(Continued from Part 1.)
3. Continued Torture and Cover Up
I demanded to talk to ward director Zhang Yue in mid-July 2021. The inmate watching me promised to have Zhang come to see me, except that the latter never showed up. The next day, I refused to leave the workshop unless Zhang came. Guard Ji Xueqi deceived me into believing that she would help me look for Zhang, so I went with her. But as soon as we left the workshop, she sneaked away and left me alone.
I also found out from my family that when they came to the prison to visit me, Ji turned them away and also claimed that my leg problem was due to natural aging and that I was never tortured in prison.
When I returned to the cell, I asked guard Chang Yunong to help me find Zhang and she agreed. After much effort, Zhang finally met with me. I told her about the three-day intensive torture I suffered and demanded that she uphold justice for me. She was impatient, and just left. I never heard back from her although she promised to look into the matter.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, I was subjected to another three-day torture session, when guards Sun Weijing and Li Xiaoyi were on duty. One inmate overheard Sun and Li ordering those torturing me to tape my mouth to prevent me from shouting. On the second day of the torture, an inmate was about to take me to another team, but was stopped by Sun, who claimed that doing so would give the other team credit for torturing me. This resulted in even more severe torture on the third day.
When my face was covered with bruises, the guards ordered me to wear a mask and long-sleeved clothes like before, so that others wouldn’t see my injuries.
Only after I had mostly recovered did guard Li come to “investigate” the incident. Yet she constantly stopped me from talking and paused the recording of her bodycam. I pointed out that she ordered inmates to collect millipedes to put on me. She claimed that she was picking wild vegetables with the inmates. When I also said that she remained indifferent both times that I told her about the torture, she didn’t say anything.
In fact, not only the guards, but also Xia Ru, the head of the First Ward, also turned a blind eye to the torture I suffered.
I lost three teeth while in prison and two of them fell out as a result of the savage beating. I kept the teeth and my clothes that were torn by the inmates as evidence of the persecution. On the day of my release, December 3, 2023, however, Lu Wei, the head of the Tenth Ward (where I was transferred later on), and team lead Li Shuying confiscated them, as well as other documents I had kept.
The prison arranged more than ten guards to be present during my release. They followed me closely and forced me to go with the police to finish some paperwork, before I was finally allowed to return home with my family.
4. Seeking Justice
The torture I endured was so brutal that some inmates became sympathetic toward me and found ways to expose the persecution while I was still jailed.
After my family heard about my situation, they contacted the prison in September 2022 and demanded that they stop the torture. On September 21, 2022, I was transferred from the First Ward to the Tenth Ward. Due to the pandemic, I wasn’t allowed any family visitation or phone calls for the entire year. When my family finally saw me again two years later in January 2023, I still limped while walking, with no improvement from their last visit.
Beginning in February 2023, the prison denied my family visitation again. Worried about my safety, my husband worked very hard to seek justice for me. He later filed a complaint against the guards for torturing me and the case was accepted by the procuratorate. When prosecutor Zhu Yong came to investigate the matter, he took no notes when I recounted the torture. I asked him why he didn’t write down my testimony, and he said there would be a second and third meetings with me. But he never returned after that.
My family also demanded that the prison take me to the hospital for an evaluation. They only took me for a CT scan that couldn’t show any injuries at all, even though my face and legs were still in pain. When the scan results came out, the prison didn’t share a copy with me or my family. They only flashed it in front of my family on the day of my release. I had to pay 188 yuan out of my own pocket for the scan.
Due to my family’s efforts to seek justice for me, the prison gradually stopped torturing me, but I was still deprived of many of my basic rights. During the three years I was imprisoned, I was only allowed to see my family six times, including three visits in 2023. The first two meetings were 20 minutes long each and the last four were only ten minutes. Other than that, I was allowed to make one phone call to them. Every month, I was only allowed to spend 100 yuan on daily necessities, which was barely enough to get everything I needed. My family frequently went to the prison to visit me, but were denied by the guards most of the time with the excuse that I was under “strict management.”
Permanent Injuries
As soon as I returned home, I recounted to my family and friends the torture I suffered. This also clarified many of the lies that the prison guards told them in order to cover things up.
