Heartless Practices Carried Out at Xindian Women's Forced Labour Camp in Shanxi Province During 2010

Xindian Women's Forced Labour Camp in Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province, is a horrific place, where the communist regime persecutes practitioners. Many of the vicious thugs and the brutal tortures they have subjected practitioners to have been exposed on the Internet. Division 3, where practitioners were abused, was disbanded on March 17th, 2010, and over 40 detained practitioners were transferred to eight cells in Division 1. Afterwards, Division 1 contained as many as 120 detainees, and Liu Zhongmei was the division head.

Division 1, a unit dedicated to intensified abuse of practitioners, was formed on June 18th, 2010. At least 19 determined practitioners were kept in this unit.

Among these 19 practitioners, 7 were from Beijing and all of them were arrested leading up to the Olympic Games. They are: Sun Guizhi (63 years old), Zhuang Shuling (55), Wang Rong (55), Sun Shanxiang (62), Wang Xinrong (68), Wang Xinhua (64), and another practitioner whose name is unknown.

The other 12 practitioners were from Shanxi Province. They are: An Xiaorun (56 years old, Yuncheng City), Wang Hongxia (36), Liu Jinxiang (44, Taiyuan City), Han Min (56, Ying County), Liu Lizhi (48, Taiyuan City), Zhang Xiuying (54), Ji Guozhen (62, Taiyuan City), You Liqing (40), Cao Qian (47, Xiaoyi City), Hou Zhifang (45, Datong City), Shi Guiying (52, Taiyuan City), and Zhang Yayun (42, Xiaoyi City).

The intensified unit is located in the activity room in Division 1. Various methods of torture are used. Practitioners are forced to sit on a small stool or to stand at attention like a solider, with both feet tightly together and without moving for extended periods of time. They are not allowed to walk around or talk to each other. In addition, they are forced to watch videos or listen to recordings that slander Falun Gong, followed by being ordered to say things that criticise and slander themselves. Practitioners are frequently not allowed to go to sleep until after midnight, sometimes 1:00 a.m. The officials subject the practitioners to this for up to 17 hours a day in an attempt to “transform” [forcibly renounce Falun Gong] them.

The guards also order other inmates to watch, beat, and humiliate practitioners. These inmates include Ao Huimin (drug offender, from Hunyuan County in Shanxi Province), Guo Yijun (detained for prostitution), Xia Qiue, Li Chunmei, and Zhao Xiaohong. When practitioners tried to stop them, they said, “We are not beating you. We were correcting your posture and movements!”

Ms. Wang Xinrong (68) is a practitioner from Beijing. After being forced to sit on a small stool for a long time, she became very weak. One day after standing up, she immediately fell down. Someone helped her stand up and she vomited blood. Nevertheless, the next day the guards continued to torture her.

Ms. Wang Hongxia, 36, was not allowed to sleep for more than two weeks. When she first arrived in the forced labour camp, there was no money in her account and the guards did not allow others to help her. Once when Ms. Wang had her menstrual period, someone gave her a roll of toilet paper and a bag of instant noodles. At 9:00 p.m. that day, carrying a wooden club, guard Zhao Xi grabbed Ms. Wang and pulled her from one cell to another, demanding to know who gave her the items.

The guards often secretly beat and humiliate practitioners. After Ms. Wang Hongxia signed a statement renouncing Falun Gong, she was very weak because of the physical abuse. Nonetheless, guard Liu Zhongmei ordered her to read the “transformation” statement in front of all the detainees of the subdivision in a classroom. Liu Zhongmei then came up and slandered Falun Gong.

When 65-year-old Ms. Zhang Lianqing arrived there, she was immediately put in solitary confinement and deprived of sleep her first night. The next day, she was sent to Group 8, the group designated for intensified abuse. That night, as she began to do the sitting meditation, Guo Yijun, the inmate who was assigned to watch her, beat her with a wooden stick. Ms. Zhang's lower body and legs were bruised from the beating. In a mere 10 days, Ms. Zhang became obviously thinner and her complexion turned sallow as a result of the torture.

Once during assembly, Ms. Shi Guiying had difficulty putting her feet tightly together. The subdivision head, Shi Jian, saw this and kicked Ms. Shi and stomped hard on her feet. Within three months, Ms. Shi was put in solitary confinement for two and a half months. Every day, she was given only half a steamed bun to eat and allowed to use the toilet only once a day.

After putting her in solitary confinement, Liu Zhongmei handcuffed Ms. Shi behind her back, pulled her up, and hung her from the iron door, leaving her hanging there for the entire night. Ms. Shi's wrists became swollen and deformed.

Ms. Yu Chuanying, a Beijing practitioner in her 50s, had heart disease and could not make it to the dining hall to eat. Everyday someone brought her food. When Guo Yijun (in her 40s, detained for prostitution) was bringing food to Ms. Yu, she was seen many times adding an white unknown substance to it. Ms. Yu soon developed symptoms of dementia after eating. When someone asked Ms. Yu about this, she did not know anything was being put into her food. Not long after that, Ms. Yu was released on medical parole in September 2010.

Ms. Liu Ying, a newspaper journalist, and 54-year-old Ms. Lin Shumin were also from Beijing. Because of their belief, their terms were extended by three months and six months, respectively. They were not allowed to see each other during the detention.

Practitioners are forced to do manual labour on a daily basis. This includes making paper crafts, preparing interoffice envelopes, and packing moon cakes. Sometimes they have to work overtime in order to finish an urgent workload.

Xindian Labour Camp in Shanxi Province:

Division 1: 86-351-2785801, 86-351-2786561
Labour camp head: 86-351-2810888, 86-351-2810866, 86-351-4292111 (Home)
Political head: 86-351-2810811, 86-351-3159194, 86-351-4299895 (Home)
Deputy head: 86-351-2810822, 86-351-7235772

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2010/12/13/233578.html