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A First-hand Account of the Brutal Torture Suffered by Dafa Practitioners in Baimalong Forced Labor Camp in Hunan Province By Falun Dafa practitioner Liu Juhua in Hubei Province
(Clearwisdom.net) My name is Liu Juhua. I am 59 years old and I'm from
Huanggang City, Hubei Province. I was the Director of the Teaching and Research
Office of the Huanzhouchibi Education Ministry and a teacher at a junior high
school. On July 29, 2004, police from the Zuojiatang Police Station of Changsha
illegally arrested me and took me to the Baimalong Labor Camp. There
was no arrest warrant, judicial documentation or legal process. It was just as
they said: "judged guilty before innocence could be proven." I'm describing below the persecution I suffered in Baimalong Forced Labor
Camp. I ask that the narrative of my suffering be submitted to the International
Society for Human Rights (ISHR) and the Coalition to Investigate the Persecution
of Falun Gong (CIPFG), for the purpose of bringing to justice those who
persecuted me. 1. Suffering Brainwashing The police knew that I was once detained at Beishayang Forced Labor Camp,
Hubei Province and that I wasn't "transformed". Therefore, they told
to me that they would, "try anything in their power" to
"transform" me. So, they took me to the No. 73 Team, also called the
"Strict Discipline Team." They first began to brainwash me. During the day, I was attacked, threatened
and insulted by a group of "transformed" former practitioners. During
other times, guards threatened me with corporal punishment, beat me and limited
visits to the bathroom to wash up and use the toilet. During the night, I was
forced to watch videos slandering Teacher and Dafa. I was monitored continuously
by two prisoners. They tortured me when I closed my eyes. One prisoner hit me
and mocked me by saying, "Who hit you? Who witnessed it?" At times, I
was forced to stand for the entire night and sometimes I had to walk without
taking a rest. After ten days, I became absent minded due to sleep deprivation. But, they
still did not let me sleep. As soon as I closed my eyes, the monitors put
cooling oil on my eyelids. They also hit me brutally with their fists. My legs
were injured from brutal beatings. My body was close to collapsing. I told them
that I needed to sleep and pointed out the illegality of their actions. They
said, "Of course, people should sleep. But, you don't want to sleep. If you
wish to sleep, you need to write the three statements. Once you
write these statements, you can sleep." I only slept several hours on
August 4, 17, and 20, 2004. I did not close my eyes during the other sixteen
days. After August 21, 2004, I had to sit awake until midnight, 1, 2 or 3 a.m,
or at times even the entire night, depending on the guard on duty. In September 2004, staff at the labor camp began another round of violent
brainwashing. Seventeen guards and hundreds of monitors brought together five
special groups to deal with firm practitioners. They inhumanly tortured
twenty-nine firm practitioners. But, I know only a portion of what went on
during the brainwashing sessions. Practitioner Li Ping was taken to the Number Seventy-Three team office. She
shouted, "Falun Dafa is Good! Falun Dafa is righteous!" After a while
it went quiet. One of the prison monitors told me that we should be smarter in
protecting ourselves and should not suffer losses. They said Li Ping was beaten
with electric batons. Later, they injected her with some kind of drug. She fell
down immediately and went into a coma. She still was not awake after several
hours. It was horrible. Yuan Jia, a guard, is responsible for the special Strictly Monitored Section
that tortured practitioner Yang Jusheng. Yang Jusheng, close to 67 years old, was forced to squat for six days and six
nights. This caused a rectal prolapse -- five inches of her rectum bulged out.
Zhao, the director's wife and Lu, a doctor diagnosed Yang Jusheng's condition.
