The Persecution of Falun Gong Practitioners at Yunnan Province First Prison (Part 3)

(Minghui.org) The Yunnan Province First Prison is known to be a prison for major male criminal offenders, many of whom are on death row, and foreign prisoners. Since the Chinese communist regime initiated the persecution of Falun Gong in 1999, at least 160 practitioners have been imprisoned in Yunnan Prison.

Most practitioners are held in the First Ward, known also as a training ward. It has been confirmed that 28 practitioners were held there. Practitioners who remained steadfast in their belief were placed under strict management and subjected to the horror of a brutal persecution. At least four practitioners have been persecuted to death, while a disabled veteran lost his eyesight as a result of torture.

(Continued from Part 2.)

Torture of Ordinary Prisoners

Ordinary prisoners are also forced to work more than 10 hours every day. In 2006, the First Ward helped businesses process fungi and fresh wild mushrooms, and forced the inmates to work three days non-stop. If they couldn’t finish their assignment, they would be placed under strict management, or forced to wear handcuffs and shackles while working. An inmate was handcuffed and shackled, and hung up in the workshop for more than 20 days after a guard found a basket of mushrooms in the production area and thought the inmate was trying to shirk doing the work.

In early 2007, the First Ward assembled parts for computers. A copper wire had to be threaded onto a magnetic ring and tin blocks, which contained toxic materials. Then, the semi-finished products had to be heated and soldered. Inmates have to handle the melted tin every day with their bare hands, without wearing protective gloves. 

The harmful materials caused the inmates’ fingers to ooze pus, while the toxic gas spread out in the workshop, and caused many inmates to develop emphysema, heart disease, asthma, long-term nausea, vomiting, dizziness, as well as weakness in their limbs. They had to work in the workshop from morning to midnight, without being provided with face masks.

An inmate developed a rash due to allergies, and when he scratched, the rash bled and oozed pus. The hospital gave him anti-inflammatory drugs, which had no effect. He often asked to be treated, or to be assigned to another labor task, but to no avail. Eventually, he was placed under strict management.

Burmese Inmate Persecuted to Death

Mr. Zhao Qiaohua, a 27-year-old Burmese inmate, was transferred from Dongguan Prison in Guangdong Province, to Yunnan Province First Prison in July 2009, along with another 20 Burmese prisoners. Due to the long journey from Guangdong to Yunnan, Mr. Zhao became ill. The prison allowed him, and a few other Burmese inmates to see a doctor. 

When on their way back to the prison, the guards ordered the inmates to squat. The guards also ordered them to start working in the afternoon. Mr. Zhao said that he was ill and asked to be on leave. A guard thought Mr. Zhao was pretending to be sick, and placed him under strict management. He was handcuffed, shackled and dragged to the strict management team where he was hung up every day for over 10 hours. Later, his hands were cuffed to two metal rails. He was not allowed to sit, and could only squat. The handcuffs and shackles were not removed at any time, including when he slept.

Mr. Zhao was given very little food every day. He was also beaten every day.

When he was on the verge of death, he was still handcuffed and shackled, and not given any treatment. He died on July 25, 2009, only a few weeks after he was transferred to the prison. His body was purple and black when he was carried downstairs. 

The hospital issued a notice stating that Mr. Zhao had died of natural causes.

Burmese Inmate Died from Overwork

Mr. Li Si, a Burmese in his 50s, was taken to the training camp in the First Ward in 2009. The training lasted anywhere from three months to a year. For more than ten hours a day, Mr. Li had to pick beans. He was deprived of sleep. When he couldn't finish his work assignment, he was not allowed to have any meat in his meals. He also was not allowed to sit down when picking beans.

As he was detained for a very long time, Mr. Li became malnourished and weak. One day in 2009, he got up to go to the restroom after having his head down to pick beans for several hours, when he suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and died. After being taken to the hospital, the hospital issued a notice, also stating that Mr. Li had died from natural causes.

Inmate Hung Up by Torture Tools that He Was Ordered to Make

Mr. Tan Shaohui, in his 30s and from Kunming City, was transferred to the First Ward in early 2004. Because he has metal repair and welding skills, he was held in the First Ward.

Given that his child was still young, and he was worried about his wife, Mr. Tan was under a lot of mental pressure. In early 2005, he had a conflict with another inmate and was criticized by the guard. He tried to explain the situation, but the guard wouldn’t listen. Instead, he handcuffed and shackled Tan in front of everyone in the workshop. He was hung up for two days, and later for over ten hours every day. The torture lasted for more than a month. He was given very little food to eat every day, and became emaciated after he was released from strict management.

