(Clearwisdom.net) In the summer and fall of 2007, a large number of Falun Gong practitioners were released from illegal imprisonment in the Second Men's Labor Camp in Shandong Province, the former Wangcun Forced Labor Camp. Many of them had been sentenced to three years of forced labor.

I was released in August. I would like to tell you about what I witnessed of the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in the last few months. I have read Internet articles exposing the brutal persecution of practitioners that happened at that labor camp. I have personally experienced many kinds of the tortures mentioned in those articles during my imprisonment there. In this article, I only focus on the persecution that has happened recently.

At present, the Second Men's Labor Camp consists of 10 divisions, totaling about 1,500 people. Falun Gong practitioners are mainly imprisoned in Divisions 7 and 8, more than 100 in each. The number of practitioners detained from Weifang Area is the biggest; the next is that of the practitioners from Linxi Area, and then the Yantai Area. The other areas have only a few practitioners. According to the numbers, the seriousness of the persecution of practitioners from different areas is about the same.

Many practitioners were released this year because their terms were over. Fewer and fewer practitioners have been arrested recently. In order to keep the numbers balanced among divisions, ever since the 2007 Chinese New Year, large numbers of criminal prisoners who were serving hard labor have been transferred to Divisions 7 and 8. As of this year, the force of wickedness unleashed against Falun Gong has dramatically lessened. Those practitioners who refuse to be "reformed" are mainly compelled to sit on stools against a wall. The evildoers have lost the strength to brutally persecute practitioners as they used to. From outward appearances it seems that the persecution is simply dragging on. However, the evil won't change its devious nature and oftentimes, practitioners are still ruthlessly tortured.

1. The persecution suffered by Wang Zhaohua and Wang Yingyi

Before I left the labor camp in August, Wang Zhaohua in Division 8 remained firm in his belief and refused to be "reformed." Like Wang Zhaohua, Ren Huaiqiang from Weifang also refused to be "reformed." Practitioner Wang Yingyi and another practitioner from Linxi who was imprisoned in July were also firm. Before I left, this practitioner was tortured and subjected to brainwashing techniques, hence I did not have a chance to ask his name. Wang Zhaohua and Ren Huaiqiang were detained in the "Strictly Controlled Team." Their every movement was monitored; even when they washed their faces, brushed their teeth, slept, and used the toilet.

Someone had carried Wang Yingyi to the labor camp because he could not walk. In addition, he held a protest hunger strike for nearly two months, making him even more unable to walk. Being bedridden for a long time, he was not put in the Strictly Controlled Team, and the evildoers were not able to do anything to him. As of mid-July, Wang Yingyi held another hunger strike. After one week he was unable to eat or drink. He would vomit everything he ate, even water. The labor camp sent him to the military hospital in Zhoucun. An examination showed that Wang Yingyi had two tumors in his stomach. He was hospitalized for 17 days in the No. 83 Hospital. A criminal prisoner who was sent to monitor him told us the nurses had administered more than 80 bottles of fluids, but he still did not recover. He could not take any food. After that he was returned to the labor camp for another two weeks. When he was dying, the labor camp officials sent him to the No. 83 Hospital again. By then he could not stop vomiting even without eating and drinking. He eventually vomited yellow fluid. He was hospitalized for only two days this time. To shirk their responsibility, the labor camp officials asked his family members to take Wang Yingyi home.

Practitioner Wang Zhaohua refused to do hard labor. Because of that, prisoners who monitored him frequently beat him. Hence, whenever I saw him, he was always bruised. Because Wang Zhaohua refused to go upstairs to work one day, some prisoners dragged and pulled him, trying to get him into the workshop. When passing by the stairs, he held on tightly to the railings. The prisoners were unable to loosen his hands. They then tied his hands onto the railings until everybody was off that day. Regarding how he suffered from the brutal tortures, Clearwisdom published an article in July written by "a person whose conscience is not completely lost." Even those of us who were detained together with Wang Zhaohua did not know the details of the persecution against him. There is only one reason for this: the criminals and prison guards try their best to hide the fact that they physically torture practitioners.

In addition, a dozen more practitioners who were "reformed" in Division 8 just published their solemn declarations and returned to cultivation. The most wicked head of Division 8, Zheng Wanxin, and the other prison guards ruthlessly beat Liu Jiangpo from Weihai once he had published his solemn declaration in April 2007. What's more, Liu Jiangpo was handcuffed and hung up for three days. Handcuffing and hanging up were typical torture methods the guards used on practitioners.

The guards in Team 8 conducted an abrupt search in January 2007 and found some of Master's lectures under Lin Zuoying and Liu Guoai's bedcovers. They were both put in handcuffs and hung up. It was winter. Although they stood inside the windows, they were handcuffed and hung up onto the outside metal window frames for a whole day and evening. Liu Guoai's hands had frostbite. He had to wear gloves for a long time afterwards. Lin Zuoying is so far still being monitored, and wherever he goes, the guards order prisoners to follow and monitor him.

At the end of July, the guards commenced another abrupt search. They found Master's lectures in the possession of Liu Zhongwei from Rongcheng City, and Zhang Xinghe from Taian. Liu Zhongwei not only refused to follow the guards' requests to write a self-criticism, but also handed in his "solemn declaration." The team head Zheng Wanxin transferred Liu Zhongwei to Team 6 (for new arrivals), to be further tortured. In addition, Liu Zhongwei's jail term was also extended for a month. However, Liu Zhongwei's mind has been righteous. Consequently, a few days later, he was transferred back to Team 8. He has been detained in a small room at the end of a hallway. It is said that collaborator Fang Xi tried to force Liu Zhongwei to be "reformed".

