Crimes Committed by Feng Gang, Director of the Jilin Provincial Prison Administration Bureau in the Persecution of Falun Gong

(Minghui.org) July 20, 2022 marked 23 years since the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) began to suppress Falun Gong in 1999. Around this anniversary, Falun Gong practitioners in 38 countries submitted an updated list of perpetrators, including those in the law enforcement, judiciary branches, as well as the Political and Legal Affairs Committee, to their respective governments, urging that those on the list (and their family members) be barred from entry and their assets frozen. 

The 38 countries are: the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Poland, Belgium, Sweden, Austria, Ireland, Denmark, Finland, Czechia, Portugal, Greece, Hungary, Slovakia, Luxembourg, Croatia, Slovenia, Latvia, Estonia, Cyprus, Malta, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Switzerland, Norway, Liechtenstein, Israel, Mexico, Chile, and Dominica. 

Please refer to the article “New List of Perpetrators Submitted to 38 Governments on the 23rd Anniversary of the Persecution of Falun Gong” for details. 

Feng Gang, director of the Provincial Prison Administration Bureau is on the list.

Perpetrator Information

Full Name of Perpetrator: Feng (last name) Gang (first name) (冯刚)Gender: MaleCountry: ChinaDate/year of Birth: December 1967Place of Birth: Dunhua City, Jilin Province

Feng Gang 

Title or Position

June 2018 – Present: deputy director of the Jilin Provincial Department of Justice

June 2015 – Present: member of the Party Committee of the Jilin Provincial Department of Justice, secretary of the Party Committee, and director of the Provincial Prison Administration Bureau

April 2012 – June 2015: member of the Party Committee and Political commissar of the Jilin Provincial Prison Administration Bureau

Prior to April 2012: member of the Standing Committee of the Tumen Municipal Party Committee, secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Committee of Jilin Province, secretary of the Party Committee and director of the Municipal Public Security Bureau, director of the Equipment Finance Department, and director of the Police Security Department of the Jilin Provincial Public Security Department

Main Crimes

Jilin Province is one of the provinces where Falun Gong is persecuted the most severely. According to information collected by Minghui.org, in 2016, at least 109 prisons in China were involved in incarcerating and torturing the practitioners, including five from Jilin. They are the Jilin No. 2 Prison, Jilin Women’s Prison, Siping Prison, Gongzhuling Prison, and Tiebei Prison. The prison guards incentivized the inmates to torture and brainwash the practitioners.

After Feng Gang became the secretary and director of the Provincial Prison Administration in June 2015, he rigorously implemented the persecution policy against Falun Gong. At least 14 practitioners died in the prisons during his tenure, including eight in Jilin Women’s Prison and six in Gongzhuling Prison.

One of the torture methods commonly used was to tie the practitioners by their wrists and ankles to the four corners of a bed frame, with their bodies suspended in the air. 

Torture illustration: Extreme stretching

Other methods included hanging practitioners up by their wrists or legs for extended periods of time, beatings, dousing with cold water in the winter, sitting on small stools for extended hours, and electric shock torture, especially on sensitive parts. Many practitioners suffered mental disorders and permanent injuries as a result.

Jilin Women’s Prison

Beginning in May 2018, Jilin Women’s Prison carried out the “100-Day Intensive Campaign,” aiming to "transform" the practitioners. The guards held the practitioners in the “strict management” units and denied them communication with their families. The practitioners were not allowed to buy food and were only allowed to spend 20 yuan a month on daily necessities. From 5 a.m. to 9 p.m., they would be forced to sit on small stools with uneven surfaces. Other torture methods used during the time included force-feeding, bending the fingers apart with objects, and stabbing the face with sharp objects. The prison was regarded as an exemplary model by the provincial level officials and Ministry of Justice for its active participation in the persecution. 

Jilin Prison

Jilin Prison employed a wide range of torture methods on Falun Gong practitioners. These included forcing practitioners to sit on a hard board for long periods of time, beating, electric shocks, solitary confinement, stretching in strenuous positions for extended periods of time, stabbing with needles, gagging with soiled rags, burning with boiling water, pinching the eyeballs and testicles, force-feeding, and sleep deprivation.

The guards specialize in torturing practitioners with lengthy terms, especially those who refused to give up their beliefs. After the practitioners became injured or disabled in custody, they were sent to the prison hospital for further abuse instead of proper treatment. Many were forcibly injected with unknown drugs that led to ascites (a condition in which fluids collect in the abdomen). Practitioners with the condition looked like they were seven or eight months pregnant, but it was accompanied by a drop in body weight and general weakness. Others developed tuberculosis and rotten lungs.

Gongzhuling Prison 

The Gongzhuling Prison had many cells for Falun Gong practitioners, including a special solitary cell dedicated to torturing the practitioners who refused to renounce their beliefs. 

The ground of this confinement room is about one meter lower than the ground outside the cell. The interior is extremely dark and humid, and the temperatures inside drop to unbearably low temperatures in the winter. The windows are covered by black curtains while the walls and floors are soundproofed, so the torture in the room wouldn’t be heard by people outside. 

Inside the confinement, there are death beds, which have wrist and ankle cuffs that are meant to stretch practitioners in a spread-eagle position. Practitioners who refuse transformation are restrained on these death beds and stretched until they are unable to move. If they still refuse to renounce their beliefs, they are shocked with several electric batons at the same time. Their mouths are sealed with tape so that passersby will not hear their screams. 

