I am a Falun Dafa practitioner. I was sent to the Masanjia labor camp without any legal procedures, just because I went to appeal and said a few true words. Later, because I was unable to withstand the torture in the labor camp, I wrote some statements of "recantation" and "criticism." But in my heart I know that Falun Dafa is the fundamental Law of the universe, and that only "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance" is the sole criterion for determining whether people are good or bad. That is why I can no longer continue to betray my own conscience or deceive the world. I have to clarify the truth to people. I have to expose the crimes committed against Dafa practitioners by the Masanjia Labor Camp.
In the Masanjia Labor Camp, they do not dare expose the methods that they use to persecute Falun Gong practitioners. The so-called statements of "recantation" and "criticism" that they use to claim their rewards from the authorities are obtained through coercion and deception. Jiang Zemin's criminal group, however, commended them with the "Merit Citation Class II," and even promoted their "successful" methods all over the country. They were also given raises and promotions. Let us examine what these so-called "successful" methods from Masanjia really are.
Practitioner Wang Hui (female) from Dalian City, Liaoning Province, refused to be "reformed" even while facing brutal pressures. Having exhausted most efforts, the division head then used 6 electric batons to torture her. The electric batons were used all over her body. She was not able to speak after that, but the guards still forced her to say bad things about our Teacher; otherwise they would not stop the torture. They then forced her to write some statements of "recantation" and "criticism." She said, "Even if I wrote it, it would be against my will." The division head replied, "I want the fake one, the one against your will." Her body was trembling all over and she was at the edge of a mental breakdown. She wrote these statements under such circumstances. The division head then took her to every prison cell where she had to read her statements, announce that she was saved, and ask everyone to congratulate her. Several days later, the division head forced her to write those statements again. She refused. This time they labeled her as being rebellious and started the brutality on her all over again until she wrote the so-called statements of "criticism" a second time.
An older woman over 60 years old once had cancer and recovered after practicing Falun Gong. She was sent to the Masanjia Labor Camp because she stated a few truthful words. Two days later, they administered physical punishment by forcing her to bend over with her hands touching the floor for a very long period of time. The woman said, "Falun Gong has saved my life so I would rather die than be reformed. Later, she was deprived of sleep and the agents seduced her into some misunderstandings. She wrote the statements in great pain and against her own will.
A practitioner in Cell No. 4 of Female Subdivision No. 2 refused to be reformed. Several guards were needed to drag her into a cell. Afterwards, she was unable to move even a little bit.
Another very strong-minded Dafa practitioner was tortured and suffered an illness soon after arriving. A medical examination showed that her condition was serious. The head of the division would not release her, however, and sent some agents to work on her. She refused to cooperate. Later, her condition further deteriorated and finally she was checked into a hospital. The agent still would not let her go and kept on pressuring her to reform.
Under pressure from the agents, a practitioner was confused into accepting misleading understandings and wrote some statements of "recantation" and "criticism." Afterwards, she learned that those agents studied methods to deceive people on a daily basis. Her mental state degenerated at this shocking discovery and she was diagnosed by the medical staff as having the serious conditions of schizophrenia and cerebral hemorrhaging. The head of the division blocked that information and forbade her family from visiting her under the threat that she would be given physical punishment. Even when she was having convulsions on the floor, the agents would say that she was pretending. Later, she was unable to get up or move half of her body. She fell into a state where she was singing, crying, laughing, and skipping sleep. In this stage the agents still worked on her to try to reform her and did not allow anyone to visit her. When her condition improved a little, she wrote some statements of "recantation." The head of the division said, "We will not allow you to go home even if you write the "recantation" because what you write would be false. You are not sober; you want to get out, but it is easier to come than to leave."
The head of the division ordered an inmate to beat a girl named Jiang Yuqing. She vomited blood and could not eat. Her buttocks were all black and blue as a result of the beating. She lost consciousness for a very long time, but the agents insisted that she was sick prior to being detained.. The inmate who beat her was scared upon seeing the seriousness of her condition and said to her, "I do not want to beat you, but if I do not beat you, the head of the division will prolong my term. I have no other choice!"
A male practitioner was beaten consecutively for 18 days. His skin, flesh, and clothing were all stuck together. A policeman had ordered an inmate to beat him. The wounds would split and bleed when he carried manure as part of the forced labor. At times, he would lose consciousness and fall to the ground.
In the hallway of the labor camp, every day one can see many practitioners suffering from the physical punishment of being forced to bend forward while squatting down. They are not allowed to sleep while in this position.
The food services in Masanjia are really bad. The division head said, "If we feed you well you would be less fearful of coming into this place." That is why practitioners here look tired and pale. When some visitors come, they will mask the situation by providing some good food for a few days so that the division head is able to cover it up by saying, "Look, they are so well served."
At one time the water supply of the labor camp was interrupted. The guards drank the clean water previously left over but made practitioners drink the water from a polluted well. The water was for pigs and had a very bad odor. It was very hot during those days and practitioners were forced to drink this filthy water. During a holiday, they added some meat to the meals, but as a result, over a hundred practitioners had blood in their stool. Nevertheless, the head of the division increased their workloads and forced practitioners to work overtime from early morning until late into the night.
The labor camp forces practitioners to study materials criticizing Falun Dafa. Practitioners are forced to memorize them everyday. They were then administered a test and the answers they gave were put into their personal files and taken as practitioners' statements of "recantation" and "criticism." This was used as proof that they were well "reformed."
Once, at a meeting of 400 people, the head of the division said that Masanjia was the only place in the country where the living conditions were poor. He said to practitioners, "You all want to do good deeds. What good deeds do you want to do? The best thing for you to do is die. Do you know how much money and resources you will save the country if you were dead? That is the best thing to do."
The way that the Masanjia Labor camp persecutes Falun Gong practitioners is to "keep you alive but not comfortably alive." Thousands of practitioners find the hardships easy to endure but the tortures are difficult to forebear. Many practitioners have even contemplated suicide. But from their understanding of the Fa, killing and suicide are forbidden. Therefore they gave up their ideas of suicide. Under these coercive, high-pressured, and debased tortures and threats, some practitioners wrote the fake statements of "recantation" and fake statements of "criticism." A few days later, they would be pressured to write them again; otherwise they would be considered rebellious and the tortures would begin again. When officials come to visit, they do not allow those who have not been reformed to be seen. This is how the Masanjia Labor Camp has been doing the so-called "reforming" of Falun Gong practitioners.
Practitioners from China
May 1st, 2001
