Pingrui shouted, "Falun Gong is good!" She shouted to other practitioners who were forced to perform slave labour, "Ladies, let's not do this work for them. Let's talk to them about our rights and go home."

The guards locked Ms. Wang in an isolation cell. She shouted "Falun Gong is good" through the window and sat down with her legs crossed in the lotus position to meditate. Guard Xiao Aiqiu handcuffed her to a bunk bed with her feet not touching the floor, then ordered inmates Li Gongju and Yu Xiuming to beat her. They brutally beat her and repeatedly threw her to the floor. They also kept striking and bruising her eyes.

Inmate Yu Xiuming stripped her clothes off and touched her body improperly. Yu Xiuming did not allow her to use a blanket at night. Even after this torture, Ms. Wang Pingrui was still kind to Yu Xiuming. She shared the food brought to her with the inmates. Ms. Wang Pingrui said, "I am a Falun Gong practitioner. My Teacher tells us to cultivate benevolence."

Ms. Wang Pingrui was hung on the bed and not able to move for days. She was also beaten frequently. She periodically suffered blackouts due to this torture. Once, the Section Chief of the Living Section asked her, "Do you have a psychosis?" She said "No." Some inmates told her, "Just pretend to be psychotic, and you will be released." She replied "No. As a practitioner, I can't ruin the reputation of Falun Gong." Sadly, the long, inhumane torture eventually drove Ms. Wang to a mental breakdown.

Practitioner Ms. Qiao Hongyan from Shulan City, Jilin Province has been imprisoned in the Fifth Division since the spring of 2008. She was beaten by several guards, including Zhang Lihong because she refused to perform forced labour. She was shocked with electric batons and beaten, which rendered her unable to speak or move for several days. To prevent others from seeing the results of their torture, the guards locked Ms. Qiao in a separate cell. Other practitioners were not allowed to contact her, nor was her family allowed to visit her.

Director Wang Limei and the Deputy Director Su Guiying of Manufacturing of the Fifth Group used practitioners for slave labour. They forced the practitioners to produce most of the airline meal boxes for airlines departing from Changchun City and Yanji City, Jilin Province. Su Guiying obtained several contracts that required manual labour, such as creating large quantities of butter for export to America, Canada, Venezuela and other countries. The fur that was used as a tool to make the butter was soaked in poison. In the spring of 2007, many practitioners showed symptoms of illness, including vomiting, vertigo, and fainting.

To increase their profits, the forced labour camp officials and guards increased the workload and hours of the practitioners. Practitioners had their work quotas increased from 30 butter sticks to 130. Practitioners were forced to work fourteen hours daily, from 6:00 a.m. To 8:00 p.m. Their only breaks were five minutes for the toilet and fifteen minutes for meals. The guards closely monitored practitioners and frequently scolded them for "working too slowly" or "moving slower on purpose." The guards even added additional work in between their regular tasks. They forced practitioners to work overtime, sometimes until midnight. When Wang Limei or Su Guiying were on duty, they forced practitioners to work even longer hours. Some older practitioners over 60 years old often fainted due to the intensive labour.

Practitioners Ms. Niu Ling from Nong'an County, Jilin Province and Ms. Liu Fang from Baishan City, Jilin Province refused to wear the prison name tags on their clothes because they believed that practising Falun Gong was not a crime and that they were not criminals. They also refused to perform slave labour. Guards shocked Ms. Niu Ling with electric batons and put handcuffs on her before her meals. They also forced Ms. Niu and Ms. Liu to stand for fourteen hours without rest, wrote their names on their shirt in black ink, cursed at and insulted them, extended their terms at the forced labour camp, used various excuses to fine them, and did not allow their families to visit them. Ms. Liu Fang was sentenced for one and a half years of forced labour. She refused to sign the "Four Statements¹." When her term was completed in August 2008, the forced labour camp refused to release her. They asked her to sign the Four Statements, but she refused to comply. The forced labour camp officials then extended her term for an additional three months.

It was reported that Heizuizi Women's Forced Labour Camp guards frequently use electric batons to torture practitioners and continue to subject them to forced labour.

Note

1. "Four Statements": Practitioners are coerced under brainwashing and torture to write the "four statements" as proof that they have given up their belief. Created by the 610 Office, they consist of "a letter of repentance," "a guarantee" to never again practise Falun Gong, a "Dissociation Statement" to declare a dissociation with Falun Gong and promise not go to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong, and a list of names and addresses of all family members, friends and acquaintances who are practitioners.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2008/10/26/188547.html