Issued by Clearwisdom Net

The 610 Office established by the Chinese Communist Party and Jiang Zemin brutally persecutes Falun Gong, while claiming the use of "reform and education" that resemble "a summer breeze and spring rain." The "610 Office" is attempting to cover up its inhuman tortures through propaganda. Many of these tortures are carried out at the Jilin Province Women's Prison, also called the Heizuizi Women's Prison.

The Women's Prison of Jilin Province is divided into two wards: Production Ward and Education Ward.

Falun Gong practitioners are first sent to the Production Ward, where they are forced to do slave labor while also being subjected to "reform" and brainwashing in an atmosphere of terror. Falun Gong practitioners who refuse to give in at the Production Ward are sent to the so-called Education Ward, where savage tortures are carried out. The majority of persecution incidents of Falun Gong practitioners take place in the "Education Ward." Normal inmates undergoing "reeducation through labor" and Falun Gong practitioners are held on the third and fourth floors. The most recently arrived Falun Gong practitioners are sent to the fourth floor. The guards and inmates would threaten and observe Falun Gong practitioners for about ten days. Those who give up Falun Gong are kept on the fourth floor, while determined practitioners are sent to the third floor, where they are tortured with the "Big Hang-up" torture. "Going downstairs" is a dreaded phrase at this labor camp.

Falun Gong practitioner Guan Peixia is in her 50s. She was illegally sentenced to six years in prison and savagely tortured at this prison. The officials ordered her force-feeding on October 20, 2006. She was taken to the third floor on November 14, and even more barbaric methods were used on her.

The following is a brief description of the main torture methods used at this prison.

1. Brainwashing

Around-the-clock brainwashing starts as soon as a Falun Gong practitioner is illegally incarcerated into the prison. The authorities force Falun Gong practitioners to read books and watch VCDs that slander Falun Gong. Afterwards, the practitioners are coerced to write reports and diaries that regurgitate what they saw and read. They also force the practitioners to study a Taiwanese Buddhist's lectures and write reports on their study. They play what they claim to be videos on Buddhism and Taoism and compare them to Falun Gong. They force the practitioners to watch these videos, discuss them and write reports about them. They require the practitioners to attack Falun Gong and its founder Mr. Li Hongzhi in their reports, otherwise the practitioners will be told they "didn't study well," and extended study sessions go late into the night, until the authorities achieve their goal.

The officials also force Falun Gong practitioners to verbally attack Falun Gong and Mr. Li Hongzhi, and only the most vicious and vulgar words are considered "passing." Practitioners who don't pass are subjected to further prolonged brainwashing.

They assign two or three inmates, as well as former practitioners that turned against Falun Gong, to follow determined practitioners 24 hours a day, calling it lending a hand with "help and education." Insults and verbal abuse are frequently heaped upon determined practitioners.

2. The Big Hang-up

For steadfast practitioners, the guards order inmates to torture them with a method called "the Big Hang-up" while also brainwashing the practitioners. The practitioner's hands and feet are tied to four poles of a double-bunk bed, making the practitioner hang in the air in a U shape, between the upper and lower bunk, and her body weight rests completely on her wrists and ankles. Her buttocks don't reach the lower bunk, and her hands and feet cannot reach the upper bunk. She is only untied for eating. Many practitioners can barely hold a spoon after the blood circulation to their hands are cut off for so long. They are tortured this way day and night. The practitioner relieves herself while being tied up, and assigned personnel pull down the practitioner's pants and catch her urine and feces in a large bowl.

Practitioners who were tortured this way said, "I felt my skin and tendons were stretched to the limit," "my hands and feet turned black;" "I had no strength for several months or longer afterwards." The prison doctor diagnosed these practitioners as suffering from "injured tendons from over-stretching."

