(Clearwisdom.net) This article exposes the details of the brutal persecution of Falun Gong practitioners by Jiang's regime at the Xishanping Forced Labor Camp in Chongqing. Based on the available information, Falun Gong practitioners have re-enacted these scenes of persecution to expose this den of evil so that the torture can no longer remain hidden.
The Xishanping Forced Labor Camp is located to the west of Jinyun Mountain in Beibei, Chongqing. From July 20, 1999, to the present, several hundred Falun Gong practitioners have been detained there. In November 2000, an Education Brigade (7th Brigade) was specifically established to persecute Falun Gong practitioners. When the Education Brigade was established, there was only one squadron. In December 2001, however, when the persecution escalated, the original squadron was split in two (1st and 2nd Squadrons). The 1st Squadron was further divided into a loose discipline unit, a standard discipline unit, and a heavy discipline unit that included four heavy discipline teams. The squadron referred to in this article is the 1st Squadron; it was originally headed by Liu Hua, and later by Li Qiwei.
The guards at Xishanping selected the strongest and most merciless prisoners from the 8,000 in their charge (of which more than 90% are convicted drug addicts) to perform violent acts for them, and utilized them to persecute Falun Gong practitioners. Currently, a few dozen practitioners are still being held at Xishanping. One of these addicts said, "It is a living hell there."
A heavy discipline team is usually comprised of about 14 prisoners. Oftentimes, when they torture Falun Gong practitioners, seven or eight prisoners attack the practitioner together. Wang Jianpeng, the cruellest of these prisoners, was awarded the title "Outstanding Detainee." Tu Deyu, Commissar of the Municipal Re-education through Forced Labor Bureau, rewarded him with a one-year reduction of his sentence. The police have often hailed these convicted drug addicts as, "Outstanding people persecuting Falun Gong on behalf of the country and the government."
In December 2001, the malevolent Liu Hua became head of the 1st Squadron. He added more than 30 policemen to the Education Brigade, reorganized it, and escalated the persecution of the Falun Gong practitioners. He incited everyone at Xishanping to participate, and on December 24, established the heavy discipline unit. Several dozen Falun Gong practitioners have suffered torture in the heavy discipline unit, including Liu Jibin, Lin Decai, Xie Jin, Chen Min, Zhang Quanliang, Li Hongfu, Tang Yi, Wang Zhengrong, Huang Guangming, Yan Xinpei, Zeng Xiangzhu, Yuan Zhiqiang, Chen Jiawu, and Yang Bin. They had no freedom, and the criminals were employed to control their every word and deed. Their family members weren't allowed to see them or deliver clothes, and they weren't allowed to wash themselves or their clothes. The guards rigorously concealed all information about the persecution, especially concerning the practitioner Zhang Quanliang, who suffered several dozen incidents of torture in one day, fainted more than 100 times, lost control of his bowels, lost the hearing in his right ear, lost the ability to speak normally, and finally suffered a complete mental breakdown. Almost every day, his miserable cries for help and screams of anguish could be heard within the confines of the labor camp. Despite all the torture methods the persecutors employed, they were ultimately unable to achieve their goal of transforming him. In January 2004, Zhang Quanliang walked out of the camp.
Reenactment of Torture
Torture Method 1: "The Nail Stool"
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On the orders of 1st Squadron head Li Qiwei and the guards Xiao Xingming and Wang Chen, the prisoners of the heavy discipline team melted the top of a broken plastic stool, pushed six nails nearly one inch long by 1/16th of an inch in diameter through the softened plastic, and used plastic cement to hold them in place, creating a torture instrument known as "The Nail Stool." They used it to torture Falun Gong practitioners (Torture reenactment 1A). (The wood on the stool in the picture isn't part of the original instrument, but was used to save time in making the prop for this demonstration. In order to allow our readers see the nails after the victim sits on the stool, we used three long nails on the top left side.)
