Persecution at the Huhehaote Women's Forced Labour Camp in Inner Mongolia

The Huhehaote Women's Forced Labour Camp held more than one hundred Falun Gong practitioners by the end of 2009.

Since August 2009, the camp's Division No. 2 has become the location used for persecuting Falun Gong practitioners. The Beijing Forced Labour Deployment Department sent 22 practitioners to the Huhehaote labour camp in mid-October 2009. They were placed in three rooms on the third floor of the classroom building. Doctors were also deployed to the third floor. When several drug offenders went to see doctors at this clinic, they overheard them saying that those practitioners who had arrived from Beijing had suffered even more serious illnesses as a result of severe abuse and torture in detention.

The division officials declared in early 2009 that Falun Gong practitioners would no longer be sent to labour camps starting January 2009, but it was an exception this time to receive more practitioners from Beijing. These practitioners coming from Beijing were probably arrested prior to October 1st [when the communist regime celebrated its 60-year anniversary of taking power in China].

More than ten practitioners refused to wear identification badges, and many of them had their sentences extended by ten days. Ms. Wang Xiufang had her term extended by 20 days, and Ms. Zhang Xiao by one month.

Practitioners Ms. Zhao Ping, Ms. Zhu Junying and Ms. Zhou Guoying suffered from high blood pressure, which was brought about by long-term detention and having to perform hard labour for long hours. Sometimes, their blood pressure was over 200. The labour camp officials refused to release them, yet were afraid of being held responsible for their condition. Therefore, they forcibly measured those practitioners' blood pressure and force-fed them with drugs. If anybody refused to comply, the guards would order several drug offenders to violently conduct blood pressure readings and then they pinched practitioners' noses so that they could forcibly administer drugs to them.

This forced drug intake caused practitioners to experience adverse reactions and discomfort. Ms. Zhao Ping suffered from heart problems, such as irregular and rapid heart rate. The guards later on secretly put the drugs in the food of these practitioners. Ms. Zhao Ping held a seven-day hunger strike in October to protest the maltreatment, and was sent to a hospital for emergency treatment. She was diagnosed with high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes. Several days of hospitalisation costs over 4,700 yuan. These practitioners are still being held in custody.

Seventeen practitioners jointly submitted a petition titled "Refusing to accept the labour camp verdicts" to the Xiaoheihe District Procuratorate in September 2009. The petition analysed from the legal perspective the illegality of subjecting Falun Gong practitioners to forced labour. Practitioners called upon the judicial system to treat the situation seriously, and asked them to pay attention to the petitions from Falun Gong practitioners, and unconditionally release all practitioners who have been sentenced to forced labour.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2010/2/20/218539.html