During this time Fan Yanqi from Qingdao City shouted, "Falun Dafa is good!" Because of that, he was brutally beaten. After the 2007 Chinese New Year, Fan Yanqi practiced the Falun Gong exercises in the middle of the night but was put in handcuffs and hung up several times. The first time, he was hung up for five days. Yet, Fan Yanqi would not give in. The guards later taped his mouth shut and forbade Fan Yanqi to remove the tape except at mealtime. However, as soon as the tape was removed Fan Yanqi would shout, "Falun Dafa is good!" He was eventually transferred, but no one knew where. Several days later he returned. When I saw him, his face showed obvious signs of injuries, and he looked very pale. Apparently he had been tortured.

The head of Division 8, Zheng Wanxin, is cunning and vicious. He completely lacks self-control when he starts torturing practitioners. He beat almost all practitioners who refused to be "reformed." Practitioner Wang Zhaohua was once in Zheng Wanxin's office. Zheng whipped Wang with a thick rope. The wounds and bruises took a long time to heal.

Last year Luo Guangrong was the political head, full of crafty tricks. He spent his entire time there searching for more methods to torture practitioners. Since January 1, 2007 Luo Guangrong was promoted and transferred as team head of Team 7. Sun Fengjun became the political head for Division 8. Sun Fengjun spoke with a milder tone; hence he deceived some practitioners with his false demeanor. They thought Feng was a good person. However, when torturing practitioners, he was not at all lenient. Nobody had actually seen him torturing practitioners, but they did see him inciting criminal prisoners to do the torturing for him. Even the prisoners who were torturing practitioners called Feng "a smiling tiger."

The deputy head Wang Baohua not only beat practitioners, but also the prisoners who were ordered to torture practitioners. Hence all prisoners were afraid of him.

Zhang Yuhua and Liu Lin were the team leaders in charge of reforming practitioners. They took turns daily, patrolling the hallway. Liu Lin walked very quietly. If he saw two practitioners talking, he would suddenly appear and start to mistreat them. He normally forced the practitioners to stand facing a wall for a long time. Zhang Yuhua often "advised" the few collaborators whom he was in charge of. He would apply different torture methods on practitioners in his attempts to "reform" them. He used some Buddhist-based teaching to "reform" practitioners. The labor camp has also collected books related to Buddhism. The guards force the practitioners to read those books.

Zhang Yuhua supervised a few of the collaborators in their efforts to "transform" steadfast practitioners. Li Xuesi is the most active among those collaborators. Zhao Jianyong and Liu Yong are another two. Li Xuesi used to work in the police system before the persecution started. After the persecution started he had been sentenced to forced labor twice, for three years each time. This time he was completely "reformed" and became a tool for the evil forces to use to persecute practitioners. He hit Wang Zhaohua one time when he saw that Wang Zhaohua firmly refused to be "reformed." Following that incident, Wang suffered from chest pain and coughed for a long time.

Due to his long-term involvement in the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners, Li Xuesi eventually received retribution. He coughed constantly, and no medicine helped. He had many illnesses. It was not only practitioners who knew his nature; the regular detainees also cursed him behind his back, saying how bad he is. Some collaborators even did not think much about him. In June 2007 Li's term expired and he was released.

Practitioners still hoped that he would become clear-minded again and return to the path of cultivation. Released with him were Shen Zhijun, Zhao Erfu and Yu Zhenhe. They had all been sentenced to three years, and all had assisted the prison guards to "reform" practitioners. At present, Fang Xide, Ma Xianlin and Song Baogang are the active collaborators in Division 8 who use their understanding of having enlightened along the evil path to mislead many practitioners who have not studied the Fa well. Those who are "reformed" believe they have enlightened to higher-level principles and thus have willingly taken an evil path.

The guards were most afraid of practitioners exchanging information with each other. Due to the fact that both Divisions 7 and 8 have imprisoned practitioners, the guards would forbid practitioners from different teams to have contact with each other during meals, to avoid them sharing any information. The labor camp has 10 divisions all together, yet the cafeteria is small. The last team normally eats one hour after the first team finishes. For a long time, Team 7 would always be the first team to eat, while the last team to eat was always Team 8. The following week this might reverse. Practitioners could not even see each other from far away. Because of that, I know very little about the practitioners' situation in Team 7, where currently more than 100 practitioners are imprisoned. I know that more than 20 of them refused to be "reformed."

Besides that, there are always some practitioners on hunger strikes to protest the persecution and illegal detention. Wei Dehuan is from Yancheng County in Linxi. Because he refused to be "reformed," he was made to stand facing a wall for two months. The guards claimed that Wei ate too much. They reduced the quantity of food he was given. Wei Dehuan was often hungry and so he started a protest hunger strike. His hunger strike lasted for more than 70 days altogether. He was sent to a hospital in July where he was diagnosed with a shortage of blood supply to the cardiac muscle. He was hospitalized for over 10 days. The labor camp extorted more than 5,000 yuan from him before letting him go home.

Written on September 15, 2007