Heilongjiang Provincial Women's Prison Cruelly Tortures Falun Gong Practitioners

The staff at Heilongjiang Provincial Women's Prison has put in place cruel methods and mechanisms to torture Falun Dafa practitioners as part of their ongoing attempts to force practitioners to give up the practice. There are several levels of prison staff and inmates involved in the persecution. Inmates are ordered to control and monitor practitioners' movements. They stay close to the practitioners and are one of the most effective Chinese Communist Party (CCP) tools in persecuting practitioners. To gain reduction of prison terms or to get out of performing hard labour and long hours of work, they agree to serve as the CCP's thugs and tools.

The detainees in Wards No. 7, 9, 11 and 13 are repeat criminals who have committed crimes including bribery, corruption, embezzlement, forgery and falsifying invoices. They enjoy good standing and live comfortably even though they are in prison, but only because the are willing to torture practitioners. They collaborate with the prison guards and each uses the other towards their own ends. They use every possible torture method and base language against practitioners. With the help of CCP officials they have developed new ways to torture practitioners. The night sentry searches the luggage, does body searches, looks for recent Falun Gong articles and even records the time when the practitioners use the toilet. They also replace at times the inmates that watch each practitioner during the day to maintain around the clock surveillance of the practitioners.

There are three "Intensive Assault" wards, No. 9, 11 and 13. Besides those, guards and inmates in the Sick Ward are also involved in coercing practitioners to renounce Falun Gong. The No. 7 Ward is the place where practitioners who renounced Falun Gong under extreme pressure are kept, where they are forced to reaffirm their renunciation. In July 2007, the No. 13 Ward set up a similar centre. Newly arrived practitioners who come from detention centres are taken to the No. 9 Ward, where they are subjected to brainwashing, are beaten and forced to watch video programmes that slander Falun Dafa. The staff try everything possible to force practitioners to renounce Falun Dafa. Prison guards yell, swear at and insult practitioners. They try to force practitioners to sign the so-called "four statements¹" and the torture continues around the clock. Practitioners suffer physically and mentally for a extended periods of time, and therefore their health is compromised. Steadfast practitioners are taken to other wards that are involved in forced labour. They are separated from other detainees and watched by "personal cangues" and the on-duty guards. Their movements are restricted and they are not allowed to buy daily necessities or go to the canteen. If their families don't come for a visit they are not allowed to leave the cell for months at a time. Also, practitioners are separated from each other. There is one practitioner in each cell, with the remainder being regular inmates. Practitioners are not allowed to talk with or greet each other. Daily grooming is done in turns and practitioners are watched over by their personal cangues even when they use the toilet. Water or meals are bought by the cangues and the on-duty guards since the practitioners are not allowed to leave their cells.

The doors and any windows in the Assault Unit Division were covered with newspaper with a 13mm x 4mm (.5 x .15 inch) hole on each door. The head of the division and the prison guards and cangues monitor the practitioners through the hole. Prison guards Guo Xiaohua, Wei Dong and Wang Dan often make things difficult for any kind-hearted inmates and instruct them how to torture and mistreat the practitioners.
At one point the prison guards replaced the newspaper over the glass with a white cloth. Therefore, when a practitioner passes another practitioner's door, she cannot see the fellow practitioner. This way, they will not see how seriously other practitioners have been tortured. When they use the toilet, one of the personal cangues checks whether there is another cangue standing outside the toilet. If so, they wait until that person returns to the cell before they let "their" practitioner use the toilet. Then, one cangue stays guard, while another brings the practitioner to the toilet. This system is not modified, no matter how urgently a practitioner needs to use the toilet.

The "assistant educators" and personal cangues continually harass practitioners, ridicule their cultivation practice, and insult their Teacher and Falun Gong. Whenever the division head appears, they become bowing lambs and grovel around that person. The minute the division head leaves they again yell, shout, swear at and beat the practitioners. The "assistant educators" are assigned to force practitioners to renounce Falun Gong. They use inhuman methods, including physical abuse, tying up practitioners then hanging them up with ropes, and punching and kicking them. The rope is thinner than a little finger and 3 to 4 metres long. The ropes are provided by Division Head Tao Shuping, Yue Xiufeng, Pu Yu and prison guards Wang Xiaoqi, Guo Linlin, Wang Qi, and two guards surnamed Gao and Su.