But Yuan Jia still ordered her to squat down. After some time, Ms. Yang no
longer had the urge to go use the toilet. Her entire body swelled up and she was
near death. Then she stopped squatting. Her legs were numb and her feet were
disabled. It took nearly a year of Dafa practice to recover. During these
inhuman days of squatting, just as it is done in the army, guard Yuan Jia
criticized her posture and kicked her. Yuan Jia told Ms. Yang that she would die
even worse than a dog. Yuan Jia also ordered prison monitors to torture her
inhumanly and to berate Yang Jusheng. Once, when she closed her eyes, the
prisoners hit her eyes hundreds of times. She once tried to file a lawsuit
against Baimalong Forced Labor Camp, but did not received any response. Dafa practitioner Liu Dan (called Liu Muhong in the labor camp) held a hunger
strike in protest of the persecution. In September, while in the Strictly
Monitored Section, she became emaciated and was near death. The prisoners feared
to look at her. However, they still tortured her. She was hung up on the stair
landing for half a month, and was not allowed to go to the bathroom. Her pants
were soiled from feces and urine. She was frequently comatose. She asked the
prisoners why they didn't allow her to eat. They told her, "You don't want
you to go to the bathroom, so you don't have meals." She didn't say
anything and became comatose again. She also coughed every day, had difficulty
with breathing, and was very weak. According to the medical diagnoses, Ms. Liu
had problems with her lungs. The guards feared that she would die in the labor
camp and took her to a hospital. She didn't have her period for more than 6
months. Practitioner Li Mei was injected with unknown drugs. The needle marks could
clearly be seen. There was blood flowing from every opening of her body. She
kept shaking all over and could not stand unaided. They kept giving her a lot of
unknown drugs. Dafa practitioner Yang Guixian was also detained in the Strictly Monitored
Group. She shouted, "Falun Dafa is Good!" Guard Wang Fang ordered
prisoners to torture her cruelly. They hit her face, which turned purple and
red. She was also often put into a straight jacket and forced to stand for a
long time. A prisoner put a dirty sanitary napkin into her mouth. The worst
among them all was prisoner Yi Hongxia. He put the dirty cloth, used for wiping
up feces in the washrooms, in her mouth. The above are only a few ordeals suffered by practitioners. There were many
more torture methods used on practitioners that I do not know about. Of course, they didn't release me from the camp. On September 21, I was also
put into the Strict Monitoring Section. Gong Chaolian, the Education Section
deputy head, berated me. I reminded myself that I must keep righteous thoughts.
Therefore, I recited the Fa in my mind continuously and sent
righteous thought. I calmed down gradually. Zhang Ming, a prisoner berated and
tortured me. The guards also tortured me. They berated and later threatened me.
I was made to stand all night long. Then, I had to stand on a stool. This stool
was one foot long and half a foot wide. I was not allowed to sleep and felt like
fainting. I fell off the stool, but was immediately put back on the stool.
During the night, I was forced to watch TV when I stood on the stool. This
scenario continued day after day and night after night. In the afternoon of September 26, 2004 they changed their methods. They no
longer forced me to stand up. One of the prisoners told me that five of the
groups disbanded and only one group remained. They posted the words, "Must
be Transformed" on the wall. They forced me to read. I didn't read. They
cut a stick into three parts and began to hit me. Later, they decided that this
method was not brutal enough. Therefore, they hit me more inhumanly. They
grabbed my hair and hit my head against the wall. They hit my body as hard as
they could. I shouted: "Prison monitors are torturing people!" and
again, "Prison monitors are torturing people!" The guards outside the
door laughed. They didn't care at all. I know that they forced the prisoners to
torture me. When prisoners didn't torture me, they told them, "Be
strict." The prisoners were supposed to know what that meant. I was injured
everywhere. At the same time, I may have had attachments and my righteous
thought were not strong. I agreed to copy the three statements. They then
stopped torturing me. During the night, they forced me to copy the words. My
mind was numb and was not clear at all. They let me sleep for two hours. I woke
up and could not believe what I had done. It was the worst thing I could have
done! I announced that I withdrew everything I wrote. I am clear minded now. I
understand how dangerous it was. It almost ruined me. 2. Attacking the Spirit of Practitioners We were not allowed to have Teacher's writings in the labor camp. The inmates
were told that if they reported that a practitioner had Teacher's writings, the
authorities would commute three days off their sentence. If practitioners were
found to have Teacher's writings, they would add two weeks or twenty days to the
sentence. They would have a "security check" once a month. But, in
reality, they wanted to see if Dafa practitioners had Teacher's writings. When
Sun Jin searched my room, Liu Dan and I protested. Later, another two
practitioners protested too. We did not accept this persecution. But she didn't
care at all. Sun Jin searched Liu Dan's body. Liu Dan protected her body and
said, "I do not accept this persecution." Suddenly, some inmates
surrounded Liu Dan, held her down on the floor, and searched her. When we came back from the bathroom after dinner, inmate Chen Xuemei saw me
put something in my collar. She watched me and later, about seven or eight
inmates surrounded me and demanded that I show what I put in my collar. I said,
"Nothing." They wanted to search and I said, "Keep away. Let me
think." I ate the piece of paper with Teacher's writings. Chen Xuemei and
another inmate became extremely angry, grabbed my hair, and berated and hit me.