Practitioner Wang Liping from Changchun City was hung for one month, the longest among practitioners held at this prison. Practitioner Sun Lihong was tied most tightly. The officials also stripped her naked and put heavy quilts on her to add to the pain. Sun Lihong, who was once healthy, was tortured until she was emaciated and her cheekbones jutted out. Practitioner Song Weixiang was incarcerated for several years. She went into convulsions and lost consciousness several times in the winter when she was tortured with the Big Hang-up, but the authorities ignored her condition. She said some things against her conscience on the fifth day, when she could no longer endure the pain, but she was still hung up until the eighth day. Practitioner Li Juan used to be a diabetic and screamed in pain when she was put to this torture. Diao Shuanyun took a dirty towel from the restroom and gagged Li Juan with it.

3. Secret drug poisoning

According to some inmates, practitioner Ban Huijuan, around 40 years old, was given unknown drugs mixed into her food when she persisted in her belief. She felt acutely drowsy after ingesting the drugs. The inmates talked about it among themselves and stopped giving her drugs because they were afraid of killing her. Even after the drug was stopped, Ban Huijuan was still left with blunted reactions and impaired speech, and developed signs of paranoia.

4. "Reformed" practitioners forced to persecute determined Falun Gong practitioners

The main "reform work" prison authorities assign to former practitioners who turned against Falun Gong is to persecute the still steadfast practitioners, as they want to further destroy the determination of practitioners who were unwilling to renounce Falun Gong. After giving up their belief, these former practitioners had over time developed twisted mentalities and abnormal behaviors, which reflect the cruelty of the persecution.

The guards take advantage of these practitioners' weaknesses and force them to persecute other practitioners, forming a vicious cycle. Both verbal and physical forms of persecution are administered. Family and friends of these former practitioners are often shocked by the drastic change in their demeanors.

Xiang Xiaomin, a former practitioner, persecuted practitioner Sun Lihong, a 42-year-old woman from Jiaohe. Sun Lihong firmly refused to give in. Xiang Xiaomin resented her because she couldn't complete her "assignment." She went to Chen Yanmei, another former practitioner, and said, "Go downstairs and avenge me." Four people shoved Sun Lihong down the stairs. Twenty minutes later, Chen Yanmei emerged and told Xiang Xiaomin, "You have your revenge." Sun Lihong was black and blue from being pinched all over by Chen Yanmei, Lu Xiuqin, and inmates Zhang Wenjie and Wang Lixin.

5. Inmates forced to persecute Falun Gong practitioners

The only task given to inmates is to abuse and brainwash Falun Gong practitioners. They watch the practitioners' every move. Several inmates coerce one practitioner to read Falun Gong-slandering materials in an attempt to turn her against Falun Gong. They are required to record information, including the frequency and exact times a Falun Gong practitioner uses the restroom each day; the people she talked to, including when and where; her "psychological tendencies" and the amount of food she eats a day. Inmates who give more detailed reports on Falun Gong practitioners would have a better chance at receiving sentence reductions. The inmates are the mouthpieces and thugs who follow Party officials' orders and directly persecute Falun Gong practitioners. No guard would openly declare that the Big Hang-up was going to be used on a practitioner, but the guards would secretly arrange for inmates to carry it out.

6. Fake kindness and shameless deception

The guards always put on a gentle and kind façade when Falun Gong practitioners' family members arrive. They would say, "We never touched a hair on her head."

Cao Hong, a woman around 40 years old and 1.6 m [5.24 ft] in height, is the head of the Education Ward. She has a pale and long face and has a thin build. She is nearsighted and sometimes wears glasses. She said, "Brutal torture is an indispensable component of "reform," similar to the pain that inevitably results from surgery."

The prison authorities claim that they are doing it for the practitioners' own good when using the Big Hang-up on them; that they don't want "accidents" to happen to the practitioners and that they are "concerned about [the practitioners'] personal safety."

They tell the public that practitioners who were reformed "thank the Party and government for their compassionate salvation."

