Inside the Labour Camps

  • Shandong Provincial First Women's Forced Labour Camp Exploiting and Abusing Falun Gong Practitioners

    Since the Chinese Communist Party began the persecution of Falun Gong in July 1999, countless Falun Gong practitioners have been arrested and taken to detention centres, brainwashing centres, forced labour camps, or prisons. When they refuse to be "transformed," [forcibly renounce Falun Gong] they are often deprived of sleep, assaulted, forced to stand, made to stand in a confined space, and so on. As a result, many of them suffer swollen feet and lightheadedness due to prolonged standing, and they still have to do forced labour around the clock without drinking water or access to a toilet. What they hear is: "Work quickly!"
  • Masanjia Forced Labour Camp Torturing Practitioners with Appalling Cruelty

    Masanjia Forced Labour Camp in Shenyang City, Liaoning Province, has been torturing Falun Gong practitioners for over ten years, attempting to brainwash them and force them to give up their practice of Falun Gong. Many instances in which practitioners were tortured to death, disability, and mental disorder have been made public. The extent of the cruelty taking place in Masanjia Forced Labour Camp is really shocking. One such torture is called "Stretching Bed": The practitioner's hands are fixed between two beds (the beds all have two levels), sometimes one hand up, the other down. Then one or two people pull the two beds apart so that the victim's limbs are stretched. Every stretch causes sharp pain. The handcuffs cut into the flesh on the wrists, which become swollen and numb.
  • Falun Gong Practitioner Liu Yuehong from Beijing Persecuted in Masanjia Women's Forced Labour Camp

    Falun Gong practitioner Liu Yuehong was arrested in April 2008. She was sent to Masanjia Women's Forced Labour Camp in Liaoning Province for a two-year term in July, 2008. In the forced labour camp, they attempted to force Ms. Liu to "transform" (give up her beliefs) and brutally tortured her,including being forced to stand for a long period of time, kneeling, remaining handcuffed in a painful position for extended periods of time, and being denied drink, food, and toilet use. They taped her legs to force her to sit with her legs double-crossed. The police tried to force Ms. Liu to write statements to renounce practising Falun Gong.
  • Ms. Li Xiuhong Tortured in Heizuizi Women's Forced Labour Camp

    Communist regime officials in the Tonghua area of Jilin Province made the Olympic Games their excuse to arrest a large number of Falun Gong practitioners on April 22nd, 2008. Ms. Li Xiuhong was arrested and held in Heizuizi Women's Forced Labour Camp in Changchun City and was subjected to brutal and inhuman torture. Ms. Li practised the Falun Gong exercises on the morning of June 4th, 2008. Wei Dan and a few others shocked her with five electric batons. She was also bound to a death bed with her hands and feet tied until the last day of March 2009. The bed was made with overlapping metal bars. Ms. Li was not even untied so that she could eat. When her term was over, the labour camp authorities extended her sentence by four more months.
  • Mr. Sun Yi Tortured for Four Months with "Airplane Style Hanging" in Masanjia Forced Labour Camp

    From December 2009 to March 2010, Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Sun Yi was cruelly tortured by being hung up "airplane style" by guards in Masanjia Forced Labour Camp. In "Airplane style hanging," the victim is handcuffed to high poles, and his feet are tied together. His body then hangs in the air like an airplane. The handcuffs cut into the flesh of both wrists. Sometimes, if the police fear that the victim's family will sue the torturers for mistreatment by using the scars on the victim's hands as evidence, they wrap the victim's wrists and ankles with cotton so that there are no scars.
  • Exposing Gross Mistreatment and Abuse of Falun Gong Practitioners at the Shandong First Women's Labour Camp

    All practitioners at the labour camp were forced to make toys from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. every day, and were only allowed 30 minutes for meal times. The Shandong First Women's Labour Camp was actually an illegal toy factory. When completed the toys would be exported to other countries. Every detainee had a quota and had to work non-stop to complete it. Cosmetically, the toys looked very nice, but they were filled with contaminated cotton. Many people that had handled the cotton had unbearably itchy skin and developed skin problems and festering of both hands and feet.
  • Ms. Zhang Shuying Tortured with Electric Batons at the Heizuizi Forced Labour Camp in Changchun, Jilin Province

    When Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Zhang Shuying visited her aunt on March 2nd, 2010, she was arrested by police. Afterwards the police ransacked Ms. Zhang Shuying's home and took away two personal computers, and eleven hundred yuan in cash. Ms. Zhang was handcuffed to a radiator at the police station. Police officers there slapped her face, pulled her hair very hard, and poured water on her neck. They even wiped her mouth with mustard oil. Ms. Zhang was subsequently sent for one and a half years of detention at a forced labour camp and was sent to Heizuizi Forced Labour Camp.
  • Gross Abuse of Falun Gong Practitioners at Suihua City Forced Labour Camp in Heilongjiang Province