Also, they told the guards. They told us that we had to go to a brainwashing class. We refused. They used
violence to force us to go. Liu Dan and I grabbed onto the bed. Several inmates
grabbed us and tried to pull us out of the cell. Wang Bixian pointed at me and
berated me. Sun Jin flew into a rage when she heard about it. However, we
refused to go, no matter how much they berated us. Then, they finally stopped. We were transferred to the Seventy-first Team. They organized a brainwashing
class. I told Zhang Shuaiqun (team director) that I would not accept
brainwashing. I said I only study the Fa. I would not join into the so-called
"studying," even if they dragged me there. Finally, they stopped
trying to force me to go. 3. Forced Labor In September 2004, the so called "strict monitoring" ended. Sui Jin
and Yuan Lihua (team leaders), Gong Chaolian and other guards told me that I
should work. They said any one in the labor camp must produce. I said, "I
am not a reeducation through labor student. I will not do that." They said,
"If you don't, we will extend your prison term." I told them that I
would sue them. Liu Dan, and the four practitioners in our cells and other cells
refused to work too. The November schedule, held at the record checking attendance table was
available. We were not shown that form. But the guards ordered inmates to show
us the forms and have us sign. It said on the form that absenteeism from work
would add 23 days to the prison term. I thought about what I should put on that
form. I wrote that I would sue them and expose their behavior through the media,
no matter how long it would take. They should take responsibility for their
behavior. Liu Dan wrote that they should release her unconditionally and not
behave in a criminal fashion. Later on, another 21 days and 17 days were added
to my sentence and then removed later. But, some younger practitioners had to
serve longer terms. In March 2005, inmates said that everyone must work. They said that those who
refused would be tortured. Several days later, practitioners Li Mei and Wu
Xiaoming were transferred to the No. 4 Room, where the authorities tried to make
them work. They refused. So, they were forced to stand for eight days and
nights. They still refused to work. Li Mei (over 50 years old) was very weak.
There was a tumor in her neck and she was in pain. They finally stopped forcing
her to work. This tumor became bigger and bigger. Finally, Li Mei was diagnosed
as having late stage cancer and she was released. Sometime in May, Liu Dan and I were separated. Liu Dan was transferred to the
Seventy-first Team and detained in solitary confinement. The tried to make her
work but she refused. Therefore, they tortured her day and night. Several brutal
prisoners were ordered to torture Liu Dan. It was rumored that Liu Dan was
detained in a small solitary confinement cell for five months and suffered
extreme pain. But, she still refused to work. Sometime around March 2006, they forced practitioners in the Seventy-first
Team to work as slaves and forced them to attend brainwashing sessions. They
classified practitioners. Some of the practitioners were transferred to the
number Seventy-two Team ("the transformation team"). They agreed to
work, but refused to be in solitary confinement. Later, the brainwashing methods
became increasingly inhuman. At those times, you could hear practitioners'
pained shouts. Liu Wei refused to work and be "transformed". Six
guards stripped her of her clothes and put a rolled-up cloth piece in her
vagina. Several hours passed. The cloth could not be taken out, which caused her
urine to come out from her navel. She was in excruciating pain. Those evil
guards used this kind of terrible method to force twenty practitioners to work
as slaves. At the same time, the inmates tried to force them to write the three
statements. In September, only six practitioners were left in the number Seventy-one
Team. After I left, only five practitioners remained in that team. In October, I
heard that they tried again to make Liu Dan work, and to be
"transformed". Liu Dan's life was in danger. 4. Further Inhuman Torture Practitioners were not allowed to close their eyes or talk. The authorities
said if one closed one's eyes, one was practicing Falun Gong. They claimed that
if one moved one's mouth, one was reciting the Fa. Practitioners could not bend
their legs when sitting on the bed. I wanted them to show me the legal documents
stipulating such conditions, but they could not. But, they claimed that this
should be the policy in their labor camp. I, of course, did not listen to them.
