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The guard said, "We don't want to abuse Falun Gong practitioners. We know that Falun Gong practitioners are the nicest people, but the government heavily pressured the prisons again and again, saying that we were too soft toward Falun Gong, saying that it's a class struggle between the Party and Falun Gong and that we must be ruthless toward you guys. You see, the foundation for the prison building is growing deeper and deeper, the new buildings are much better looking than the old ones, but the cruelty toward those held inside is getting worse and worse. The central government directly allocated funds repeatedly to expand the prison and required us to add many modern torture tools. Many people, including us guards, feel such tremendous pressure that we almost cannot go on any longer."

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Agents from the wicked Chinese Communist Party (CCP) had illegally sentenced me to prison. I was held at the Shanxi Province Women's Prison, located at Maoerling in Yuci City, Shanxi Province. Its public name is Shanxi Province Chemical Factory. I want to provide some information to help the investigation of concentration camps the CCP has built.

In 2001, the construction of a large, four-story building measuring between 20-30 m (66-98 ft) in width and between 200-300 m (660-980 ft) in height commenced. The building includes a basement that consists of two rows of small cells with metal gates. Each cell is about 10 sq. m (107 sq. ft) in size. Inside the cells against the wall are metal racks more than two meters (6.6 ft) high, made of the triangular metal bars welded to the cast iron. All kinds of pipes and lines are all over against the ceiling. The basement is dark and terrifying, with only a flicker of light. The light switch is located on the ground level. If someone on the ground level turns off the switch, it would be impossible for people to come up. This building was finished toward the end of 2002.

In early 2003 another, even larger building was constructed inside the prison. This building measures about 100 m (330 ft) wide and about 400-500 m (1,312-1,642 ft) long. The foundation is very deep. I don't know how many basement levels it has. The basement is constructed with very strong reinforced concrete. There are huge ventilation pipes especially designed for the basement. As for the part that is above the ground, I heard the public name was going to be "Technical Training Center for Education Administration."

At that time, more than 100 Falun Gong practitioners were held here, and were forced to do slave labor. Some guards said to me, "We don't want to abuse Falun Gong practitioners. We know that Falun Gong practitioners are the nicest people, but the government heavily pressured the prisons again and again, saying that we were too soft toward Falun Gong, saying that it's a class struggle between the Party and Falun Gong and that we must be ruthless toward you guys. You see, the foundation for the prison building is growing deeper and deeper, the new buildings are much better looking than the old ones, but the cruelty toward those held inside is getting worse and worse. The central government directly allocated funds repeatedly to expand the prison and required us to add many modern torture tools. Many people, including us guards, feel such tremendous pressure that we almost cannot go on any longer."

According to the head of prison, a third building was going to be constructed, because the government has allocated funds and it's impossible not to build it. The current and several former heads of the prison have never witnessed the central government directly allocating such large amounts of funds to a local prison. As of late 2003, the second building had two finished stories.

Before I was released, a guard to whom I often clarified the truth pointed to the building that was under construction and secretly told me, "That one is built just for Falun Gong. The equipment inside... Never let them bring you here again!"

Before I was illegally arrested I heard a friend who works at the provincial police department say, "Jiang Zemin ordered a few large prisons that only detain Falun Gong practitioners to be built in remote areas with no sign of human habitation in Xinjiang Province, Gansu Province, Inner Magnolia and Sichuan Province, and make it impossible for those who are detained to come out."

(I want to remind people that if investigation personnel from international society sets up a team to go there to investigate, they should never have only one person or the whole team all go down to the basement. Someone should stay on the ground floor to closely watch the basement light switch and maintain contact with the outside. Those who go down should have their own lighting equipment. The CCP is capable of any and all evil.)

At around 10:00 p.m. on March 11, 2006, Yuan Qingsheng's family was finally able to meet Mr. Yuan in the Dianjiang Prison in Chongqing City. Yuan Qingsheng was only able to walk with small, slow steps towards his family members, and his entire body looked ill and very fragile. He was emaciated to the extent that parts of his body were distorted. His family members were shocked to see him in this condition. Mr. Yuan leaned on the window with one arm as if all his energy were drained from him, and his other arm drooped down, dangling at his side. It was obvious that the dangling arm was severely injured and he did not wish his family members to see it. Even the hand that was placed on the window was purplish in color. All this time, two prison policemen stood by his side watching.

Mr. Yuan told his family members, "I am okay, I am just hungry. They have never let me have a full meal." Hearing this, his family members rushed to buy some biscuits and eggs for him, however as soon as he finished two biscuits, the food was confiscated by the prison police.

His family members questioned a police officer with Badge No. 123325 as to why they never let Mr. Yuan have a full meal. The policemen replied, "We were instructed by our superiors, when he admits his fault, we will give him full meals, change his room, and even release him immediately. This is 'the nation's regulations'."

A few relatives of Mr. Yuan believed the hypocritical lies of the policeman and asked Yuan Qingsheng to submit to the demands. Yuan replied, "No, I am not at fault." The police officer pointed at Mr. Yuan and claimed that he was very childish - he still doesn't admit his fault at this point and still wishes to change the policemen with his ideology on spirituality and faith. The officer had been entirely brainwashed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), claiming that they have been especially trained by the "nation" and do not believe in such things as Falun Gong.

Yuan Qingsheng is a 54-year-old Falun Gong practitioner from the Jiangbei District in Chongqing City, and is an employee from the 32^nd Workshop at the First Section of the Chang'an Company in Chongqing. After the persecution of Falun Gong began on July 20, 1999, Mr. Yuan traveled to Beijing to appeal to the government for justice for Falun Gong in accordance with Chinese law, but was sent to a forced labor camp for two years. He was persecuted to the brink of death at the Xishanping Forced Labor Camp and was released on bail for medical treatment in April 2002. After returning home, Yuan Qingsheng clarified the truth to people, and in April 2004, he was reported to the authorities after giving a truth-clarification CD to a co-worker at his workplace. He was forced to leave home and live in exile in Peiling in order to avoid arrest and further persecution. In May 2004, Mr. Yuan was illegally arrested by local policemen and sentenced to seven years of imprisonment.

Throughout the persecution that Falun Gong practitioner Yuan Qingsheng was subjected to in Peiling, he has persevered in clarifying the truth to the prison staff - telling them that "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance" is good, and that Falun Gong is good. The prison staff are all very afraid of him. Whenever Mr. Yuan's family members and relatives tried to visit him, the prison guard said, "He has not agreed to "transform," and often shouts 'Falun Dafa is good!'" Seeing that our fellow practitioner Yuan Qingsheng refuses to give up his belief and has been steadfast in his belief that Falun Gong is good, the prison staff transferred him to the Dianjiang Prison Discipline Team in order to achieve their goal of "transforming" him.

