(Clearwisdom.net) Gansu Province First Forced Labor Camp, also called Pingantai Forced Labor Camp, is located in Pingan Town, the Honggu District, Lanzhou City. The facility is one of the major sites where hundreds of detained Falun Gong practitioners in Ganzu Province have been tortured since July 20, 1999. The guards and drug addict inmates use savage, inhuman methods to torture practitioners in a attempt to try to compel them to give up their belief in Falun Gong.

Schematic drawing of the First Forced Labor Camp in Gansu Province

Incidents of torture during 2008

In January 2008, practitioner Mr. Gu Zeyuan from Wuwei was grossly abused. Guard Li Wenhui (a team political head that was removed from his post in March) beat him ruthlessly, then placed him in confinement for seven days with his limbs stretched in the shape of an "X" and tied between two beds. He developed severe illness symptoms and was first hospitalized and then transferred to the Dashaping Labor Camp Hospital.

In April 2008, Lanzhou practitioner Mr. Dong Huide was put in the "repentance room" for more than 40 days straight. He was forced to stand for long periods of time. He was permitted at most four to five hours of sleep and occasionally only three hours.

In June 2008, because practitioner Mr. Li Zhanting from Zhenyuan refused to be reformed, he was forced to stay up late to "study" until between midnight and 2 a.m. and had to work on Saturdays and Sundays. Han Ximing, the division head, and Zheng Jun, the team political head, beat him between June 27 and 29.

Between June 4 and 14, 2008, practitioner Mr. Kang Shangwen from Jingchuan County refused to be "reformed" while being evaluated in the Education Section. He was placed in the "repentance" room for ten days. During that time, his arms were stretched apart and handcuffed to two metal-frame bunk beds. The bunk beds were separated by 1.7 meters. Mr. Kang is less than 1.7 meters tall. While he was handcuffed, four guards took turns brainwashing him. Mr. Kang was prohibited from sleeping for seven days in a row. He was given only two meals a day, allowing ten minutes each time to eat. Only one of his handcuffs was removed while he ate. In the afternoon of the first day, division head Han Ximing (police # 6222219) covered the electric baton with a newspaper. Moving the two "designated inmates" from the room, he then used the electrical baton to shock Mr. Kang's face, lips, cheeks, and neck while reviling him for nearly 20 minutes. The two inmates outside heard the loud sounds of the electric shocks.

Mr. Kang's face was burned and otherwise injured in many places, including his lips. The wounds were infected the next day and later formed thick scabs. Beginning that day, Mr. Kang's legs and feet started to swell, and on the fourth day his legs were so swollen that his knees were invisible. Fingers pressed into his legs would leave deep indentations, a sign of acute water retention. His blood vessels also became invisible. The injuries to his feet were still apparent after three weeks.

Practitioner Mr. Yue Fengtai from Tianzhu wrote in his diary that prison guards had beaten Li Zhanting. As a result, the guards had a talk with Mr. Yue. The group head and designated inmates monitored his movements and what he said. On July 4 he refused to be "transformed" or to write his personal responses.

Group head Ma Ping (a drug addict) and designated inmates Yuan Fang, and Liu Wei beat practitioner Mr. Kang barbarically. They covered him with a quilt and continued to beat him. On July 14 they locked himin the repentance room. During the 20 days that followed he had to stand up the whole time and was not allowed to sleep. Designated inmates further beat him savagely, and the guards reviled him. He was mentally and physically traumatized severely.

Practitioner Dong Huide, a college student, was forced to stand for more than 40 days and permitted to sleep for only three or four hours.

Mr. Zhang Yanfu, a practitioner from Tianzhu, had surgery in 2007 and had to remain in the hospital once he was sentenced to forced labor in October 2007.

Since July 2, 2008, the camp's officials from the Education Section gave practitioners "tests" and "evaluations." Because the practitioners refused to be "reformed," camp authorities intensified the persecution. Practitioners Mr. Kang and Mr. Yue Fengtai were placed in the repentance room. The officials changed the rules; instead of once a month, they required practitioners to write personal responses once a week and take tests and be evaluated once a month instead of the previous once every three months.

Prison guards Han Ximing, Zheng Jun, and Li Wenhui have violated the first of the "Six Prohibitions for the People's Police in Labor Camps" issued by the Ministry of Justice. They have not only reviled but also tortured Falun Gong practitioners. They have ignored the rules and incited drug addict inmates to beat, torture, and abuse practitioners.

