(Clearwisdom.net)

My experience at the detention center and Beijing transfer station for prisoners of forced-labor

As soon as I entered the detention center, I saw a Falun Gong practitioner coming in with black and blue marks all over her body. Her head had been struck so severely that there were open wounds, which later required several stitches. Because she didn't tell her name, she was tortured by the female police from Qianmen Police Station for the entire night; they especially beat on the sensitive private areas of her body.

Because another practitioner didn't cooperate with the police, she was tied up with her feet and hands together. They put a steel helmet on her head, and forced her to squat on her heels. In such a position, she could only move bit by bit. In order to resist the persecution, she went on a hunger strike, and ended up being violently force-fed by the police. She was in great agony and was later sent to the hospital.

The detention center adopted a means of "involving others" to torture Dafa practitioners. As long as someone did the exercises, the police would threaten other inmates in the same cell that if he continued doing the exercises, they would all not be allowed to sleep, and must sit on the bench. The police adopted these base means in order to promote hatred against Falun Gong, and make use of other inmates to swear at, beat, and torture Dafa practitioners. They tried everything in an attempt to shake practitioners' righteous thoughts.

At the Beijing transfer station for prisoners of forced labor, as soon as you enter the door, you are asked to squat on your heels with both hands behind your head. Your eyes are not allowed to look around, and if you don't cooperate, you are shocked with electric batons. As to those who fail to lower their heads enough by their standards, all female police, from both sides would come up to them, pull their hair and press their heads down very hard. For those who refused to write the "guarantee statement" for giving up cultivation, the police would immediately poke their faces with pens. The team leaders of the police team shocked Dafa practitioners with electric batons many times and threatened them by saying, "If you don't write them, we have a lot of means with which to deal with you guys. They located a few prisoners from the forced labor camp to press practitioners' fingers down in order to get their fingerprints on the "guarantee statements." If practitioners don't cooperate with them, those prisoners would beat them up until they lost consciousness. [This guarantee statement forces the practitioner to sign a paper that states s/he is remorseful for ever having practiced Falun Dafa, will never go to Beijing to appeal, will no longer associate with other practitioners and will give up the practice.]

After we entered the yard, we were told to squat on our heels by the walls, with both hands behind our heads. We weren't allowed to talk. The "prisoners on guard" standing beside and watching us beat us at will. We had to squat on our heels for two hours straight until the police had enough sleep and woke up. A sixty-year-old Falun Gong practitioner refused to write the "guarantee statement" so the police had her squat on her heels with both hands behind her head. The "prisoner on guard" beside her was watching her, and as long as she moved, the prisoner on guard would beat her. It was midnight and she was still not allowed to go to bed, but had to squat on her heels. When the sun started appearing they became afraid that it would be seen by others, so the police dragged her into a guardroom. By then she couldn't move at all.

At night, when bedtime came, except for the prisoners on guard, all the other people had to lie down, especially Dafa practitioners, who were separated and squeezed in between a few prisoners. All practitioners had to lay down on the floor.

A Falun Gong practitioner clarifying the truth to the police was forced into a spread-eagle position. She wasn't allowed to drink water or use the bathroom. At noon, the prisoner on guard stuffed steamed buns into her mouth, which she refused, so they beat her on the chest.

One Falun Gong practitioner refused to write the "guarantee statement", and was forced to say "report, here, yes" 200 times while repeatedly squatting down and standing back up. If she went a little bit slow, she would incur a terrible beating. (Note: Practitioners in such situations must strengthen their righteous thoughts. No matter what the situation, do not cooperate with the evil's demands, orders, or what it instigates.)

At the transfer station, we had to work non-stop: packaging big bags, wrapping up chopsticks. Because we were deprived of having showers, our clothes all stunk. We were only allowed three minutes to go to the washroom, and to do some personal cleaning at night. Some people had terrible difficulty with their bowel movements. Even so, some people couldn't stay away from being beaten by prisoners on guard.

As soon as people arrive at Xinan Forced Labor Camp, they aren't allowed to join any team; instead, they have to stand in the hallway or by the furnace room, and read the policies stipulated by the forced-labor camp and No.23 bylaw from the Ministry of Justice. Then they had 4 or 5 collaborators [former Falun Gong practitioners who have gone astray due to brainwashing and torture] act as "teaching assistants" to carry out forced brainwashing in the early evenings and late nights. Initially, they pretended as if they were very patient in talking and in doing things, in order to confuse Falun Gong practitioners so that they could relax their vigilance. As a matter of fact, their faked kindness was only on the surface; fundamentally, this is a vicious means of brainwashing.

At night, Falun Gong practitioners were deprived of sleep. As long as they appeared sleepy, the "teaching assistants" would poke them in order to prevent them from falling sleep. When the "teaching assistants" were bored with poking them, they would then make them stand. After a few days, if practitioners didn't compromise, they would be punished by standing, squatting and "flying" (with the person's head down, his back bent all the way down by the wall, and both arms going up above the person's back and against the wall). All the penalties were administered with police team leader's tacit permission.

