(Minghui.org) To force incarcerated Falun Gong practitioners to renounce their faith, guards at the Heilongjiang Province Women’s Prison selected ruthless inmates to torture the practitioners, by all means possible.
The torture methods used in the prison include violent beatings, the death bed (or stretching bed with the victim restrained to the bed in a spread eagle position), electric shocks, being suspended in the air by handcuffs, force-feedings, and involuntary drug administration.
As of December 2021, at least 37 practitioners have died from torture in the prison. At least 90% of those incarcerated were permanently injured and continue to suffer from the long-term effects after being released.
To instigate the inmates to torture the practitioners even harder, the guards gave the inmates snacks such as yogurt. The guards also denied the practitioners from using the restroom between 7: 30 to 10 p.m., threatening to force everyone to clean the restroom if any practitioner broke the rule. An 80-year-old practitioner once cried when she was denied access to the restroom, yet the guards still remained tough and ordered her to relieve herself in her pants.
Below are some of the latest torture cases taking place in the prison.
Ms. Liu Lijie was taken to prison on February 18, 2022, to serve a 3.5-year term. After a few days of quarantine, she was transferred to the third team of strict management on March 5. As soon as she was taken there, she was deprived of sleep for three days.
The guards forced Ms. Liu to sit on a small stool from 4 a.m. to 10 p.m. No breaks were allowed. She had to keep her legs together and her hands on her legs. The long hours of sitting caused her buttocks to feel very sore and eventually fester. It also caused her tremendous mental distress.
Ms. Liu was also forced to watch videos that slandered Falun Gong. Because she refused to give in, the guards forced all 21 other inmates in the same cell to sit with her and watch the videos in order to stir up their hatred toward her.
Every night, the guards forced Falun Gong practitioners to do roll call in the hallway. Because Ms. Liu refused to comply, they instigated the inmates to verbally abuse her or make her squat.
Four inmates took turns monitoring Ms. Liu and deprived her of sleep. Whenever she closed her eyes, they poured water onto her face and eyes. An inmate named Wang Fengchun slapped her face with a shoe and another inmate, Xu Jun, injured her eyes while beating her. The third inmate, Zhu Yimin, hit her on the nose and caused it to bleed. She also suffered from blurred vision for several days. The fourth inmate, Zhang Yunhui, kneed her back, which was soon covered with bruises.
The inmates also wrote humiliating words on Ms. Liu’s clothes, forced her to sit on a washboard, and threatened to stuff her mouth with dirty rags.
Ms. Jing Yuhua was taken to prison on August 12, 2021, to also serve a 3.5-year term. She was taken to the second team of strict management after 15 days of quarantine. Similar to Ms. Liu, she was forced to sit on a small stool from 4 a.m. to 10 p.m., sometimes until 11 p.m. The inmates beat her and verbally abused her when she moved a little or closed her eyes.
In addition to the sitting torture, inmate Liu Shujie often sat on Ms. Jing’s legs and pinched her thighs. Inmate Zhao Ruixue pulled her up by her collar and pinched her on the neck, leaving deep marks of five fingers. Another inmate, Zheng Cuiping, also beat her and pinched her. Others hit her on the head, jabbed her with a clothes rack between her eyes, spit saliva onto her face or fart at her face.
Another inmate once kicked her so hard that she rolled on the ground and her head hit the wall. In another incident, four inmates pressed her on the ground and then beat her, kicked her, and pinched her all over. Other torture methods included writing insulting words on her body, forcing her to sit on a washboard with a corrugated surface and watch videos smearing Falun Gong.
Ms. Liu Zhongmin was forced to sit on a small stool for three days and two nights starting on August 10, 2022. Two inmates monitored her and didn’t allow her to sleep. She wasn’t allowed to get up while having meals. To incite hatred against her, the guards also forced inmates in other cells to take turns sitting on another small stool for extended hours. Toward the end of the torture, with Ms. Liu in a delirious state, the inmates held her hands and forced her to write a statement to renounce Falun Gong.
Inmate Wang Fengchun often sat by Ms. Wen Yufei’s bed, beating her and pinching her, without allowing her to make any sound. Inmates Li Bing, Xu Jun, and Zhang Yunhui beat Ms. Wen when no one was around. When she collapsed to the ground and was unable to move, they verbally abused her.
Inmates Xie Ping, Yang Min, and Feng Yanpei beat Ms. Xu Xiaoying behind a closed door. They also pulled her hair from behind and verbally abused her. She was forced to stand overnight on the evening of July 29, 2022. The inmates closely watched her and stuffed her mouth with a rag.
Inmate Wang Fengchun once stuffed a rag into Ms. Wang Meihong’s mouth and then suddenly pulled it out. Her two front teeth were broken and kept bleeding. Ms. Wang was subjected to constant verbal abuse as well.
Ongoing Torture and Brainwashing of Falun Gong Practitioners in Heilongjiang Province Women’s Prison
Heilongjiang Women’s Prison Orders Inmates to Drug Falun Gong Practitioner