Special Series: China's Brutal Labor Camps, Part 1
Peter Terpstra
Special Series: China's Brutal Labor Camps, Part 1
WONG:
Today we begin a special series on the shocking conditions within China's "re-
education through labor" camps. Now, with cell phone camera footage that has
just been smuggled out of China, the international community is being given a
rare glimpse of life within these camps.
STORY:
This is Masanjia Labor Camp, also referred to as the Ideology Education School
of Liaoning Province. Practitioners of the Falun Gong spiritual practice as
well as house Christians are held here, often without trial or formal
sentencing.
Forced labor is one of the tactics used here to reform what the Communist
Party considers improper political or spiritual beliefs. Prisoners at Masanjia
often work from 5am to midnight. Sometimes, they're forced to work through the
night without sleep. If they are given a chance to rest during the day, it's
on the factory floor.
Mealtime means a few scraps of cornbread, and maybe some congee or a tiny
portion of vegetables. Then it's back to work.
In this footage, eight Chinese prisoners can be seen straightening electrical
components called diodes. Not shown here is some of the other work they're
forced to do, including manufacturing Halloween decorations—like skulls and
plastic tombstones—for export to the United States. Some prisoners have to
handle toxic substances without protective gear, causing itching, throat pain,
and lung problems over time.
In this place, not every prisoner is able to survive the conditions.
Mr. Dong Chen was a Christian from Fuxin city in Liaoning Province. Because of
his affiliation with an underground church, he was sentenced to two years of
re-education through labor. As told by his fellow prisoners, in December of
2007 he became severely ill with high blood pressure, and was sent home to be
hospitalized. But after a week, his family could no longer afford medical
treatment, so Dong was taken back to Masanjia Labor Camp and resumed his heavy
workload. On the afternoon of May 25, 2008, he vomited and lost consciousness.
Prison guards ignored him for several hours, until he died at around 9pm. He
was 56. Labor camp officials later told Dong's family that he had died from
natural causes.
This is just one of many examples of life and death within China's labor
camps. Other such camps are scattered throughout China. Although it's
impossible to get an accurate official count of how many prisoners are being
held in these camps, human rights groups estimate it's in the tens of
thousands or more.
WONG:
Be sure to stay tuned over the coming weeks as NTD and its media partner, The
Epoch Times, continue this in-depth series on the secret world of China's
labor camps.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRL4nsHEQe0
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Amnesty International Report 2009 on China:
http://report2009.amnesty.org/en/regions/asia-pacific/china