(Clearwisdom.net) In 2002 and the end of 2003, Masanjia Forced Labor Camp held two "Harsh Attack" campaigns targeting detained Falun Gong practitioners. The labor camp carried out violent brainwashing and torture against the practitioners. Many practitioners who refused to give up Falun Gong were injured, disabled and mentally tormented. Some severely injured practitioners died soon after being sent home.

On December 9, 2002, Liaoning Province organized the so-called "Brainwashing Assistance Group". They got assistance from the 610 Office and public security bureau from each city. Assistance also came from former Falun Gong practitioners who had gone astray due to brainwashing and persecution. The group came to stay in Masanjia Forced Labor Camp solely to torture determined Falun Gong practitioners. Every day from early morning until late at night, the TVs kept broadcasting programs slandering and attacking Falun Dafa. Such brainwashing propaganda lasted for more than a month.

During the over-one-month "Harsh Attack," the brigade heads were not allowed to go home. The brigade heads and all officers at lower levels were in charge of the first round of the persecution of practitioners. The practitioners who would not compromise with them were sent over to the "Brainwashing Assistance Group," which was in charge of the second round of persecution. There were cases where some practitioners were directly sent to the "Brainwashing Assistance Group." The brigade heads of Masanjia Forced Labor Camp brazenly claimed "No single practitioner can escape from here without being transformed."

The methods of persecution include:

1) Forcing a practitioner to stand or squat down for a prolonged period of time. Some practitioners were forced to stand or squat for five consecutive days and nights.

2) Electric shocking of a practitioner's chest, inner thighs, bottoms of the feet, palms and hands.

3). Hanging up a practitioner on a heating pipe with both hands tied together, and toes barely touching the ground. The heating pipe was made so hot that it burned the practitioner's hands and left big blisters. The burned practitioner was sent to the labor camp's clinic, where the blisters were stabbed open with needles, leaving astonishing scabs. Some practitioner's arms were disabled from the torture and they were unable to raise their arms for more than one year.

4). Stripping off a practitioner's clothes and hanging her up on a heating pipe with the feet above the ground, and hitting the practitioner with big wooden board. The practitioner's arms were disabled and unable to move.

5). Depriving practitioners of sleep for more than one month. Some practitioners were tortured to the point of mental collapse. The perpetrators spread rumors and lied to the public, saying that the practitioner went insane because of practicing Falun Gong. They even forced others to fake evidence to prove that the practitioner was insane before being detained. They used it to try to shirk their responsibility.

6). Using a special electric handcuff to hang up a practitioner to the heating pipe. After locking a practitioner in an isolated cell, the brigade head beat up the practitioner at will.

7). Hanging up practitioners with their hands cuffed behind their backs. The practitioner's hands are tied behind his back with one hand over the shoulder and the other hand against the lower back. With both feet off the ground, one is hung on the heating pipe with the handcuffs. Both hands and arms will soon lose feeling and go numb.

8). Freezing. Only allowing practitioners to wear a very thin layer of clothes. In the winter, the practitioners were forced to stand in the shade to be frozen for a whole day.

9). Tying the legs (this method came from the Jinzhou "Brainwashing Assistance Group"). They force the practitioner to sit on the ground with both legs crossed. The legs are tied up with ropes. Both hands are cuffed and then the practitioner was hung up on the heating pipe. Some practitioners' hands were cuffed behind the back as described in item 7 above. The practitioners were tortured like this for 12 consecutive hours. Some practitioners were exhausted and vomited blood, but the perpetrators kept on torturing them, forcing them to stand, squat, or sit with legs crossed. Some "collaborators" cruelly stomped on practitioners' legs.

Most of the members of the "Brainwashing Assistance Group" were male guards from forced labor camps of other cities. The group had several collaborators. Some members did the torture of "tying the legs" on practitioners, forced practitioners to sit in the lotus position, cuffed a practitioner's hands behind his back with one hand over the shoulder and the other hand against the lower back, and slandered Falun Dafa's founder. Some members used 3-inch-long needles to stab practitioners' arms, severely injuring their arms until they were unable to move. Some practitioners were forced to wear humiliating hats while being abused. Some were forced to squat for several consecutive days and nights. To use the toilet, the practitioners were forced to "duck walk" to the toilet by walking in a squatting position. One practitioner was locked in an isolated cell and got frostbite in his toes.

