The creation of a labor camp in November 2007 especially focused on Falun Gong practitioners followed by it's intensive use during the Olympics shows that the persecution of Falun Gong is an ongoing policy in China.

After their arrest in August 2008, Ms. Zhang Chenglan is still detained and most of their confiscated property has not been returned.

Viciousness at Hebei Province Women's Forced Labor Camp

The Hebei Province Women's Forced Labor Camp was established on November 19, 2007. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) transferred most detainees from different women's labor camps across Hebei Province to this labor camp, focusing on the persecution of Falun Gong. At first, it detained about 200 people but reached about 400 during the Olympic Games. Among them, about 70 percent are Falun Gong practitioners and 20 percent have other beliefs or had gone to appeal. Less than 10 percent have actually committed wrongdoings. Mass arrests during the Olympic Games was rampant, sometimes reaching more than 30 per day. Even the handicapped and people with infectious diseases, high blood pressure, or heart disease are accepted and detained here. Currently, nearly 100 determined Falun Gong practitioners are detained on the first floor. There are also nearly 100 practitioners detained on the fourth floor. They were arrested at various locations during the Olympic Games and are steadfast practitioners. The so-called "transformed" practitioners are detained on the second and third floors. Some of them decided to resume practicing Falun Gong and wrote solemn declarations indicating this.

As soon as the Olympics started on August 9, 2008, the situation became worse, the worst point being around August 20. Falun Gong practitioners were physically abused, beaten, cursed at, and humiliated--all of which are prohibited according to policy. In order to force determined practitioners to wear the uniforms, they ripped the clothes from female practitioners, cut apart their underwear with scissors, and chained them to a wooden board bed. These practitioners were then beaten, electrically-shocked, tied up, and tortured by other means.

Camp officials also threatened to extend the practitioners' terms of detention. The Labor Camp Bureau of Shijiazhuang City gave notice to extend their terms by three-and-a-half months for determined Falun Gong practitioners. They also threatened that the determined practitioners would not be released but would instead be sent to a brainwashing center for three months and then to a women's prison. Camp officials sent determined practitioners to Shijiazhuang City Forced Labor Camp or Tangshan City Forced Labor Camp. Inside the labor camp, in order to intimidate other practitioners, they announced that these practitioners had been transferred directly to prison.

On September 20, female guard Liu Ziwei ripped the clothes off practitioner Ms. Zhang Yanchun, an unmarried practitioner. She also brutally beat her. Ms. Zhang had so many bruises on her body and face that it defied description. In order to cover it up and intensify the persecution, Liu Ziwei detained Ms. Zhang separately in a storage room used as solitary confinement. Ms. Zhang was not allowed to leave to eat, drink, or use the bathroom.

On July 15, practitioner Ms. Sun Tao met another practitioner in the bathroom. Inmate Zhu Liying thought they had talked to each other and started to beat Ms. Sun. Another inmate, Liu Juan (from Handan City), helped her beat Mr. Sun. Ms. Sun's head swelled in two places, and her nose was bruised. However, guard Wang Weiwei not only didn't punish them, but chained Ms. Sun for the whole afternoon. Guard Shi Jiangxia was also at the scene, but she pretended nothing had happened.

Practitioners are beaten every day, especially by Guard Liu Ziwei, who often beats practitioners brutally. She has asked two inmates, Liu Juan (who has practiced Taekwondo and Yoga) and Zhu Liying, to help her. As long as Liu Ziwei is on duty, she looks for opportunities to persecute practitioners.

One day in mid-July, Liu Ziwei and four or five other female guards, along with Liu Juan, detained practitioner Ms. Lu Suhua separately in a storage room used as solitary confinement. They chained her to a heating pipe and window frame, extending her arms as far as they would go. Liu Ziwei then said, "We can't let her be too comfortable."

So they chained her in a position where she couldn't stand up or squat down. When Ms. Lu said, "Falun Dafa is good," the guard stuffed her mouth with towels and taped it shut. Liu Ziwei and Liu Juan then started beating her about the face. It was so brutal that Ms. Lu was dizzy and unable to see things clearly for about a week. Liu Ziwei also kicked Ms. Lu in the ribs with all her might. It hurt so much that Ms. Lu could hardly breathe. Ms. Lu asked to call her husband to publicize the brutality, but official Feng Kezhuang, the deputy director, denied her request. Later Feng said Ms. Lu could write a letter, but after the letter was written, all of the guards read it, and it is unlikely that the letter was actually sent out. As a matter of fact, determined practitioners seldom received letters sent by their families.