In the cell of the heavy discipline team, four strong prisoners escort a Falun Gong practitioner to an iron bed, and ruthlessly press him on the nail stool, not allowing him to move, while simultaneously pressing the practitioner's hands on the iron bed, and pressing down on his shoulders and arms. Two more prisoners stand behind the practitioner holding wooden sticks, ready to beat him should he resist the torture. (Torture reenactment 1B)
The practitioner is stripped down to his underwear. Sharp nails are then plunged into his flesh. His blood flows, dripping from his soaked underwear to the floor. Because the police torture these practitioners every day, dragging them around, and don't allow them to wash, their underwear is dirty and torn, and might not be replaced for several months. (Torture reenactment 1C)
The severe pain causes the practitioner's body to squirm and twitch, while the criminals grasp him even tighter. The Falun Gong practitioner's head and body are covered with bruises as a result of torture. (Torture reenactment 1D)
Finally the practitioner loses consciousness. (Torture reenactment 1E)
The guards watch the process from outside the door. In the summer of 2003, Zhang Quanliang was tortured to the point where he was emaciated. He was continuously subjected to this torture for a month. His bloody pants stuck to the broken flesh of his buttocks, causing excruciating pain.
Note: the Education Brigade cell has six iron beds and 12 single beds. Falun Gong practitioners can only sleep on the lower berth where they can be easily seen, because the guards require the criminals to watch the practitioners and prevent them from practicing the exercises or studying the Fa. They are supposedly on "suicide watch."
Torture Method 2: "Starvation"
A re-enactment of the torture method, "Starvation"
Instigated by 1st Squadron heads Liu Hua and Li Qiwei, as well as guards Xiao Xingming, Zhou Benzhong and Wang Chen, among others, prisoners give Falun Gong practitioners less than 50 grams of food for each meal. Li Qiwei even clamored, "How ever many years you've lived is how many grains of rice you get."
Breakfast: The prisoners bring a big box of steamed buns from the kitchen into each cell, enough for at least one bun for each person, and a big bowl of porridge (enough for half a small bowl per person), and some pickles. They give Falun Gong practitioners only a quarter of a bun, which they choose from the black and dirty ones. The prisoners take all the porridge and pickles, and don't allow the practitioners to buy food or spices from the canteen. They take any left over buns, porridge and pickles to feed to the pigs. Some visiting family members have mistaken this for a humanitarian act, thinking that the prisoners were given more food than they could eat.
Lunch and dinner: Prisoners bring in a box of rice and entrees in a plastic container (with meat served twice a week). Falun Gong practitioners are given broken and dirty bowls, without even chopsticks (except perhaps wooden sticks picked from the garbage), a small portion of rice and a yellow and rotten piece of a vegetable leaf. Then the guards say to visitors, "See, they have food and rice, we haven't persecuted them."
Since the other prisoners have more food than they can eat, they feed any extra food to the pigs. Visiting family members see buckets of food being thrown away, and think that Falun Gong practitioners must be well provided for, but the truth is, "The pigs of Xishanping are better fed." Later, the budget was reduced, and prisoners were no longer allowed to throw away buns and food, so they took most of the food for themselves.
Falun Gong practitioners in the heavy discipline team suffer torment day and night, even during mealtime, and the prisoners don't let them relax. The prisoners force practitioners to squat with their heads lowered, with a prisoner right there specifically to hold them down and prevent them from moving or resisting. Meanwhile the other prisoners are allowed to sit or walk around at their leisure, relax, choose the best food, and are sometimes allowed to drink alcohol.
Of course, people who are forced to live on a diet of this kind for extended periods are in danger of starving to death. When the prisoners see somebody is close to starving, he is transferred to another cell, where he is given more food for a few days, and then he is brought back to suffer "starvation" and torture again. Practitioners are persecuted continuously. They are told, "Your life must be worse than death, but we won't let you die." Practitioners who conduct hunger strikes are repeatedly force-fed.
"Starvation" has reduced the Falun Gong practitioners to emaciation and severe weakness. Even in this state, prisoners still torture practitioners using all means at hand. Another common torture method is known as, "One song everyday."
Torture Method 3: "One Song a Day"
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Torture reenactment of "One Song a Day"
Prisoners throw a Falun Gong practitioner down on the cement floor, and then two prisoners on either side take hold of the practitioner's arms, twisting them until the practitioner's face touches the floor. Three or four prisoners then step on his legs. One prisoner presses down on the practitioner's head, slamming it repeatedly with a plastic stool; another prisoner randomly strikes the practitioner's back, waist and feet with a wooden stick. The stick is wrapped in cloth, causing internal injuries, but leaving no bruises on the skin thereby minimizing the evidence of the crime; one prisoner strikes the malleolus (1) with a rubber stool or a bowl, and some kick, stomp, and hit the practitioner with their shoes. Some prisoners sing loudly near the window to cover up the sounds of the torture and the miserable cries of the practitioner, while other prisoners stuff dirty clothes into his mouth to silence him.