I always closed my eyes no matter how they berated or shouted at me. I did not
open my eyes because it was my legal right to close my eyes if I wanted to. They did not allow practitioners to sit. They said practitioners were
practicing Falun Gong when they sat. They ordered practitioners to sit in an
uncomfortable position and kept checking if practitioners were practicing Falun
Gong. Practitioner Yang Sanchun, 67 years old, used to sit straight, with both
hands placed on her knees. She kept her back straight and her eyes shut. She
would sit like this for an entire morning or afternoon. The inmates and guards
were very angry about that and berated her. They forced her to sit in an
uncomfortable position and monitored her continuously. Inmate Chen Manli was the
worst among them. If I stood like a normal human, she would kick my feet and
forced me to bend over and keep my feet close to each other. We could not look beyond the door or out of the window. If we walked on the
road, we were required to lower our heads and were not allowed to look forward,
backward, left or right, or we were berated. One day, when we went to buy
groceries, I saw my daughter in that store. Guard Wang Bixian ordered other
inmates to turn me around and cover my view. They did not allow me to see my
daughter. 5. Illegally Extended Prison Term Yu Yingzhu's sentence had expired and she should have been released from the
labor camp. Her company officers were informed to take her back home. But a
person who wanted to persecute her said, "If you release her, she might go
to Beijing to appeal again. We will lose our annual bonus. You should detain her
until the New Year ends." Because of this remark, Yu Yingzhu was held for
almost one month longer at Baimalong Forced Labor Camp without any legal
process. Zhou Aihua was to be released on March 23, 2006. A local person, responsible
for Zhou Aihua's case and who is persecuting Dafa practitioners said, "The
prison term was six months shorter than the actual sentence." They wanted
her to be imprisoned for another six months. Therefore, a phone call from these
people resulted in another six-month sentence for Zhou Aihua. There was no legal
process. Yang Jusheng was to be released on March 3, 2006. She was told that no one
would pick her up, so her prison term was extended to March 9, 2006. Yang
Jusheng's first term was extended for the same reason. Only very few Falun Gong
practitioners were released on the date their sentence ended. 6. Complaint Letters Not Submitted Dafa practitioners could seldom write a letter of complaint. They had to
repeatedly request a pen and paper. When they wrote something, the criminal
inmates would watch what they wrote. The complaint letters were not transmitted. I wrote dozens of letters to the
State Council, National People's Congress, the provincial Public Security
Department, the Provincial Judicature Hall, directors of the labor camp and
reorganizing directors. I did not receive any response. I wrote another letter
to the director of the labor camp. When Zhao, the director came to my cell, I
asked him about it. He said he didn't receive the letter. I mailed the letter to
the provincial Public Security Department and also I mailed the draft to my
family members. They didn't receive the letters, either. But, other letters I
wrote to my family were received. Some inmates told me that the letters were not
mailed. 7. Forcing Inmates to Berate Dafa Practitioners One day, Yi Hongxia, a prison monitor berated me and said, "The guards
gave me the authority to deal with you. You should do whatever I order." Yi
Hongxia is extremely unpleasant and arrogant. She has beaten and berated many
practitioners. She is the same as Shi Yongqing. Luo Yonghong, another inmate, did not beat practitioners that much when I was
in the same room as Li Ying. However, when I went to the number Seventy-three
Team, I found that she was the one criminal inmate who beat practitioners
cruelly. I asked them why they became like that. They said that Shi Yongqing
always berated them and ordered them to "transform" practitioners. She
did not restrict herself to any persecution methods, she only wanted results.