Due to the fact that Dafa practitioner Yang Xiaojing steadfastly held onto her belief, the team leader had other prisoners watch her all the time, and didn't allow her to have any contact with anyone. She was made to stand facing the wall, and was only allowed three to four hours sleep every day.

Under such pressure, Li Xiuling compromised with the evil, but later came to realize that she had made a mistake in her cultivation path. Then she was locked up by the police team leader and punished by being made to squat and stand. As a result, her legs and feet swelled up.

Because Zhang Guiling firmly cultivated Dafa, she was forced to stand facing the wall in the administration area every day. She was only allowed a few hours' sleep everyday, and often ended up falling asleep on the ground. Later, she was sent to the intensive training team, where she received inhuman torture. The muscles in her heels even started to tear apart.

Liu Yan didn't cooperate with the police at the transfer station. She refused to wear prisoner's clothes and was beaten and had wounds all over her body. In such a condition, she was having difficulty getting about. After she came to the forced-labor camp, she was locked up in the administration area and punished with standing and squatting. Four "teaching assistants" took turns watching her and didn't allow her to sleep; they even beat her, and had her pull out weeds under the hot baking sun.

Since Lu Kuan was abducted into the brainwashing class, the police still couldn't succeed after three attempts to brainwash him. Then, they sent him to the transfer station, where he was forced to squat for one day and one night, and was tied up on the bed for one day. After he came to Xinan forced-labor camp, he suffered a lot, and then was transferred to the intensive training team. Under the high pressure, he wrote the "guarantee statement," but after he came to realize his mistake, he regained his righteous thoughts again. His detention term was extended for ten months.

Here, Falun Gong practitioners don't just endure physical pain, but also mental agony. The "teaching assistants" try to brainwash Falun Gong practitioners with distorted sayings and thoughts everyday. In order to control us, the guards wouldn't allow us to communicate with each other, and required each team to set up a so-called "supervision committee," choosing those whom they considered to be trustful as committee members. Actually, the people who were chosen even said: "What 'supervision committee,' it's just an spy network designed to monitor your every move and give reports to the police team leader."

Under the dual pressure of both physical and mental torture, a practitioner by the name of Zhang Airu, who was very enthusiastic and always helpful to others, suffered a mental collapse. However, the police didn't stop there. They had a "teaching assistant" by the name of Liu Xiaoyao closely watch her, which led to the further deterioration of Zhang Airu's situation. Later, she was bailed out for treatment.

The persecution means adopted at Xinan intensive training team at the forced-labor camp are very brutal. Even though practitioners who were detained there suffered all kinds of torture, they still held onto their righteous beliefs and didn't compromise with the evils. The policemen sent them to the intensive training team and had them suffer all kinds of inhuman torture. In each room there are monitors. No matter whether you are eating, drinking, using the toilet, or sleeping, you are monitored. They have stipulated many punishing positions for the practitioners, such as: "frog jump," standing in a military position (for a few hours or a whole day), walking while squatting on the heels, push-ups and "Riding a bicycle" (both arms positioned as if holding the handle-bar of a bicycle, both legs separated and squatted half way), and "Riding an airplane", etc.

Dafa practitioner, Du Fenrong, who was detained at No. 4 team, cried out "Falun Dafa is good!" during the raising of the national flag ceremony in the morning. At that instant, a few policemen covered her mouth, and then violently broke her lower jaw . She was beaten while being dragged on her way to the intensive training team. There, she suffered more severe torture than at the No. 4 team. Dafa practitioner Chen Fengxian was forced to stand motionless in the yard during the freezing winter and under the baking sun during the hot summer. One time, a "teaching assistant" hit her on her chest to the point where she nearly lost consciousness. Since she was transferred to the intensive training team, she was only allowed two hours' sleep every day, and was punished by being made to stand for hours on end on the stairs. After she stood for a while, she would feel sleepy, and then would fall down the stairs; she ended up having black and blue marks all over her body. The "teaching assistants" standing nearby would laugh at her and mock her. Since she had to stand for such a long while and wasn't allowed to sit down, sometimes, she couldn't stand any more and sat on the ground. At this, the collaborators and "teaching assistants" would immediately pour water on her. The water would soak her clothes; however the collaborators still didn't feel they received their just revenge, so they continued to force her to mop the floor in the hallways, and clean the furnace room and bathroom. They continuously kicked, beat, and swore at her, and her detention term was extended for 10 months.

I have personally witnessed how some who wanted to continue in cultivation were brutally tortured and brainwashed by the police, then turned into the "teaching assistants" who assisted the police to do evil deeds. Whenever people came for an interview or inspection, the team doesn't arrange any labor; rather, it would organize prisoners to study or even play movies. Sometimes, they even organize prisoners to go outside to partake in outdoors activities.

Phone number of Beijing No.5 female labor camp: 011861060278899 ext 5501

Policemen participating in the persecution:

Wei Xiuhong
Du Cuijing
Team leader Zhang Yongxian

Posting date: 9/5/2003
Original article date: 9/4/2003
Category: Eye Witness Accounts
Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2003/8/14/55620.html

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