Falun Gong practitioners in other cells heard the staccato sound of punches and kicks and strange singing. The whole squadron is plunged into terror. While this is going on, they might use any object in the cell in the wanton beating of practitioners, until prisoners achieved their goal of "beating every inch of the practitioner." Practitioners subjected to this mistreatment suffer bruising all over their bodies, and briefly struggle in pain until they lose consciousness. The guards and the police observe from outside the door.
After Liu Hua became the squadron head, practitioner Zhang Quanliang was subjected to this torture more often than any other practitioner. On December 25, 2001, he was sent to the heavy discipline unit, where he remained until he walked out of the forced labor camp. He suffered these beatings every day for the first half of the year, and that's when the prisoners started calling it "One song a day." Sometimes it was once a day, sometimes several times a day. After breakfast, the prisoners would ask him, "Will you write the 'three statements' today? If you don't, we will beat you again." He always refused, so they beat him again. For a month, they tortured him this way until he blacked out, and after he regained consciousness they asked him to write the statements. As he always refused, they then subjected him to "The Nail Stool."
Torture Method 4: "Dragged to the Cadres"
Torture reenactment of "Dragged to the Cadres"
The guards at the Education Brigade force Falun Gong practitioners to call them "cadres." Practitioners are tortured with "One Song a Day" until they lose consciousness. When they awake, these "cadres" order prisoners to drag the practitioners to discussion sessions. The prisoners know they would benefit by letting the cadres see their "power and prestige," so they display as much brutally as they can. The cell head leads the procession, with two prisoners on either side holding the practitioner by his arms, twisting them to force the practitioner down, dragging him. One prisoner yanks his hair, alternately shoving and dragging him, sometimes his head almost touches the ground. Another prisoner drags him by his clothes, while yet another prisoner shoves him from behind. The rest of the prisoners follow along, scolding the practitioner and shouting insults. All of these proceedings are performed at the command of the guards in the area and from the duty platform.
Torture Method 5: "Chat with the Cadre"
Torture reenactment of "Chat with the Cadre"
A practitioner is dragged to the on-duty platform, to an office or to some other secluded room. While a guard sits in a chair, the Falun Gong practitioner is forced to squat, with two prisoners holding him on either side, and two more pressing down on his shoulders. Several more prisoners stand nearby holding bamboo blocks and wooden sticks, ready to beat the practitioner. The guard sits on the chair, one leg casually crossed over the other, with his foot pointing at the practitioner's head, drinking tea and asking questions, as a prisoner to the side takes notes. All of his questions are phrased in a way that slanders and defames Falun Gong and its founder, or are in some other way derogatory. The tone the guard uses is sarcastic and cynical, and the practitioner is forced to answer only "yes" or "no" to many of the questions.
If the guard doesn't get what he is looking for, he roars, "Drag him back for me!"
Torture Method 6: "Towing Backwards"
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Torture reenactment of "Towing Backwards"
Down the stone stairs from the on-duty platform, there is a rectangular shaped exercise yard of crushed coal ringed with concrete (the on-duty platform is about 4 meters higher than the exercise yard). This is where prisoners and guards assemble, walk, exercise and play basketball every day. On one side of the exercise yard, there is a three-story cell building (the heavy discipline team is on the 2nd floor). The rest of the exercise yard is surrounded by stone walls that are about the same height as the on-duty platform (roughly four or five meters). Standing in the exercise yard, it's as if you are standing inside a rectangular pit, and you can only see a small area of sky.
