Hard times in Peking at ‘Virtue Forest’

Press, 9 May 1979, Page 9

Hard times in Peking at ‘Virtue Forest’

NZPA-Reuter Hong Kong Political prisoners in China are being held in an old prison in Peking where they are tortured, given rotten food, and allowed to die without medical attention, according to a Peking magazine published by political activists. A transcript of an article in the magazine, “Tan Suo” (“Exploration”) seen in Hong Kong yesterday named several prisoners now held at Peking Prison Number Two, also known among Peking residents as Virtue Forest Number One. None of those identified have been politically prominent. ‘Tan Suo” is considered the most radical of several magazines published by political activists since late last year when the Government relaxed a number of restrictions to allow greater freedom in China. One of its key editors, Wei Jingshen, was arrested in March, the same month the magazine published its article on the prison. Mr Wei had not been heard from since. Liang Yao, author of the prison article, said the magazine had interviewed several people who “have had personal experiences” at the prison. It said they had reported they had been “humiliated and tortured.” “When one enters the prison reception station’s big hall, one is first stripped and then searched,” “Tan

Suo” reported. “If one is even slightly less than humble, he is subjected to abuse in minor cases, or trounced and beaten in serious cases.” Men and women, and children following their parents, were crowded into the reception centre, and it was difficult to estimate the number of people held in the prison because many detainees lived in different corridors, the report said. The cells were cold and small, with low ceilings, and 14 inmates were packed into each, forced to eat, sleep, and defecate without being allowed out, “Tan Suo” continued. “When people enter this place, it is as though they are entering a cottage which has never been swept or cleaned,” the magazine said. “In the daytime, they collect their meals by rotation. Each person is given two steamed, half-steamed, or rotten dumplings, to be eaten with a bowl of dirty vegetable soup. “Two people share a very dirty and lousy torn bedsheet which has not been washed for a year. They sleep on a bare and rough floor. “In these poor conditions, it is not unusual for people to become sick and die. A child was not cared for last year after falling sick. He died in bed. When a doctor went to treat him, he discovered many fat lice on him.” .