Art Student Tortured in Tailai Prison

(Minghui.org) Mr. Xu Wenlong, a 27-year-old Falun Gong practitioner from Heilongjiang Province, has been tortured in Tailai Prison in Qiqihar City since December 2012 because he refuses to renounce his belief. He has been subjected to solitary confinement for long periods of time, beaten and shocked with electric batons, hung by handcuffs, starved, and deprived of sleep.

As an undergraduate student at the China Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing, he was arrested in 2012 along with eight other practitioners. The police had tapped into his phone and monitored him prior to the arrest. He was sentenced to a six-and-half-year prison term and transferred to Tailai Prison on December 26, 2012.

Mr. Xu is still in Tailai Prison, and his condition is worrisome. More details are yet to be investigated. We call for help to rescue Mr. Xu.

Solitary Confinement

Mr. Xu was detained at the No. 2 Division of No. 16 Ward for not renouncing Falun Gong and his belief in Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. He was held in a small cell for more than a month by division head Liu Chunxiao and political commissar Gao Bin.

Torture illustration: Sleeping on cement floor

When Mr. Xu wrote “I am innocent” in his “thought report” on January 16, 2013, Gao Bin became furious. He beat Mr. Xu mercilessly, threw him into a small cell, and swore, “You're not getting out of here without a repentance statement.”

In Qiqihar, one of the cities in the extreme northern province in China, temperatures often drop to -10°F in January. There was no bed, comforter, or pillow in the small cell. Mr. Xu had to sleep on the cement floor. Dressed in only a thin layer of clothes, with his hands cuffed and feet shackled, he tossed and turned all night. He could only fall asleep for a very short period at a time due to the cold and discomfort.

The guards gave Mr. Xu only two ladles of thin noodle soup each day. Starvation soon led to severe constipation. His weight dropped rapidly, and he was emaciated by the time he was let out of the small cell. His gums were infected because he didn't have anything to brush his teeth with.

After enduring 37 days of solitary confinement, starvation, and extreme cold, Mr. Xu gave in and wrote the guarantee statement. When he later made a solemn declaration that the guarantee statement was null and void, the guards put him through another round of torture.

Beaten and Shocked with Electric Batons

After a failed attempt to force Mr. Xu to insult Mr. Li Hongzhi, the founder of Falun Gong, on March 25, 2013, guard Wu Gang of the No. 16 Ward hung him up by his handcuffs on an electric motor in the workshop, and beat and shocked him with electric batons. Wu hit him on the head, face, and genitals. When the electric batons hit his face, Mr. Xu felt as if blinded by the bright sparks.

He was beaten repeatedly. A few guards often cornered him and beat him until the electric batons ran out of power. The guards then propped him up on a metal rod and left him bent over the rod for hours on end. They drove other inmates away so no one witnessed the torture sessions.

Torture illustration: Guards beating and shocking with electric batons

Propped up with a Rod During the Day and Hung Up at Night

Mr. Xu was given only one steamed bun to eat each day during the last two weeks of March. The temperature in Qiqihar often falls below -10°F in March. Mr. Xu had only thin clothing to wear, while all the guards wore heavy jackets.

During the day, he was propped up with a metal rod in the workshop, his legs tied to a rod inserted into his pants, with his body bent over for hours on end. At night, his hands were cuffed behind his back and hung from a bunk bed ladder, in an awkward position. An inmate was assigned to monitor him all night. He was not allowed to sleep or use the bathroom.

Torture illustration: Propped up with a rod in the workshop during the day

Torture illustration: Hung from the bunk bed ladder during the night

When officials of the Provincial Bureau of Prisons inspected Tailai Prison in late May 2013, Mr. Xu refused to answer to the head count. Sub-division head Zheng Hui ordered several inmates to beat him until he was injured.

Division head Liu Chunxiao cuffed his hands, shackled his feet, and put a hat on him to hide the injuries. He was again locked in a small cell for a long period of time.

Parties That Participated in the Persecution of Mr. Xu:
Heilongjiang Provincial 610 Office: [phone] (office)Guan Yude (关玉德), Heilongjiang Provincial Public Security Bureau: [phone] (cell)Tailai Prison: [phone] (office), [phone] (office)Warden of Tailai Prison: [phone] (office)Tao Guang (陶广), warden of Tailai Prison: [phone] (office)Zhang Yanlin (张彦林), assistant warden of Tailai Prison: [phone] (office)Jiang Qiaosheng (姜巧生), political commissar of Tailai Prison: [phone] (office)No. 16 Division of Tailai Prison: [phone] (office)