In Lanzhou's Pingantai Forced Labor Camp, the dark den in Gansu Province, policemen and criminals are of one family. Here, the police manipulate and instigate ruffians, mostly drug addicts, to wilfully torture Falun Dafa practitioners. In contrast, it is a common occurrence to see heroin addicts casually come and go. Drug-taking is open here, yet the police look the other way. Below is information from inside the camp that has recently been circulated.

Cruel torture

Almost every evening at midnight, the violent policemen wake up Falun Dafa practitioners and call them together after they had worked a whole day. Then the officers have them sing or recite the wicked "five reforms" policy and watch brainwashing propaganda. At the same time, practitioners have to keep the posture of "squatting on one leg." More than a dozen ferocious drug addicts who were purposely chosen to monitor practitioners surround the site. The so-called "study" is often more than two hours. When the drug addicts see a practitioner's posture that is not pleasing to their eyes, he will be taken to a wall next to the bathroom and either be beaten or cuffed and deprived of sleep for the whole night. The following day, all have to work as usual. In the morning, Dafa practitioners are forced to do "highly intensive military practice." After the practice, they have to do 30-50 push-ups. If they do not perform well enough, they will be beaten and punished.
The workload for practitioners is always twice the amount of other forced labour detainees. Practitioners have to lift and carry large straw mats used on the top of greenhouses, the wet ones that weigh up to 110 lbs, and have to run back and forth in the process. To shovel the soil, practitioners have to do almost double the labour compared with others. On the way to and from the work, practitioners must carry the drug addicts in a "frame cart."

Evil people try to force practitioners to betray their belief in "Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance"
In order to achieve the 80% "reform" rate [The so-called "reform" by Jiang Zemin's regime means to use all possible brutal, inhuman physical and mental abuse to force practitioners to give up their belief in "Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance"] and receive bonuses, the violent policemen seem to have lost their consciences. Policemen Wang Shengmin and Wang Wenchang beat down one practitioner to the ground. The practitioner's arms were twisted and cuffed behind the back. The handcuffs were very tight and cut into the flesh. They were not taken off until four days later. Another practitioner, after being beaten to the ground, was cuffed with one cuff attached to his wrist and the other to his leg. Locked in this position, he could not stand up for 144 hours. The cuffs were not taken off even when eating, sleeping and using the toilet.

Another practitioner was kicked in the groin. He screamed from the pain. He was cuffed by guard Wang Yumin and hung on an iron wire. The guard then let the drug addicts pull him back and forth for amusement for over two hours.

Practitioner Li Wenmin, also known as Li Minyi, a former assistant at Qilihe's Dafa Assistance Centre, was brutally beaten, cuffed and hung up many times. Because he refused to betray his belief in "Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance" and also took part in the group practice on July 1, 2001, he was secretly locked up and beaten for 27 days and suffered all kinds of other tortures.

Practitioners Zhang Feng from Zhenyuan County, refused to betray his belief in "Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance," and took part in the group practice on July 1, 2001. Because of that, he was secretly locked up and beaten for 17 days and suffered all kinds of other tortures.

Practitioner Li Tianxiao from Zhangye also remained firm and unyielding and took part in the group practice on July 1, 2001; he was secretly locked up and beaten for 14 days, and suffered all kinds of other tortures.

For Falun Dafa practitioners who held firmly to the truth, the prison police also made up charges, in addition to the beating and torture, in order to prolong their terms. On December 30, 2000, they held a meeting to announce the extended terms. The prison guards were fully equipped, holding police clubs and handcuffs, and glared at the practitioners like tigers eyeing their prey. The practitioners constantly stood up and called out words of justice, but the violent police who were prepared well in advance knocked them down every time. Then the practitioners were handcuffed, and hung on the iron wire. Very soon, the pain became unbearable, causing them to lose control of their bowels and bladders.

Practitioner Song Yanzhao was tortured to death

Practitioner Song Yanzhao, male, 31 years old, from Gansu Province was a qualified doctor with a college education. At the end of September 2000, he was illegally sentenced to 1-1/2 years of forced labour in the No. 1 team. One day during the "training," actually torture, Song Yanzhao reported that he needed to urinate, but the prison guard Wang Shengmin berated him and didn't grant permission. To protest the abuse, Song Yanzhao started a hunger strike. In the first few days, he was forced to go through training and work. On the forth day he was handcuffed and force-fed, while continuing to receive highly intensified training and work assignments.

In February of this year, drug addict Guo Jun framed Song Yanzhao as he talked to another practitioner. He beat Song and tore his clothes. Song reported this to the team leader, but the incident was ignored and Song was body-searched unreasonably and monitored even more strictly.
One evening in February, the prison guards organized a debased video show. A few practitioners, including Song Yanzhao, stepped forward to resist it. Their mouths were gagged and they were severely beaten by the drug addicts under the direction of deputy division chief Kang Shicheng.
One day in March of this year, Song Yanzhao resisted the persecution with another hunger strike. Police officer Wang Wenchang commanded the drug addicts to forcefully drag him and make him run very quickly on the vegetable garden path for a distance of approximately 2,000 meters Later, he was sent to the hospital for force-feeding and torture and was brutally beaten again.

Beginning in April, under the watch of a few of the worst drug addicts, Song Yanzhao and some others were forced to "study" for two hours every night. Since Song refused to recite the evil "Five reforms" policy, he was brutally beaten, cuffed, and hung up almost every day. His body was covered with bruises and wounds. Song Yanzhao requested many times to go to the hospital for examination, but from the division chief on down to the work team leader, no one paid attention to him. Still, he had to carry the straw mats and run back and forth.

Once, Song Yanzhao reported to the work team leader, Bao Ping, in person and requested to have his injuries examined. However, Bao called in a few conspirators and asked Song to take off his shirt. One police officer said, "Let me treat you. This is a therapeutic massage." As he said this, six policemen forcefully beat and pinched his injured areas, causing severe pain. Song said he would write an appeal report. Policeman Bao Ping then hung him on the iron wire of the greenhouse shed, with his feet off the ground, and made him hold a thin and sharp bamboo stick using his forehead. If he would drop the stick he was brutally beaten. This torture went on for nearly two hours. Bao Ping had hung Song Yanzhao up many times before and beaten him.

On the evening of April 27, the prison police organized the forced viewing of the Falun Dafa-slandering videos again. An elderly practitioner called out, "Falun Dafa is good!" Instantly, police officers Kang Shicheng and Wang Wenchang shouted: "Beat him to death." Then they instigated drug addicts to beat this practitioner until he was unconscious. Song Yanzhao turned his head and looked back. Right away a drug addict, who had been previously chosen to monitor him, hit him in the face. Song got up to protest . He also called out, "Falun Dafa is good." The drug addicts severely beat him. He was also handcuffed and tortured for the whole night. His face became deformed with bruises all around his eyes and his ribs were broken. He requested to go to the hospital for examination but was refused and was still forced to carry the straw mats. The following day they hung Song up on the iron wire and beat him again, and tried to force him to write the "three letters," [to give up the practice of Falun Dafa] but he refused. This time, the inhumane police tortured him for nearly the whole night.
At about ten o'clock on the morning of May 2, Song Yanzhao died from torture yet, shockingly, that wasn't the end of the abuse. Drug addicts Wang Shizhong and Guo Yunfeng proceeded to brutally beat his remains! In the afternoon, when Wang Shizhong came to work, there were big bloodstains on his white shirt. Five of Song Yanzhao's ribs were broken. Many Dafa practitioners felt his broken ribs and verified this.

The bloody, brutal persecution towards Dafa practitioners in Pingantai Forced Labour Camp is truly terrifying.