February 20, 2003

(Clearwisdom.net) Hundreds of Falun Gong practitioners are being illegally detained in the Shibalihe Women's Forced Labor Camp located in Zhengzhou, Henan Province. The persecution of Falun Gong practitioners is particularly severe in Squads No. 3 and No. 4. Squad No. 3 is brutal, where illegal brainwashing sessions are held continuously. They've tortured Falun Gong practitioners using sleep deprivation for days and detained them until they give up practicing Falun Gong. Various other tortures used by the police against Falun Gong practitioners include electric shock, Tiger Bench [Practitioners are forced to sit on a small iron bench that is approximately 20 cm (6 inches) tall with their knees tied together. see illustration on http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2001/11/24/16156.html], Tying the Ropes [The police tie up the practitioner with a thin rope, circle the rope around his neck, and tie his hands behind his back], and shackling the hands or feet.

Falun Gong practitioner Zhao Xilian was originally detained in Squad No. 4 and later transferred to Squad No. 3. She is in her thirties and an assistant professor in Henan Agriculture Institute. Since she refused to cooperate with the police officers, they tied her up, and then put a bench on her body and sat on it to press down until she lost consciousness. Upon regaining consciousness she still did not cooperate, so the police asked two drug addicts to drag her back and forth on the floor like a mop. She was nearly tortured to death. Once, the police tied her up for five days. When she finally fainted from tremendous pain they untied the ropes, only to tie her up again when she regained consciousness. "Tying the ropes" is a very cruel torture. Soon after the torture is implemented, the victims are screaming and dripping with sweat.

Falun Gong practitioner Chen Yujing, about 30-years-old, was employed by the Nanyang Second Oil Machinery Factory. Because she refused to wear the prison uniform and spoke out against the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners, the squad leader Zhang Yin sealed her mouth and tied her with ropes for 12 hours. The constant torture caused her to suffer a mental collapse, and Zhang was later transferred to the Xinxiang Mental Hospital.

Falun Gong practitioner Zhang Hanwen, 53-years-old, was a doctor in the Zhengzhou Technology and Science Institute's infirmary. She is currently detained in Squad No. 4. She obtained Dafa in the U. S. and was arrested when she came back to China because she appealed for Falun Gong. Refusing the arrangements by the police officers, Zhang held hunger strikes to protest. The security guards dragged her by the hair back and forth on the ground until cuts and bruises covered her body. As a result, she suffered from incontinence, and for months the pain in her legs made it impossible for her to walk. When they tried to pry her mouth open and force-feed her, the police knocked out one of her teeth and loosened others.