Family members have been refused on several visits to see Mr. Yuan. On March 11, 2006, they were finally allowed to see him. However, they were very shocked to see that he had become emaciated to the extent that his body is now distorted.

The Guangxi Province Women's Forced Labor Camp is one of the places where women Falun Gong practitioners from all over Guangxi Province are illegally detained and grossly abused under the persecution. Sometimes as many as 400 practitioners are held there. This camp previously consisted of Group 3 and Group 4 of the 1st Forced Labor Camp in Guangxi Province. It was located at 8 Maoqiao in Nanning City, Guangxi Province, inside the Compound of Guangxi Province's 1st Forced Labor Camp.

The 1st Forced Labor Camp consists of about ten groups plus a juvenile group. Group 3 and Group 4 are women's groups. The Women's Forced Labor Camp was established on January 1, 2001. On July 17, 2001, part of the women's labor camp was moved to a new facility at Yudong, the construction of which cost a large amount of money. Only the following squadrons were left at the Maoqiao location: the "study squad," illegally detained Falun Gong practitioners, and an "education group," which consisted of people assigned to monitor Falun Gong practitioners. In July 2002, the rest of the camp moved to Yudong. The new address is 40 Yudong Avenue, Yongning County Economic Corridor Development District, Nanning City.

The Guangxi Women's Forced Labor Camp changed its name to Guangxi Women's Labor Reeducation Administration School. The camp authorities continue to commit crimes within these modern facilities at the new location, in a more brutal and more insidious manner.

A bird's eye view of Maoqiao

Countless incidents of torture have taken place here at Maoqiao, the old site where Falun Gong practitioners' courageous and persevering anti-persecution efforts continuously play out. Due to coercion and mistreatment under persecutory policies, and because of over-crowding, lack of space, outdated equipment and facilities, shortage of factory and dormitory space as well as scant water and electricity, this forced labor camp is a very unique venture. Here, women Falun Gong practitioners are harmed covertly and overtly. This article will mainly reveal the persecution incidents at the old Maoqiao site.

1. General Overview

Falun Gong practitioners held at the labor camp include farmers, workers, teachers, doctors, businesswomen, government employees and officials, students, housewives, and even prison guards. Their ages range from 16 to the late 70s. Many of them have been held at the labor camp more than once. Practitioners Zhang Jingman, He Lingling and He Yan were illegally held at the labor camp three times. He Yan was last sent to the labor camp several months after her daughter was born. Many practitioners have been sent to the labor camp twice.

Group 3 is where most women Falun Gong practitioners are held and abused. It consists of three or four groups. More than 100 and sometimes more than 200 practitioners are held in each group. Each group is run by one head and several guards, plus one head inmate or class head and several work inspectors. The head inmate and work inspectors enjoy special privileges and are served by drug addicts. There are also "on-duty" inmates who maintain order throughout the labor camp. Their 24-hour on-duty posts are set up at the front gate, the small building and the "back port." Those on-duty stand close to the crowd and monitor every major task that is carried out at the labor camp. They blow the whistle to initiate gatherings and surround the group of people that get together. They are the ones who usually carry out abuses and oppression of Falun Gong practitioners. In order to prevent the practitioners from doing Falun Gong exercises, they set up posts on every floor to monitor the practitioners at night. There is a strict administrative hierarchy at the labor camp; those on top exploit and suppress those below them. Falun Gong practitioners belong to category C, the lowest level of the pyramid.

Li, head of Group 3 is in her 40s. An individual named You, deputy head of Group 3, is also in her 40s. Liang Suzhen, a woman in her 30s, used to be a guard and was later promoted to the post of head for Group 3. Because of her savagery in treating Falun Gong practitioners, evildoer Liang Suzhen was awarded tens of thousands of yuan in Beijing. The wicked CCP even gave her the title "advanced character." She was hailed on TV. After the Education Group had been established prior to the first relocation, Liang Suzhen snatched the post of head of the Education Group. Recently, it was learned that Liang Suzhen has been promoted to head of the labor camp due to her avid devotion to the persecution.

Guard Lu Dengyun is in her 20s. She used to be a "common" guard but was later assigned to oversee the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. Lu Dengyun is one of the top evildoers at the women's labor camp who is responsible for cruel "reform" or brainwashing. She was promoted to deputy head and recently as head of the Education Group. Tang Jingqiu and Lu Heng and several other guards are also in charge of persecuting Falun Gong practitioners at Maoqiao.

There are about thirty women guards and a few doctors at Group 3. Clinic head Wei and a young doctor named Tang Maozhu are the only two male doctors at the clinic. They use their profession and their gender to confuse the practitioners with lies, and collaborate with the guards and those who betrayed Falun Gong to "reform" the practitioners. The phone number for the labor camp clinic is 86-771-4017161.

Group 3 used to consist of three squadrons and a so-called study squadron. The three squadrons are Squadron 1, Squadron 2 and a Subsidiary Squadron. Group 3 was later added to hold practitioners who had "reformed." In October 1999, Lu Suning was the first Falun Gong practitioner to be sent to the labor camp. Since then many practitioners have been sent there, until the labor camp reached its holding capacity. After the first relocation in July 2001, only Falun Gong practitioners, people assigned to monitor the practitioners and the study group were left at Maoqiao. The Education Group was then established. The Education Group consists of four squadrons: Squadron 1, Squadron 2 and Squadron 3, and the study group, which was renamed the Internal Squadron. Squadron 1 holds elderly practitioners. About 100 practitioners are held in each group. Later, Squadron 2 and Squadron 3 were combined as the new Squadron 2.

Group 3 occupies about 10,764 sq. feet. The front gate opens onto a long road. On either side of the road are men's groups and a juvenile group. There is a four-story building where Squadron 3 of Group 3 is located in a so-called classroom on the ground floor. Inside the room are beds in close proximity. The practitioners work on their beds during the day and sleep in the same bed at night. On the ground floor hallway are two metal cases with TVs. The third floor is used as dormitory for inmates, and also as workshop and storage space. In order to make more money, the Education Group officials went against the normal rules and assigned the study group a fixed quota.

The phrase "work section" refers to houses, hallways and empty spaces related to labor and production.

The work sections for Squadron 1 and the Subsidiary Squadron are located inside a low and old brick house with no ceiling. The Squadron 1 work section is about 80 feet long with only one door and almost no windows that will open. Fluorescent tube lamps are the only and constant source of light. More than 100 people are packed like sardines and work next to the tube lamps. Because the lights are always on, inside the room it's hard to tell whether it's day or night. The room resembles an extra-long cargo train section with people and merchandise mixed together.

