Jilin Woman Incarcerated for Five Years for Her Faith, Brutally Tortured

(Minghui.org) Ms. Niu Yuhui of Shulan City, Jilin Province, has been arrested and detained multiple times since the Chinese Communist Party started to persecute Falun Dafa in 1999. Also known as Falun Gong, Falun Dafa is a spiritual discipline based on the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.

On her way home on October 13, 2016, Ms. Niu was yanked off the bus by about five officers, taken to Nancheng Police Station, and interrogated. The police also broke into her home and confiscated personal belongings. She was transferred to the Jilin City Detention Center the following day.

Tortured in Jilin City Detention Center

While she was detained, Ms. Niu went on a hunger strike to protest the persecution and was brutally force-fed thin salty cornflour paste. Guard Wang Yin pulled her hair and kicked her for almost 20 minutes. She later beat her like this on another occasion.

Torture Reenactment: Violent beating

Guard Wang also ordered the inmates to beat Ms. Niu. She deprived her of toilet paper and once forced her to relieve herself in her pants. She also shackled Ms. Niu’s hands and feet together so that she could not stand up. The shackles were not taken off at night, so she couldn’t sleep or go to the restroom. Guard Wang took the shackles off Ms. Niu six days later because her hands were so swollen.

Ms. Niu was extremely weak because of the hunger strike. Instead of taking care of Ms. Niu, guard Wang ordered Ms. Niu to be on duty for four hours at night when everyone else did only one hour.

Ms. Niu was near death after being on the hunger strike for over seven months. The Jilin No. 465 Hospital refused to accept her, but the detention center forced the hospital to take her.

On July 6, 2017, the Shulan City Court held an illegal hearing in the hospital. Ms. Niu was not allowed to speak during the hearing. She was sentenced to five years and transferred to the Eighth Ward of Jilin Women’s Prison on August 2.

Tortured in Jilin Women’s Prison

Ms. Niu suffered inhuman abuse and brutal torture in this prison. Especially after April 2018, the Eighth Ward intensified the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners who did not renounce their faith. The guards promised the inmates reduced sentences to get them to torture the practitioners.

Any practitioner who was firm in her belief was forced to sit on a small stool every day with her legs together and her hands on her lap from 4 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day. Ms. Niu was forced to sit on the small stool for more than seven months. If she did not obey, she would have to stand motionlessly for the entire day.

Torture Reenactment: Sitting on a small stool

In September 2019, Qian Wei became the new captain of the eighth ward. She started to force the practitioners to sit on the small stool with a ridged surface and put a piece of paper between their legs. If the paper fell, the practitioner would be punched and kicked. After sitting for long hours, the practitioner’s buttocks would fester and cause unimaginable pain.

Ms. Niu refused to be “transformed” and started a hunger strike to protest the torture. Captain Qian and the inmates, including Gai Lijia (a drug dealer), Li Dan (a prostitute), and Liu Pingping (a fraudster) took turns torturing Ms. Niu. Inmate Zheng Dan smeared urine all over her mouth. Several inmates hit her and kicked her nonstop for a long time, even after she fell down.

Torture Reenactment: Brutal force-feeding

Starting in July 2020, the prison began to “zero-out” steadfast practitioners, meaning they would force every practitioner to renounce her faith. Things became even more tense and the torture worse. The cries of Falun Gong practitioners being beaten were often heard.

To reach their “transformation” goal, the guards and inmates did not let the steadfast practitioners wash their hands and face, brush their teeth, or take showers. The practitioners were only allowed to use the toilet three times a day for a limited time and not allowed to wash their hands afterward. The practitioners were also forbidden from buying daily necessities.

Ms. Niu had to endure both physical and mental torture every day. She went on a hunger strike again to protest. Captain Qian ordered several inmates to pull Ms. Niu out into a hallway so their brutal force-feeding would not be seen by the monitoring camera. The inmates force-fed Ms. Niu salt water for four days before she was taken to the hospital. But the force-feeding continued in the hospital. Ms. Niu was force-fed with a tube inserted into her stomach through her nose. Her nose was badly injured.

To “transform” Ms. Niu, captain Qian ordered the inmates to not let her sleep for 13 days straight. Whenever Ms. Niu dozed off, the inmates kicked her and ground her toes with their shoes.

They poured water into her shoes in the winter and didn’t let her wear her warm coat. They forced her to sit on the cold cement floor in only a single layer of clothes. They doused her with cold water for more than seven hours straight. The cold made her heart cramp and she almost suffocated.

They wrote the name of Master Li (the founder of Falun Gong) on her bedsheet, her pants, and on the bottoms of her shoes. They also verbally abused her with the most obscene, filthy, and shameless words. They forcibly pressed her fingerprint on the pre-printed statements that slandered Falun Gong.

This is only a fraction of what Ms. Niu suffered in Jilin Women’s Prison. The feeling of being under intense pressure all the time and the physical and mental damage stress are indescribable.

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