The persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in Changlinzi Forced Labor Camp has been intensified since the new warden arrived .Forced labor hours were extended to 14 hours every day. Force-feeding caused the death of Mr. Dong Liantai.
Mr. Jin Lilin has been serving a ten years' term in jail since 2002 because he refuses to renounce Falun Gong. His wife passed away after struggling for several years in a bitter life. Prison guards denied his son's request to see him.
Intensified Persecution in Changlinzi Forced Labor Camp
Changlinzi Forced Labor Camp in Harbin City is one of the principal camps where the Chinese Communist Party persecutes Falun Gong practitioners. For a long time practitioners have been subjected to inhumane tortures in this camp. Particularly when the new warden, Zheng Yunfeng, arrived, he used "restructuring" as an excuse to apply pressure to all the guards to make them intensify the persecution.
When the new warden arrived, the forced labor hours were extended, and prisoners must now work from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Those who refuse to work or are unable to finish their quotas are labeled "not-reformed" and their jail terms are extended. Practitioners are prohibited from talking arbitrarily or moving about, and they are only allowed to use the restroom at designated times. Missing a time means they cannot use the restroom and have to to urinate into a bottle. The camp lets other inmates manage the practitioners, who are constantly reprimanded.
The food is very poor and the camp is involved in dishonest, deceptive practices. The menu states that there are two dishes for each meal, when in reality there is only soup. Inmates are instructed to lie when people come to do an inspection, saying that the food is great and that they get to take a shower once a week.
Ten practitioners are currently being jailed in the camp. They are: Sun Kaiqing, Li Lizhuang, Zhang Yu, and Hao Mingwei of Harbin City; Liu Fang of Wuchang City; Jiang Zhi of Bayan County; Yu Lianhe of Fangzheng County; Wang Lihui in Shuangcheng City; Guo Hiacheng of Bin County; and Chang Guofu from Zhaoyuan County.
On the morning of December 18, 2008, guard Sun Minggang pinched Mr. Yu Lianhe's ear and kicked his thigh while he was doing the exercises. To generate hatred against Falun Gong, the guards got all the inmates who monitored practitioners to sit with the practitioner who did the exercises and woke up all the other inmates.
The practitioners went on a group hunger strike to protest, so camp authorities intensified the persecution. On the morning of December 20, 2008, Ward 4 director Hao Wei ordered practitioners into the field to shovel snow. The practitioners didn't have warm enough clothes and refused to cooperate. Hao ordered the guards and the inmates to tie Mr. Yu Lianhe and Mr. Liu Fa to benches and tape their mouths shut, then forced the rest of the practitioners to go to the field. After he finished shoveling snow, Mr. Yu and the guard got into a dispute. The guard pulled him aside and got another guard, Xu Yanpo, to beat and verbally abuse him. Mr. Yu's face was swollen. Afterwards, Mr. Yu and Mr. Sun were dragged to Ward 1 to be put in solitary confinement. Mr. Li Lizhuang went to talk with the guards and was also put in solitary confinement.
Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Dong Liantai from Shuangcheng City was also tortured. He was made to sit on a steel chair and be force-fed. The food ended up in his lungs. The guards had to immediately release him on medical leave lest he die in the camp. Only eight days after his release, Mr. Dong died in extreme pain from damage to his abdomen and a high fever.
In October 2008, the forced labor camp officials destroyed all records of the persecution to remove evidence of the atrocities committed in the camp.
Mr. Jin Lilin Serving Ten-Year Sentence, Wife Passed Away after Struggling for Years
On the morning of December 22, 2008, the wife of Mr. Jin Jilin, a resident from Jinjiaya Village, Yuzhong County, Lanzhou City in Gansu Province, passed away after struggling alone for years, trying to raise their family. The children were severely traumatized by their mother's death, and with the grandmother lying sick in bed, the children have no one to turn to. Those who know the family's situation are moved to tears.
In September 2000, police officers from Yuzhong County ransacked Mr. Jin's home and arrested him. He was later sentenced to one year of forced labor. In May 2002, he was arrested and detained by Lanzhou City police and sentenced to ten years in prison. He was often transferred from one prison to another and tortured wherever he went. Even his father was forced to leave home to avoid being arrested.
While Mr. Jin was imprisoned, his wife had to struggle to pay for their two children's schooling. Since she worked so hard for so many years, she became so exhausted that she got ill. In late November 2008, Mr. Jin's wife fainted after experiencing chest pains.
When she went to the local hospital for a physical examination, she was diagnosed with "advanced gastric cancer with lymph node metastasis." Because she couldn't afford proper medical fee, she had to opt for a less expensive treatment.
When Mr. Jin's wife became seriously ill, the family asked the prison authorities to release Mr. Jin. On December 2, 2008, guards from Lanzhou City Prison went to Mr. Jin's home to do a "home visit." While they were there, they took footage of his home and his family. They brought the video back to the prison and showed it to Mr. Jin, saying, "As long as you write a guarantee statement, we will release you immediately." The guards attempted to use the family tragedy to pressure Mr. Jin into giving up practicing Falun Gong.
After Mr. Jin's wife died, their son, along with several village residents, went to the Lanzhou City Prison and begged the guards to release Mr. Jin so he could make funeral arrangements for his wife.
Zhang Haijun, guard of the 9th Ward of Lanzhou Prison, denied the son's request to see his father, because Mr. Jin refused to renounce Falun Gong. Zhang claimed that Mr. Jin had to be watched very closely in order to prevent an "accident."
In early November 2003, Mr. Jin was tortured in the West Orchards Detention Center and then taken to Dashaping Prison in a police car. As Mr. Jin was getting out of the car, he shouted, "Falun Dafa is good!"
The guards dragged Mr. Jin into the prison, then handcuffed and shackled him in a cell full of practitioners for seven days. Other practitioners were also handcuffed and shackled, and a metal cable connected each person to the next. They guards did not let them use chopsticks to eat and forced them to sleep on a cold concrete floor without any blankets.
When the guards saw that Mr. Jin would not give up his faith in Falun Gong--even after being severely tortured--they transferred him to Dingxi Prison in early March 2004. While he was there, Mr. Jin again shouted "Falun Dafa is good!" and clarified the truth. When the guards heard him shouting, they immediately shocked and beat him with electric batons. After torturing him like this for quite some time, Mr. Jin was covered in blood and bruises. He was later confined for 50 days to a small cell, where he was closely monitored.
In December 2005, Mr. Jin was transferred to Lanzhou City Prison. From September 2007 to November 2008, the guards allowed no visits from Mr. Jin's family.