The room is so jam-packed it's hard to move around. The air is still and stifling. In the summer it's difficult to breathe in this sauna. Three electric fans offer little relief. It was like a big steamer. The camp authorities often punish people by forbidding them to take a shower, which is a common method of punishment during the summer. The Subsidiary Squadron work section room has a few more windows than Squadron 1. The two groups are separated by a center wall. The rest of the amenities in the Subsidiary Squadron are similar to Squadron 1.

The Squadron 2 work section is a large metal shed that measures over 1,000 sq. feet. The shed has an asbestos roof and two sides lean against a wall, while the other two sides are open. Wind and rain freely sweep through the shed. Sometimes more than 200 people work together in this shed. When people work overtime on winter nights, they cover the two open sides with plastic sheets. But Nanning winters are cold and damp, and the plastic sheets are powerless against the bone chilling weather.

The "back port" refers to the narrow winding alley between the small building and the Subsidiary Squadron work section. This alley is dark and cold, with wind howling and rain pouring down. The only restroom available for several hundred detainees is on one side of the small building. The camp authorities don't allocate enough water for flushing in order to cut water usage. The stench is horrific. The "study group" directly faces this restroom. The practitioners held at the "study group" often cover their mouths in reaction to this pervasive odor. The back window of the cafeteria is located at the end of the alley. People from the Subsidiary Squadron get their food from the back window and have to eat squatting on the ground in the alley, which is very unsanitary.

There is a shed between Squadron 2 and the Subsidiary Squadron that serves as the work section for Squadron 2. With the shed occupying part of the alley, the remaining passage is only about three feet wide, with an open sewer ditch in the middle. It's very inconvenient, unsanitary and even dangerous when people gather here before and after work and for special occasions and primarily when they get their meals.

Aside from these fixed work sections, the cells and the drill ground are often used for laboring. The Subsidiary Squadron does not have enough space, so the authorities frequently order some detainees to work inside their cells. If officials from higher administrative departments come to the labor camp on official errands, the camp authorities would order detainees to close the door of the cells, turn off the light and return to work after the officials have left.

Before the first relocation, Squadron 3 was located in Room 29, which triples as dorm, classroom and work section. People used it as dorm at night and classroom and work section in the day. In order to fit more people inside the room, the camp authorities had the bunk beds put together and formed three long rows. In the daytime, the upper and lower bunk beds and the space between them are filled with people. The authorities also arranged for people to work in the hallway outside that room. Two people work simultaneously on each bed, and two people sleep in the same bed at night. It's virtually impossible for them to turn over in bed at night. More than eighty people sleep in one room, and the rest sleep in other cells. During the day they work and are subjected to brainwashing in Room 29. The brainwashing consists of "lectures," videos and TV programs that slander Master and Falun Gong. At times, as many as over 200 people are held here during the day.

Group 4 is not in the labor camp compound. It is about a ten-minute walk outside the labor camp. This group consists mainly of a large shack and cafeteria inside a bungalow. About three or four hundred people are held at Group 4, a few less people than the other groups. Group 4 is known for its high production rate, because work is the number one priority. Falun Gong practitioners who refuse to reform at Group 3 are sometimes sent to Group 4, including elderly people and teenagers.

Falun Gong practitioner Zhong Yanjun from Baise City was only 16 years old when she and her mother were illegally sentenced to forced labor. In order to separate mother from daughter, the camp authorities sent Zhong Yanjun to Group 4. During the first relocation Zhong Yanjun was sent to the Education Group along with other practitioners and those assigned to watch them at Group 4. Another practitioner, Long Yunzhi, was about 18 years old when she was sent to the labor camp with her mother. They were forbidden to see each other. Long Yunzhi's father was being held at Beihai Detention Center and was later transferred to Litang Prison in Guangxi Province. All three members of this family were incarcerated for practicing Falun Gong. Practitioner Su Feng in his 60s, Huang Shimei, Cai Dexin, Tan Zezhen and others were once held at Group 4.

2. Physical Violence and Mental Torment

This labor camp, where Falun Gong practitioners are deprived of their inborn rights and privacy, is completely isolated from the outside. The practitioners are prevented from doing exercises, studying the principles of Falun Gong or exchanging their experiences. They cannot even laugh or talk, because such normal behavior is labeled "illegal" here.

The persecution of Falun Gong is systematic and the policies and regulations of the labor camp override all else. The words of the guards are regarded as law. These social misfits often vent their frustration on the practitioners. Many guards punish detainees to their satisfaction, and some guards force detainees to wash clothes for them, to perform back and whole-body massage and other personal favors for them.

The group leaders, the guards, the sentries and the common criminals assigned to monitor the practitioners randomly slander and verbally abuse Falun Gong and its founder, and they torture Falun Gong practitioners any time they want. The guards interpret the law according to labor camp policies and their own intentions and can make up new policies and group regulations at any time.

Practitioner Zhang Jingman went on a hunger strike during her first stay at this labor camp. A labor camp head named Li, (female, then a deputy group leader) threatened her, "If you die, we can say whatever we want about your cause of death." She also ordered everyone in the labor camp to spit on Zhang Jingman. She also ordered people to step and spit on the Falun Gong founder's picture. Guard Liang Suzhen twisted the facts and claimed Zhang Jingman and a few other practitioners refused to eat and "were trying to commit suicide, like the self-immolators in Tiananmen Square." She incited hatred against the practitioners among common criminals who didn't know the truth. Liang Suzhen also said it's unlawful for Falun Gong practitioners to appeal because the Appeals Office only accepts letters and not personal visits.

A basic administrative method at Guangxi Women's Forced Labor Camp is its scoring system. Newly arrived detainees are required to memorize the rules of the scoring system and pass a test. One extra day of detention is added at every 100 negative points, and a one-day reduction is awarded for every 100 positive points. The camp also has an "accountability by association" system, whereas several people assigned to the same team receive the same punishments and rewards. This system is enforced through coercion and slave labor. The first item on the "accountability by association agreement" says, "admitting crimes and mistakes." Most practitioners refuse to sign this agreement. Usually, points are awarded or deducted according to work performance. Practitioners are deducted points for each day they persist in their belief. Each deduction ranges from 100 points to 3,000 points. Falun Gong practitioners also are deducted points for doing the Falun Gong exercises and refusing to follow the evildoers' commands and orders.