After the "Harsh Attack," the practitioners who yielded to the persecution were forced to do Tai Chi exercises. Brigade head Fang Yehong kept the brainwashing session running at the same time. Fang said that: "Practitioners' deaths caused by brainwashing would be counted as committing suicide and had nothing to do with Masanjia Forced Labor Camp. The labor camp had a death quota and it was no big deal to have some practitioners die." The practitioners who yielded under torture were awakened later. When such practitioners declared that they would continue to practice Falun Gong, their terms were extended by three to six months.

Because of the hard work of exposing the persecution done by the practitioners who were outside the labor camp, the police and "Brainwashing Assistance Group" in Masanjia Forced Labor Camp had some restraint of their behavior in the second "Harsh Attack" at the end of 2003, and were not so rampant as they were in the 2002 "Harsh Attack."

In mid October 2003, Masanjia Forced Labor Camp launched another round of "Harsh Attack." In November 2003, all cities' 610 Offices in Liaoning Province and public security bureaus had a meeting in Masanjia Forced Labor Camp. On December 5, 2003, the "Brainwashing Assistance Group" came to the labor camp again and started another round of persecution of Falun Gong practitioners.

The persecution methods used included: depriving practitioners of sleep for more than one month (every ten days or half month, the practitioner was occasionally allowed to take a 4-hour nap), repeatedly sending practitioners to brainwashing sessions, and forcing practitioners to sit with legs tied and crossed. Some brigades only allowed practitioners to sleep for four hours every day for one month. The practitioners were forced to attend brainwashing sessions in the daytime. Some practitioners were forced to wear banners with slogans against Falun Dafa and its founder. Some perpetrators put many such banners together into a square and forced the practitioners to sit inside it. They also hung up the banners on the wall and forced the practitioners to stand facing the wall.

The "Brainwashing Assistance Group" was invited by Masanjia Forced Labor Camp and the group would come whenever the camp needed it. Whenever police from Masanjia sent a practitioner over to the group, the group was ordered to brainwash the practitioner. The group's members used the following tactics: forcefully tying up the practitioner's legs, slandering the founder of Falun Gong, torturing with beatings and electric shocks, and misleading the practitioner by twisting the meanings of the principles of Falun Dafa.

Compared with the 2002 "Harsh Attack," there were some differences. After the brainwashing, the perpetrators added a quiz section. They, including Fang Yehong, forced every practitioner to answer the quiz alone in front of them. Some examples of the questions on the quiz were: Is it right to be transformed? Will you still practice Falun Gong if you are released? And, comment on the "Brainwashing Assistance Group." They tried to cover their crimes by forcing the practitioners to say that the brainwashing was right.

The so-called "directly managed team" of Masanjia Forced Labor Camp was extremely vicious. During the "Harsh Attack" at the end of 2003, all the determined practitioners who refused to be transformed were sent to the "directly managed team," where the practitioners were subjected to all kinds of appalling and despicable torture.

In both "Harsh Attack" in 2002 and 2003, the perpetrators threatened the practitioners that if they would not be transformed this time, the practitioners would be sent to Dabei Prison, or Daxibei (notorious for its harsh living conditions) to do heavy labor. In the "Harsh Attack" periods, the labor camp stopped forcing the practitioners to do hard labor. They broadcast slanderous programs against Dafa and its founder on TV in every cell all day long. They also forced the practitioners who yielded to the persecution to read statements denouncing Falun Gong in front of everyone. If they refused, they would not be allowed to return to their brigade.

Every year after the "Harsh Attack," the practitioners were forced to do Tai Chi exercises. If they refused, the practitioners would be cuffed and hung up on heating pipes, including elderly women. The perpetrators deprived the practitioners of sleep as long as 20 days, until the practitioners had symptoms of nausea, vomiting, fever, dizziness, and being unable to eat food. Sometimes they cuffed the practitioners' hands behind their backs, tied up their legs to force them to sit in lotus position, or stuffed the practitioners' mouths with dirty rags. They would not stop the torture until the practitioners gave up. If they refused to give up, the guards would extend the practitioners' terms using the excuse of the practitioners violating the labor camp regulations and discipline.

The hard labor that Masanjia Forced Labor Camp forced the practitioners to do is harmful, and done in a toxic environment that affects women's ability to become pregnant. Most practitioners had symptoms of labored breathing, itchy skin, dizziness and nausea.

December 27, 2004