In mid-September, Liu Ziwei once again forced Ms. Lu to wear a prison uniform. Otherwise, no bathroom use was allowed. Ms. Lu had no choice but to go on a hunger strike to reduce the need to use the bathroom. After this continued for six days, Liu Ziwei beat Ms. Lu so severely that she had countless bruises and her left arm was fractured. She couldn't move it for a long time.

At around noon on August 20, Liu Ziwei and Liu Juan secretly ordered practitioners out one by one to give blood samples. No explanations were given. Whoever refused to cooperate was forced. Guard Shi Jiangxia and the prison doctor, surnamed Ma (male), held practitioners down on the floor to take the samples. And they instigated inmate Liu Juan to beat them. After practitioner Ms. Qiu Liying refused to give a blood sample, she was pushed to the floor. Shi Jiangxia and Ma stomped on Ms. Qiu's legs while Liu Juan beat her about the head. As a result, Ms. Qiu experienced a severe headache, dizziness, nausea, and vomiting. She was unable to eat and requested a medical examination, but her request was denied. Because of the nausea, she couldn't eat anything for three days. The guards then allowed her to make a sham visit to the clinic inside the labor camp.

On August 21, Liu Ziwei and Zhu Liying ripped the clothes off practitioners Ms. Zhang Junmei, Ms. Meng Shufang, and Ms. Liu Yuekun. They also cut apart their underwear and forced these practitioners to stand naked for a long time. Ms. Zhang was menstruating but was still not allowed any clothing. She had to use a bed sheet to cover herself when using the bathroom. Her bedding was then taken away and she had to sleep on the wooden boards. The following day, Liu Ziwei beat these practitioners again, one by one, and much of their hair was pulled out. Two practitioners were beaten so severely that there were bruises all over their faces, and their eyes could barely open.

Liu Ziwei often uses caustic remarks to humiliate Falun Gong practitioners, and she frequently forces practitioners to stand for an entire day without eating or drinking, even practitioners over 60 years old. Liu Ziwei also frequently beats and electrically shocks practitioners in the office. In addition, she often kicks practitioners (including in the face) with her leather boots.

Hebei Province Women's Labor Camp:
Director Hao Lin: 86-311-83939188
Deputy Director Feng Kezhuang: 86-311-83939177
Deputy Director An Huaner: 86-311-83939168
Ward 1 (Falun Gong practitioners are detained there): 86-311-83939136 (Guards Liu Ziwei, Shi Jiangxia, Gu Hongye, Zhao Yali, Wang Weiwei, Chang Lin)

The Persecution of Married Couple Mr. Liu Ruping and Ms. Zhang Chenglan

On the afternoon of August 12, 2008, Falun Gong practitioners Mr. Liu Ruping and his wife Zhang Chenglan were arrested by officials from Changqing District 610 Office, the Domestic Security Team of Changqing District Police Branch, along with Xincheng Police Station and Xiaoli Police Station in Jinan City, Shandong Province. Liu Ruping returned home on September 28, but Zhang Chenglan is still being held at the 1st Women's Forced Labor Camp of Shandong Province.

These officials waited outside Mr. Liu Ruping's apartment on the afternoon of August 12, 2008. When Liu Ruping's wife Ms. Zhang Chenglan returned home at 3:00 p.m., they jumped in front of her and arrested her without saying a word or showing a warrant. They seized her keys and opened the door to her home. Upon entering, they quickly spread out in the living room. Two officers held Liu Ruping's son. Liu Ruping was present, and he said to the officials, "This is a break-in and is against the law. Get out!" The police answered, "We have a warrant to search your home!" They arrested Liu Ruping and carried him out.

Going downstairs Liu Ruping shouted, "The police are arresting me!" One officer immediately attacked his face with pepper spray, making him cry, cough uncontrollably and making his nose run.

The agents took Ms. Zhang Chenglan to Xiaoli Police Station and interrogated her overnight. They transferred her to the Jinan City Detention Center the next day.

