(Minghui.org) A woman in Xinzhou City, Shanxi Province was subjected to constant torture while serving a 3.5-year term for her faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Gao Chanling was arrested on October 15, 2020 and sentenced to prison on December 5, 2021. She was admitted to the Shanxi Province Women’s Prison on March 27, 2022 and taken to Cell 17 in Division Seven on April 20, 2022.
Inmates Zhao Jihong and Niu Luanyun were assigned to monitor Ms. Gao. Zhao once revealed that her family had bribed the prison leadership with 50,000 yuan to earn her such a “good position.” She and Niu beat and verbally abused Ms. Gao at will. They also deprived her of sleep, forced her to stand for long hours or watch videos smearing Falun Gong and its founder, and ordered her to write statements to renounce Falun Gong. All of the other inmates in the same cell were also instigated to turn against Ms. Gao and help Zhao and Niu to transform her.
When Ms. Gao refused to comply, the inmates barred her from using the restroom. She had urethritis as a result and struggled with intense pain. The inmates also restricted the time when she could eat or drink water. If she got food outside of the eating window, the inmates would take it away and said, “You still want to eat when you refuse to renounce Falun Gong?”
Ms. Gao was once forced to stand for three days without any breaks. When she insisted on going to bed, Niu forced her to kneel for several hours, while Zhao mocked her on the side.
Niu later put paper slips slandering Falun Gong on Ms. Gao’s bed. After she removed them, Niu replaced her mattress with a thin pad.
The inmates often threatened Ms. Gao that the prison had a quota for three deaths in Division Seven, meaning they could torture three Falun Gong practitioners to death and accuse them of committing suicide.
On April 28, 2022, inmate Zhao worked with murderer Wu Zoumin to intimidate Ms. Gao. When she still refused to renounce Falun Gong, Zhao began to beat her, slapping her in the face and kicking her, while shouting, “I’m beating you on behalf of your husband and child.” Several inmates then held Ms. Gao’s hands and forced her to fingerprint statements renouncing Falun Gong they had prepared.
For a few days after that, Ms. Gao’s feet and calves remained severely swollen. She felt dizzy and couldn’t maintain her balance while walking. Due to the long term abuse, she was emaciated and her eyes were dull. As many other inmates said she looked very scary, the guards forbade her from talking to others about the torture she suffered.
During a “criticism session” hosted by the deputy instructor Guo Suqin on May 5, 2022, Ms. Gao refused to criticize Falun Gong. The over 20 inmates who attended the session criticized her and Guo also ordered her to write “I plead guilty.” As she also refused to write it, they deprived her of sleep.
After another month, inmate Zhao ordered Ms. Gao to write another statement to renounce Falun Gong, with the excuse that the one she wrote earlier (against her will) was lost. She didn’t write it. Zhao and Niu beat her after all other inmates left to do the forced labor. They pinched her ears and other places and stabbed her arms with pens. Niu said proudly, “We are beating you, so what? The guards asked us to do so.”
After a few days of torture, Ms. Gao was forced to write the renouncing statement, and Zhao and Niu didn’t allow her to cry. When other inmates saw the bruises and injuries on Ms. Gao when she used the restroom, they asked her what happened. Before Ms. Gao could answer, Zhao and Niu stopped them from talking and threatened to report the inmates to the guards if they dared to talk to Falun Gong practitioners again.
When Ms. Gao tried to seek justice from instructor Yin Zhijuan and division head Wang Minzhong, they pretended that they didn’t see or hear about her torture. They also denied having instigated Zhao and Niu to abuse her.
Ms. Gao was released on June 3, 2024.