A brief review of the circumstances of 12 currently detained practitioners

As of September 2008, Team 11 in Division 6 (specifically designated to detain Falun Gong practitioners) is holding 12 practitioners from the whole province. They are follows:

Li Qinben, 48 years old, works at the Ning County Trade Bureau in the Qingyang District, sentenced to one year and six months of forced labor
Li Zhanting, 30, a native of Zhenyuan County in the Qingyang District, does odd jobs, sentenced to one year and six months of forced labor
Kang Shangwen, 37, a pharmacist at the Jingchuan County Chinese Medicine Hospital in the Pingliang District, sentenced to one year and six months of forced labor
Li Ziqi, 56, a peasant and native of Qingning County in the Pingliang District. sentenced to one year and three months
Ma Tongjun, 53, a peasant and native of Jingning County in the Pingliang District, sentenced to one year and three months
Zhang Zhenxing, 53, a peasant and native of Jingning County in the Pingliang District, sentenced to one year of forced labor
Zhang Yunlong, 42, a peasant and native of Jingning County in the Pingliang District, sentenced to one year of forced labor
Dong Huide, 38, college student and a native of Lanzhou City, does odd jobs for a living, sentenced to one year and three months of forced labor (second time)
Zhang Yanfu, in his 50s, a Tianzhu County Weather Bureau government official in the Wuwei District, sentenced to one year and six months
Yue Fengtai, 39, a native of Tianzhu County in the Wuwei District, has a two-year college degree, sentenced to two years of forced labor
Gu Zeyuan, 39, a native of Wuwei City, does odd jobs for a living, sentenced to two years of forced labor (second time)
Hou Youwu, 44 years old, a peasant and native of Huangjiaquan Village, Hexibao Township in Jinchang City, sentenced to two years of forced labor

The following practitioners were sentenced in 2008:
Gu Zeyuan, January 2008
Li Qinben, May 13, 2008
Li Zhanting, June 4, 2008
Li Ziqi, Ma Tongjun, Zhang Zhenxing, and Zhang Yunlong, July 22, 2008

People and sections involved in the persecution of Falun Gong Practitioners

Deputy Head of the Administration Section Dong Faqiang (police ID # 6222053)
Division 6 Head Li Guoyuan (was later transferred to the Gansu Province Women's Forced Labor Camp as deputy head)
Political head Huang Yongkui (Police ID # 6222100)
Deputy political head Jin Yongyao (police ID # 6222119)
Deputy head Sun Baotang

Team 16 (designated to detain Falun Gong practitioners)
Team head Han Ximing (police ID # 6222219)
Political head Li Wenhui (police ID # 6222238)

Group Heads
Wen He (police ID # 6222254)
Pang Yingcong (police ID # 6222248, transferred here in 2007)
Hu Xiaojun (police ID # 6222285)
Xu Wanjun, Luo Shaohua (transferred out in 2007)

As of November 1, 2007, the North Ward facility was moved to the South Ward. Team 16 was also moved to the third floor in Building 3 in the South Ward.

Schematic drawing of the South Ward in Gansu Province First Forced Labor Camp

In March 2008, Team 16 was renamed Team 11.

Division 6:
Political head Huang Yongkui was transferred. Sun Baotang was removed from his post as deputy head. He was drunk while on duty at night, got into troubles, and hit Falun Gong practitioner Hu Yaorong. Duan Jiping was transferred here as the new team head, and Zheng Jun was named the political head.

Team 11:
Li Wenhui was removed from his post as the political head. He used to put all his efforts into persecuting practitioners. Wang Cheng was named the new political head.

The following is a list of the sections and people who are involved in the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in 2008 since all the transfers:

Camp Chief Ji Peirong (police ID #: 6222001)
Camp Political Head Chen Kailin (police ID #: 6222003)
Deputy Chief Tian Li (transferred here in 2008 from the #2 Gansu Province Forced Labor Camp) Ren Guomin (promoted in 2008)
Administration Section
Section Head Dong Faqiang (police ID #: 6222053)
Deputy Head Wang Donglin (police ID #: 6222037)

Education Section
Section Head Li Wunian (police ID #: 6222064)
Cheng Lingya (police ID #: 6222145)

Division 6
Team Head Duan Jiping (police ID #: 6222184)
Political Head Zheng Jun (police ID #: 6222051)
Deputy Head Jin Yongyao (police ID #: 6222119)

Team 11
Division Head Han Ximing (police ID #: 6222219)
Political Head Wang Cheng (police ID #: 6222210)
Group Heads:
Zhang Pengzhan (police ID #: 6222179, transferred here in 2008)
Wen He (police ID #: 6222254)
Li Wenhui (police ID #: 6222238)
Pang Yingcong (police ID #: 6222248, had surgery of colon cancer in 2008)
Wang Yaozhong (transferred here in 2008)
Hu Xiaoju (transferred here in 2008)

Gansu Province First Forced Labor Camp
Chief: 86-931-6279001, 002, 099