If the guard conducting the "Chat With the Cadre" doesn't get what he wants from the conversation, he shouts, "Drag him back!" If the prisoners don't please the "cadre," they won't receive any "rewards or incentives," so they immediately force the practitioner to the ground face down, with four prisoners lifting his legs (two on each leg), and run forward, dragging him. The practitioner's body scrapes noisily across the ground. Buttons, shoes and socks come off and the practitioner's clothes are torn to pieces. The prisoners drag the practitioner down the stone stairs, across the exercise yard of crushed coal, then back upstairs, through the cement corridor, and finally arrive at the cell. The practitioner's hands are covered with blood, and he has abrasions and bruises on his face, and dirt and mud all over his body (especially on rainy days). The prisoners scold the practitioner as they drag him, and through their actions they created an atmosphere of terror.
Torture Method 7: Beaten Mercilessly
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After the practitioner is dragged back to his cell, the prisoners bind his neck with a towel, tightening it from behind. They shove the practitioner to the ground into a semi-seated position. Another prisoner stuffs dirty clothes into the practitioner's mouth, and several prisoners stomp and kick the practitioner's feet and legs. Normally seven or eight prisoners surround one practitioner; strike the center of his hands and feet, and use chopsticks to pinch his flesh. They hit him with anything at hand, from rice containers to rubber stools. To hide the screaming, the prisoners sing loudly. The practitioner quickly loses consciousness being tortured this way, and wakes up after some time has passed. The prisoner on duty watches from outside, and says in a strange voice, "Don't kill him" (a sarcastic suggestion to continue beating him).
Note: The prisoners don't all necessarily use terms like "One Song a Day," or "Beaten Mercilessly," because they employ their methods alternately, and do what they want. We've introduced these terms to help us describe their torture methods.
Torture Method 8: Forced to Look at Pornography
Torture reenactment: Forced to look at pornography
A Falun Gong practitioner is forced to sit in front of the iron bed, while two prisoners hold him down. One prisoner pulls his head back by his hair, one person forces his eyes open, two more prisoners sit on the bed behind him, and they all force the practitioner to look at pornography. Another prisoner stands in the back, ready to beat the practitioner with a wooden stick. They also try to force practitioners to sing lewd songs.
Squadron head Li Qiwei has publicly stated, "Forcing Falun Gong practitioners to sing vulgar songs and look at decadent pictures helps them return to society."
Torture Method 8: Forging the Three Statements, Forced to Give Fingerprints
 Torture reenactment: Forging the "Three Statements" |
 Torture reenactment: Forcibly taking fingerprints |
Several prisoners hold a Falun Gong practitioner's head and body down on an iron bed, while two more hold out the practitioner's right hand. One prisoner grabs the practitioner's hand, forcing him to sign and put his fingerprints on the forged "Three Statements." The rest of the prisoners shout curses while waiting for their award points and sentence reductions.
When Long Shishun was appointed the Vice Manager and Education Brigade Chief of Xishanping, he issued these cold-blooded decrees: "Get results using any means necessary," and "Stop at nothing in acquiring the three statements." Prisoners willingly participate in these efforts because they seek undeserved credit and rewards. Their results belie the true intentions of the practitioners, and undermine their will. They say to practitioners, "We can prove that you've already signed the three statements, no matter what you say." Li Qiwei openly said to Falun Gong practitioners, "Prisoners writing the three statements on behalf of Falun Gong practitioners are acting nobly, and the Falun Gong practitioners should thank the prisoners."
Torture Method 10: Hung Up and Beaten
Torture reenactment: Hung Up and Beaten
Prisoners wrap the Falun Gong practitioner in a bed sheet, so their injuries won't be visible, and hang him from a door or a window. Then the whole group surrounds him, beating him savagely with wooden clubs. When the practitioner loses consciousness from the torture, prisoners splash cold water on him until he regains consciousness. Though he can't even raise his head, he is repeatedly tortured. Falun Dafa practitioner Mr. Liu Jibin (28 years old) worked for the Qijiang Gear Factory in Chongqing. In September 2001, he was sent to Xishanping, and suffered various tortures in the heavy discipline team of the Education Brigade. He was severely disfigured, his face became very pale and he became disabled due to an injury to his leg. In the first half of 2002, the torture he encountered was most severe. Being hung up and beaten was only one of the torture methods he suffered.
Falun Gong practitioners under heavy discipline are starved, threatened, tortured and deprived of sleep for long periods of time, so they become very emaciated. They are often covered with dirt and mud, suffer mental problems, and have old wounds that won't heal next to fresh wounds. They have difficulty walking and speaking normally, their bodies no longer function properly, and they are so weak they seem to be barely alive. When they are tortured, they have so little resistance that they faint very easily.
