Anhui Women's Forced Labour Camp Tortures Falun Gong Practitioners

Anhui Provincial Women's Forced Labour Camp is located in Hefei City. Since July 1999, police led by Zhou Mingfeng have been severely persecuting detained Falun Gong practitioners. Some of the practitioners have been persecuted to death; some suffered mental collapses; some were disabled; many others suffered from all sorts of illnesses due to torture; and some were unwillingly "transformed¹" under horrible circumstances and torture, but they still suffered greatly for turning against their beliefs.

In this forced labour camp, those in charge didn't allow the practitioners to leave their designated areas or to talk with each other. Practitioners could only go to the toilet according to a timetable. The practitioners that refused to be "transformed" or write a "thought report" were scrutinized 24 hours a day, sworn at, beaten, abused, and ordered to stand for a long time. They were deprived of sleep and use of the toilet and were not allowed to talk to others. They were forced to "study" materials slandering Falun Gong. They were given rice with only vegetables and sometimes only rice. They were not allowed to buy supplemental food or nutrients and were forced to work for over ten hours every day in a poisonous environment that was damaging to their health. Even practitioners over sixty years old were forced to work from the moment they got up at 6:00 a.m. until 9:00 p.m. and sometimes midnight. Some specific cases of persecution are detailed below.

1. Wang Ping, in her forties, is from Wuhe County, Bangbu City. She was sentenced to three years of forced labour. She was secretly detained in solitary confinement and forced to write "thought reports." If she didn't write it, she was not allowed to sleep. She was not allowed to write anything related to Falun Gong and was not allowed to speak the truth. Her "thought report" had to be in line with the official requirements renouncing Falun Gong. Every midnight, when the police changed shifts, they would check if Wang Ping had written a "thought report." Occasionally she was allowed to sleep at 1:00 or 2:00 a.m., but she was awakened at 4:00 a.m., and the police would torture her again.

Because she refused to be "transformed," she was often severely beaten. Sometimes she shouted "Falun Gong is good" in the corridor when she went to the toilet, though she knew she would immediately get a hard beating from the inmates. They grabbed her hair and pinned her down on the ground, and then dragged her into a solitary cell and viciously beat her. They sealed her mouth with tape three inches wide and wrapped it around her neck six or seven times. She was almost suffocated. Some inmates stuffed her mouth with smelly socks and bloody sanitary napkins. They tied her to a bed day and night. Whenever she closed her eyes, she would be severely beaten. After over a year of torture, she had nearly completely collapsed mentally.

2. Liu Yun was in her forties and was detained in September 2005. She was tortured like Wang Ping. She was held in solitary confinement for over half a year and then was transferred to a strictly monitored unit. Usually inmates stayed there for no more than three months, but Liu Yun was there for over a year.

People in the strictly monitored unit got up at 5:00 every morning. Their job was to physically unload or upload all the goods that came into or went out of the camp from downstairs to upstairs or vise versa. Liu Yun was the one that was watched over the most strictly and made to do the heaviest labour. She could not get food until the inmates in the whole brigade had gotten theirs and was often left with only vegetables or only rice without any other dishes. Normally she had to work until midnight everyday, and sometimes even later. All the other inmates could buy instant noodles, biscuits, or preserved vegetables, while practitioners who were determined to cultivate Falun Gong like Liu Yin were not allowed to buy any supplemental food. If they were made to work a whole night, they were still not allowed to eat anything. Others could go to sleep after finishing work at midnight but Liu Yun had to write a "thought report" and was not allowed to sleep if she didn't finish the report.

Liu Yun was very healthy and strong when she was initially detained, but her health deteriorated rapidly after she was made to carry heavy goods and deprived of sleep for over a year. Several times she fainted at work. She was emaciated, like a completely different person from before. She often got very sick and had to stay in bed. Those in charge tried to force her to take medicine, but she refused. Policewoman Guo Jun then told inmates to drag her into an office and force feed her the medicine.

One day when she was cleaning windows, she fainted again and fell from the desk that she was standing on. Zhou Mingfeng told Zhang Junru to help work with Liu Yun. Zhang Junru tried to force Liu Yun to be "transformed." She brainwashed Liu Yun day and night in an attempt to "transform" her.

