Shiliping Forced Labour Camp in Zhejiang Province is also called "Shiliping Cashmere Factory." As of December 1999, this labour camp began to imprison and persecute male Falun Gong practitioners, who were subjected to forced labour.
To achieve its goal of "reforming1" all detained practitioners, Zhejiang Provincial Forced Labour Bureau personnel worked together with the labour camp to develop a series of tactics to physically and mentally harm practitioners. For instance, they forced practitioners to sit in a chair with their limbs tied to it and wouldn't let them sleep or use the toilet. At the same time, they turned on a speaker to its highest volume and broadcast their propaganda information. If a practitioner dozed off he would be burned with a cigarette and force-fed hot chilli pepper juice. They also forced practitioners to write statements giving up their cultivation and kept whoever refused to write them tied to the chair for a long time.
On July 25th, 2000, a group of people from Masanjia Forced Labour Camp visited this camp and subjected practitioners to a brainwashing session. Afterwards, the practitioners were made to read so-called "criticizing information" in front of a camcorder. The video clips were then distributed to various police departments within the province to mislead other detained practitioners. Li Hongqing was a team leader at the labour camp. He often forced practitioners to write one statement after another to denounce their practice. All these statements were then compiled into books, to be used to poison the minds of others.
Later on, many of the detained practitioners realized their mistake in writing those statements and annulled them. They were then subjected to even more brutal persecution.
Camp abusers specifically made five tiger bench2 torture chairs. They bound practitioners' chests and feet to the metal plates and tied their hands to the chair arms. Practitioners were made to sit on the two metal bars on the chair. In front of them was a metal board welded onto the chair, for them to write statements to denounce their practice. They were not allowed to sleep in this chair. If they had to use the restroom they had to ask for permission, which was rarely granted.
The camp had eight confinement cells, and camp officials held practitioners in such cells for long periods of time. The first day the inmate was not given food. The second day and onward, the practitioner was only given about a half pound of rice every day, no vegetables or meat. They sometimes put a practitioner in such cell for several months in a row until he promised to give up his belief.
Practitioner Zhu Zuoxin was once held in a cell for 62 days straight and became extremely thin. Since he still refused to be "reformed," he was subjected to other types of torture. Eventually, seeing that his life was in grave danger, camp officials took him to a hospital. In 2001 he was held alone for 207 days and in a hospital for 18 days. In January 2002, Mr. Zhu appealed to Zhejiang Province's High Court, but they rejected his case.
The labour camp also held so-called "study sessions" to physically and mentally torment practitioners. The guards made practitioners watch videos slandering Falun Gong for several days in a row. If a practitioner got sleepy, the guards would tie him up in a chair, wash his face with cold water, or blow cigarette smoke in his face to keep him alert. Each day around bedtime, the guard on duty asked, "How is your understanding of Falun Gong now?" If a practitioner answered, "Falun Gong is righteous" the guard would say, "You haven't improved your understanding yet, and you should keep studying," which meant this practitioner was deprived of sleep. Practitioner Zhu Zuoxin was once deprived of sleep like this for nine days until he lost consciousness. Only then did the guard let him sleep about four hours. They resumed their torture after he woke up.
In 2003, guard Mou Zhongming conceived another tactic to "reform" practitioners: to force them to watch pornographic videos, saying, "There is sex education in elementary school. We in the labour camp of course should also have such education."
The camp officials developed extremely stringent rules to force practitioners to follow. Detained practitioners were forbidden to practise the Falun Gong exercises, talk to each other, or promote Falun Gong. They were also required to daily and repeatedly recite the labour camp rules and ordered to sing Chinese Communist Party (CCP)-themed songs. The daily routine included doing labour and military training. In other words, this labour camp was, in fact, an intense brainwashing base. Practitioners were ordered to practice Taiji movements each morning. Every week there was a meeting at which practitioners were told to report their understanding of Falun Gong. Every month practitioners were required to submit a written report of their current thoughts.
Two practitioners, Guo Xianwen and Yang Zhongxing, died shortly after their release. Their deaths were the direct result of the abuse they suffered in the labour camp.
Usually, at the beginning of detention, each practitioner was sent to various teams to be brainwashed. When they refused to be "reformed," they were gathered into a special team where they were subjected to intensified torture. Below is a partial listing of the inhumane abuse these practitioners suffered.
Beatings
Practitioners were often punched and kicked and left with bruises all over their bodies. The guards also held practitioners by their hair and knocked their heads against a wall. The punches could fall anywhere on the body, including eye sockets. In order to prevent Zhu Zuoxin from practising the Falun Gong exercises, an inmate poked his ears with a broom. Guard Zhang Wufeng often slapped Zhu on the face.