The following are the common administrative methods used at the labor camp:

Sentence extension and reduction: usually, doing more work means sentence reduction and doing less work means sentence extension. However, the camp authorities often arbitrarily extend the sentences of determined practitioners by six months each time. Some practitioners' sentences have been extended several times. No matter how much work a determined practitioner does, her sentence will still be extended.

Practitioner Wen Shuangxiao is in her 50s, a retired worker from Nanning City Shoe Factory in Guangxi Province. Her sentence was extended because she refused to "reform." Practitioner Zhang Jingman walked close to the front gate but did not go out, and the authorities claimed she was trying to escape and extended her sentence by six months. Practitioners Chen Xiaoping, an employee from the Aluminum Company in Pingguo, Baise City, Tan Zezhen from Beihai City, Cheng Hua from Tianlin County, Zhang Shuxue from Baise City had their sentences extended by one year. Practitioner Wang Liya from Nanning City, Tan Guiyuan from Yongning County, Tan Caie from Chongzuo County, Du Jing from Nanning City, Huang Xianglan from Beihai City had their sentences extended because they refused to "reform." Many other practitioners have experienced similar persecution.

The labor camp authorities force practitioners to stand in front of others and "repent." Usually, they make the practitioners stand on the drill ground or next to the office, sometimes until 2:00 a.m. They wake the practitioners early the next day and make them stand again. Many practitioners were forced to stand, sometimes long-term. For several months, many practitioners were only permitted two hours of sleep per 24-hour period. People are assigned to monitor the practitioners, to make sure they don't close their eyes outside the allotted sleep time. A guard once said, "If a Falun Gong practitioner closes her eyes, the people assigned to monitor her will receive a one-day sentence extension and will be made to stand as well."

Solitary Confinement: Each detention in solitary confinement lasts ten days, although some practitioners were held for 20 consecutive days. The solitary confinement cell in the women's group is narrow and long. A stone platform inside this cell serves as a bed; the cover and bedding are pieces of worn-out clothing. The cell has one faucet, one toilet and a tiny window on the metal door. There is a monitoring window on the ceiling that can be opened and closed. People held in solitary confinement are not given any meat, no toothbrush, soap or towel. Sanitary napkins are not guaranteed, even when some practitioners have their menses. The detainee is not allowed to wear heavy clothes in the winter and cannot fall asleep due to bone piercing cold. In the summer, hundreds of mosquitoes underneath the stone platform attack the detainee and the noise the bugs make renders the effort to sleep futile.

There are three solitary confinement cells at the women's group; when space runs out, the women practitioners are sent to the men's solitary confinement cells in whose group the room is basically the same, except it's a little wider. Later into the persecution, electric batons are often used in solitary confinement cells. Sometimes covert tortures are carried out and even people sharing the same cell as the practitioner are not aware of beatings. There is another form of solitary confinement, which is isolating the practitioner from others, followed by brainwashing from the collaborators.

These practitioners were once held in solitary confinement: Ma Fenglan, Zhang Xu, Chen Xiao, Zhang Jingman, Deng Yongfen, Lu Suning, Lu Lihua, Huang Jieying, He Lingling, Lin Tiemei, Lin Min, Xu Zhiping, Liang Biyan, Chen Guilian, Tang Anni, Tang Huizhen, Meng Gui, He Qiuyan, Huang Qingyu, Mo Qingbo, and Du Jing. Zhang Jingman was isolated seven times within six months.

It is learned that there are nine solitary confinement cells at the new Yudong location.

Tying Up: The guards often tie practitioners up if they do Falun Gong exercises, refuse to respond to roll call, expose lies and clarify the truth, or hold a hunger strike. The guards also tie practitioners up when they "feel like it" and often hang the practitioners up.

Depriving of Shower: In the summer, locals in Nanning City take several showers a day in the sweltering weather. Not showering would amount to huge embarrassment because of body odor. The camp authorities, however, often punish people who don't finish assigned work by forbidding them to take a shower. The officials prevent determined practitioners from taking showers for long periods of time and also forbid them to wash their hair and lower body. These practitioners have no access to hot water during showers in the winter. Many practitioners were tormented this way.

Sleep Deprivation: people whose work speed is slow are forbidden to sleep or are kept up late; those who can't memorize or violate labor camp policies get the same punishment. Falun Gong practitioners who refuse to "reform" cannot take a noon nap. They are forced to stay behind at night, including elderly practitioners. Practitioner Li Yufang from Wuzhou City was 64 years old. Her hair was gray-white, yet she was coerced to stay up at night, like young people. The guards also use sleep deprivation to make a practitioner give up her belief.

Deprivation of Visitation Rights: According to labor camp policies, detainees are allowed monthly family visits. These visits are limited to immediate family members related by blood. The authorities often violate this policy. Some families are denied visits even if they've traveled a long distance. Some visitors, including husbands and brothers, at the men's group are not allowed to meet with their loved ones, though they are separated by only a wall. Families of Falun Gong practitioners are not granted meetings. The daughter of practitioner Lin Yunzhi from Nanning City came to visit but was denied this right because the daughter is a Falun Gong practitioner as well. (Lin Yunzhi's other daughter Lun Yuzhu is also sentenced to forced labor).

Other means of persecution include Falun Gong practitioners being made to run, clean work sections, sweep the soccer field, and clean the toilets.

After the first relocation in 2001, a collaborator at Squadron 3 proposed an idea to group head Wang Hong that Falun Gong practitioners who don't finish slave labor be made to run along the drill ground. This was carried out at night; as a result many people were not aware of the persecution of practitioners from Squadron 3.

Newly arrived practitioners are compelled to attend the "study group" for one month, during which time they go through military drills, recite the labor camp policies and regulations, learn how to arrange their bed bunks to the proper military code and have to pass a test before they are sent to different groups to do slave labor. For non-practitioners, the "study group" is the first step towards changing a normal person into a servile worker who is taught to obey the labor camp system: the guards, the group heads and the officers on duty, and to accept their exploitation and coercion. For Falun Gong practitioners, the "study group" marks the beginning of mental suffering, because from then on the practitioners are regarded as prisoners, as they are exploited and abused under the persecution.

The letters practitioners receive undergo strict scrutiny and are frequently withheld from them. Determined practitioners are forbidden to make phone calls. After one "reforms" one can call one's family at indefinite time intervals but one is required to use a speakerphone as the guards monitor the phone call and can terminate it at any time. The guards sit beside the practitioner during family visits to keep an eye on the visit. Detainees are required to squat when speaking to the guards, and they have to stop in their tracks and let a guard pass if they run into each other. Newly arrived detainees who forget to yield to the guards are heavily berated and have points deducted.