Inmate "assistant educator" Guo Xiaohua collaborates with Yu Chunyan, Wang Dan and Wu Lisha as well as personal cangue Wang Yajuan. They tied me with ropes and hung me up. They also ordered the cangues to watch the practitioners who were forced to stand for long periods of time and were deprived of sleep. Xiao Lihua and Zhang Jing assured the cangues that they would not get into trouble if they beat or swore at any of the practitioners. Zou Hongxia, Huang Yinghai and Liu Wei from the No. 7 Ward did not beat the practitioners but instead used brainwashing techniques.

"Assistant educator" Guo Xiaohua often stepped on practitioners' swollen feet and then moved her foot back and forth over their feet (practitioners' feet were swollen because of forced standing for long periods time without moving and because of sleep deprivation). She also slapped practitioners' faces with books, forced them to stand for long periods of time and tied them with ropes then hung them up. Practitioners were not allowed to sleep before 2:00 a.m. Whoever refused to write the "four statements" was forced to stay up until 3:00 or 4:00 a.m. and then wake up at 5:30 a.m. Immediately after getting up, the practitioners were forced to stand without moving, or were tied with ropes and hung up. They were not allowed to sleep and were forced to watch video programmes that slandered Falun Gong. Wang Zhigang and his wife Song Jianfeng had written several books attacking Falun Gong. They forced the practitioners into a conversation with them. Those practitioners who refused to talk to them were forced to stand facing the wall all day long. Sometimes in collaboration with Yu Chunyan, Xiao Lihua and Zhang Jing, they used the so-called verdict to force the practitioner to "confess," to enter guilty pleas or betray their fellow practitioners.

Division Heads Tao Shuping, Yue Xiufeng and Pu Yu also were involved in torturing practitioners to make them renounce Falun Gong They used base language to insult practitioners as well as attack practitioners and the founder of Falun Gong. They usually yelled and shouted at the practitioners until midnight. As a result the practitioners suffered great mental and physical pressure.

Practitioner Ms. He Lihua was having her period and when she went to use the toilet, the personal cangues did not untie the rope that tied her hands behind her back. Blood stained her trousers and as a result the cangues swore at her and slapped her face. Some time later this practitioner suffered a mental collapse and was taken to the sick ward. Now the guards have taken her to the "Intensive Assault Division" in an attempt to force her to renounce Falun Gong. Guo Xiaohua tied practitioner Ms. Zhu Fuju's hands behind her back and hung her up. As a result of the intense brutality, her left arm was disabled. She could no longer could raise her arm and there was a red scar on her right wrist. Practitioner Ms. Sun Yanfen's hands were repeatedly tied behind her back and she was then hung up. Practitioner Ms. Tian Yuling was subjected to the same torture, She was forced to stand for extended periods of time and was deprived of sleep. As a result, she was in a daze. Her feet, which used to be a size 37, were very swollen and she had difficulty putting on her shoes. Despite her condition, Guo Xiaohua, Wang Dan and Wu Lisha continued to kick Ms. Tian. Yu Chunyan teased her. Ms. Tian talked to Sun kindly and asked her to stop kicking her as her legs were very swollen and painful. Wang Dan said with a smile, "Who kicked you? Is there any witness?" Thereafter, her hands and arms as well as other parts of the body became swollen. Practitioner Ms. Li Yanfei's little toe became numb and had no feeling due to standing for long periods of time without moving.