Shi Yongqing also said the guards supported them when they torture
practitioners. If they did not "perform well," they would lose
benefits. He Yulian also ordered inmates to "transform" practitioners. She
only wanted "transformation" results and did not care what method was
used. Chen Manli said, "You are not my enemy. I just do what the guards tell
me to do. I just don't want to lose my benefits." I wrote these words down
in my complaint letters and asked them if their words were true. They didn't
deny what I had written down. Additionally, the criminal inmates recorded every detail of practitioners'
words and behavior, causing everyone to be nervous. I have described every aspect of the persecution in simple terms, but the
reality was very brutal. During several years of persecution, I know that Zuo Shuchun, Chen Ouxiang
and Hu Zhengxi and four more practitioners were persecuted to death in this
camp. Some, including Zheng Xiaohua and Cao Jianzhong were released only when
they were close to death. They died soon after returning home. Some
practitioners were persecuted to a state of mental collapse, including Yang
Youyuan, Xu Shaoan and Li Qing. Some practitioners were mentally traumatized or
became disabled. I do not know their names, but this can be found out. I experienced physical and mental suffering. It was terrible. I remembered
Teacher's Fa. Teacher said, "No matter what the situation, do not cooperate
with the evil's demands, orders, or what it instigates." ("Dafa
Disciples' Righteous Thoughts Are Powerful," Essentials For Further
Advancement II) (Official Translation) I saw myself as a practitioner and did not cooperate with the evil. I didn't
do well one time, but then I did better and better. One day, a guard berated me
and pointed at my nose. I calmed down and said in a serious manner, "Please
do not point at me. It is not polite. Please pay attention to your position as a
guard." He then pulled his hand back and said, "It is my habit."
Some guards cursed. I questioned them, "Who gives you the right to curse
others?" We did not do bad things. We validate the Fa. We followed
Teacher's Fa: "rectify everything that is not righteous," ("Dafa
is Indestructible") (official translation) During those two years, I filed suit against those who persecuted me. I also
sued one who persecuted other practitioners verbally and in written form. I do
not accept their persecution. Before ending this article, I want to give some information to fellow
practitioners and their relatives about practitioners still left at Baimalong
Forced Labor Camp in September. When I left in September, only five practitioners remained with the number
Seventy-one Team: Yu Yingzhu, Liu Dan (also called Liu Muhong), Zhu Guilin, Li
Jiaju and Gong Dexiu. Yu Yingzhu held a hunger strike for over one month. Her health deteriorated
rapidly. Baimalong clinic doctors did not accept Yu Yingzhu into the prison
clinic because her health condition worsened. But, Yu Yingzhu's company officers
that were responsible for her, and had taken her to the labor camp, took Ms. Yu
to a private clinic, wrote a false diagnosis document and transferred her back
to Baimalong Labor Camp. At that time, the sentence document indicated
approximately one-and-a-half years more of detention. The guards reprinted the
document and added another year and claimed that it was wrong in the original
document. They did this to torture Ms. Yu. She filed a lawsuit with the court,
but received no response. Around June or July, she went on a hunger strike to
protest the long prison term. She was taken to the number Seventy-three Team.
One day, several inmates grabbed her hand and tired to force her to write the
three statements. Yu Yingzhu realized their bad intentions and broke her cup.
She was ready to die. Then, they stopped threatening her. Yu Yingzhu was in bad
health. She is out of energy and has a rapid heartbeat. Fellow practitioners and
relatives, please pay attention to her situation and rescue her. Zhu Guilin was berated and beaten for not doing the morning exercise. She has
been on a hunger strike for more than 70 days. She is not doing well. Sometimes
she can't sleep or go to the bathroom. Criminal inmate Yuan Li and around five
other inmates beat her and took her to another cell where they made her stand
upright. Ms. Zhu did not have money to buy groceries. We helped her. She is
suffering greatly. Her family members -- please come to visit and take care of
her. Gong Dexiu suffered from heart disease. She needs to practice Falun Gong to
become healthy again. They did not allow her to practice, but inmates frequently
tied her up with a rope on the ground. They also injected her with unknown drugs
and made her take unknown medications. Li Jiaju has difficult walking and she can't straighten her back. She cannot
eat, and she has become emaciated. I saw that the guards took her to the clinic. Over thirty practitioners from the number Seventy-one Team were transferred
to the "transforming" team for persecution. They tried to force them
to work and write the three statements. In September, only five practitioners
were left. I spoke about Liu Dan above. It is rumored that Liu Dan was tortured
again in October. Please, fellow practitioners and relatives, please pay attention to their
situations. Some practitioners were not allowed family visits. I'm sure that
they suffer torture and they must be suffering greatly. Please report this to any individual or organization that can help or is
willing to extend a helping hand. Please rescue these practitioners as soon as
possible. Posting date: 1/8/2007
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