In order to achieve his goal, group leader Li and several other officials went to northern China in 2000 to study methods of persecuting Falun Gong practitioners. After they returned to the labor camp, they assigned people to monitor and restrict the practitioners. They brought a group of collaborators from the Masanjia Labor Camp to brainwash practitioners. They then forced the practitioners to watch slanderous videos and read libelous articles the collaborators had written, attend brainwashing sessions, and listen to the guards denigrate Falun Gong. The collaborators verbally attacked the practitioners and bombarded them with twisted interpretations of Falun Gong. Guard Zhang once attacked Falun Gong at a gathering of several hundred people. Lu Dengyun spoke at the early brainwashing sessions, and later collaborators spread lies at the class. They even made the practitioners do homework. The monitoring and brainwashing of practitioners was subsequently promoted in the men's group.

When they first arrive at the labor camp, Falun Gong practitioners are forced to watch filthy videos that are meant to poison their minds and destroy their belief in Falun Gong. The guards order practitioners to write their understandings of the videos. They force the practitioners to repeatedly watch the videos and write their understandings. Those who refuse would earn heavy point deductions. Collaborators are assigned to brainwash recently arrested practitioners.

One practitioner from Beihai City remembers, "The more severe form [of persecution] is mental devastation. We were often forcibly sent to the so-called study classes for brainwashing. We watched fabricated videos and read similar materials, and we were forced to write our understandings of these lies. Those who refused to write were persecuted and abused in various ways, including sleep deprivation, standing on the drill ground until midnight, standing under the scorching sun and having to remain outdoors in the winter. A group of people would have a 'heart-to-heart' conversation with these practitioners; they actually did everything possible to 'reform' the practitioners by bombarding them with slanderous lies and mind-twisting theories."

The labor camp authorities hired some performers once. Before the show the guards stressed repeatedly that the audience must applaud, regardless of the quality of the program, because they were videotaping the show and they wanted to include applause. Guard Liang Suzhen ordered practitioners to write articles about Falun Gong based on a magic show in order to twist Falun Gong.

One practitioner refused to watch the show. Guard Liang Suzhen ordered the officer on duty to tie her up and put her in the work section.

One night the guards gathered everyone and told them they were going to watch CCTV news, but in fact only collaborators handpicked by the guards sat inside the room and watched TV, making a show for the reporters to videotape, while several hundred people sat outside on the drill ground. The TV programs were showing the Fu Yibin murder case that was used to frame Falun Gong. Several practitioners, including Du Jing and Liang Biyan, stood up and exposed the lies. They were attacked and taken away and tied up and left in a work section for a whole night. The TV reporters only videotaped the scene in the classroom and ignored the attack on the drill ground.

The guards particularly fear Falun Gong practitioners passing Teacher's articles around. They conduct monthly searches, calling them "security inspections." During the search they turn over clothes, quilts, tools and even toilet paper and also search the practitioners' bodies. They also conduct searches without prior notice. If a guard suspects someone of passing around the articles, he would search all or some practitioners; occasionally the search is carried out away from others. The guards would wake up a practitioner early in the morning and take her away to search all of her personal belongings and her body. If the guard finds a piece of Falun Gong-related information, she would probe the source, fabricate charges against the practitioner, and threaten the practitioner with transfer to a prison. Once, traces of words were found on a practitioner's white paper, and the guards made a huge fuss about it. It is commonplace for practitioners to have points deducted and be persecuted for possessing Falun Gong articles. Once an officer on duty took practitioner Zhang Jingman to the restroom and searched her. She ordered Zhang Jingman to remove all of her clothes and jump up and down.

The labor camp uses a set of methods to destroy the practitioners' will to "reform" them. The living and work environment at the camp are very crude. The guards make the practitioners' lives miserable by limiting the amount of money they can receive from their families, by subjecting them to sleep deprivation, around-the-clock monitoring, and various forms of corporal punishment. These are devastating and lead to some practitioners suffering near mental collapse. They also use lies and intentional misinterpretation of Falun Gong to brainwash practitioners, who over time lose the ability to tell truth from fiction and betray Falun Gong.

The notorious "Same Song" is used as a tool at Guangxi Women's Labor Camp. Practitioners who give up their belief are forced to sing this song in a group. The people who had given up their practice sang this song in a state devoid of anything, which acts like brainwashing them over and over again, like taking narcotics. The "Same Song" is used to whitewash the atrocities at the labor camps and also creates an illusion about the true nature of the brainwashing class. The authorities also advocate, "learning from role model Lei Feng" to mislead the physically and mentally collapsed victims into an illusion that their betrayal of Falun Gong and even evil acts toward other people are justified.

To destroy the practitioners both physically and mentally, the guards send people to monitor the practitioners and observe their personalities before making up plans to individually reform the practitioners. They force elderly and weaker practitioners to do extra heavy labor and restrict their sleep time; they brainwash the practitioners when the practitioners have reached their limit of endurance. They purposely ask practitioners who are mothers to call their families and manipulate the practitioners' love for their children to reform them.

They also bring over practitioners' elder parents to collaborate in the brainwashing effort. Practitioner Du Jing held a hunger strike to protest the illegal extension of her term, and the camp authorities ordered Du Jing's father to feed her. Practitioner Liang Xiaoping went on a hunger strike to protest the persecution, and the camp authorities brought in her mother who was also being held at the labor camp.

Sometimes, after they beat the practitioners or after long-term torture, the guards personally cook a bowl of soup and bring it to the practitioners who are sometimes at the brink of death. It's easy for people to crumble under these circumstances. What follows is reform. Guard Liang Suzhen used this tactic on practitioners Meng Gui and Tan Zezhen, but it didn't work. If a person gives up her belief and passes a test, the guards would consider her reliable. They would subsequently disband the watchers, reduce the workload, allow more sleep and phone calls home on a restricted basis. The situation is less intense for people who reform. Sentence reduction is possible for those who do lots of work. Significant sentence reduction is given to those who help to "reform" others. The vast majority of practitioners who were reformed at the labor camp started practicing Falun Gong again after they left the labor camp. They publish solemn announcements on the Minghui website.

"Sandwich watch" is a very vicious form used in the systematic persecution. When arriving at the labor camp, Falun Gong practitioners lose their freedom and are watched by designated people. "Sandwich watch" means determined practitioners experience restraint in their normal daily activities, as they are prohibited from speaking, look at or smile at other practitioners. Practitioners are berated for walking close to each other. The practitioners are required to ask for permission to use the restroom. For a while the practitioners are not allowed to use the restroom at night and periodically not in the daytime. The guards would say, "It's your own fault because you refused to reform!" The watchers would verbally attack the practitioners while the practitioners use the restroom, and some elderly practitioners were yanked up before they could finish and were beaten and humiliated by the watchers.