A List of Persecutors (some of the direct participants in the persecution)
Tu Deyu, Chongqing City Forced Labor Camp political commissar, about 50 years
old, often instigates and aggravates the persecution.
Long Zong, the Forced Labor Camp manager.
Long Shishun, the Forced Labor Camp Vice Manager and Education Brigade
Chief, over 40 years old.
Tian Xin, the Education Section Chief, later appointed Education Brigade Chief,
over 40 years old.
Hu Hong, the Brigade Chief, later transferred to the Maojiashan Female Forced
Labor Camp, over 30 years old.
Tian Xiaohai, the Education Brigade chief, over 30 years old, one of the main
persecutors.
Gao Ding, was the office secretary for the Xishanping Forced Labor Camp,
Secretary in Charge of Education in the 7th Brigade. Later promoted
to Chief of the Maojiashan Female Forced Labor Camp, he is adept at discussing
evil doctrine, male, around 30.
Liu Hua, the Squadron Head, later transferred to the chief of live
administration section in the Xishanping Forced Labor Camp, around 30.
Li Qiwei, squadron head, over 30.
Xiao Xingming, heavy discipline unit leader, Long Shishun's driver, and later
appointed Factory Director of the Forced Labor Camp Packaging Factory, around
40.
Wang Chen, prison guard of the heavy discipline unit, over 20.
Li Zhongquan, prison guard, over 50.
Li Chunlun, over 30 years old.
Li Yong, prison guard. He was named in the "Ten Most excellent List"
of 2001, and was awarded a trip to Hong Kong, where he saw many Falun Gong
practitioners, over 30.
Ye Hua, prison guard, a main instigator in charge of broadcasting and organizing
performances to deceive people, about 30 years old.
Chen Jianping, prison guard, prison doctor, over 20, often asks prisoners to
tell him about their deviant sexual experiences.
Liu Qidou, prison guard, supposedly retired, but still on duty, was good at
using
prisoners to gain outstanding achievements for himself before he retired, over
60.
Also Zhou Benzhong, Principal Yao (Xishanping Driving School), and Wang Jing (male).
Prisoners:
Wang Jianpeng, Yuzhong area, Chongqing
He Weidong, Jiaochangkou, Chongqing, 30 years old
Deng Ping, Sichuan, 34 years old
Diao Xiaowei, Nanan area Chongqing, 42 years old,
Liu Hongguang, Shapingba area, Chongqing
Chen Gang, Dazu, Chongqing, 29 years old
Yang Bing, Xiushan County, Chongqing, 27 years old
Kong Lin, Huanghua garden, Yuzhong area, Chongqing, 28 years old
Liu Xiaoguang, Tongyuanju District, Nanan area, Chongqing 38 years old
Xia Xianke, Tongnan County, Chongqing, 40 years old
Liu Dong, Chongqing City, around 30, beat people cruelly, the broadcasting
organized by Ye Hua is hosted by him and Wang Jianpeng.
Also Liu Chao, Liu Denghong, and Zhang Peng
Chongqing area numbers
The Chongqing City Reeducation and Drug Rehabilitation Administration Office:
86-23-6827-2131/2111/2105
Address: Beibei District, Chongqing City, postcode: 400700
The Chongqing City New Forced Labor Transfer Post: 86-23-6775-8448
Address: No. 18 Wannian Village, Renhe Town, Yubei postcode: 401121
Chongqing City Reeducation through Forced Labor Administrative Bureau:
86-23-6787-1831
fax: 86-23-6787-1831
Address: 10th floor, No. 72 Yangheyi Village, Jiangbei District postcode: 400020
The Chongqing Xishanping work farm: 86-23-6827-1290
The Chongqing Xishanping Reeducation through Forced Labor Administrative
Station: 86-23-6827-2131/2009
Address: Beibei, Chongqing postcode: 400700
(1) Malleolus, The protuberance on both sides of the ankle joint, the lower extremity of the fibula being known as the lateral malleolus and lower end of the tibia as the medial malleolus. Taber's Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary, 18th Edition
