13 Practitioners on Hunger Strike at Gongjiawan Brainwashing Centre

The Gongjiawan brainwashing centre is located at 136 N. Gongjiping Road, Qilihe District, Lanzhou City, Gansu Province. It was initially a warehouse and opened its doors in December 2001. The signs on its gate read "Lanzhou City Rehabilitation Centre' and "Lanzhou City Labour Camp." It is a base the 610 Office¹ uses to persecute Falun Gong practitioners. Over the past eight years, nearly 400 practitioners have been abused and mistreated there. Several of them died as a result of gross abuse and some ended up paralysed.

13 practitioners there are currently on hunger strike to protest the mistreatment they endure.

Party Secretary Qi Ruijun is in charge. Others including Yang Dongchen, Sun Qiang, Yang Wentai, Quan Run and Wang Dong report to him. Liu Xin, Mu Jun and Lu Liang are among the dozen thugs used to torture practitioners. Wei Yichuan, Yang Jigang, Qiao Houquan, Qin Hongxia, Ju Youhua and He Lixia are some of the assistants and guards involved in the persecution.

In December 2005, practitioners Han Zhongcui and Niu Wanjiang refused to do hard labour. Qi Ruijun then handcuffed the two of them outside in the freezing cold weather. He also ordered Wei Yichuan to beat them. Han Zhongcui was not given anything to eat until late evening. In 2006, Niu Wanjiang refused to sign statements denouncing Falun Gong. Yang Jian beat him cruelly, fracturing his ribs. Qi Ruijun not only did not punish Yang Jian, but he also handcuffed Niu to a metal rail for half a day. When Niu said it was illegal for guards to beat people, Qi exclaimed in front of other people, "We'll keep beating you guys. Our job is to torture you!"

In 2006, Qi Ruijun handcuffed Zhang Rong behind his back and hung him up by the handcuffs for over seven days. When Zhang was let down he couldn't move his hands. Unable to endure further torture, Zhang gave in and decided to write statements denouncing Falun Gong. Qi said, "We're here to deal with you anti-revolutionary people."

In 2006, Han Zhongcui and Niu Wanjiang went on a persecution protest hunger strike. Ten days later, Qi Ruijun ordered Qin Hongxia, Ju Youhua, Liao Yongtian and Chen Xiaoqiang to handcuff the two practitioners behind their backs and locked them up in a confinement cell. Qi threatened to force-feed them if they continued with their hunger strike.

In 2007, Qi Ruijin, Quan Run and Wang Dong beat Qian Shiguang continuously for one hour with wooden canes. Due to long-term physical abuse, Qian already had lots of wounds on his legs and back. The gang still whipped him with canes, resulting in numerous additional wounds on the elderly practitioner's body. He had not recovered three months later.

Yang Dongchen always hypocritically faked friendliness in front of practitioners when he actually ordered guards to monitor practitioners around the clock and beat them if they failed to follow orders. The guards involved in this included Liao Yongtian, Qin Hongxia, Kong Defu, Kong Qingying, Song Huifang, He Xia, Chen Xiaoqiang and Wang Daiqiang. He often had them handcuff practitioners' behind their backs and hang them up by the cuffs. He then ordered his accomplices to either increase or reduce the intensity of this torture based on the victim's health report the medical workers in the centre provided. Officially, no visitation was allowed, yet he secretly told practitioners and their families to meet at certain times. This trick deceived some practitioners and their families who offered him gifts to show their gratitude; some practitioners wrote statements, promising to give up cultivation.

In July 2008, Yang Dongchen urged Yang Jigang and Qiao Houquan to beat Qian Shiguang until his mouth bled profusely. As a result of on-going torture, Qian Shiguang's spine was severely deformed, and he couldn't stand upright and walk.

On August 30th, 2008, Qian Shiguang had difficulty swallowing, yet no one paid attention. He died ten days later, at 4:00 am on September 9th, 2008. After his death, Yang Wentai told Xiao Honglin who was assigned to monitor Qian to say nothing if ever asked about Qian's death. To cover up their crimes, they fired Xiao Honglin a few days later.

In August 2008, Zhang Wenyuan and Liao Yongtian handcuffed Qin Haifeng behind his back and hung him up for several days in a row. They kept beating and cursing him until he became mentally disoriented. They had to send him to a mental hospital. When they claimed Qin lost his mind due to his practice of Falun Gong, the doctors there mocked them. In the end, they had to send Qin Haifeng home.

Ma Xin, Yang Qinglian and Wang Yuquan are the medical workers at the Centre responsible for force feeding and injecting hunger-striking practitioners with drugs. When Niu Wanjiang, Qian Shiguang, Han Zhongcui, Sun Jianfeng, Zhang Chunlian and Sun Lanping were held in confinement cells, Wang Yuquan was in charge of force-feeding them. He promised to Qi Ruijun and Yang Dongche in private, "I've got all kinds of methods to keep them alive. Use whatever torture you want, until you achieve your goal." While torturing Niu Wanjiang, he said, "I don't know how to do good deeds; yet, I am excellent in doing bad deeds. My goal is to torture you to near death."

Some practitioners were handcuffed behind their backs and then hung up by the handcuffs for extended periods. Sun Jianfeng was put through this torture for 72 days, Niu Wanjiang 81 days, Sun Lanping 54 days and Zhang Chunlian 45 days. Dong Yawei ordered Liao Yongtian, Qin Hongxia and Ju Youhua to monitor and torture these practitioners. They didn't even let Niu Wanjiang and Zhang Chunlian down at night. Dong Yawei said, "I just wanted to see them pee in their pants." Niu and Zhang became incontinent, and their hands were almost paralysed. Even today, Niu Wanjiang cannot trim the nails of his left hand. Zhang Chunlian's legs were rotten and had pus oozing out. While being hung up, Niu Wangjiang hit his head against a hard object. He got six stitches on his head, and five on his eyes. He also got a 1-inch-long cut on his foot.

When a practitioner's family sent 500 Yuan² for a woman practitioner to buy winter shoes, the guards looted all the money and then told the practitioner that no money was left for her.

When Niu Wangjiang, Qian Shiguang, Han Zhongcui, Sun Jianfeng, Zhang Chunlian and Sun Lanping were eventually let out of the confinement cells, several young women hired to work at the centre couldn't help but shed tears. They took the initiative to take care of these practitioners. Qi Ruijun scolded them, "Don't you know the battle is brutal? You even shed tears for the enemies? They are anti-revolutionary!"

The crimes committed at Gongjiawan brainwashing centre are too many to count.

Note

1. "The 610 office" is an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other political and judiciary systems.

2. "Yuan" is the Chinese currency; 500 yuan is equal to the average monthly income of an urban worker in China.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2009/4/1/198189.html