The guards require the watchers to stay physically close to the practitioners, and as a result Falun Gong practitioners have to follow the watchers when the watchers use the restroom. The watchers earn sentence reductions and reduced workloads. They get further sentence reductions if they force the practitioners to give up their belief. If the watchers are not fully devoted to their assignments they would get point deductions, punishment, or they would be replaced. Guard Lu Dengyun told the watchers that they are being watched themselves, which made them very nervous. Many watchers are frustrated and depressed with the injustice, slave labor and arbitrary policies at the labor camp and often vent their anger on Falun Gong practitioners. Customarily, two people watch each determined practitioner.

Guards Lu Dengyun and Liang Suzhen encourage watchers to pick fights and attack Falun Gong practitioners. Watcher Lei Qingsheng beat practitioner Tan Zezhen, who is about her mother's age. After the incident was exposed, guard Lu Dengyun announced in front of everyone that Lei Qingsheng would lose 300-points. Later Lei Qingsheng told people that she didn't have any points taken off. She was promoted to Officer on Duty soon afterwards.

Practitioner Lin Yunying from Nanning City is an elderly woman. People in the same group with her heard the watchers attack her with really vulgar language on a daily basis.

A practitioner from Beihai City remembers, "The guards sent two people to watch me 24 hours a day. They fixed their eyes on me when I worked, ate, slept, washed myself and used the restroom. I was forbidden to talk to anyone, not even nodding at people. The watchers would attack me verbally and physically if I violated any 'rules.' One day during work, I didn't know how to make a piece of art ware and I turned to ask the person next to me. The watcher immediately hit me. The incident spread throughout the work section. The people who witnessed the beating were shocked. The watcher was later not punished. I had to be more careful because I would be subjected to verbal abuse and beating if I did anything that displeased the watcher. The watchers also demanded money and things from me, and they would take everything from me if I refused to satisfy them. Their extortion made my life very difficult."

One practitioner wrote, "The 'sandwich watch' is close monitoring and control of one's words and behavior 24 hours a day. I brought it up with the group head, and the group head said this is a policy from higher above, and they have no choice but to follow it. This is actually a step and a method to forcibly reform Falun Gong practitioners. Most watchers are handpicked by guards and they are the most ruthless. They are promised sentence reduction and encouraged by guards, and they torture Falun Gong practitioners in various ways. Many watchers played the frontrunner and roughneck in the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. Falun Gong practitioners would be subjected to insults and torture for exchanging a look or a greeting; they are prohibited from bending their legs or changing their position after long-time work. It's commonplace for the watchers to beat and verbally abuse the practitioners. They are even crueler toward determined practitioners who refuse to reform, even after long-term torture. They don't allow the practitioners to use the restroom. At night the practitioners go to the restroom on their own but the guard on duty would not let them enter the restroom. When the practitioners call on the watchers, they refuse to get up and curse at the practitioners. Some practitioners avoid drinking water even when they were thirsty so they can reduce the number of restroom visits. After practitioners inform the guards about it, the guards say, 'Falun Gong practitioners do very little work and they always use the restroom.' They personally teach the watchers to restrict restroom access for Falun Gong practitioners in order to pressure them. The evildoers often order watchers to curse and beat Falun Gong practitioners; practitioners who try to reason with them would have points deducted. Falun Gong practitioners also get points off and are extorted money for taking 'too long' in the restroom, when they leave the watchers' sight, when they don't complete the slave labor, even when they spill water when washing clothes. In these situations, the practitioners were accused of "refusing to cooperate with the watchers' job." The practitioners are punished for not reciting labor camp policies, and determined practitioners get severely punished each month."

Ms. Yi Shuling is thirty-seven years old and was a geography teacher at the 1st Middle School in Mengyin, a former experimental school. Practicing Falun Gong and following the principles of "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance" gave her a very happy family life, but she lost everything due to brutal persecution.

In July 2002, she was arrested and sent to the Mengyin County Detention Center. She began a hunger strike protesting the illegal persecution. A doctor from the Traditional Chinese Medical College used pliers and another device to open her mouth, and knocked out several of her teeth in the process. She suffered severe dehydration. The detention center was afraid to take responsibility for her condition so they sent her to the Mengyin 610 Office brainwashing class for continued persecution. Her leg muscles became atrophied, flies covered her body, and she emanated the smell of death.

To avoid taking responsibility for their criminal treatment, the Mengyin 610 Office brainwashing class forced Ms. Yi Shuling's sister, who does not practice Falun Gong, to come take care of her, with the hope that she would start to eat so they could send her back to the labor camp. In late August 2002, Ms. Yi was sentenced to three years in a forced labor camp and sent to the No. 1 Women's Labor Camp in Shandong Province.

Ms. Yi was brutally persecuted at the labor camp. Team leader Niu Xuelian of the No. 5 Battalion ordered that she be deprived of sleep for over a month. Team leader Wang Shuzhen of the No. 2 Battalion had her held in solitary confinement, bound and hung up for over two months, and also had her food and water drugged, which caused her severe stomach pain, voice loss and a stiff, swollen tongue. The guards used rope to tie her mouth tight, causing ulcerations at both corners of her mouth and leaving deep scars on her cheeks. Secretaries Lei Yancheng and Jia Yuxiang from the 610 Office colluded with the labor camp to send Ms. Yi to the Psychiatric Health Center in Shandoing Province for two months of psychological persecution. The staff used a nasal feeding tube to forcibly inject drugs which destroy the central nerve system. Lei Yancheng extorted three thousand yuan from Ms. Yi's family for medical expenses and confiscated the receipt in order not to leave evidence of the illegal persecution.

After extorting six thousand yuan from Ms. Yi, the 610 Office released her into the custody of her family, but Ms. Yi had been persecuted beyond recognition. Afraid of the criminal persecution being exposed, Lei Yancheng made Ms. Yi's family promise not to take her home until she had recovered her health. Her husband was unable to handle the tremendous pressure and divorced her shortly after she was released from the mental hospital.

Ms. Yi's salary has been withheld by the 610 Office since 2001. The total accumulation to this point is about sixteen thousand yuan. She went to her school and the 610 Office many times requesting to go back to work, but they used excuses to refuse her, including that she was not "transformed," and that she did not serve her full sentence in the labor camp.

In the summer of 2005, a school in another county hired her, but her peace did not last long. On July 19, 2005 at around 5 o'clock, deputy-secretary Feng Youlan from the No. 1 Middle School and Wang Wei from the 610 Office came to Ms. Yi's home, requesting to take her to the labor camp for procedures to release her from the sentence. She refused, knowing that there is no lawful procedure when it comes to Falun Gong practitioners, and that they were trying to deceive her into going back to the labor camp for further persecution.

