By a Dafa practitioner in Henan Province, China

Four squads of prisoners are held in the Shibalihe Forced Labor Camp in Zhengzhou, Henan Province. Practitioners have been illegally imprisoned there since the persecution against Falun Gong began. Starting at the beginning of 2001, when Jiang's regime further escalated the persecution of Falun Gong, hundreds of beds were added, but the labor camp was still not large enough to hold all of the Falun Gong practitioners. To make room for more, the labor camp released some of the criminal inmates ahead of schedule.

The Shibalihe Forced Labor Camp closely followed the Jiang regime's call to ever more brutally persecute Falun Gong practitioners and fulfill the so-called "transformation quota." It was even selected as a model unit of the Department of Justice. Within less than two years, several tall buildings were built, and a lot of money was spent installing monitoring systems, even in the bathrooms, laundry rooms, and of course in the dormitories. In this manner all movements of Falun Gong practitioners could be monitored at any time.

The following acts are part of what is denoted "civilized management, and civilized enforcement."

Making use of practitioners' loved ones, the labor camp started to incorporate the practitioners' families in brainwashing. They have also instigated husbands to divorce their wives, old parents to kneel down in front of their children to beg them to give up the practice, and young children to cry in front of their parents, etc.

For example, there was one elderly couple in which the husband would go to visit the wife grudgingly each visiting day. The labor camp tried many times to convince him to assist them in brainwashing her, but failed. Privately, they told the husband, "Divorce her, or at least pretend to divorce her in order to make her see things our way." Following that, the husband stopped his visits for eight months. The guards kept needling the wife about it, asking why her husband no longer visited, and suggesting that he had probably met a younger woman in the meantime. They used many similar psychologically cruel means!

The labor camp also broadcasts videos slandering Falun Dafa to reinforce their brainwashing sessions, and they repeatedly read books defaming Falun Dafa to Dafa practitioners. Whenever the TV showed news or programs slandering Dafa, they forced Dafa practitioners to watch. If they refused, practitioners were dragged in front of the screen, beaten in the face, or pulled into the backyard for torture. The labor camp administration also set up a broadcasting station to broadcast persecution articles and lies designed to have practitioners "enlighten" along a wicked path.

Newly-arrived practitioners were not allowed to come in contact with steadfast practitioners, and were instead sent directly to a brainwashing class. Practitioners who had been arrested a second time were closely watched. The officials found it shocking that some practitioners who were previously considered to have been brainwashed successfully (some of these cases were even reported by CCTV [China Central TV Station]) started to practice Falun Gong again. During brainwashing sessions, groups of collaborators [former practitioners who have turned against Dafa due to brainwashing and torture] acting on the guards' orders spread devious lies and closely watched practitioners day and night. Their goals were to destroy Falun Gong practitioners both physically and spiritually.

Falun Gong practitioners often went on hunger strike to protest their illegal treatment. The administration ordered them to be brutally force-fed using chopsticks, spoon handles, or screwdrivers to pry open their mouths, which injured them badly in the process. Several people even constricted one practitioner's throat causing the practitioner to almost suffocate. If a Dafa practitioner refused to cooperate, they poured the noodle soup into the practitioner's collar or hat.

One common method of coercion was to involve other inmates in the torture of Dafa practitioners. For example, if a Dafa practitioner did not comply with the prison rules, then other inmates, the room leader, or the group leader would have credits deducted, while rewards were given to those who mistreated Falun Gong practitioners. As a result, the criminal inmates were very brutal to Falun Gong practitioners in order to earn the favor of the guards. One morning, while Dafa practitioner Zhang Haifeng was practicing on the upper bunk, the room leader, Su Baoxia, and others pulled Zhang Haifeng down, throwing him to the ground. Several people stripped off his clothes on the freezing ground and beat him until he was covered with wounds all over his body. They then left him to lie in the cold wind without his clothes.

Dafa practitioner Li Xia refused to give up her beliefs and was beaten by Liu Zhanying and others many times. They held her on the ground to kick and beat her, and step on her body. Li Xia was repeatedly tortured, until her legs became paralyzed and she could no longer control her bowels. She was left lying on the ground in the workshop for more than a year, not being able to take care of herself. The guards asked two other inmates to drag her to the dining area, but they never helped her feed herself. She turned into a mere skeleton, but the guards still maintained that she was just faking her paralyzed condition.

As the persecution of Falun Gong escalated, the police personally took part in the torture. Min Yumei and Wang Yulin beat and abused Dafa practitioners many times, and Dafa practitioner Sun Jiangyi was beaten by several inmates. He went to the duty room to report to the guard. Police officer Wang Yulin asked Sun Jiangyi his opinion about Falun Gong. When he replied that it is good, the officer slapped his face until it turned black and blue and was bleeding from the mouth.

From the end of 2001 through 2002, Shibalihe Forced Labor Camp hired nearly 40 additional guards to help torment hundreds of dedicated Dafa practitioners. They employed torture methods such as tying the victims with ropes, the use of electric batons, the "Tiger Bench" (1), burning victims with cigarettes, and exposing them to the burning sun, etc.