3. Cheng Ming was fifty-six years old and came from Jieshou County, Anhui Province. She was sent to the forced labour camp in September 2005. She was severely tortured because she refused to be "transformed." Team leader Lin Yun struck her face when she shouted, "Falun Gong is good!" Lin Yun also instigated inmates to hit her face in front of other inmates until her face got swollen and she was not able to eat. She was often tied up all night and unable to sleep. Guards often instigated inmates to beat her and seal her mouth with tape. She was detained for an extra period of time after her sentence had ended.

4. Shi Changying was fifty-seven years old and came from Feidong County, Hefei City. She was sent to the forced labour camp in May 2006. She recovered from all kinds of diseases after she practised Falun Gong, and she went on a hunger strike to protest the persecution. Policewoman Zhou Mingfeng instigated two inmates to pin her down on the cement floor every day, and Zhang Junru force fed her. She became very weak and had difficulty walking. She was put in a small cell and tortured there for shouting "Falun Gong is good!" During the daytime she was handcuffed, and at night she was tied up with rope. Medical examinations showed that she suffered from atrophic kidneys, atrophic liver function, heart disease, high blood pressure, and glaucoma. She became blind in one eye due to the torture, and nearly lost sight in the other.

5. Duai Genhua, He Pinghua, and Wang Yinkun were all in their fifties. They were tortured because they refused to be "transformed." They were forced to do the same amount of hard labour as young people, and they had to do the heaviest, hardest, and most difficult work. They carried goods with the younger ones. They had to stop eating to carry goods whenever goods came in. For every meal they could only eat vegetables and were not allowed to buy other food. They were forced to write a "thought report" after they finished work at midnight every day and were not allowed to sleep if they didn't write anything. At 5:00 a.m. they were awakened. They were punished by being made to sleep in the upper berths. The stairs to upper berths were broken and never fixed. It was very difficult for them to climb into their upper beds. In December 2003, drug addicts Yang Jingjing and Zhao Yongping severely beat Duan Yinhua in a solitary confinement cell. As a result, she was covered with injuries and became crippled. Yang Jingjing and other inmates sealed her mouth with tape. Four of them held her hands and forced her to write a "guarantee statement²." They didn't stop until Ms. Duan finished writing. She told them, "It doesn't count." Other inmates were shocked when they saw all the bruises on her body.

6. In December 2003 when Wang Minghui was sent to the forced labour camp for the second time, six or seven policewomen dragged her to the second brigade, kicking and beating her along the way. They forcibly put prisoner clothes on her and tied her to a chair. She was tied for two days and two nights with bare feet. On the third day she was transferred to a warehouse and tied to a bed. They continued torturing her for four days and nights. Four inmates took turns torturing her. They stuffed her mouth with smelly socks and sealed her mouth with tape three inches in width. They beat her as soon as she closed her eyes. They hung paper with words that slandered Falun Gong on her. She threw the paper away when she went to the toilet, so they viciously beat her and injured her head and teeth. On the third day the labour camp held a year-end summary meeting. Wang Minghui shouted ,"Falun Gong is good!" Guards then instigated inmate Li Xue to beat her until she almost died. She was unable to walk for over a month, and her lower back and legs were severely injured. Later on she was forced to do hard labour. Zhou Mingfeng also forced her to work extra night shifts. Long term hard labour made her poor health even worse. She was in critical condition several times. She had symptoms of paralysis several times and was unable to look after herself. Zhou Mingfeng never let up on her. By the time her three-year sentence was over, she had the most serious symptoms of paralysis. They still forced her to do hard labour. She was not released until she served another extra twenty days.

Police and guards directly involved in these acts persecution included Zhou Mingfeng, Deng Zuxia, Chen Xiaolin, Lin Yun, Ma Fengping, Chen Jie, Zhang Donglan, Pan Lei, Sheng Shiqin, Ci Lingling, Wang Lulu, Guo Jun, Huang Shuying, Shi Ran, Zhao Manli, He Xin, Zhang Yan, Hou Jingyan, Xu Lihong, Luo Yi, Section Chief Liu of the Management Section, and Political Commissar Li.

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. "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 Gong practitioners.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2009/5/4/200186.html