Several months later, on October 29, 2005, at around 9:30 p.m., Union Chairman Du Xingtai, deputy-secretary Feng Youlan from the Mengyin No. 1 Middle School and 610 Office officials attempted to arrest her. Ms. Yi Shuling refused to open the door. They sat all night and blocked the entrance of her building. She had no choice but to tear up her bed sheets and lower herself down from the sixth floor to escape. The next day, the 610 Office officials broke into her house and took her TV, VCR and other personal property.

Ms. Yi was forced to leave home and become homeless.

Falun Gong practitioners Liu Yajie and Wang Yaqin in the 3^rd District, Langfang City, Hebei Province were besieged by police from February 19 to February 25. In an attempt to arrest the practitioners, police used their vehicles to block the doors of the practitioners' homes while keeping them under surveillance around the clock. Many practitioners (the exact number is unknown) were arrested and forced into brainwashing classes and imprisoned in the Jiaotong Hotel Brainwashing Center and the Huakang Hotel Brainwashing Center. Some practitioners were secretly transferred to the Yangshuiwu SARS Hospital in Langfang City. Three or four brainwashed people attacked one practitioner, who was not allowed to sleep, and was subjected to intense brainwashing.

On February 19, practitioner Shi Zhimin was arrested by the 610 Office in Langfang City and taken to the Huakang Hotel Brainwashing Center for further persecution. On the night of February 22, while under the watch of several police officers, Shi Zhimin managed to escape.

Over ten practitioners, including Yang Jianpo, were illegally imprisoned in the Langfang Detention Center. On the morning of February 25, Nie Chunling and her son went to the detention center to ask for the release of her husband, Yang Jianpo. They were not allowed to meet with him. They requested to see the head of the center, but their request was denied. They returned in the afternoon but were still not allowed to meet Yang. Yang Jianpo and other practitioners are going on a hunger strike to protest the persecution.

Falun Gong practitioner Shi Yongping was illegally sentenced to two years in the labor camp while Wang Fenghai was sentenced to one year. They are now imprisoned in the Shi Jiazhuang Forced Labor Camp.

Currently, at least six practitioners are still imprisoned in the Huakong Hotel Brainwashing Center.

I am over 80 years old and I live with my son, my daughter-in-law, and my grandson. My son and his wife are both unemployed, but they make a living by trading. Although we are not rich, my son and his wife are very nice and respectful to me, and they are hard workers. My grandson is a good child and he studies hard. I am very old but have good health because I practice Falun Gong. Each member of our family follows the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance. Our life is very peaceful and happy.

Our happy family met with disaster on the evening of March 14, 2006. My daughter-in-law was not home at the time when more than ten state security agents and policemen stormed into my house and illegally arrested my son. They also took away our computer and other things.

My son never did anything against his conscience, nor did he violate the law. He is a good son and all my neighbors praised him. The police took him away as if he were a robber and the only reason is because he practices Falun Gong. I am an old lady, and I had to watch my good son being taken away.

People are all saying that there is no justice after such a nice person was arrested! My grandson is in the seventh grade. Every day he asks about his father. He needs his father to check his homework. It is hard to bear and to keep the tears from running down my cheeks. My daughter-in-law is always telling me that my son will be home soon, but I know she is trying to make me feel better, because I can see her wipe her tears away when she turns away from me.

I do not have any retirement salary, my grandson is in school, and my son should be able to support his family. Now everything falls on my daughter-in-law's shoulders and we wonder how we can survive.

I want my son back, my grandson wants his father back, and my daughter-in-law needs her husband back. We all need him and right now we do not have any information regarding his whereabouts. My son, when will you be able to come home?

I am a Falun Gong practitioner. In October 2002, two practitioners came to visit me at my workplace. Shortly after they sat down, I suddenly heard someone knocking at the door. When I opened the door there was a group of people standing there. They took us to the police station, and then sent us to the detention center, where we were detained for over a month. They then sent us to Guizhou City Zhongba Forced Labor Camp for three years of forced labor.

In Zhongba Forced Labor Camp, evil guard Gu Xingying, who was responsible for persecuting Falun Gong practitioners, punished us by forcing us to stand under a blackboard and asked several drug-addicts to watch us. We stood there for two and a half days. Later, they forced us to stand for several hours every day. They forbade us from talking, saying hello to each other, and from even using the bathroom. We were detained in a 10 square-meter room, and we were not able to get out. Those who were watching us watched us around-the-clock and treated us as strictly-administered prisoners.

After several months, in late April 2003, they started to organize an "attacking the strong point" team (CCP terminology). The guards chose vicious drug-addicts for the "attack the strong point" team. "Attacking the strong point" is what they call the method used to force Falun Gong practitioners to give up their beliefs.

On May 10, 2003, they put practitioner Zhou Guoqing into the "attacking the strong point" room. The prisoners who were assigned to persecute her forced her to stand, and forbade her from moving or even sleeping at night. She was forced to stand day and night. She was only allowed to use the bathroom twice a day at certain times. The prisoners' terms were reduced if they followed orders, using various brutal means to torture Zhou Guoqing to "transform" her. Zhou Guoqing did not yield. They later showed her videos slandering Falun Gong but she refused to watch. The assigned prisoners then beat her until her eyes were black.

Another practitioner, Zhou Zhijun, was sent to the labor camp in June 2003. As soon as she entered the room, the guards closed the door and covered the windows with newspapers. A banner slandering Falun Gong was hung on the wall. They forced Zhou Zhijun to stand under the banner and forced her to stare at it. Two prisoners who were assigned to watch her stood on each side of her. The assigned prisoners often read things slandering Falun Gong to her or showed her slanderous videos. She did not watch or listen, and was often beaten by the assigned prisoners. The evil guards didn't even let Zhou Zhijun sleep. Under such vicious torture, she fainted three times in eight days. When she fell to the floor, the assigned prisoners said she was faking. So they kicked her and punched her, and stepped on her body. Sometimes Zhou Zhijun was so dehydrated that her lips chapped, and she was still not allowed even a little bit of water, not to mention taking a bath or washing her clothes. During one period she was only allowed to take a bath twice during a five-month period. For several months she had no salt whatsoever. She had 500 yuan, but the evil guards would not let her use it. Zhou Zhijun had suffered four months of torture with the so-called "attacking the strong points" team.