From December 24, 2001 to January 19, 2002 over 80 Dafa practitioners in two batches were locked down by the enforcement team of the labor camp. Each Dafa practitioner was locked alone in a room to write a "Guarantee Statement." (2) Those who refused were tortured 24 hours a day. They were not allowed to sleep, not allowed to lean against a wall, and not allowed to sit down. Some practitioners were shocked with electric batons, tied with ropes, forced to sit on the so-called "Tiger Bench," or forced to assume various painful positions. Especially during the night, excruciating screams were frequently heard from the tortured Dafa practitioners.

Zhang Xin, 24, was very vicious. Two policemen remarked, "One guard tied ropes to only a few people, and his hands ended up festering." From their conversation it can be seen how much brutal torture was exerted on the practitioners. Practitioner Ding Xiangying, who was at least 55 years old, had his cotton clothes removed by four policemen, and was left with only one thin sweater. They tightly tied his hands using ropes that cut deeply into his flesh so that his hands turned black and blue. After one hour, they released the rope for 10-15 minutes and then repeated the whole procedure. Especially during the release periods, he felt excruciating pain in his arms.

The following day, they tied him up with two ropes, one for the hands and another for the feet, leaving him only one stable position for standing. They prolonged the time periods during which he was tied up, and reduced the time periods of relief. Whenever he was tied and untied, the pain was extremely sharp. But Ding Xiangying still refused to give up his beliefs, and the police started using three ropes, stretching the last one from his neck to his feet. With his head almost touching the feet, his body was bent an angle of almost 180 degrees. He was forced to remain in this position for an extended duration of 2-3 hours.

To add to the torture, police officer Zhang Xin tightly pressed back Ding Xiangying's shoulders. Although it was snowing heavily outside, Ding Xiangying was drenched with sweat from the pain. His labored breaths and the guard's howls were both heard. After 22 days of hunger strike, from 3:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m. each day, and after having been continuously tortured for four days and nights, Ding Xiangying was hardly able to breathe. After being tied and untied, and pressured many times, Ding Xiangying's right arm became paralyzed from the pain. Three months later the muscles of his right arm became atrophied. Similar tortures occurred frequently in the labor camp. Some people lost the use of both arms, and some lost the use of both of their legs. The lines to the mess hall moved very slowly. Some people had to be supported by another person and others by two. Most of the invalids had been beaten and become injured or disabled.

3. Forced Heavy Labor

Prisoners had to get up at 6:00 a.m. everyday, and except for three meals, the rest of the time was taken up with work until 10:30 p.m. or after 11:00 p.m. If practitioners weren't able to finish their assigned task, they had to take the work back to the dormitory to finish, or else stay in the workshop to continue after midnight. Work hours averaged about 16-18 hours every day.

Due to long work hours, many of the inmates got sick. When Dafa practitioners asserted that the labor requirements were in violation of rules governing forced labor camps, they were told that the goal was not to leave them any time to think about the Fa.

4. Deceiving the Public with Lies

On June 28, 2000 the auxiliary educational team from the Masanjia Forced Labor Camp in Liaoning Province came to spread their deceitful propaganda among Dafa practitioners. The Shibalihe Forced Labor Camp organized their own auxiliary educational team, where several people surrounded a single practitioner and talked to him for the whole day. If they couldn't convince the person, they tried their luck with another one. They argued, created disturbances and threatened. Once someone compromised, they forced him/her to write the so-called "Four Statements" (3) immediately, and signed it themselves for those who couldn't write. They repeatedly told the "transformed" practitioners to ask their families to prepare two banners of appreciation, one for labor camp and another for their team. They even specified what exact words to put on the banners. If the family didn't send the banners to them, the guard would count up the number of the banners that were supposed to be made and then purchase them from the market. They charged the practitioners for the costs and then asked them to give the banners to them. They then called for a meeting of criticism, and invited reporters from Zhengzhou's media to take photos for propaganda purposes.

Not only did labor camp authorities brutally torment the Dafa practitioners inside the camp, but they also deceived the public. Frequently, journalists or TV stations came to visit to create programs slandering Falun Gong. Camp officials selected people for interviews whom they considered to be "completely brainwashed" to repeat scripted statements. However, firm Dafa practitioners were never allowed to be present.

Whenever important people were scheduled to visit the camp for a visit, or to interview inmates, the management made up excuses to hide steadfast, true Dafa practitioners, or they ordered other inmates to take them away prior to the visit. "Transformed" practitioners were dressed in neat uniforms to welcome the visitors, while the dining room staff was also dressed neatly, and the green quilts and white sheets in the dormitories were clean and uniform. Superficially, it was made to appear that the practitioners were treated very well in the labor camp, and that the management was modern and civilized. In fact, it was all an elaborate charade to hide the many evil acts!

This article only lists several people and things that happened around us, and does not even begin to cover the massive scope of the entire persecution situation against Falun Dafa brought about by Jiang's regime.

(1) "Tiger Bench" is a small metal bench that a practitioner's knees are tightly tied to for long periods of time, and the practitioner is forced to remain motionless in this position. Usually some hard objects are inserted underneath the practitioner's lower legs or ankles to make it harder for them to tolerate this abuse. (For a detailed description of this and other forms of torture used in forced labor camps, see http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2001/11/24/16156.html.

(2) "Guarantee Statement" is a statement to declare that one is remorseful for practicing Falun Gong and guarantees not to practice Falun Gong again, not to go to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong, and never again associate with any Falun Dafa practitioners.

Posting date: 5/13/2004
Original article date: 5/12/2004
Category: Eyewitness Accounts
Translated on 4/30/2004
Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2004/4/22/72917.html