The doctors in the settlements are young and come straight from medical college. When they are first assigned here, they have no experience and little practice. The families of security and guard officers know that they are extremely incompetent and do not trust them

Therefore, political prisoners are used for surgery practice, without anesthesia or other necessary medical provisions. I used to drive for some of these doctors at Settlement No.13 and 22, including a doctor Wu at Settlement No.22, and I overheard their discussions while driving on many occasions.

I knew a good prisoner who was an auto mechanic. He always looked after my car well and kept it in good shape. We trusted and helped each other. One day, I noticed that his left eye had a big terrible scar and a squint. “What happened to your eye? Can you see with your left eye?” I asked. “Not well with my left eye. I had a little swelling in my eye and it was really nothing but Doctor Wu insisted that I should have an operation. He operated on my eye without anesthesia. This is what happened after his operation,” he replied. We continued to talk about Dr. Wu’s operations and the other doctors’ poor treatment of the prisoners.

There was another mechanic next to him at the time and he showed me a big scar, the shape of a snake some 20 centimeters long, on one side of his abdomen. The scar looked awful.

“Dr. Wu and without anesthesia again?” I asked. “Yes, him again. He operated on me for appendicitis without anesthesia in 1991. I thought I would die of pain and bleeding during the operation! It was a miracle that I survived.” I heard of many other surgeons like Dr. Wu in the detention settlements.