My family took me to the hospital the day after my release to check my knee, which had been hurting for two years. The doctor said my meniscus, the cartilage between the shinbone and thighbone, was torn, and it could only be repaired through surgery now. The doctor also said that the injury could only be detected through MRI (magnetic resonance imaging). So when the guards took me to the hospital for a CT scan, the injury wouldn’t show at all.
Husband’s Open Letter
Below is an open letter written by my husband when he sought justice. It sheds light on the persecution from a different angle.
***
My name is Gao Pengsheng and I’m 60 this year. My wife Jin Hong, 56, was arrested on December 4, 2019, by Li Yubin of the Tiexi District Domestic Security Division. Prosecutor Wu Weiwei of the Tiexi District Procuratorate indicted her on May 21, 2020 and judge Zhang Zhiqiang of the Tiexi District Court sentenced her to four years on August 17, 2020. None of us was notified of her hearing or trial, nor did we receive a copy of her verdict. Hong appealed the sentence, but judge Liu Dayong of the Shenyang City Intermediate Court ruled to uphold her original verdict. Hong was transferred to the prison without our knowledge.
When I first heard about Hong’s torture and injuries in July 2021, I was dubious about it. But when I went to the prison to visit her, the prison illegally turned me away. And when I finally overcame all the obstacles and saw her in the prison, two and a half years after her arrest, I was shocked and heartbroken – she looked old and emaciated; she didn’t have much strength while talking; and she limped while walking. I couldn’t imagine what torture she had gone through during that time.
To seek justice for Hong, I contacted the Prison Service Center and Administration Bureau, the Public Legal Consultant hotline, the Liaoning Provincial Department of Justice, the Shenyang Suburban District Procuratorate and other relevant departments, but none offered any help.
I submitted a complaint to the Dadong District Court, but was deceived by judge Guo Yu to withdraw my case. I called Guo’s supervisor, Qi Likai, but he denied having any knowledge about the case. I also filed a complaint with the Shenyang Suburban District Procuratorate, and prosecutor Zhu Yong ignored it and refused to talk to me. I once visited the procuratorate myself and talked to Zhu. He told me that the investigation was done and no legal violation was found. I then filed a complaint against Zhu for dereliction of duty with the procuratorate’s appeals office and they quickly responded that the issue stated in my complaint didn’t exist.
On the morning of October 30, 2023, after hearing about the procuratorate’s investigation of my wife’s injury, I went there and demanded to see a copy of the report, but no one received me. In the afternoon, prosecutor Zhu called me and he agreed to meet with me at the prison the next day.
When I saw him the next day, Zhu refused to show me the injury report. He gave me the impression that he didn’t care about the case at all, but was trying to clear himself of any responsibility. He also asked me things irrelevant to the case, such as how I knew about my wife’s injuries, who prepared the legal documents for me and whether I also practiced Falun Gong.
I couldn’t understand why Zhu asked me those questions and whom did he work for. My wife and our family had already suffered so much, what else did he want?
After talking to Zhu, I asked the prison authorities to show me Hong’s injury report. I was left there waiting for one hour, before Lu Wei, the head of the Tenth Ward and guard Li in charge of Hong’s team came to talk to me. They emphasized that they couldn’t share the report with me without the prosecutor’s written consent.
In fact, the prison guards revealed themselves that they had a meeting with Zhu that morning before Zhu met with me. Perhaps they already decided that they wouldn’t give me the report whatsoever.
Meanwhile, Lu already demanded that the relatives who went with me to the prison had to show their IDs. She said that they wouldn’t be allowed to stay there if they weren’t my immediate family. I challenged her to provide legal basis for her claim, and she couldn’t show it. When I asked for her name, she turned her badge inside out and left. The guards were so rude even to the family members like us. It confirms to me that Hong must face much worse torture inside.
Due to the mental distress, my health declined quickly and I suffered a stroke, rendering me unable to continue working. I worried day and night whether Hong was subjected to more torture and whether she could return home safely.
Although it’s a bumpy road to seek justice, I will never give up. I believe that justice may be late, but it will never be absent! I also believe that good will be rewarded and evil punished. The divine is watching our actions. I hope all kind-hearted people can extend a helping hand and bring the perpetrators to justice soon!
Related reports:
Family's Uphill Battle to Visit Loved One In Prison
Liaoning Woman Suffers Heinous Torture in Prison
Liaoning Woman Tortured in Prison for Not Renouncing Her Faith
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Category: Torture of Women
