(Clearwisdom net) The forced labor camps in China hold "special classes" to mentally torture Falun Gong practitioners by forcing them to view disparaging videos, read deceitful articles and listen to slanderous broadcasts every day. The purpose is to brainwash practitioners so they will give up their belief in Falun Gong. To meet the statistical target of "transformation," the guards force the practitioners to submit to weekly reviews and keep daily journals to report their progress in "transformation." Failure to comply with this requirement subjects the practitioners to further torment, which include beatings, sleep deprivation, and other physical punishments.

More than one hundred male practitioners between the ages of 20 and 60 years old are currently imprisoned in the Xinhua Forced Labor Camp. One of the imprisoned practitioners shared his experience in the camp as follows:

One day, during the "special class," a guard named Zhao asked practitioner A how he felt about the defamatory materials written by another guard, Yan Zhenggang. Practitioner A fearlessly responded that the materials were written with the single purpose of defaming Falun Gong. At the same time Practitioner A emphasized that Falun Gong is the most righteous belief system. Furious, Zhao went away. The same day, Zhao cursed Dafa in the evening assembly. He asked seven or eight people to strip practitioner A naked and shove him to the ground. One of the guards stomped his foot on the practitioner's head and another one choked his neck. The rest of them used a rope to tie him up. Then Zhao asked the guards to hoist the practitioner by his hands, which had been tied from behind, into the air. The rope cut deeply into practitioner A's skin and he bled, staining the rope. This cruel and violent torment made even the inmates gasp. Satisfied, Zhao laughed maliciously, "Now, anyone else want to try to talk back to me?" Practitioner B, who had witnessed the torture, bravely stood up and said, "The practitioner spoke the truth, that was all he did." Simply because practitioner B said this, he was forced to stand for several days in addition to being ordered to write a self-criticism report of 5,000 words. In the following days, Zhao kept repeating his death threats, "I am going to show you Falun Gong people what 'walking into the labor camp alive and being carried out of the camp on a stretcher' means."

The torture continues every day in China. Many of the imprisoned practitioners were outstanding employees in their work units, the main support of their families and responsible citizens in society. However, because they will not bow to the pressure to give up their belief in Falun Gong, they have experienced ruthless torture. They have lost their jobs; some are forced to leave their homes to avoid further persecution and some are imprisoned. They are beaten every day; some are so seriously battered that they die. The torture of Falun Gong practitioners happens in almost every part of China, but the forced labor camps are the most ruthless.

We appeal to kind-hearted people to extend their support to Falun Gong practitioners imprisoned in the labor camps.

Posting date: 8/5/2002
Original article date: 8/4/2002
Category: Eye Witness Accounts
Translated on 7/29/2002
Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2002/7/26/33866.html

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