Mr. Li Zhongwei Tortured in Fangqiang Forced Labour Camp in Jiangsu Province

Name: Li Zhongwei
Gender: Male
Age: Over 40
Address: Unknown
Occupation: Unknown
Date of Most Recent Arrest: Unknown
Most Recent Place of Detention: Fangqiang Forced Labour Camp
City: Yancheng
Province: Jiangsu Province
Persecution Suffered: Detention, sleep deprivation, torture, beatings, forced labour.

Mr. Li Zhongwei and I were both held in Fangqiang Forced Labour Camp. Mr Li was taken there during the second half of 2006, and for a year and a half, he was tortured physically and mentally.

All practitioners in the camp were put in the No.4 team. The guards from that team took practitioners, one at a time, from the entrance of the camp on the ground floor and marched them to the No.4 team on the second floor. The No.4 team specializes in being very cruel to Falun Gong practitioners. Each practitioner was physically and mentally tortured 24 hours a day by half a dozen prisoners. A team leader, a criminal appointed by the guards, was in charge. The practitioner would be tortured until he was agreed to "transform" [forcibly renounce Falun Gong] and renounce his belief. A variety of cruel tortures were used on the practitioners.

These methods include:
1. Sleep deprivation, with little or no sleep. The victim is forced to stand or squat for long periods of time, facing a wall. If the posture is slightly incorrect, the practitioner is kicked and beaten. Gu Suoqiang, a practitioner from Jintang, Changzhou, was forced to stand for five consecutive days and nights.
2. A practitioner would be forced to do all the cleaning for the team. They had to clean everyone's lunch box, empty and clean the cell toilet bucket, and mop the floor. The appointed prisoners that would watch over them would still find fault in their work and use any excuse to beat and swear at practitioners. Every practitioner was watched by two prisoners at all times. Practitioners were not allowed to speak to anyone, otherwise they would be severely tortured.
3. Creation of a horrible environment in which the practitioners had to live. This included not allowing practitioners to go to the toilet. Lu Ton from Suzhou was forced by Ning Jun, the team leader, to soil his clothes.
4. If practitioners still refused to give up their belief, the guards would lock them in the "recovery building," a sealed place used especially for torturing practitioners, to continue intensive mental and physical torture. The guards would praise, reward, or reduce prison terms for the group leaders who persecuted practitioners, according to the "results" their tactics produced.

The drug offenders' team leader, Jiang Guozhang, was very ruthless his treatment of practitioners. In his own words, "The guards do not need to encourage me to 'work.' I can think of all kinds of torture methods, and then I order team members to use them on the practitioners. I am relaxed and pleasant, so long as nobody is killed." He has persecuted many practitioners, including Liu Nai from Lianyungang City, who was on the edge of death. As a result of this torture, Jiang Guozhang's prison term was reduced by eight months.

Xu Yuhong, in his late 20s, was an instructor for the No.4 team. He was sinister and virulent. Every practitioner in there has witnessed his evilness. He had direct responsibility for the persecution of Mr. Li Zhongwei.

Mr. Li was quite healthy when he was transferred to the No.4 team. He was previously held in the No.1 and No.4 groups. When Xu Yuhong called Mr. Li to the office to try to make him write a guarantee statement to renounce Falun Gong, Mr. Li refused. So, Xu Yuhong instructed team leader Wang Xiang, who was imprisoned for larceny, to deprive Mr. Li of sleep and force him to sit on a plastic stool, not allowing him to stand or talk to anyone. Because of this unceasing pressure, Mr Li could not bear it any longer and wrote the guarantee statement against his will. Soon, he got an upset stomach and could not eat. Xu Yuhong forced Mr. Li to see the doctor, and Wang Xiang gave him drugs and forced him to continue writing. When Mr. Li refused, Xu Yuhong ordered Wang Xiang to force him write. Mr. Li could not eat and had to sit on the small stool. Once, Mr. Li stood up, and when Xu Yuhong saw it, he shouted at Wang Xiang. As punishment, Mr. Li was again deprived of sleep and forced to continue writing.

One morning Mr. Li's voice was hoarse, and he had a lot of phlegm. Xu Yuhong told Wang Xiang to force him to write a second statement. By now, Mr. Li could no longer walk as a result of torture. Mr. Li told Xu Yuhong that he would not write anymore and requested to be allowed medical treatment. Xu Yuhong obtained many types of medicine for Mr. Li's stomach. Wang Xiang forced him to take the medicine, forced him to write, and continued to deprive him of sleep.

When Mr. Li fell asleep again, he was seen by Xu Yuhong, the person on-duty, and he had his reward points deducted. Afterwards, the persecution became more severe. Mr. Li continually asked to be allowed to sleep, but Xu Yuhong always refused to let him.

Before the 2007 New Year's eve, a representative from Mr. Li's workplace came to visit him, but he was turned away by Xu Yuhong and Pan Yuehua, as they feared that others would see Mr. Li's condition. He had a head full of white hair, brought about by the severe torture, and had aged tremendously. Mr. Li was in his early 40s at the time.

At the end of August, 2007, in order to complete the "assessment" of those "transformed" as required by the Forced Labour Camp Bureau, Xu Yuhong ordered practitioners to draw x's on photocopied pictures of Teacher Li Hongzhi, the founder of Falun Gong. After Mr. Li complied with this order under duress, his health started to deteriorate more. Xu Yuhong again gave him more drugs.

In early September 2007, as Mr. Li was doing forced labour in the camp garden, his legs suddenly gave way and he could not walk. He stayed in Yancheng hospital for over ten days. The guards said he had a stroke. After he returned to the camp, the team leader ordered practitioner Li Jingang to look after him.

At the end of November 2007, Jiangsu Province Forced Labour Camp Bureau conducted an "assessment." Police Chief Hui Hongwei called Mr. Li to the office and tried to force him to renounce his belief, but Li solemnly refused. Then police secretary Wang Fei ordered him to renounce his belief, which again he would not do. On the morning of December 2nd, the "assessment" began. Mr. Li was sitting on the edge of the bed when Wei Hongwei, Wang Fei, Xu Yuhong, Chief Guo, and Zhu Kanglin went to him and ordered him go to the "assessment." Mr. Li replied, "I am not going." Wei Hongwei said, "Drag him out." The team leader and two prisoners tried to drag Mr. Li out, but Mr. Li tightly held to the bed frame. Then the team leader forced open his hands, and two prisoners dragged him out using all their strength.

Finally, they dragged him to the hall, forced him to sit on a stool, and tried to force him to do the "assessment." Mr. Li stood up and tried to walk away but was restrained by the prisoners. Wang Fei twice punched Mr. Li in the head. Mr. Li stood up again, and Tang said, "Drag him to the back." Prisoners then dragged Mr. Li away, and Wang Fei again punched him in the back of his head. Mr. Li shouted, and many people witnessed the whole process.

Wang Fei ordered Mr. Li to go to the office after the beating. When Mr. Li came out of the office, he went to sleep, ate nothing for the whole day, and at night he said he had a headache. On the second day, Xu Yuhong took him to the clinic to get pills for his headache. Mr. Li did not take the pills. He was released within two weeks.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2010/2/10/217852.html