Ms. Zhang Chenglan refused to sign any documents, to avoid admitting to fabricated charges. The officials interrogated her again on September 10. Changqing District Police officials decided to sentence her to 21 months of forced labor, and reported the verdict to the Jinan City Labor Reeducation Committee, which shortened the sentence to 18 months. The police sent her to the 1st Women's Forced Labor Camp of Shandong Province on September 12, 2008.

The authorities heavily restricted her freedom once she was in the camp. Her brother and nephew went to the labor camp on September 16, but the officials refused to let them see her.

Her family never received any official notification about the sentence. Labor camp authorities have not allowed her to write letters or make phone calls to her family.

Mr. Liu Ruping returned home on September 28, 2008. He and his son traveled to the labor camp on October 2, 2008, but the authorities refused to let them see Ms. Zhang.

Guo Jun, Zhang Jibin and other officers from Xincheng Police Station arrested Mr. Liu Ruping the afternoon of August 12, 2008 and took him to Jinan City Brainwashing Center, officially called a Legal Education Center. Meng Qian, head of the 610 Office and deputy head of Changqing District Politics and Law Committee, went to different agencies to obtain approval for sending Liu Ruping to the brainwashing center.

Liu Ruping refused to let Jinan City 610 Office agent Wu Jiling photograph him on August 14, 2008. Officials from the Changqing District Politics and Law Committee Comprehensive Office, Changqing Police Department, and Jinan City Party School Administration Division tried to convince Liu Ruping on August 19 to cooperate with the persecutors. Liu Ruping exposed their true intentions, which were to make him renounce his belief.

Wang from the city CCP School accompanied Shi Weidong, political head from Xiaoli Police Station, and attempted to intimidate Liu Ruping on August 28, but Mr. Liu exposed their lies and refused to cooperate with them. Three officers from the Xiaoli Police Station in the Changqing District took him to Jinan City Detention Center on August 29, 2008, where he refused to sign a document. One police officer pried open Mr. Liu's fist, dipped Liu's thumb in red ink and pressed it on the document, to leave a fingerprint.

While at this facility, Changqing police interrogated Liu Ruping many times in order to get a false confession so they could send him to a prison or a labor camp. They even went to the university Liu's son was attending in another city and repeatedly threatened and intimidated him.

Mr. Liu Ruping calmly faced all of their fanatic attempts to destroy his will. He firmly refused to cooperate with the persecutors and at the same time seized every opportunity to explain to them the facts about the persecution and the crimes of the Chinese Communist Party.

At the start of each interrogation session, Mr. Liu always said to the interrogators in a serious voice, "You are committing a crime by persecuting Falun Gong and practitioners, and you will be brought to justice in the future. I will not listen to or answer any of your questions, and I will not sign anything. Nothing you do will have any effect on me, because I do not acknowledge anything you do. Of course, since we are here, I will treat you as friends, and you can learn the truth about Falun Gong through me!"

Each time Liu Ruping exposed the CCP's brutality against Falun Gong, the police were never able to act in their usually vicious manner in his presence. Before each session ended, Liu Ruping told them, "You should remember that Falun Dafa is good, and Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good! Choose a good future for yourselves!"

Officers from Xiaoli Police Station in Changqing picked up Mr. Liu from the Jinan Detention Center on September 28 and took him home. They never gave him any official document that explained why he was held at Jinan City Brainwashing Center for 17 days, or at the Jinan Detention Center for 30 days.

Following Mr. Liu Ruping and his wife's arrests on the afternoon of August 12, 2008, the police, led by security chief Wang Feng, looted the couple's home and took the following items: one computer, two printers, Falun Gong books, a picture with Master Li's image and various types of Falun Gong materials, six bank CDs worth more than 70,000 yuan, one debit card, 1,905 yuan in cash, one U drive, one DVD player, three MP3 players, and a tape recorder. They even took small items such as mats and an incense burner. The next day, officers Yuan Maoyuan and Kong Bin from the Xincheng Police Station went to Liu Ruping's home again and took supplies used to produce Falun Gong pamphlets.

After the police took the family's savings and cash, Liu Ruping's college-age son had difficulty paying tuition and living expenses. After strong requests from Liu Ruping's sister and son, and due to public condemnation, agents from the 610 Office reluctantly instructed the police to return 10,000 yuan [less than one seventh of what they took] to the son before the school year began. Corrupt persons at the Xiaoli Police Station kept the rest of the money and property without any explanation.