(Clearwisdsom.net) Falun Dafa practitioner Mr. Cao Zhongyang, 35, from Xinmin Village in the town of Xinmin, Taihe District of Jinzhou City, Liaoning Province, is widely known as an upstanding person. Despite this, he was illegally imprisoned in a local detention center on June 13, 2003 by officers from the Xiaolingzi police station in Taihe District. He was then sent to the Jinzhou Forced Labor Camp on July 1 where, in less than a year, he was persecuted to the point of mental collapse.

Jinzhou Forced Labor Camp

The Second Division of Jinzhou Forced Labor Camp is notorious for persecuting Falun Gong practitioners. The guards there force practitioners to wear metal army helmets and then shock the practitioners with electric batons. They also deprive practitioners of sleep for several days and nights in a row. The guards shackle practitioners to metal chairs and shock them with electric batons for prolonged periods of time. In addition, the guards have also been known to force practitioners to sit in the full lotus position (a meditation posture where the legs are crossed, one on top of the other) and then to bind the practitioners' legs with bed sheets, keeping them tied up for extended periods. Some practitioners could not walk for several months after being subjected to this agonizing torture.

Ever since Cao Zhongyang arrived in the Second Division, he was brutally tortured until he suffered a mental collapse. Sometimes he sits catatonic, staring into space for hours; other times he will alternate between fits of crying and smiling. On one occasion, he held a bun tightly in his hands and would not put it down for any reason. Though he exhibited these obvious signs of mental breakdown, the prison guards still made him write the "Three Statements."

On December 3, 2004, Cao Zhongyang's family finally was able to secure his release on bail for medical treatment. On December 15, 2004, his family sent him to Jinzhou Mental Hospital. No word has been received on his condition since being admitted to the hospital.

Jinzhou Forced Labor Camp, Tel: 86-416-2625627
Police: Zhang Haiping, Jin Fuli, Bai Jinlong, Li Songtao, Zhang Chunfeng
Xiaolingzi Police Station in Taihe District of Jinzhou City, Tel: 86-416-3498207
Chief: Cong Zhitian
Deputy chief: Liu Xu
Instructor: Bian Jidong
Police: Shang Zhiyong, Shan (given name not known)

January 10, 2005