One morning in early July 2003, the evil guards asked six inmates from the "attacking the strong points" team to watch me and forced me to stand on a bench. One assigned prisoner said, "We'll let you come down if you repent and admit you're guilty. Otherwise, more is waiting for you." Just like this, I also suffered multiple kinds of brutal torture like other practitioners. They also forbade me from sleeping. Even a little rest had to wait 'until four or five in the morning. For several days I was not allowed to sleep for even one minute after I had been standing day and night.

My feet became red and swollen due to the long periods of standing, and I could not stand up straight. I could not see the ceiling of the room, and when I looked at the floor, it appeared as if it were not flat. The assigned prisoners often beat and cursed me, and I was not allowed to use the restroom. One time I wanted to use the bathroom but they wouldn't allow it. After several hours I could not hold it any longer and went where I stood. They started to curse me badly and said I did it intentionally. They didn't even allow me to change my pants. Instead, they immediately took a rope and bound my hands behind me back.

After some time I became skinny and weak because of their torture. The lead prisoner of the team, Chen Yan, saw that my health was bad, and she reported it to Gu Xingying. Gu Xingying asked the assigned prisoners to take me to see a doctor. I told them, "I'm not sick. I am weak because of your tortures day and night."

Wu Mingfen from Chishui was practicing firmly and never cooperated with those people. One day Gu Xingying bound her hands with a crisscrossed coir rope and forced her to stand under the blackboard. Another time, when she was forced to stand under the blackboard, they took off her clothes so that she was only wearing one layer, and it was freezing at the time.

After Falun Gong practitioner Zhang Yan from the Medical Hospital of Zunyi City was sent to the labor camp, she never cooperated with the evil guards. One day she shouted "Falun Dafa is good" in the guards' office. She had been resisting the persecution and refused to eat, so the evil guards often sent her to the medical office of the labor camp to force-feed her. One day in September 2003, a group of people tied Zhang Yan's hands and feet together and force-fed her in the hospital. Zhang Yan died from the torture.

As soon as Falun Gong practitioner Kuai Yajing was sent to the labor camp, she was under the watch of the "attacking the strong points" team. She was also forced to stand day and night without sleep. She was often beaten, put in confinement and tied with crisscrossed coir ropes. Her feet were also swollen very badly, and both her soles and insteps were festered due to the long periods of standing. She could not even see the wall in the room. Only when she bumped into the wall did she realize there was a wall in front of her.

The assigned prisoners often forbade us from using the bathroom because they had to follow us if we went. We were only allowed to look straight ahead. Otherwise we were beaten and cursed at.

Here, I have mentioned only a few things. There is a lot more on how Falun Gong practitioners suffer brutal persecution. The evil guards Deng Jun and Jiao Xia lead the persecution of practitioners. They require the assigned prisoners to give a status report every day, and often hold meetings to plot ways to torture the practitioners into submission.

On February 13, 2006, nine Falun Gong practitioners were illegally sentenced in Yunnan Province. This is what happened.

On July 2, 2005, practitioners Wang Lan, Sun Yunji, Zuo Lixin, Zhao Yongmei, Zhao Chenyu, Tian Yunpo, Li Junping, Gao Hong, and Mao Danxin, all from Yunnan Province, were traveling to Tibet on vacation. It was the last week of July, and they were traveling through Pomee County in Tibet. Tian Yunpo, Sun Yunji, and Zuo Lixin were pumping gas at a gas station. In chatting with each other, they mentioned how wonderful Falun Gong is and the facts about the government persecution. The gas station attendants reported them, and the practitioners were detained instantly. The local Pomee police officers took them to the police station and confiscated their car keys for no reason. After the police investigated them, they were taken back to the gas station. Strangely enough, some Falun Gong material was found in their car and instantly a policeman took out a video camera, which was prepared for the situation, and recorded the scene. The police threatened Sun Yunji and others to claim the material as theirs and searched the car again in order to frame them.

The other six practitioners, meanwhile, were ordering food at a restaurant. When Sun and the other two didn't appear for lunch, they looked for them, finally going to the police station. The director asked them if they were Falun Gong practitioners. After they answered, "Yes," the director flew into a rage, shouting, "I am the one who is capturing you Falun Gong practitioners!" Then all the police officers rushed up in a crowd and roughly seized all six of them. Ms. Li Junping, in her 50s, had her arm seriously hurt and she still has not recovered.

In September, the Procuratorate, through Procurator Zhu Li, brought suit against them. (The document of this suit has been made public separately.) At 9:00 a.m. on February 10, 2006, their trial convened covertly in the Intermediate Court of Kunming City, Yunnan Province. Only very few family members came when they learned the news. Most of their family members never received a notice and were unable to come. Even in such a one-sided situation, the authorities were still lacking in self-confidence. When the court session opened, members of the riot squad and plainclothes officers were everywhere outside the court. At the same time, several policemen were sent to spy on practitioner Tian Yunbo's house.

No facts were presented or laws cited during the trial. The presiding judge, Hou Feng, tried several times to trap the practitioners into confessing that their travel was organized, planned, and arranged beforehand. The practitioners spoke with the force of justice and cited numerous facts to prove their travel was a sightseeing tour. They also asked which rule of the law made one's thoughts a crime? Which rule of law in China made Falun Gong illegal? The practitioners' forceful statements silenced the judicial officers. Flustered and exasperated, they cut off the practitioners in the middle of their testimonies several times. Even more ridiculous, the court assigned each of the practitioners a puppet lawyer. These lawyers were called by the fine-sounding name of "defense lawyers," but they not only did not defend their clients they also tried to frighten and coerce them into give certain responses in order to frame them regarding the "source of the materials," "the process of organizing," and so on. These lawyers were actually spies and accomplices of the court.

When Sun Yunji accused Deqin Detention Center's policeman of illegally beating him, presiding Judge Hou Feng said, "That has nothing to do with this case!" Sun Yunji's more than 40,000 yuan loaned from his working unit, his mini-car, and other private property, which were accused of being "money for organizing and activities and a transportation tool," were illegally withheld and have not been returned. Zuo Lixin's retirement pension has been withheld since last September.

Upon practitioners' righteous testimony on the just grounds of self-defense, the Communist Party's court was in a dreadful rush and didn't know what to do. After one o'clock that afternoon, they had to quickly finish the so-called open trial although no audience was allowed to attend. They claimed the sentences would be made public later. After being checked and examined, the jail sentences handed down from the February 13 trial were:
Wang Lan, four years, Sun Yunji, Zhao Yongmei and Zhao Chenyu, three years, and Zuo Lixin, Gao Hong, Mao Danxin, Li Junping, and Tian Yunbo were sentenced to one and a half years.