Inside the Labour Camps

  • Exposing the Crimes Committed in the Masanjia Forced Labour Camp

    From May 9th, the Masanjia Labour Camp engaged in the so-called "Double-hundred Strike Hard Order," which will last until October. The guards planned to intensify the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners during this period of time. Practitioners have to finish their hard-labour assignments on schedule, otherwise, they will be beaten, or their prison terms will be extended. Li Mingyu instigated someone surnamed Chen to beat up practitioners who didn't finish their assignments. She also threatened, "Those who don't finish their task on time will taste my electric baton." The head of the team often helped the guards do the beating. In order to coerce detainees to make money for them, the guards in Masanjia would do anything to persecute them.
  • The Long-Term Persecution of Ms. Zhang Shujie from Tongliao City, Inner Mongolia

    On November 5th, 2005, police broke into and ransacked Ms. Zhang Shujie's home. She was sent to a detention centre along with other practitioners. It was in the cold of winter. To torture the practitioners, the police ordered criminal inmates to strip the practitioners and pour cold water on them. Ms. Zhang went on a hunger strike to protest the abusive treatment. The police took her into a hospital and force-fed her for five days. On December 5th, 2005, Ms. Zhang was taken to Tumuji Forced Labour Camp. Ms. Zhang was forced to work over eleven and a half hours every day and had to finish her work quota. Given the intense hard labour and mental pressure, Ms. Zhang showed symptoms of a lung infection and had difficulty breathing. On January 25th, 2008, Ms. Zhang was released.
  • Ms. Zhu Guoying Persecuted to the Point of Mental Collapse in Jiamusi City Forced Labour Camp

    In March 2008, many Falun Gong practitioners detained at Jiamusi City Forced Labour Camp were handcuffed and beaten. Although the persecution was exposed to the outside world, the labour camp authorities continued torturing the practitioners. Among them, Ms. Zhu Guoying had a mental collapse due to the torture. Since the persecution began on July 20th, 1999, Ms. Zhu has been arrested, detained and her home ransacked many times by police. She has been fined several times, totalling over 25,000 yuan. In the labour camp Ms. Zhu would at times talk senselessly to herself or shout at others. Guards taped her mouth shut and tied her down to the bed, causing her health to deteriorate even further.
  • Accounts of Persecution at the Zhongba Forced Labour Camp, Guizhou Province

    In the detention centre, if your family paid out money, then you might be given a used toothbrush. If not, then you had to share a toothbrush with 10-20 prisoners, or you wouldn't even have one. Next, everyone must recite the prison regulations. Those with an education and able to read had to memorize them within a week. Those with no education had to recite them in two weeks. If not, the prison guards would deprive you of sleep and force you to recite them all night long. If you refused to recite, the cell head would beat you brutally and sent you to the guards. The guards would put you into a torture position called "riding a motorcycle" (putting you in shackles and then handcuffing you under the shackles). This bends your back at a right angle, and your are unable to straighten up to walk or to sleep. This would last for three to four days, or sometimes even a week or two.
  • Mr. Gao Ke Tortured at Changlinzi Labour Camp in Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province

    Mr. Gao Ke was handcuffed and tortured severely in an “iron chair”. The chief guard ordered a prisoner to seal Mr. Gao's mouth. The prisoner then put a dirty rag in his mouth and sealed it with a wide piece of tape. Yang ordered another prisoner to tie Mr. Gao to the iron chair and watch him closely. Mr. Gao was not allowed to use the toilet and he had to urinate and defecate in his trousers. Mr. Gao was also not allowed to eat for two days. On the fourth day, Mr. Gao's feet became extremely swollen. The iron hoop on the chair cut into his muscle.
  • Officials from Wanjia Forced Labour Camp of Harbin City Continue to Persecute Falun Gong Practitioners

    Qianjin Forced Labour Camp detains over forty Falun Gong practitioners, who were transferred from Wanjia Forced Labour Camp. They are forced to work for over fourteen hours every day. In the summer, they make ice cream sticks and toothpicks, load and unload trucks, plant trees, work on farms, etc. Many practitioners are suffering from their former illnesses, which have recurred under the persecution. Despite this, Zhang Bo and Zhang Aihui force them to continue working or their terms are extended.
  • Bearing Witness to the Cruelties Committed at Masanjia Forced Labour Camp

    First I wish to tell you about the heavy forced labour practitioners have to perform. Every day, practitioners have to work for 17 hours. The labour is generally making handicrafts, with most of the products being artificial flowers. Between August and September, we were forced to cut garlic or peel ginger for more than 10 hours a day. Many practitioners' skin broke open and festered. We made the flowers in our cells, which included spray painting. Most of the sprays are toxic, which affected our breathing. Those doing such work also had headaches, vomited and were fatigued.
  • The Persecution of Falun Gong Practitioners in Hebei Province Women's Forced Labour Camp

    Ms. Liu Qiaozhen held a hunger strike to protest the persecution after she first arrived at the forced labour camp. She is currently unconscious due to her extended hunger strike. Nevertheless, the labour camp refuses to release her and still continues to torture her by brutally force-feeding her through a feeding tube. People over 60 years old previously were not made to serve forced labour terms. Yet there are at least five practitioners in the labour camp who are over 60 years old. Having to do forced hard labour on a long term basis has taken a toll on many older practitioners. What's even worse is that because three older practitioners were not eligible to serve the forced labour term because of their severe illnesses, in order to meet the quota for labour camp inmates, Chinese Communist Party personnel arrested the older practitioners' daughters and put the daughters in the labour camp in place of their mothers.
  • Practitioners Forced to Toil in Unsafe Conditions at Changlinzi Forced Labour Camp in Harbin City

