(Minghui.org) The persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China's forced labor camps is truly heinous. I would like to inform people about the physical and mental torture that practitioners suffer when imprisoned in the Gaoyang Forced Labor Camp. I must let people know the truth about how the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is using forced labor camps to persecute Falun Gong practitioners.
On January 6, 2001, guards grabbed my arms and legs and dragged me out of the cell. They covered my face with snow and when the snow melted, the water ran into my nose and mouth, making it difficult for me to breathe. They then carried me into a big room and threw me onto a carpet. They used two electric batons at the same time, to shock my limbs, face, and mouth. I was shaking. My face and mouth were badly burned. It took me a long time to recover after a layer of skin peeled off.
Torture re-enactment: Electric shock
When the guards got tired and took a break, one of them stepped on my bare feet, deliberately pushing his leather shoes back and forth, so that the skin on my toes was rubbed off.
Torture re-enactment: Stepping on bare feet
After being tortured for an hour, I was taken to a storage room with no windows. I was handcuffed to two iron rings on the floor, with my body tightly affixed in one position so I could not move. My legs were in agonizing pain. Ten hours later, they took me back to the cell. During the night, the guards came to test my head and nose to see if I was still alive.
The labor camp started a “forceful transformation training class” (brainwashing session) in May 2001. Several sessions were held outside of the labor camp, and dozens of practitioners were sent to each session. If anyone was “transformed,” guards sent the person back to the labor camp. Those who hadn't been “transformed” had to remain in the class to continue undergoing brainwashing. Dozens of us had been through one week's intensified brainwashing, but none of us were “transformed.”
One day after dinner, we were all handcuffed, taken to the storage place, and then handcuffed to the rings on the floor. The guards deprived us of sleep for three days. Because I was forced to half-squat for a long time, my legs were injured and took two years to recover.
The practitioners who were not “transformed” were only allowed restricted toilet use. Because I had diarrhea, I didn't have a chance to use the toilet in time, so my underwear was often soiled. I had to put many tissues in my underwear and replace them when I was allowed to use the toilet.
One practitioner whose last name was Zhang didn't cooperate with guards. One day guard Liu Huili forbid Ms. Zhang from using the toilet between 5:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. In order to protest the persecution, we staged a collective hunger strike. We recited Falun Dafa articles together. Guard Liu Huili ordered the inmates to put dirty rags into Ms. Zhang Xiumei's mouth. At one point they ran out of rags, and guard Liu Qian ordered inmates to use the filthy towels used to clean feet to cover our mouths. Because of the long-term hunger strike, some practitioners lost weight. One practitioner weighed only about 35kg (77 lbs). I lost about 10kg (22 lbs).
Before the 16 th National Party Congress in 2002, the labor camp launched an intensive “transformation” event as a “Tribute to the 16 th Congress.”
Several guards were assigned to work on each practitioner, and each practitioner was held in a separate cell. Various forms of torture were utilized. One day in December, guard Li Quanying, who was in charge of transforming me, beat my head with her fists, and viciously slapped my face. Li said, “I want you to see how strong my fists are, as I learned martial arts before.” The next day, a prison doctor examined my body and did an electrocardiograph. I was diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat and facial palsy with bloodshot eyes. In addition, there were hematomas inside my head. I was given injections for two weeks and had to take medicine for a month. This continued into the new year. I was then returned to the group cell.
In April 2003, the labor camp forced us to listen to a broadcast which defamed Falun Dafa. When I shouted, “Falun Dafa is good!” guard Ye Shuxian grabbed my hair and dragged me out of the room. The guards cuffed my hands to an iron bed, tied my legs separately, and slapped my face. After beating me for several hours, I was taken to the inmates' cell and locked onto a bed frame. Even during at night when I slept, one of my hands was still locked to a bed frame.
A few days later, the labor camp initiated a torture event. They intensified “transforming” some practitioners. I was taken to a single cell, where there was a wood panel in the middle of the room. I had to sit in the center of the panel and my hands were cuffed separately onto the wood. My legs were stretched straight. I was tortured for seven days and nights, and was not allowed to close my eyes. They worked in two shifts. One person was responsible for brainwashing me, and collaborators helped her. This intensified brainwashing went on around the clock, seven days a week. As soon as my eyes closed, they shoved paper sticks under my eyelids to hold them open.
One time after the torture, political head Hu told me, “Don't think you are remarkable. As our supervisors said, 'If a Falun Gong practitioner is beaten to death, it will be classified as suicide.' Your body will be immediately cremated. Then we will inform your husband to come and collect your ashes. He'll have to pay the cremation cost.” At that moment, I understood that “beating to death will be labeled as suicide” was Jiang Zemin's order.
The above is only part of the persecution I encountered in Gaoyang Forced Labor Camp.
The following is a list of the the unlawful detention terms I was subjected to for refusing to renounce my belief in Falun Dafa,
March 2000: Held at Fanshan Detention Center in Beijing for three days. July 2000: Held at Chaoyang Detention Center in Beijing for nine days. March 2002: Held at Tiananmen Police Station in Beijing for one day. March 2000: Detained at Zhangjiakou Detention Center in Hebei Province for 15 days. October 2000: Held at Hongqiliu Police Station in Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province for six days. November 2000: Held at Zhangjiakou Detention Center in Hebei Province for 50 days. March 2000: Held for 30 days in my work unit. December 2000 to September 2001: Sentenced to one year at Gaoyang Forced Labor Camp, in Hebei Province. March 2002 to January 2004: Sentenced to two years in Gaoyang Forced Labor Camps. October 2001: Held in the Bureau of Justice Brainwashing Class, Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province for 22 days.
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