(Clearwisdom.net) Starting on March 7, 9 and 10 respectively, Falun Gong practitioners Ms. Zhang Li, Ms. Lu Mei, and Ms. Hu Aiyun began their hunger strikes in Heilongjiang Women's Prison to protest their illegal imprisonment. Their hunger strikes have lasted for months. Since early 2005, the Heilongjiang Women's Prison has been using hard plastic tubes to force-feed practitioners. Moreover, they re-use the tubes without disinfecting them. After using it on one practitioner, they simply rinse it in water before using it on the next one. The tube itself is made of very hard material and causes bleeding almost immediately. It also gets harder the more it is used. After it is used, it is kept in the warden's office and re-used the next time. However long the hunger strike lasts, the same tube will be used.

Chief of Prison Health Center Responsible for Practitioners' Deaths

The former chief of the prison health center, Zhao Yingling, is another person responsible for the deaths of Falun Gong practitioners, as witnessed by several practitioners years ago. Zhao directed a flashlight down a practitioner's throat and instructed criminal inmates to insert the tube into the windpipe. Then she would ask the practitioner whether she would give up the practice. If the practitioner said no, Zhao would move the tube and stick it down the esophagus, repeating this several times. After two or three days, the practitioner died. According to one criminal inmate, when practitioner Ms. Wang Fang passed away, the tube was green when it was pulled out of her mouth.

During the summer of 2006, Ms. Jin Lihong was severely abused until her throat was swollen and purple and she could not close her mouth properly. In 2007, she was so brutally mistreated that she could not maintain her balance to remain standing, felt very dizzy, and lost consciousness.

Former Fourth Prison District Deputy Leader Dong Lihua Tortures Practitioners

After Ms. Zhou Qiaohang was beaten on November 15, 2005, four practitioners began a hunger strike to protest against the brutality and demand that those responsible be punished. Ever since then, Dong Lihua has made use of every chance to torture practitioners. For instance, she requires practitioners to wake up at 5 a.m. and sit on a small plastic stool until 8 p.m. Even when Ms. Jin Lihong had been abused so severely that she could not get out of bed without assistance, she was subjected to the same torture.

Around October 2007, Ms. Jin Lihong's left eye began to hurt a great deal, and she asked Dong Lihua if she could write a letter to her family members to ask to be taken to a doctor. Dong refused her request.

By December 20, 2007, Ms. Jin Lihong's left eye and the left side of her head were too painful to bear and she could not see clearly any more. She asked Dong Lihua several times if she could request medical assistance but was refused every time.

On January 6, 2008, Ms. Jin's family came to visit. She told them that she had a constant, terrible headache, and that if she died in prison, they should demand an autopsy to see what was wrong with her eye and the left side of her brain. On the morning of January 8, Police Officer Lu took Ms. Jin to a health center. The doctor told her, "You are suffering from insufficient blood supply to your brain. You have to talk to the health center chief and request treatment at a hospital. We can only guess what's wrong with you." When Ms. Jin wanted to talk to the chief, Officer Lu said that they had to return to the prison first and talk to Dong Lihua. The next morning, Jin was notified to sit still and that she wasn't going anywhere. Moreover, she was imprisoned in a small cell.

The Guards Use Belts to Tie Up Practitioners

Practitioner Ms. Ba Lihong, who is in the Fourth Prison District, has been adversely affected by the abusive treatment. During the spring of 2007, her head began to twitch, her mouth became crooked, and she suffered from constant pain around her neck. She asked to lie down, but neither Dong Lihua nor team leader Zhao Bingjun permitted her to do so. Moreover, they tied her up on a stool with belts for seven days for "refusing to follow management orders."

In late 2006, the guards instructed criminal inmates to read the fabricated report of "Chen Bin" to the practitioners. Practitioner Ms. Hu Guiyan tore up the report, so the guards tied her up on a stool using belts for over two weeks. At night when she slept, she could not take off her clothes and had to keep both hands tied up behind her.

In late July 2007, practitioner Ms. Zhang Xiuying from Qiqihar had high blood pressure but was still made to sit on the stool. One day, she was practicing the exercises in her cell and was discovered by criminal inmates Zhang Lijuan, Yang Lu, and Sun Shumei. They beat her so badly that she had very high blood pressure and a brain hemorrhage. She was hospitalized in Gongan Hospital for a month before being released for medical treatment.