After some time, Mr. Tan told an inmate that when he was told to make torture tools for the strict management team, he installed the metal ring at a lower height as he was afraid that the tools he made would be used on him one day.

Guards Collude With Prisoners to Do Shady Business 

Raw Materials Damaged or Thrown Away

In 2004 and 2005, the First Ward processed mushrooms for clients. As the income was calculated based on the quantity processed, the higher the quantity, the more money the ward earned. One kilogram of mushrooms costs 50 to 100 yuan. As there were some mushrooms that are very small and difficult to cut, they are more time consuming and difficult to process. 

To increase the work efficiency, inmates were told to throw away these small mushrooms. The team leader from the Third Ward once poured more than 10 buckets of mushrooms into the workshop toilets, causing the toilets to clog. The Fifth Ward team leader, an inmate from Hong Kong, instructed the inmates to stomp and smash the mushrooms. The team leader would be on a lookout for clients, and would signal for the inmates to stop if the clients showed up, and continue again after they left. 

Afterward, the client realized something was amiss and complained. To pacify the clients, the guards handcuffed and shackled several inmates, and placed them under strict management.

On the other hand, inmates would also think of ways to reduce their workload. For example, the picking of beans was sometimes conducted in a public place or in front of the prison, as the prison did not have enough space due to the tons of beans received from clients. Inmates who are slightly slower would flush the beans into the toilet or leave a portion of the beans for other wards and exchange the beans with other inmates. Thus, the loss to the clients was huge.

Guards and Inmates Colluded Together

The main projects taken up by the First Ward include picking beans, sorting mushrooms, grinding gemstones, casting bronze characters, as well as making paper crafts, tea boxes, computer parts, and woodwork such as Chinese zithers, tea tables and “antique” furniture. The projects, such as gemstone grinding and making computer parts lasted for many years, and some businesses went bankrupt or closed down.

Embezzlement

The labor income is split between the guards and ward chief. The guards share 70 percent and the ward chief takes 30 percent. Only the 70 percent is written into the financial accounts, and the 30 percent is turned over directly by the client.

Selling Mushrooms

The guards and inmates placed the processed mushrooms on buses and sold them off. One bucket of mushrooms could be sold for 1,000 to 2,000 yuan, and the prison authorities pocketed the revenue. Some of their clients went bankrupt after being taken advantage of by the guards.

Selling Tea Leaves

After the tea boxes are made and the tea leaves are put into the boxes, the prison also kept a portion and sold them secretly.

Selling Bean Products

The First Ward has been picking beans for the longest time. The beans include white kidney beans, broad beans, red kidney beans, black pinto beans, and lentils. It is widely known that the ward sell the premium beans.

An inmate was highly valued by the First Ward guards, and was appointed as the team leader. He undercounted the raw materials when they arrived, and overcounted them after they were processed. He also overcounted the damaged goods. Under the instructions of the prison, he sold off tons of beans in a big truck. He also sold the beans in private, and had the clients hand the money over to his relatives outside the prison.

Perpetrators Involved

The First Ward is the most brutal ward that persecutes Falun Gong practitioners. Below is a list of perpetrators who are directly or indirectly involved in persecuting practitioners.

1. Main Perpetrators

Ding Yongzhong

Ding Yongzhong, in his 40s, was previously the chief of the Eighth Ward and later chief of the First Ward. He was promoted to deputy prison chief in 2008, and later transferred out of the prison.

Ding was personally involved in persecuting practitioner Mr. Bao Yuanjing.

Mr. Bao Yuanjing, 40, a senior engineer from Gansu Province, was detained in the fifth team of the Eighth Ward. On February 5, 2007, as ordered by Ding, Mr. Bao’s meal card was confiscated – they had decided to starve him.

Ding incited an inmate to put shackles weighing more than 10 kilograms on Mr. Bao and locked him up in a dark, damp strict management cell for more than two months. 

Torture illustration: Hung up by handcuffs

In the morning of June 5, 2010, Ding locked Mr. Bao in the strict management cell once again for failing to greet him with “Good morning, Sir.” Mr. Bao was shackled and handcuffed to metal rails. This torture continued day and night for more than three months. In total, Mr. Bao was shackled and handcuffed for over six months.

