(Minghui.org) Detainees at the Liyang City Detention Center are forced to rework diodes throughout the year. When Falun Gong practitioners are sent to the detention center, they are also forced to rework diodes and computer keyboards. (A diode is an electrical component that keeps electrical current flowing in one direction. It usually has two wires extending from it, a cathode and anode, made out of heavy metals that are toxic.)
To rework diodes, a person rolls deformed or twisted diodes back and forth on a piece of flat rubber to straighten them. At the detention center, a female prisoner must finish five kilograms [11 pounds] of diodes a day and a male prisoner needs to do more. Prisoners start working at 7 a.m. and sometimes are kept working until 9:30 p.m. Generally, they are not given a lunch break. They have to work nonstop or else they cannot finish the daily quota.
When a person engages in this type of slave work for a prolonged period of time, his or her fingers deform: joints become stiff and unable to bend, fingers become thicker and swell, fingernails fall off, and fingers become infected. Long-term exposure to the heavy metals can also cause allergic reactions, including itchiness, skin irritation, and red dots all over the body.
Detainees do not get paid for their work, even though their workloads are twice or three times that of an average industrial worker. Prison guards and officials have reaped huge financial gains from their labor, but Falun Gong practitioners and other detainees are treated inhumanely. Even in simple matters, there is cruelty. For instance, there is no hot water for prisoners. People have to take cold showers, even in the winter. Many women have developed irregular menstruation, heavy bleeding, prolonged menstruation and high blood pressure.
There were three deaf women in the cell I was in. The skin on their hands was peeling off, and their fingers were bleeding. They still had to work on the diodes in order to finish the required quota. Such maltreatment is still happening at the Liyang Detention Center.
Prison guard Shen Zhijuan is ruthless toward inmates who are old or sick. And if anyone shows the slightest resistance, she puts a device on the person's hands.
