The Dalian Labour Camp Exploits Dafa Practitioners to Earn More than 1,500,000 Yuan a Year

As of 2001, the Dalian Forced Labour Camp, Liaoning Province started to demand more work from its detainees in order to increase production. The camp persecuted Falun Gong practitioners by overloading them with work and exploiting them. Practitioners were forced to work 14-15 hours a day or even longer. They were often punished physically and had to work overtime. Practitioners slept no more than 6 hours every day, and many of them slept as few as 2-3 hours.

There were a lot of unwritten rules imposed on practitioners while performing forced labour. For example, practitioners could not talk, nor could they move their lips, close their eyes, cross their legs, or even have their legs touching each other when sitting. They were rarely allowed to use the toilet during the work time and they had no more than 10 minutes to use the facilities, once in the morning and once in the afternoon. If they had an urgent need to use the toilet, it had to be authorised by the room leader, the team leader, and the Captain. There was no time allowed for bowel movements, which was said to be "too time consuming." Practitioners had to wait until bedtime. As a result, many people developed constipation, hemorrhoids and were in great pain.

Falun Gong practitioners in the Dalian Forced Labour Camp had to work from 5 a.m. until 10 or 11 p.m. It was not unusual for them to work overtime until midnight or 2 a.m. the following morning, which became a daily routine. They had less than two hours a day to eat all three meals. On one occasion, the police intensified the persecution and would not allow the practitioners to go to sleep at night, even after they finished their work. The police demanded that practitioners who refused to compromise their belief and renounce Falun Dafa had to memorize the regulations of the labour camp. If the practitioners refused to do so, they would be forced to stand until the following morning, and then they still had to go to work that day.

The female practitioners worked in the lobby on the first floor. The lobby was transformed into a closed room with only one door for ventilation and airflow. During the summer, the room was hot and often crowded with people, and many practitioners fainted. Sometimes there were many incidents of fainting in any given day. Having to sit for long periods of time without moving, many people ended up having back pain and swollen feet. Even after developing these problems, they were still not allowed to rest. One Dafa practitioner, Ms. Yu Shoufen, was in the labour camp for three years and became extremely weak because of the excessive forced labour and malnutrition. She lost the feeling in both legs, and now has to walk by pushing her arms against the walls, dragging both her legs. She still is forced to work every day, even under this condition.

At the beginning, the police would give those practitioners who compromised under pressure and gave up their belief, proper rest when they did not feel well. The determined practitioners would not receive such any such "bonus." However, in order to make more money, the police have cancelled this bonus and do not even give any sick practitioners time off. Every day, there was a certain quota of work needing to be done. If it could not be finished that day, everyone in the room would have to work overtime.

A simple calculation can show how much money the forced labour camp makes out of its prisoners (both practitioners and non-practitioners). Take the job of sorting beans for example: One practitioner needs to sort 5 bags of beans each day, which can sell for 25 yuan (lowest average number). There were 56 people in a team and a total of 3 teams, (25 yuan/person) x (56 people/team) x (3 teams) = 4,200 yuan. Supposing there are 30 days in a month, the net production value was 126,000 yuan a month, amounting to 1.5 million yuan a year (lowest average value). [Note: 500 yuan is equal to the average monthly salary of an urban worker in China.]

The following list is evidence of how the Dalian Forced Labour Camp persecuted Falun Gong practitioners and exploited them to make money.

2001
Embroidery
Clean and close the ends of bed covers, pillowcases, and tablecloths and put embroidery on them.
Unknown where sold

2001
Dried flowers
Use spices to apply scent to dried flowers and then colour and decorate them.
To sell in Korea

2001
Mobile phone covers
Weave covers with cotton and silk threads, then colour them with pink, light blue, light grey and green.
To sell in Korea

2001
Hats
Use colourful threads and process them into "Beilei hats".
To sell in Korea

2002
Beans
Sort beans by colour into red, white, black and purple beans.
Soybeans need to be sorted into large, medium and small sizes (for making soymilk, vegetable oil and other foods).
Green beans need to be sorted into small and large sizes.
Packaging has "made in China" on it in Japanese, Korean and English. They will be exported to Korea, Japan, U.S.

2002
Tied kelp
Cut kelp into 12cm-wide belts and tie them into knots. (This product has large sales.)
To sell in Taiwan

2002
Dried vegetables (Qundai)
Tear them into strips and sort into different qualities.
To sell in Korea, Japan, Taiwan

2002
Plastic flowers and fruit
All kinds of plastic flowers, flower-shaped buttons and fruit-shaped decorations are put together with silver or copper wire and packaged in labelled bags or boxes. The price tags are in the currency of Euros. It was said that these products are used in European countries for ceremonies in graveyards. The glue used in these products is poisonous; many people have vomited and could not eat because of the glue.
To sell in European countries

2002
Cotton balls
These were packed into two sizes of bags and sent back to the factory for second packaging.
Unknown where sold

2002
Chopsticks
This is done for a chopstick factory in the Dalian Ganjingzi Area owned by a Japanese businessman. The factory has been running for years and makes different quality chopsticks. The only hygienic criterion is not letting hair fall into the bags. Some non-practitioners with venereal diseases are also forced to do this job and they often use chopsticks to scratch themselves where they itch.
To sell in Japan

2002
Ice cream sticks
Ordinary prisoners use machines to make them and pack them.
To sell in Africa

2002
Coffee stirring sticks
Ordinary prisoners use machines to make them and pack them.

2002
Wool coats
The coats are double layered and made in a factory that specifically makes clothes to be exported. They have Korean and Japanese labels.
To sell in Korea and Japan

2002
Sewing buttons
Sew buttons on pajamas and clothes for nursing mothers.
To sell in Japan

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2004/1/15/64908.html