Accounts of Persecution Against Six Falun Gong Practitioners by the Staff at Baoding Forced Labor Camp in Hebei Province

(Clearwisdom.net) The following are accounts of persecution against six Falun Gong practitioners by the staff at the Baoding Forced Labor Camp.

Mr. Zhang Qingchun is a Falun Gong practitioner in his 50's. On April 5, 2003, Mr. Zhang refused to put on the inmate's uniform at Baoding Forced Labor Camp in Hebei Province, because he did not commit any crime. The Captain of the First Brigade at Baoding Forced Labor Camp, Liu Qingyong, had Mr. Zhang handcuffed to the rails of the staircase for three days and two nights as punishment. In addition, Mr. Zhang was subjected to beatings by prison guards, including Liu Qingyong, Li Dayong, and Wang Lei, because he refused to answer a questionnaire about Falun Gong in accordance to what was written in the prison's propaganda materials. Because Mr. Zhang tried to avoid their punches, they pressed his body against the ground and kept shocking him with an electric baton until the battery ran out. Then they changed the battery and resumed the torture. These three prison guards changed the battery three times during this torture session. By the time they were finished, they had made more than 20 visible burn marks on Mr. Zhang's back, and more than ten on his chest and abdomen. During the torture, they held Mr. Zhang face down on the floor, stepped hard on his lower back, and pulled his head and shoulders backwards forcefully. This forceful bending of his upper body caused severe injury to Mr. Zhang's lower back. After that, Mr. Zhang could not walk or stand for over one month, and had to be carried by two men each time he needed to use the bathroom. Even to this day, Mr. Zhang is still suffering from the impact of the torture on his lower back. After that incident, Mr. Zhang lost consciousness twice. He would sometimes just look straight ahead with a blank expression and had heart problems. In addition, Mr. Zhang was unable to extend his arms behind his body or away from his sides. He can barely manage to extend his arms forward. This also means that Mr. Zhang has been unable to do any of the Falun Gong exercises.

Mr. Jing Qi is a college graduate and a Falun Gong practitioner. On March 7, 2004, Mr. Jing was sentenced to three years in Baoding Forced Labor Camp because he introduced Falun Dafa to his fellow college students. Mr. Jing's mother is also a Falun Gong practitioner. His mother was sentenced to four years in Shijiazhuang Forced Labor Camp in Hebei Province because she refused to renounce her belief in Falun Dafa.

Mr. Gao Changqiu was thrown into Baoding Forced Labor Camp shortly before Chinese New Year in 2003. On March 21, 2004, a disciplinary brigade in the Baoding Forced Labor Camp beat up many Falun Gong practitioners, one after another. As a result, more than 30 Falun Gong practitioners, including Mr. Gao, started a group hunger strike to protest the beatings. Mr. Gao demanded the right to study Falun Dafa books and practice the Falun Dafa exercises. He pointed out that he should not have been sentenced to two years in a forced labor camp, and he demanded his immediate, unconditional release. During the hunger strike, which lasted for seven to eight days, Mr. Gao was confined to a small solitary cell, where he was tied to a bed with a force-feeding tube down his throat at all times. He was not allowed to leave the cell even when he needed to use the bathroom. His current condition is unknown.

Mr. Liu Damian is a resident of Anxin County of Hebei Province. He is legally blind. He was sentenced to three years in Baoding Forced Labor Camp. The official notification of his sentence says that Mr. Liu distributed 200 flyers withinformation about Falun Gong in Anxin County and Qingyuan County in Hebei Province. The truth is that Mr. Liu hasn't been to Qingyuan County for more than ten years. In fact, he is even unable to leave his village because of his poor eyesight. When Mr. Liu was sent to the forced labor camp, even the wardens found it ridiculous that a man such as Mr. Liu, with extremely poor vision, was sent to the forced labor camp.

Mr. Zhao Xiliang has been detained in Baoding Forced Labor Camp one year beyond his term. Moreover, the staff at Baoding Forced Labor Camp did not issue the official notification of his sentence until they had already detained Mr. Zhao for quite some time. They didn't even bother to keep track of the number of days Mr. Zhao was detained, which they were required to do by law. During Mr. Zhao's unlawful detention, prison guards Li Dayong, Li Shuwen and Wen Jianwei have subjected Mr. Zhao to both physical and verbal abuse. Under the pressure of their excruciating torture, Mr. Zhao wrote the so-called "Four Statements" renouncing Falun Gong. However, he has already declared what he wrote under pressure as null and void. The following is a brief chronology of Mr. Zhao Xiliang's illegal detention.

A male Falun Gong practitioner, whose name is unknown, from Xiliuchun Village, Dongliuchun Township, Dingzhou City, Hebei Province, was incarcerated in Baoding Forced Labor Camp and subjected to torture after he refused to answer a questionnaire about Falun Gong in agreement with the camp's propaganda materials. He was summoned to a conference room, where prison guards Liu Qingyong, Wang Lei, Zhang Qian, and Liu Xi tied him up with damp ropes, pressed him against the floor and kept shocking him with an electric baton until the battery ran out.

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