    Many practitioners have been disabled as a result of the persecution carried out by officials at the Suihua City Forced Labour Camp in Heilongjiang Province. Practitioner Mr. Gao Yongjun was arrested by police and taken to Suihua City Forced Labour Camp in May 2008. He was subjected to forced labour making car seat cushions starting in October 2008, and was repeatedly beaten for what officials deemed to be slow work. He was also forced to sit still on a small bench from 4:30 p.m. until 11 p.m. Inmates slapped Mr. Gao in the face and kicked him. In June 2009, Mr. Gao became permanently paralysed from the waist down from the abuse suffered at the labour camp.
  • Accounts of Torture from the Chongqing Women's Forced Labour Camp

    The Chongqing Women's Forced Labour Camp is a brutal inhuman place. In order to generate revenue, the camp forces practitioners to do labour. The camp sends relatively young practitioners to the rubber workshop to make accessories for manufacturing cars. Older practitioners are sent to the sweet packaging workshop to wrap sweets. The camp sets a very high quota for each practitioner. In December 2009, the guards raised the quota again. Each practitioner had to wrap an additional pound of sweets every hour. If a practitioner has nine hours of quota left in one week, she is punished by being forced to sit for two hours if she is older than 60 years old. Otherwise, she is forced to stand for two hours. The quotas are set unrealistically high, and practitioners have to work until late into the night.
  • Walls Used as Instruments to Torture Falun Gong Practitioners

    In Fangqiang Forced Labour Camp in Jiangsu Province, the guards forced practitioners to have their noses, abdomens and toes, or back of the head, buttocks and heels touch the wall at the same time. Should the practitioners move or refuse the order, the guards beat them. They have to stand like this for long periods of time. Sometimes a washbasin is placed on top of the head of a practitioner, and water may not be spilled from it. Others are forced to hold heavy objects in their hands while they face the wall.
  • Oppression by Li Gongming and Guards at Shandong Province Second Forced Labour Camp

    From February 23rd to March 3rd, 2010, political instructor Li Gongming at the Shandong Provincial 2nd Forced Labour Camp demanded that practitioner Mr. Wang Yuping renounce Falun Gong. He handcuffed Mr. Wang for nine consecutive days from 7 a.m. until midnight. In addition, Mr. Wang was handcuffed to the bed at night, and forbidden to go to the toilet. On February 28th, guard Zhang Ruimin began using brainwashing tactics on Mr. Wang Shiyou; he forced him to watch slanderous TV programmes. Mr. Wang refused to watch, so Zhang dragged him out of the cell by his ear, punched him in the chin and chest, shocked him, beat his face, kicked his legs and continued to kick him after he fell to the ground.
  • Brutal Torture in the Judong Forced Labour Camp

    Ms. Lu Yaqin was 56 years old in 2001. She was beaten and shocked by five or six male wardens with electric batons simultaneously for over two hours. The wardens kept asking her if she was a Falun Gong practitioner. She always answered "yes," and the wardens continued torturing her. At the end of the torture session, her left foot was paralysed and she was unable to stand under her own power. The beating caused a large blister full of blood on her forehead. When the blister broke, her face was covered with blood.
  • Crimes Witnessed at Nanmusi Women's Forced Labour Camp

    I was first detained at the Nanmusi Women's Labour Camp from 2000 to 2002. Many practitioners were also detained there at the time. Some practitioners who were deceived by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) agreed to give up practising Falun Gong. Practitioners who remained steadfast in their belief were subject to all kinds of torture.
  • The Persecution of Qi Lizhen at Jiamusi Forced Labour Camp

    Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Qi Lizhen is a very kind lady, yet she was fired from her job after being sentenced to a forced labour camp because she practised Falun Gong. After Ms. Qi appealed for justice for Falun Gong outside the Beijing Appeals Office, she was arrested and sentenced to a one-year term at Jiamusi Forced Labour Camp. Because she also lost her job, Ms. Qi had no source of income. Her husband was forced to divorce her. In 2004, she was sentenced to a three-year forced labour term.
  • After Persistent Efforts, Family Finally Allowed to See Brutally Mistreated Loved One at Masanjia Forced Labour Camp

    Mr. Sun Yi was arrested by officials prior to the Beijing Olympics. Later, they transferred him to the Masanjia Forced Labour Camp. His family discovered that Sun Yi has been brutally tortured for the last two years in the notorious Masanjia Forced Labour Camp. Through difficult negotiations, Sun Yi's sister was able to see him on March 26th, 2010, through a thick piece of soundproof glass, but could not talk to him. The meeting room was monitored by almost ten guards, creating an atmosphere of terror. Sun Qing saw her elder brother, who was being helped by others as he could barely walk. He no longer looked like a young and strong person, he looked pale, and seemingly had no energy to talk.