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Practitioners Forced to Make Candles in Toxic Working Conditions at Longshan Labor Camp in Shenyang City (Photos) (Clearwisdom.net) Since July 2001, Longshan Labor Camp officials have
forced Falun Gong practitioners to make candles in various colors (other inmates
are also forced to do the work). The candles are exported and the labor camp
makes big profits from the cheap labor. Longshan Labor Camp received its first order for the wax-processing job in
mid July 2001. The elderly and weak Falun Gong practitioners were forced to make
plastic packing boxes for the candles in their monitored rooms. The majority of
Falun Gong practitioners were taken to a big hall near the entrance of the labor
camp to process and to pack the candles. Over a dozen colors were used, and each
of them gave off a strong smell of toxic chemicals. After a day's work,
practitioners are covered with wax crumbs and their clothes smell like the
chemicals. Many practitioners were pale, became dizzy and sick and lost their
appetite from inhaling the fumes. About 100 people are forced to do this work on a daily basis. The common
inmates can finish 80 to 90 boxes per person per day if done at a fast speed. The transparent glue used for sealing the box is toxic. Since one has to use
the fingers to press and seal, practitioners' fingers often stick to the box.
Sometimes this makes the skin peel off and stick on the box. Initially, the daily work hours were from 7:00 or 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. But
later on, the guards said that the containers were waiting to be filled for
delivery. So sometimes the work hours were extended to past midnight or even
around 1:00 a.m. or 2:00 a.m. Later, when there was not enough room in the big
hall, they moved the production line to the narrow hallways between the
monitored rooms. The monitored rooms were already poorly ventilated. Now, not
only were the monitored rooms full of chemical odors, but the hallways as well.
The long work hours and the toxic fumes made Falun Gong practitioners dizzy and
weak all over. For example, a practitioner named Ning in the 1st
brigade returned from the big hall and felt dizzy and weak. He lied on a bed and
could not get up. Once, an elderly Falun Gong practitioner turned pale and he
had to be helped back from the wax-processing hall. Apart from the slave labor products mentioned above, Longshan Labor Camp also
assembles/manufactures holiday decorations such as snowmen and snow flakes, etc.
In addition, they also make shoe soles and sew overcoats, etc. The work hours
for these products are even longer and the labor is more intense. 2004-2-17
Posting date: 3/5/2004 Yearly Archive Printer Version feedback@clearwisdom.net |