Other torture methods used at Gongzhuling include electric shock torture, beating, sleep deprivation, solitary confinement, and long hours of forced labor. 

The following are some of the persecution cases that occurred during Feng’s tenure, representing only a small number of the practitioners who have been tortured during this time.

1. Mr. Yang Baosen Released in Critical Condition, Dies One Month Later

Mr. Yang Baosen, from Songyuan City, Jilin Province, was sentenced to 10 years in prison. After enduring nearly nine years of torture in Gongzhuling Prison, he was taken to the hospital for resuscitation on February 27, 2018. 

Mr. Yang had a CT scan of his chest on March 3 and was found to have a severe lung infection. There were holes in his lungs and fluid was accumulating in them. He was unable to eat and could only have liquid food injected intravenously.

The authorities initially scheduled him for release on medical parole on March 5, but he wasn't allowed to be picked up to go home until March 7. He was unable to walk and had trouble talking when he was released. Despite his condition, the authorities kept coming to harass him. He passed away at 3 a.m. on April 7. He was 61.

2. Ms. Liu Shuyan Tortured to Death in Jilin Women’s Prison

Ms. Liu Shuyan, of Yushu City, was arrested on November 26, 2015, and later sentenced to three years. She went on a hunger strike for 12 days after being taken to the Jilin Women’s Prison on July 7, 2016, and was force-fed. 

As a result of prolonged torture, she was rushed to the hospital for resuscitation on April 20, 2017. When her family saw her, she was unconscious, her pulse was weak, and she had difficulty breathing. She was released on medical parole later that day and passed away the next day. She was 61.

3. Mr. Zhang Ziyou Tortured to Death in Gongzhuling Prison

Mr. Zhang Ziyou, of Changchun City, was arrested on April 14, 2017. He was sentenced to six years by the High-tech Industrial Development Zone Court on November 1, 2017, and taken to the Gongzhuling Prison on November 22. There, he suffered a stroke and was found to have diabetes. He couldn’t take care of himself or even walk on his own. His family applied for medical parole for him, but the prison repeatedly rejected their applications, openly admitting that it was simply because Mr. Zhang didn’t give up practicing Falun Gong.

After being imprisoned for three years and ten days, Mr. Zhang passed away in the prison on December 13, 2020. He was 68.

4. Ms. Huo Runzhi Dies Less Than Two Months After Being Released on Medical Parole

Ms. Huo Runzhi was incoherent and covered in bruises when she was driven home in a prison ambulance. She screamed in pain every day and passed away less than two months later.

The Nong’an County resident was arrested in March 2016 for refusing to renounce Falun Gong. She was soon sentenced to three years in Jilin Province Women’s Prison, where she was subjected to various forms of physical and mental abuse. She was beaten so badly that she sustained injuries all over her body, and all her teeth became loose. She also developed high blood pressure and was later diagnosed with colon cancer.

The prison did not inform Ms. Huo’s family of her colon cancer diagnosis until late April 2017. Ms. Huo’s son visited her in prison several weeks later and was asked to file a medical parole request on his mother’s behalf. A guard told him that they didn’t want to see his mother die in prison.

The parole request came with a condition, however: Ms. Huo must sign statements promising to renounce Falun Gong. When she refused to give her signature, the guards grabbed her hand and forcibly scribbled her name on the document.

Ms. Huo was driven home on August 16 and died on November 14. She was 72.

5. Ms. Liu Jianying Denied Parole Despite Critical Condition, Dies One Month Later

Ms. Liu Jianying, a resident of Dehui City, was arrested on July 15, 2018, for talking to people about Falun Gong and sentenced to 2.5 years in Jilin Province Women’s Prison in March 2019 by the Dehui City Court.

She was force-fed in the prison when protesting against the persecution. She also had difficulty keeping food down and her weight kept dropping. She became so weak that she was unable to walk to the visitation room to meet with her family. The prison gave her family special permission to enter her cell to visit her in November 2019, on the condition that they make an effort to try to persuade her to give up Falun Gong. Her family noticed that she had lost two front teeth, and a guard said it was because she couldn’t keep her balance and fell.

Ms. Liu’s family applied for medical parole for her shortly after the visit. The prison authorities rejected the request, even after she was given a critical condition notice.

Ms. Liu passed away in the prison on December 30, 2019, at the age of 57. The authorities had her body cremated the next day against her family’s wishes and without conducting an autopsy.

6. Ms. Li Yuanmei Suffers Mental Collapse Due to Torture in Prison

Ms. Li Yuanmei was sentenced to three years in prison by the Ji’an City Court in October 2013. She was taken to the Jilin Women’s Prison on December 4, 2013. 

On January 6, 2016, after Ms. Li declared invalid her previous “guarantee statement” (written under duress) to give up Falun Gong, Ni Xiaohong, head of the No. 8 Ward, locked her in a solitary cell. Ni ordered five inmates, including the convicted murderer Li Minghua, to beat Mr. Li. The sound of beating, scolding, and crying could be heard far away. Eventually, Ms Li suffered a mental collapse. When her family went to the prison to pick her up on January 29, 2016, she no longer recognized them. She was disoriented, her limbs were weak, and she couldn’t take care of herself.