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2006/11/22/142970.html

Falun Gong practitioner Li Yansheng is from Sizhilan Village in Sizhilan County, Ningjin Town, Xingtai City, Hebei Province. He steadfastly practices Falun Gong, and because of this, he was illegally detained at Beijiao Prison in Shijiazhuang City and brutally persecuted. The authorities placed him in solitary confinement and beat him. He was sent to a special team and monitored by designated personnel. After their plots to "transform" him failed, Mr. Li was transferred to Baoding Prison in Hebei Province.

After his transfer to Baoding Prison, Li Yansheng suffered more serious abuses by guards and criminals. The following is a summary of his treatment at Baoding Prison. News of his situation was only obtained after passing through many people.

In July 2005, Mr. Li was meditating in the morning. The officer on duty, Yang Yong, told prisoner Xu Shuli to come in. Xu grabbed Li Yansheng by the neck. Then he told prisoners Liu Lihua, Tian Xiaoping, and Ma Jianli to come in and hold Li Yansheng's hands and feet. He fell to the floor. Xu hit his abdominal area, while Yang Yong pressed him for an answer: "Will you still practice?" Li Yansheng answered, "Yes." This type of abuse occurred many times. To protest this treatment, Li Yansheng refused to do labor work.

On July 20, he was meditating on his bed in the evening. Xu Shuli told him to put his hands down. Li Yansheng said, "How can I listen to you?" Xu told Liu Lihua, Tian Xiaoping, and Ma Jianli to drag him down onto the floor and they did this several times. Xu also wore gloves to punch him in the abdomen. Mr. Li was beaten until he almost went into shock. The scars still remain. In the afternoon, Yang Yong and Wang Xiong (the Party chief) sent Li Yansheng to the factory district. He told the Party chief about his injuries sustained during the beatings and asked Wei Donglai, the political instructor, to reflect on this matter. Yang Yong denied it. At 2:00 p.m., Mr. Li went for a check-up at the hospital. The doctor decided he should stay in the hospital. At around 1:00 a.m., Mr. Li was transferred to the No. 252 Hospital for an emergency operation. After the surgery, they inserted a tube in his stomach, catheterized him, put him on a saline drip, and put him in a ward for seriously ill patients. Twelve days later, they put him in a regular ward. The doctor-in-charge, Yin Chengxiang, told the head of the team that the beating had caused life threatening abdominal injuries.

Because Mr. Li's injuries were so serious, two weeks later when the stitches were due to come out open, the wound still hadn't fully healed, so they only took out a few of the stitches. On day 19, they put in two more stitches. The tube inserted in his right side was only removed after two months.

The prison's medical examiner determined that Li Yansheng's liver, gallbladder, stomach, and intestines had been damaged. The surgical incision was 16 centimeters long and needed 18 stitches.

Despite the serious abuse suffered by Li Yansheng, he did not receive fair redress. When Xu Shuli beat Li Yansheng, to avoid inflicting scars and to hide the damage, he often wore gloves when he hit him and used his bare feet to kick his abdomen. As a result Li Yansheng was severely injured internally and ended up needing 12 days of emergency care at the No. 252 Hospital in Baoding. After 20 days, he was sent to a hospital in the vicinity of the prison, and after 40 days, he was released from the hospital. Despite his injuries, the court still sentenced Li Yansheng to another two years in prison. This was a very unjust sentence.

In the morning, when Li Yansheng tried to do the exercises in the prison cell, his cell mates Xu Shuli, Liu Lihua, Tian Xiaoping, and Ma Jianli (who would be implicated if Li Yansheng was caught doing the exercises) held his feet and hands and hit him while he was on the floor. Xu Shuli inflicted violence on Li Yansheng many times. On one occasion in October 2002, Mr. Li was hung up by handcuffs and was punched and kicked. On another occasion in March 2003, his cell mates Wang Xinqiang, Liu Tao (since released), Sun Quanyou (since released), and Wu Cunbao took turns hitting him on his thighs. Mr. Li then had difficulty walking. Wang used a cigarette butt to burn Li Yansheng's toenail. Sun Quanyou used a live 2000-volt electric wire to shock his neck and face many times. In April 2004, inmate Luo Xuepei violently pressed on Mr. Li's knee joints until they were dislocated and his ligaments were torn.