Tying up
When the guards saw a practitioner doing the Falun Gong exercises they would handcuff him. If a practitioner was doing the sitting meditation, the guards would use tape to wrap his knees and legs. The practitioner then couldn't stand up; others would have to lift him up and drag him to the restroom.
Forcing Practitioners to Stand for Long Periods of Time
Practitioners were often forced to stand motionless for long periods of time, from six hours to up to over 20 hours. This resulted in swollen legs and feet. They had to lean against the wall to walk and could not even squat to relieve themselves.
Sleep Deprivation
Normally, a detainee was allowed six to seven hours of sleep. If a practitioner did the Falun Gong exercises or refused to do the "study session," he was only permitted two to three hours of sleep or was completely deprived of sleep. Guard Zhang Wufeng once told practitioner Zhu Zuoxin that he would reduce his sleep time by 30 minutes every time he caught him doing the Falun Gong exercises. One day Zhang was on duty and said to Zhu, "I'm on duty today, and I say no sleep for you tonight." Zhu was made to stand for a whole night.
Chen Zhongsheng was a practitioner from Wenzhou. The guards tormented him by waking him up every ten minutes after he fell asleep.
No Bathing Privileges
Practitioners had to get approval from the guards to take a bath, which was sometimes only once every month. The longest time to wait for permission was over 50 days.
Reduced Food Rations
Chen Zhongsheng loudly protested the abuse. The guards then reduced his food ration. After a period of time, Chen became emaciated and could not even walk steadily.
No Toilet Privileges
Practitioners were only given four toilet breaks during an entire day. Once guard Zhang Lingfeng said to Zhu Zuoxin, "You're not allowed to pee before bed as that's a bad habit." Zhu needed to relieve himself but was forbidden to go, so he had to hold it until the next morning. During the morning, three practitioners had to take turns using the only toilet. Oftentimes they ended up soiling themselves.
Other Humiliation
Zhou Feng often encouraged a group of inmates to abuse Mr. Chen Zhongsheng and Mr. Zhu Zuoxin. They made two horns out of paper and shouted slanderous words through them at the two practitioners. They even sexually abused them by stripping off their trousers and touching their genitals. Once three inmates held Mr. Zhu down in the bed and sexually abused him.
They wrote slanderous words on cardboard boxes and then put them on practitioners. They also taped Teacher's [Teacher Li Hongzhi, the founder of Falun Gong] pictures on benches and then forced practitioners to sit on them. When practitioners refused, three of them would lift one practitioner and hold him down on the bench. They also had slanderous words written on bed sheets and quilts and ordered practitioners to sleep on them. When they refused, the abusers tied them to a bed with tape and covered them with the quilt. Once guard Zhang Wufeng ordered inmate Lian Jiazhuang to write slanderous words on a piece of paper and then glued it to a wooden board. Then Zhang commanded Mr. Zhu Zuoxin to sleep on the board. Mr. Zhu refused, and he didn't sleep for four nights. The persecutors had to give up on the fifty day.
Handcuffing Practitioners
When practitioners did the Falun Gong exercises, the guards would handcuff them. Initially, they unlocked the handcuff before bedtime. Later they would handcuff practitioners when they slept, so the practitioners could only put their hands on their belly. Even when the handcuffs were eventually removed, the practitioners still maintained that posture when they slept. Once Mr. Zhu Zuoxin was handcuffed after being spotted doing the Falun Gong exercises and then sat down to meditate. Inmate Jin Yang grabbed the handcuffs and dragged him in circles. After each circle he would suddenly jerk the handcuffs, which cut deeply into Mr. Zhu's flesh. When he sat down again to try the meditation, Jin Yang then repeated the torture. This went on about eight times. Both of Mr. Zhu's wrists had deep cuts in them. When the labour camp doctor came to inspect his wounds, however, he claimed that the wounds were self-inflicted and even threatened to extend Mr. Zhu's term.
Shocking Practitioners with Electric Batons
In August 2005, several guards shocked Mr. Zhu Zuoxin with two electric batons. Afterwards, he kept practising the Falun Gong exercises. The guards then resumed the torture until the charges ran out. Guard Zhou Taishi kicked Mr. Zhu in the abdomen with full force. The guards re-charged the batons and shocked Mr. Zhu again until they ran out of charge. They then smashed his head hard with the batons.
Guards Zhu Hua and Zhao Yifeng had shocked Mr. Zhu with electric batons before. During his third detention, he was shocked eight times, seven times for his practising the exercises and once for refusing to do hard labour.
The guards were not merely implementing a series of tactics, but were engaging in gross, wilful, and wanton abuse of practitioners.
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. "Tiger Bench": Prisoners are forced to sit on a small iron bench that is approximately 20 cm (6 inches) tall with their knees tied together. With their hands tied behind their backs or sometimes placed on their knees, they are forced to sit straight up and look straight ahead without movement for long periods of time.
Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2009/2/27/196184.html
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