In December 28th, 2006, Wu Lisha was transferred to the newly established No. 13 Ward. Xu Yanhua as well as Guo Xiaohua, Zhang Ping and Zhou Yunli were also transferred to No. 13 Ward in May and July 2007. Beginning in March 2007, practitioners who had written the four statements under inhuman torture declared their signatures to be null and void, and said that they would practise Falun Gong again. The evildoers stopped torturing practitioners when they found that their methods were unsuccessful. Instead, they forced practitioners to get up at 5:30 a.m. and go to bed at 9:00 p.m. Practitioners were forced to sit for long time periods instead of standing. The only exception was when going to toilet and bathing. Sitting for a long time caused great harm to the hips, back, vertebra, shoulders and neck. The stomach hurt the most. Practitioner Ms. Tian Yuling threw up anything she ate for more than ten days. The prison hospital head, with a surname of Zhao, prescribed some medicine for Ms. Tian, but she refused to take it. Zhao forced Ms. Tian to sign a statement stating that she would take full responsibility for herself because she refused to take any medicine, however Ms. Tian again refused to sign. Zhao went into rage and said, "If you do not sign the document today you will die today and I will cremate you tomorrow." The head of the prison hospital then forced personal cangue Wang Hongjie, who came to the hospital with Ms. Tian, to sign the document as a witness.

When the practitioners were forced to sit for long time periods the "assistant educators" and the cangues were busy talking to the practitioners and reading slanderous books written by Wang Zhigang, Song Jianfeng and Chen Bing to them. Chen was over 60 years old and a university professor. During the last few years after giving up his belief in Falun Gong he travelled to prisons and forced labour camps in the county and assembled evidence of so-called "evil experiences." He came to the women's prison several times a year to teach the "assistant educators" tricks in how to "transform²" practitioners, spread false reasoning and heresy and help the CCP mentally persecute the practitioners.

Newly arrived inmate Li Baoju in the No. 9 Ward deliberately made things difficult for the practitioners. She claimed that she had forced eleven practitioners to renounce Falun Gong. Li Baoju, Song Yajing, Guan Jing and Wang Xia talked to the newly arrived inmates and asked them not to talk to the practitioners. The personal cangues would be reprimanded if the practitioners under their supervision were found talking to the inmates. Li Baoju often forbade practitioner Ms. Tian Yuling to use the toilet. She would either order Ms. Tian to urinate in the basin she used to wash her face or lie to her saying there was no water supply in the toilet. In addition, she often asked the person who was looking after the toilet to lock the toilet. The practitioners could not use the toilet without her permission. One day Ms. Tian was forced to wait for an hour before being allowed to use the toilet.

"Assistant Educators" at Heilongjiang Provincial Women's Prison

1. Xiao Lihua, 48, from Harbin City, was sentenced to 7 years imprisonment for embezzlement. She was released on December 14th, 2007 after her term of imprisonment was reduced.

2. Wang Dan, 35, from Shuangyashan City, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for embezzling public funds and was released on December 14th, 2007.

3. Li Baoju, 44, from Yichun City, was sentenced to 5 years for bribery and was released on December 14th, 2007. She slandered Falun Gong with vicious and disgusting language.

4. Zhang Jing, 46, from Harbin City, was sentenced to 13 years in prison for embezzlement. Being a key member of the "assistant educators," she was cunning and sinister in her dealings with practitioners.

5. Yu Chunyan, 36, from Yichun City, was sentenced to life imprisonment and her term was reduced to 17 years as a reward for taking part in the persecution of Falun Gong.

6. Guo Xiaohua, 47, from Harbin City, was sentenced to 6 years for embezzlement.

7. Wang Yajuan, 53, from Harbin, was sentenced to 5 years for embezzling public funds.

8. Wu Lisha, 45, from Daqing City, was sentenced to 6 years imprisonment for embezzlement.

Note

1. "Four Statements": Practitioners are coerced under brainwashing and torture to write the "four statements" as proof that they have given up their belief. Created by the 610 Office, they consist of "a letter of repentance," "a guarantee" to never again practise Falun Gong, a "Dissociation Statement" to declare a dissociation with Falun Gong and promise not go to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong, and a list of names and addresses of all family members, friends and acquaintances who are practitioners.

2. "Reform or Transform" Implementation of brainwashing and torture in order to force a practitioner to renounce Falun Gong. (Variations: "reform", "transform", "reformed", "reforming", "transformed", "transforming", and "transformation")

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2008/2/13/172359.html