Above is the abuse experienced by Mr. Li Yansheng in the 5th Ward of Baoding Prison (the Founding Unit).

Note: In July 2005 after Mr. Li Yansheng was tortured, Xu Shuli's prison term was extended by two years; Yang Yong was placed in solitary confinement; and Liu Lihua, Tian Xiaoping, and Ma Jianli received a warning, hardly fair punishment when measured against Li Yansheng's treatment.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2006/11/16/142553.html

After the persecution of Falun Gong began on July 20, 1999, I went to Beijing to appeal and was arrested and sent back to Yushu City Detention Center. Director Wei Fucheng and his guards forced us to recite prison rules, sit on benches, do physical exercises and perform hard labor. When we refused to follow orders, they beat us with plastic tubes. Later, they transferred us to a jail, where we were kept in damp, cold and dark cells. I was tortured constantly. Director Guo once put shackles on me. I was also hung up and beaten. Guard Li slapped me repeatedly, causing my nose to bleed and I saw stars. My ears were also deaf for a short time.

Later we were taken back to the detention center. Once when I was reciting the FalunGong teachings, Gao Yong and Zhang Fuxue hung me up and put shackles on my feet.

After I was released, I was arrested again when I was found practicing Falun Gong exercises in the park. Eight of us practitioners participating in the group exercise were brutally beaten by Zhang Fuxue, Sun Jingfu, Zhang Zhijun and Han. They then took us to the detention center, where they forced us to remove our pants and freeze in the deep winter. A fellow practitioner and I lost consciousness due to the extreme cold. Still, guard Xu Jiu did not allow us to go inside, saying that there was an allocation of three deaths for them, so it didn't matter if one of us died. In the end my legs and buttocks turned black and purple, and I couldn't bend my legs or squat down. When we did the Falun Gong exercises while in detention, we were brutally beaten and were forced to stay outside with our cotton jackets removed for several days in a row.

In March 2000, I was sent to Heizuizi Labor Camp, where inmates convicted for drug dealing, prostitution and fraud were asked to monitor us. Whoever practiced the Falun Gong exercises would be beaten by these inmates. We were also forced to do labor for up to 16-17 hours a day. Once guard Zhang Xuesong summoned three of us practitioners to the office and shocked us with stun guns. Liang and Yang were his accomplices in torturing us. Yang shocked me on my head and body. I felt as if my heart was going to stop, and that excruciating pain was beyond description.

Another practitioner defecated in his pants during the electric shocking. The third practitioner had big blisters on his face and body.

At other times we were tied to a bed for a long time, unable to move. When we were untied, we couldn't move our arms and legs. Sometimes we were kept in small isolation cells.

After I was released, local police officer Fan Yan often came to my home to harass me. I refused to follow his order to write a guarantee statement. The street committee staff also came to ask if I had gone to appeal again. I said, "Why do you monitor me? Am I violating any law? Aren't you in fact violating my human rights?" From then on they stopped bothering me.

One day in March 20002, at around 11:20 at night, six police officers came to ransack my home and attempted to take me away. I refused to go with them and my husband said, "What are you guys doing here? You came to turn my home upside down in the middle of the night. Tomorrow I'll go sue you guys! You want to take her away? Let me go with you. I can answer any questions you ask!" Then he began to put on his clothes. Unable to find anything incriminating, the police left one by one. The next day I heard that after leaving my home, the police took away two practitioners who are father and son. They were detained for one month and weren't released until their family spent several thousand yuan to get them out.

In order to avoid further persecution, I was forced to leave home and go from place to place. Even so, the local police still came to my home frequently to check on me. They also took away my portrait of Master Li.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2006/11/14/142410.html