(Minghui.org) My friend introduced me to a job after I retired. I was told that the job was watching TV every day, and the monthly salary was 2,000-3,000 yuan with free meals and free lodging. The job was so attractive that I immediately went to Wuhan City with the friend to start work. The workplace was just beside the Hubei Province Women's Forced Labor Camp in Banqiao, in the Hongshan District, Wuhan City. After working there a while, I discovered it was not a good place for a person to stay. It was absolutely "hell in the human world".
The work unit was subordinate to the provincial 610 Office and the provincial judicial bureau. No one could freely enter or leave the courtyard. This was a four-floor building that was specifically used to detain Falun Gong practitioners and to brainwash them. The atmosphere inside was gloomy and one of terror, especially at night. One with a weak nervous system would be unable to fall asleep.
We were arranged to stay with those practitioners on the first floor. There were about 20 rooms on the first floor with three persons per room, one practitioner and two "minders". Every brainwashing session was 50 days with no rest days, except the Chinese New Year. The "tuition" for each practitioner was about 20,000 yuan per session. The "tuition" was paid by the work unit of the practitioner, the residential community offices, or the local 610 Offices. Of course, most of the money would eventually be extorted from the practitioners' families.
Every day, there were police cars coming from other places, such as Huangzhi, Shiyan, Huangmei, Anlu, Gongan, Xishui, etc., to deliver practitioners who were arrested. Many of the practitioners still wore their nightclothes and slippers when brought to the brainwashing center. Once, there were three people from the same family. Sometimes, the mother and her daughter were sent in at the same time.
The "minders" had a meeting at 8:30 every morning. Guard Yu Cunhua was our team leader and assigned the tasks to us: monitoring and reporting the practitioner's every movement; not turning off the two ceiling lights at night; not allowing the practitioner to do the exercises or call her family; not closing the restroom door when the practitioner was inside using the toilet or taking a shower; turning on the TV 24 hours a day, etc. If the practitioner was not transformed, we were not allowed to go home. If she was transformed, we could have one day off, but must come back at night. We could walk around the courtyard after a meal, but most of the time we had to stay in the room, watch TV, or sleep. The practitioners were not allowed to go outside at all.
There were about 10 collaborators who were former Falun Gong practitioners that had been transformed. They were hired to assist in transforming other practitioners. Their monthly salary was around 1,000 yuan and a bonus for each practitioner that was transformed with her assistance. They had four days per month to rest.
Every morning we sent practitioners to the classroom at 8:00 and picked them up at 9 p.m. There was a clinic on the second floor. The male doctor was called Wan Jun, aged approximately 40. The female nurse was called Xiao Hong, aged over 20. The guards stayed on the third floor. The head of the guards was called Gong Jian. There were two teams under him. They went to work at 8:30 a.m. and got off work at 4:30 p.m.
The guards were in charge of arranging different plans to transform the practitioners. Yu Cunhua said to us, "We have all kinds of methods. No one can go through the gate if they are not transformed." There were often visitors from 610 Offices from different places. They came to learn the methods of persecution. Once, there were two big buses that came with many visitors inside.
The guards here had a high salary, but as I observed, both male and female guards rarely smiled. It seemed they always had something weighing on their minds. Maybe it was related to what they were doing. It was said that those practitioners who were steadfast were being tortured on the fourth floor.
The following are what I heard or saw while I was there:
1. Poisoning the Practitioners' Food
After the practitioners were sent in and ate food from the cafeteria, they all had symptoms of dizziness, heart palpitations, chest pain, or high blood pressure. They had swollen legs which showed marks when pressed against. Some were even unable to walk without leaning against the wall for support. All of the practitioners knew the food was poisoned. However, they had no choice but to eat the food there.
2. Practitioners Were Given Injections
Whenever a practitioner didn't feel well, the doctor gave her an injection. The practitioners were not told what kind of injections they were given. If they refused the injection, the guards forcefully held the practitioner down for the injection. Many practitioners felt worse after they were given the injection. Their requests to see a doctor outside the brainwashing center were always denied. Zhang Su was a tennis coach and was very healthy. Just a few days after she came to the brainwashing center, her blood pressure was as high as 200. She was not allowed to go outside the labor camp to see a doctor.
3. Forcing the Practitioner to Remain Standing for Long Hours
If a practitioner refused to be transformed, she was often punished by being forced to stand for long hours, from morning to 10:00 in the evening. Zhang Weijie had been made to stand everyday for 15 days and was not allowed to sleep at night. Several collaborators continuously verbally abused her.
4. Forcing the Practitioner to Carry Heavy Books
The practitioners were forced to hold heavy books weighing tens of kilograms while being forced to stand for long hours. If the practitioner dropped a book, the guard would shock her with an electric baton. Practitioner Duan Yuying had been forced to stand while holding heavy books for almost a whole day and at last was unable to hold the books anymore. Guard Jiang Lili shocked her with an electric baton and beat her on the face with a hardcover book, which made her mouth bleed.
5. Forced Feeding
To those who were steadfast in their belief, the guard would not give them food and claimed they were on a hunger strike. Then they would force feed these practitioners. The force feeding would be done by doctor Wan and nurse Xiao Hong. The guards would be around to assist them and to scold the practitioners. They would do the force feeding every day if the practitioner refused to be transformed. Zhang Weijie and Zhang Su suffered such torture, and in the end they were unable to move at all.
6. Electric Shock
There was an old lady called Liu Limin who refused to be transformed. Guard Jiang Lili often shocked her with an electric baton until she was unable to move. She had been detained for six months and became very skinny by the time she was released. When her family came to pick her up, we were surprised to learn that several of her family members were police, including her sisters, her brothers, and her parents. They all wore their uniforms to come to pick her up. If a family member of police can suffer such mistreatment, it's hard to imagine how bad they would treat others.
In general, many practitioners have been tortured to death under such physical and mental pressure, about which the authorities don't care. These practitioners are forced to watch TV programs for more than 10 hours a day that slander Falun Gong. They have to write thought reports after watching. Before they are released, they have to expose other practitioners, including such details as name and address. Otherwise they will never be released. Some cried at night because they didn't want to expose others. They were also requested to be spies after release, otherwise they are threatened with jail.
The above occurred in Banqiao, Hongshan District. It's beside Hubei Province Women's Forced Labor Camp and very close to Baolixiyu Residential Compound. The guard at the gate will tell you it is an empty building and that no one lives there. He always says so.
