(Minghui.org) I was sent to Dabanqiao Women's Labor Camp in Yunnan Province (later renamed Yunnan Province Women's Drug Rehabilitation Center) three times for detoxification. I am now drug-free.
During my detention, I witnessed the brutal torture of Falun Gong practitioners in the prison. I did not understand at that time why good people like them were incarcerated like me.
Beatings and torture were a common occurrence in this prison. Some Falun Gong practitioners were taken away after they had been severely tortured. The guards told us that they were sent to the hospital for treatment, but the practitioners never returned.
Young Practitioner Forced to Abort Baby
Assigned to my group were some Falun Gong practitioners. Among them was a woman around 30 from Chuxiong, Yunnan Province. This practitioner was closely watched by two addicts around the clock. [Note: This practitioner has been identified as Liu Chiping, former manager at Chuxiong Bus Company. Ms. Liu was illegally sentenced a second time in 2012 to Yunnan No. 2 Women Prison for four years.]
Every day our group woke at 5:40 am, started heavy labor work at 7:30 am, and stopped work at 6 pm, rain or shine. The guards continually defamed Falun Gong practitioners, calling them criminals. We were not allowed to talk to the practitioners or help them. They were treated much worse than any of us, especially Ms. Liu. She was always assigned the worst jobs, yet she treated us kindly and shared whatever she had if we asked.
Our brigade captain, Xia Lianping, warned the practitioners that the guards had ways of “transforming” the practitioners, but Ms. Liu never gave up her beliefs. She said that Falun Dafa is good and Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good. We all suffered because she refused to be transformed. Our reformation scores were reduced, our work doubled, and our jail terms were extended.
Our group blamed Ms. Liu for the harsh treatment. Several in our group, led by our group leader Zhao Ling, severely beat her. She was forced to squat the whole night, while holding a pot of water with her arms extended in front of her. With no sleep, she was forced to do digging work the following day.
She was never allowed to eat in the canteen after that. She had to eat in front of a blackboard outside, standing in a military training posture. The guards said this was to make her think calmly about her mistake.
Two months later, Ms. Liu discovered that she was pregnant and was reported to a guard. She was then taken to the hospital inside the prison. When she returned a few days later, her five-month-old unborn baby was gone. She said in tears that she was forced to have an abortion.
Li Guangxia Brutally Persecuted
I was sent to the same detoxification center a third time in 2012. More than half of the detainees there were Falun Gong practitioners. They were isolated and not allowed to talk to other people. Every practitioner was closely watched by two addicts.
I lived on the ground floor. Also on the same floor in a small room lived Ms. Li Guangxia, a Falun Gong practitioner from Yuxi. I frequently heard harsh voices coming from this room. Ms. Li was not allowed out except to use the toilet. I often saw her in the restroom.
We were assigned to the Third Brigade. The brigade captain has the last name Yu, and was promoted because of her cruelty to Falun Gong practitioners. One day after returning from work, Yu ordered us to stand in the rain before dinner. She said: “Since Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Li is on a hunger strike, you will all stand up with her until she recognizes her mistake and starts to eat.” Many people started to complain and scold Falun Gong practitioners. They forgot that Yu was the real perpetrator.
Standing there for a half hour was unbearable. When it was over, we went to the canteen while the Falun Gong practitioners were taken to the office for brainwashing, which actually meant beatings and other forms of torture. We were awakened that night by shouting that came from Ms. Li's room. I believed she was being brutally tortured yet again.
One day Ms. Li furtively passed a piece of paper to me in the restroom one day. I quickly returned to my room and read the message. It said: “I am from Yuxi Animal Husbandry Bureau. I have been beaten and persecuted.”
When I met her again in the afternoon, she did not say a word but showed me scars and bruising on her belly. I did not dare to talk to her because the addicts were watching. Regretfully, I did not have chance to ask her what she wanted me to do.
I wondered if she wanted me to help her find her family since no one had visited her during her detention.