Zeng Niannan

Zeng Niannan, in his 50s, was previously an instructor at the First, Second, and Third Wards. He was in charge of persecuting Falun Gong practitioners.

Mr. Pu Zheng of Kunming City was put under strict management for a long term for not renouncing his faith. There was no floor covering, and the muddy ground was soaked during rainy days. Mr. Pu slept on the mud on a thin mat, and was forced to wear 40-pound shackles all the time. The guards and inmates also beat him at will.

When his family went to pick him up after he was released, the prison authorities claimed that he had tuberculosis. He was weak and often coughed up blood. He was unable to recover and passed away in 2017.

Zeng also personally ordered practitioner Mr. Xu Liang to be placed under strict management for refusing to be “transformed.”

In 2004, Zeng ordered inmates to search Mr. Fei Xuelong when he arrived at the prison, and to burn his clothes in the boiler room.

Zeng is currently employed in the education department that specifically persecutes Falun Gong practitioners. He boasted that he has persecuted more than 300 practitioners.

Zhao Fan

Zhao Fan, in his 30s, is a deputy ward chief. He was personally involved in persecuting Mr. Hou Fayong.

Wang Kun

Wang Kun, the deputy ward chief of the First Ward, is now an instructor in the ward. During his tenure, he incited inmates to persecute practitioners and often mixed with the drug trafficker prisoners. One drug trafficker, Wu Shuitong was sentenced to life imprisonment. As Wu is rich, Wang approached him proactively. The cigarettes that Wang used were provided by Wu. Wang also promoted Wu to director of the labor production team.

Chen Pengyu and Wu Zhengwei

Chen Pengyu, the current ward chief, and Wu Zhengwei, the ward chief and instructor, intensified the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners after they were appointed.

Every practitioner had four inmates assigned to monitor them. Practitioners had to sit on a small stool for over ten hours every day without moving. The four inmates sandwiched the practitioner with their bodies: the inmate at the front leaned on the practitioner with his back, the inmate behind used his knees to pin the practitioner, and the two inmates at the sides elbowed the practitioner’s rib cage. Practitioner Mr. Wen Chunfu became so desperate by this treatment that he scratched the inmate at his side with his hands. The guard then framed Mr. Wen for hitting people, and put him in solitary confinement.

Practitioners are also locked in solitary confinement, strict management cells, pepper sprayed, and have to request permission to use the restroom even though the toilet is inside the cell. Inmates are allowed to hit and make trouble for the practitioners. The guards purposely sat on the rice bucket and told every inmate to shout “Hello Sir” before they are given any food. Practitioners who do not shout will be given only a spoonful of rice and vegetables.

2. Other Perpetrators

Liang Jun

Liang Jun, a secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and a prison chief, was previously the secretary and chief of Qujing Prison. He was fired from his job and Party membership for his involvement in the Sun Xiaoguo case (a serial child rapist and gang leader who was released after his death sentence was reduced). As prison chief, he was involved in persecuting Falun Gong practitioners.

Liu Siyuan

Liu Siyuan, in his 60s, was the political commissar of Yunnan Province First Prison. He was sentenced to 12 years for his involvement in the Sun Xiaoguo case. Liu was also directly involved in the persecution of practitioner Mr. Luo Jiangping.

Zhang Yigui

In July 2007, Zhang Yigui, the Yunnan Province First Prison chief, and the director of the Political Department of the Labor Reform were riding together and had a car accident. The director died on the spot, and Zhang was taken to the hospital. The doctor said that Zhang might remain in a vegetative state if he did not wake up from his coma.

As the chief of the prison, he was responsible for “transforming” and torturing Falun Gong practitioners.

Liu Hongqi

Liu Hongqi, an inmate in his 40s, had prior medical experience and was trained to be a prison doctor due to lack of medical resources in the prison.

Liu often came into contact with practitioner Mr. Zheng Zhiyang. Mr. Zheng knew that Liu was previously an armed police officer, and had joined the CCP. He told him about Falun Gong and tried to persuade him to quit the Party. Liu refused to listen and reported Mr. Zheng to the authorities. The authorities then intensified the persecution of Mr. Zheng.

In 2007, Liu suddenly passed out and was taken to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with a brain tumor. He died after being hospitalized for a month.

(The End)

Related reports:

How Falun Gong Practitioners are Tortured at First Prison of Yunnan Province

Crimes Committed Against Falun Gong Practitioners by the No. 1 Prison in Yunnan Province

The Persecution of Falun Gong Practitioners in Yunnan Prison