    Since July 1999, nearly all labour camps have participated in the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. They not only beat the practitioners mercilessly, but also forced them to work in poisonous, harmful environments. Practitioners in Changlinzi Labour Camp work 16 ½ hours daily, from 6: 30 a.m. until 11 p.m. The work hours for the first and fourth ward also exceed 12 hours, seven days a week. The cafeteria meals served to the prisoners are substandard; the good food is eaten by the guards and chiefs. Ten yuan monthly is designated for the imprisoned Falun Gong practitioners for their expenses.. Although they never receive the money, they are forced to sign a statement claiming that it was given to them.
  • Mr. Lu Zhiyong Persecuted in Xinhua Forced Labour Camp in Mianyang County, Sichuan Province

    I arrived at Xinhua Forced Labour Camp in Mianyang County that afternoon at 4 p.m. Only then did I realize that I was taken there for a year and half of forced labour. I was tortured in all kinds of ways. Under police orders, the personal "cangues" [monitors who supervise the behaviour of practitioners] made me stand from 6 a.m. till midnight, and they frequently punched me in the chest, often to the point where I couldn't speak or get up from the bed. I would have acute pain once I spoke and sharp chest pains if I moved. The police tied me up eight times during one ten-day period, increased the use of electronic batons from one to four, and beat me with spiked clubs. When I resisted the attempts to smear my face on the toilet floor, the "Personal cangues" and guards pushed my head into the urinals.
  • Women's Forced Labour Camp of Hohhot City, Inner Mongolia, Tortured Practitioners

    Practitioner Ms. Xu Xiaomin is now detained at the Women's Forced Labour Camp of Hohhot City in Inner Mongolia. Ms. Xu refused to write the three statements to renounce Falun Gong and has already been detained in the warehouse for a month. Recently the guards began to persecute her by forcing her to stand for a long time, limiting her sleep, forbidding her to use the toilet, as well as using other methods. During the night of March 1st, two prisoners beat her. The next morning the deputy head of the squad also beat her. Methods used to torture Ms. Du Yuqing included piercing her with needles, forcing her to stand for a long time, forbidding her to use the toilet, pouring cold water down her shirt in winter, and beating her.
  • Mr. Chen Kaiqu's Face Disfigured from Electric Baton Torture at Masanjia Forced Labour Camp

    On July 14th, 2006, Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Chen Kaiqu was arrested for distributing Falun Gong leaflets exposing the persecution and sent to a detention centre and then sentenced to a two-year forced labour term. He was sent to Masanjia Forced Labour Camp on May 21st, 2007. On March 25th, 2008, Mr. Chen refused to do hard labour at Masanjia Forced Labour Camp. For refusing to cooperate, guard Li Meng shocked Mr. Chen's face and neck with electric batons for an extended period of time. His face was covered with blisters and burns. He was disfigured to the extent that even those who knew him could not recognize him.
  • The Brutal Persecution of Practitioners Liu Fengmei and Wang Guiling in Jinzhou City, Liaoning Province

    Mr. Wang Guiling, 49, was incarcerated in the Jinzhou Forced Labour Camp for practising Falun Gong. He recounts his experience: "Guards handcuffed me from behind. They forced my legs into a double lotus position, and pulled my feet to the extreme position. Then they tied my legs tightly and threw me to the ground. After half an hour they realized that I was not ready to compromise. Frustrated, they stripped off my shirt and socks, and shocked me with several batons. These batons were brand new and could generate over 10,000 volts of electricity. They chose the most sensitive areas to shock, such as my chest, my back and the bottoms of my feet. The excruciating pain was hard to endure. I struggled with all my strength, even broke a rope twice. The torture was just too painful to describe."
  • Male Police Officers Allowed to Take Part in Medical Procedures on Women at the Beijing Forced Labour Camp Dispatch Centre

    Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Tu Xiaomin, 45 years old, was arrested and sent to the Beijing Labour Camp Dispatch Centre on November 8th, 2007. Policemen wanted to extract urine from Tu Xiaomin for testing. This procedure was not necessary at all, they just wanted to humiliate her. Tu refused. Despite her cries and struggles, policemen cuffed her and pulled off Tu's underwear. They also raised Ms. Tu's legs up, exposing her private parts to let the policewomen do the exam. The policewoman inserted metal equipment into Tu's private parts up to her uterus. Tu also bore the pain of an exam of her private parts. Her private parts bled until the next day.
  • Exposing Atrocities at Inner Mongolia's Tumuji Forced Labour Camp

    Practitioner Ms. Baosiqin Gaowa was imprisoned there two times and was put in the brainwashing centre three times. The first time she was brainwashed for more than 40 days. A man named Guan beat her so severely that she became injured. A one-inch long scar below her mouth is still visible today. The second time she was put in the brainwashing centre again for more than 40 days. The third time she was in for over three days. She was forbidden to sleep for two whole days and was forced to stand. Her feet swelled. Criminal prisoners at Tumuji Forced Labour Camp make up only one per cent of the inmates. The majority of those incarcerated are people that believe in a religion or people who went to appeal to the higher authorities.