Exposing the Darkness of the Brainwashing in the Handan City Forced Labor Camp, Hebei Province

(Clearwisdom.net) In an attempt to brainwash Falun Gong practitioners, the Handan City Forced Labor Camp has resorted to the most devious measures. Amidst the cruel persecution of Falun Gong practitioners, it has used the most deceitful and malicious means.

Around April 2001, intent on forcing Falun Gong practitioners to write the so-called "repentance letters," [stating that the practitioner would give up practicing Falun Gong] the labor camp had adopted many extremely cruel and violent torture methods; including shocking with electric batons, handcuffing, and tying up with rope. To avoid being held responsible, the leaders in the labor camp divisions instigated specially trained inmates to forcefully "work" on the Falun Gong practitioners.

They even brought elderly parents of the practitioners to the labor camp and attempted to use the affection between family members as a tool to compel practitioners to give in. An old lady, whose last name is Li kneeled down in front of her son and pleaded, "Son, let's not be good people anymore. You always do good deeds. Yet you were sent to the labor camp. It's so unfair!" Both mother and son cried. Many more similar scenes have taken place here. Even so, the practitioners still persisted in their faith, and silently endured the misunderstandings of the family members and society, and the pains of being separated from their families.

Realizing that the above ploy was ineffective, the labor camp officials came up with another one. Wu Feng, a division leader in the labor camp stated, "As long as the Falun Gong practitioners refuse to write 'repentance letters,' all the inmates in the division are not allowed to eat or sleep." The angry inmates did not dare to speak out their fury. So they were deprived of food and sleep, having no alternatives but to follow the orders from the labor camp leaders. They begged the practitioners and asked them to write repentance letters, "Please write it even if it is against your consciousness. Otherwise, we are forbidden from eating or sleeping. Any violation of this order will make our jail terms extended. We know that you are all good people." After listening to their words, some practitioners cried and wrote the "repentance letters" against their will, while others remained clearheaded and unmoved.

Thereafter, the labor camp leaders let the inmates torture and persecute the practitioners (the leaders thought that in this way they would not be held responsible should any misfortune happen from the maltreatment) with various means including forbidding the practitioners to sleep, and forcing them to stand facing the wall, to bend their backs till their heads were pointing towards their feet, in the "ride an airplane" position. [In this torture method, the head is llowered down to its utmost limits until it cannot go down any further, while the hands are pulled uwardsp and held up to the highest point position. One is forced to keep in this position unchanged for a long time. The body in this position looks like the shape of an airplane, which is how this torture is named], or to stand as "riding on a horse" [In this torture method, one is made to stand with legs spread apart and kneel bent such that upper thighs are parallel to the ground]. One practitioner from Handan City was sent to the labor camp, initially very healthy and energetic. Later after experiencing the unlawful brainwashing and the physical torture, the practitioner suffered a great deal mentally and physically. As result, he became severely injured. After he was sent to a hospital, one of his legs had to be amputated. Yet the labor camp leaders claimed, against their own conscience, that his leg was lost due to practicing Falun Gong, although all the inmates there clearly knew that this resulted from the torture he received.

Another Handan City practitioner whose last name is Bu was tied to the column of a double-layer bunk bed; his body was fixed in a shape of a cross and his feet were above the floor. He was on the verge of death because of the torture. One practitioner named Li, from Ningjin, was beaten up so badly that his vertebra at the tail of his spine was smashed and fractured into pieces, which immediately resulted in paralysis of his lower limbs. Due to the beating, one practitioner from Shahe City suffered from internal injuries in his lung, stomach, and many other areas, which irrevocably lead to accumulation of fluid in his lungs. Due to the beatings, one practitioner from Nangong suffered from various injuries to his lower back and was unable to work. Many other practitioners there were wounded from the tortures and some were severely injured.

In July 2001, the Dafa practitioners there made it clear that they would no longer consider valid the "repentance letters" that they were forced to write under pressure. The labor camp leaders once again resorted to violent torture, and many practitioners were again beaten up, injured and maimed.

What is described above was what I personally experienced and saw.
Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2002/3/27/27344.html

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