Witnessing the Persecution of Falun Gong Practitioners in Masanjia Labour Camp

There are three groups in the Second Sub-Camp of Masanjia Labour Camp in Shenyang City, Liaoning Province, and they have been brutal as ever in carrying out their persecution of Falun Gong practitioners.

I. Buying Forced Labourers from Beijing

Before the 2008 Beijing Olympics, several thousand Falun Gong practitioners were arrested in Beijing and taken into forced labour re-education in Masanjia Labour Camp. Several hundred of them were detained in the Second Sub-Camp of Masanjia Labour Camp.

In addition to that, Masanjia Labour Camp bought detainees from the Beijing Labour Camp for several hundred yuan¹ each. These labourers include practitioners and others that were arrested by the police and taken to labour camps to fill their arrest quota.

II. Openly Beating and Money from Extorting Practitioners

The extortion of practitioners was conducted openly. We were told, “If you want to get red flags (which can reduce the labour re-education term), you must spend money.” The guards claimed that labour re-education meant punishment, and that it was too time consuming to reason with practitioners, so they go straight to physical violence. They also beat practitioners for money. If practitioners do not pay the bribes to the group or cell head, he can find a reason to beat them.

The guards also made practitioners pay money or lose basic rights. For example, without paying the group leader, practitioners would be banned from family visits. They openly said that it was because their salary was much lower than the guards in Beijing or Shanghai. Most of the guards took the illegal income for granted.

Right after I arrived in the newcomer group (the 6th Group), all of our belongings were taken by the cell head and his men. They often steal practitioners' belongings with the excuse of “inspecting” them. Right after that, we were forced to sit in the hallway. If the cell head disliked someone, he would punch and kick the victim immediately. The guards would not do anything even if they witnessed it. Sometimes practitioners reported to the guards that the cell head beat people. The guards would say, “We cannot do anything. Otherwise, the cell head would lose their authority.” The reality is that the guards were bribed by the cell heads.

III. Restricting the Use of Water, Backed up by Torture

The water tap used by the Second Sub-Camp had a bad smell. It was said that it was because the well was too shallow. Several inmates were sick due to lacking potassium. The three groups share a small electric water heater, which can only provide three or four bottles of hot water, and we were not allowed to get hot water whenever we wanted.

There was a practitioner named Li Hailong from Beijing. One night, he got a bowl of hot water without permission and was punished. All of the inmates were gathered in a large room. Some inmates sat on the beds that were connected together. The victim squatted in the middle. Usually several cell heads beat the victim together. They used shoes or wooden sticks to beat the face and head of the victims. The group leaders usually do not do anything to them directly. I saw one inmate, after witnessing two people going through this kind of torture. His face was pale and he almost passed out. One month after he was beaten, Li Hailong's face was still bruised. When he was in the dispatching centre in Beijing, Li Hailong refused to write statements giving up his belief in Falun Gong. He was punished by a torture called the “meat bun.” The victim sits in the centre, while four people box him in tightly. The victim has to urinate into a pail and cannot get up for any reason, while those around him are rotated in and out in shifts. Li Hailong was tortured like this for three days and three nights.

Practitioner Li Laifang was beaten by three or four cell heads in the hallway. He shouted, “Falun Gong is good! Torture is illegal.” As a result, Li Laifang was punished with “strict control” and was handcuffed to a metal bed for several months. Practitioner Sun Yi refused to do the forced labour. The group leader then beat him. Sun Yi shouted, “The police are beating people!” The guards said while beating him, "Go ahead and shout. No one outside of this wall can hear you.”

There was a doctor named Zheng Xujun held at the labour camp. Dr. Zheng was arrested on June 4th, 2008, and taken to the Masanjia Labour Camp. While he was in the Beijing Dispatching Centre, Zheng Xujun's back was injured because the guards there shocked him with electric batons. Right after he came to Masanjia Labour Camp, his injuries had not recovered yet, and he couldn't turn his body at night. On the morning of August 8th, 2008, cell head Liu Shiguo turned Zheng Xujun in to group leader Han Zhenfu, because Zheng did not pay him a bribe. Han Zhenfu whipped him fiercely with a wooden stick and did not stop until he broke three such sticks. In the end Zheng Xujun's head was covered with bruises.

IV. Forced Labour Products Sold to Europe and North America

When I first arrived at Masanjia Labour Camp, we had to work for 14 to 15 hours per day. According to some people who stayed there longer, there was once an urgent order from abroad, and detainees were only allowed to sleep for a total of six hours in three days. At that time, most of the products made by practitioners were sold to Europe and North America.

V. Poor Food

The main food in the cafeteria was vegetable leaf soup and a kind of bun made with cornmeal that is usually used as feed. There was very little actual vegetable in the soup. While we were in the newcomer group, there was even less vegetable in the soup. Once, I checked and found that the soup we were given for lunch and dinner had less than three cabbage leaves in total, and there was no oil at all. A practitioner named Chen Xue was from Wuhan City. While he was on a business trip to Beijing and stayed in a hotel, the police searched his room and found that his computer had some materials about Falun Gong. He was taken to a forced labour camp for two years. On June 4th, 2008, he was taken to Masanjia Labour Camp. Because of the long working hours and poor food, one morning he passed out and fell to the ground.

Note

1. "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/2011/1/13/234824.html