(Minghui.org) The Xinmi Prison in Zhengzhou City, Henan Province, also known as the Zhengzhou Prison, has been involved in the persecution of male Falun Gong practitioners in the province. When this report was written, about 70 to 80 practitioners were incarcerated in the prison. There are more than 10 divisions in the prison and each division consists of two sub-divisions. The 9th Division is mainly used to persecute Falun Gong practitioners.
The 9th Division is overseen by the director of the division, instructor, captain of the prison guard, prison resident captain, and production captain. The sub-division is managed by a deputy director, a deputy assistant, and a few guards. One sub-division is in charge of transforming practitioners while the other is in charge of forced labor.
Those newly admitted to the prison are first sent to the education team. While the inmates usually stay in the education team for one to two months before they were assigned to different divisions, Falun Gong practitioners were quickly transferred to the 9th Division where they were brainwashed.
Since 2020, there was a slight change when Lu Junyi, the captain of the prison guard and Zhou Wensheng, director of the sub-division, were personally in charge of transforming practitioners. The other guards rarely get involved in the persecution directly, but instigate the inmates to persecute Falun Gong practitioners.
Practitioners who are known to be imprisoned in Xinmi Prison include: Mr. Li Guoxin, Mr. Mu Yadong, Mr. Zhang Sixin, Mr. Sun Wanshuai, Mr. Wang Fawang, Mr. Wang Tiezhuang, Mr. Sun Tongren, Mr. Zhao Yuhai, Mr. Li Shihai, Mr. Ma Wei, Mr. Ba Wei, Mr. Wang Wei, Mr. Ren Zhaojun, Mr. Jiao Zhanjun, Mr. Qin Fajun, Mr. He Hongliang, Mr. Li Bin, Mr. Wang Chaojie, Mr. Zhao Songmao, Mr. Pan Dongxing, Mr. Zhang Huaidian, Mr. Wang Yongsheng, Mr. Li Jie, and Mr. Zhao Peiyuan (who was sentenced to 13 years for buying an Internet router that breaks through the CCP’s firewall).
Mr. Bai Guoxian, 80 from Xinyang City, Henan Province, died on April 19, 2021, less than two years after he was released on medical parole and serving an eight-year term.
Mr. Bai, then 76, went with five local Falun Gong practitioners to nearby Queshan County, Zhumadian City (about 70 miles from Xinyang) in March 2017 to distribute Falun Gong informational materials and hang up posters. The police tracked their car license plate and chased them down in Xinyang. They arrested them on March 16, 2017, ransacked their homes, and confiscated their computers, printers, and Falun Gong-related materials. Mr. Bai was sentenced to eight years on September 19, 2018 and fined 26,000 yuan.
After nearly a year of being imprisoned at the Xinmi Prison, Mr. Bai began to experience high blood pressure and had difficulty breathing in the second half of 2019. He was released on medical parole and died less than two years later.
Mr. Zheng Xianjin and his wife, Ms. Wang Haomei, were arrested on December 22, 2016, and both were sentenced to five years in prison. Mr. Zheng was ordered to serve time at Xinmi Prison, where his health declined quickly and he couldn’t eat. He received liquid food through a feeding tube. He developed throat cancer after undergoing a tracheotomy at the prison hospital. He was released on medical parole towards the end of 2018. As most of his savings and personal assets were confiscated during numerous police raids in the persecution, he couldn’t afford the medical treatment and struggled to care for himself at home alone.
His wife was still serving time at Xinxiang Women’s Prison and could not be with him when he passed away on August 11, 2019.
Three Brothers Die in the Persecution of Their Faith
Mr. Chen Xiaomin and his second brother, Mr. Chen Shaomin, were arrested on June 6 and 7, 2016, respectively, at their workplaces. The authorities secretly sentenced the brothers to prison in July 2017, though the length of the terms remain to be investigated. They were taken to Xinmi Prison.
Mr. Chen Shaomin was released on medical parole in 2018. He suffered multiple health issues and completely lost the ability to take care of himself. He passed away on May 14, 2019. His lungs were decayed.
Mr. Chen Xiaomin was released on January 18, 2020. He was in critical condition, emaciated and unable to eat. He was only 51 when he died on March 10, 2020.
Mr. Chen’s oldest brother, Mr. Chen Yuemin, died on April 26, 2011. He was tortured and injected with unknown drugs while serving a five-year term in Xinmi Prison for his faith. He was paralyzed and often had intensive back pain after being released, yet the police continued to harass him until his final days. He was only 48 when he died.
Imprisoned Henan Man Died 3 Hours after Being Rushed to ER
Mr. Fu Jinquan, a 64-year-old Xinxiang City resident, who imprisoned for his faith died about three hours after he was rushed to the emergency room (ER). The authorities at Xinmi Prison announced the next day that he had been released on medical parole. They warned that anyone who disclosed news of his death would face consequences. According to insiders, guards at Xinmi Prison forced Mr. Fu to take large amounts of pills in the days leading up to his untimely passing. He was sent to a local hospital at 7:10 p.m. on June 29, 2016 and died at 10 p.m. that day.
Man in Xinmi County Prison Died as a Result of Abuse
Mr. Yang Shucai from Kaifeng County, Henan Province, was arrested at home while doing the Falun Gong exercises on the morning of March 6, 2009. He was taken to the Kaifeng County Detention Center, along with a few other local practitioners who were arrested on the same day.
Mr. Yang was detained for seven months. He was sentenced to four years and sent to the Xinmi Prison. His condition worsened while he was there, and he was released for medical treatment on September 29, 2010, and passed away 12 days later.
Man Died as a Result of Torture in Xinmi Prison, Zhengzhou City
Mr. Li Xilu from Zhengzhou City, Henan Province, was sentenced to three years in prison in March 2011. The police took him to the Xinmi Prison.
On March 9, 2012, his family received a notice from the prison authorities saying that Mr. Li was in critical condition. When the family arrived, Mr. Li had already died. The prison authorities were still pretending to rescue him, claiming that Mr. Li had high blood pressure and diabetes. He was 58.
41-Year-Old Henan Man Dies Seven Months After Serving 4.5 Years Term
Mr. Zhou Hongyu went to visit his brother on October 22, 2018. Four officers followed him to his brother’s home and arrested him. He was later sentenced to four and a half years and transferred to the Xinmi Prison.
Mr. Zhou was abused while serving time at the Xinmi Prison. He suffered from edema on and off after he was released in May 2023. He never recovered and passed away in January 2024 at the age of 41. He was survived by his wife Ms. Sun Haihong, who was also serving a prison term for practicing Falun Gong, and their 12-year-old daughter.
Man Imprisoned and Tortured for 17 Years for Refusing to Give up Faith
Mr. Lu Shunmin from Xuchang County, Henan Province, was arrested on August 1, 2016 for telling people about the persecution. The police ransacked his home and put him in the Xuchang City Detention Center.
In early 2017 the Weidu District Court sentenced Mr. Lu to five years in prison, to be served in Xinmi Prison. Two of the prison guards once used a chair to hold his head against the ground, took off his shirt, and shocked him with electric batons. They even put a baton in his mouth, burning the inside of it and knocking out two of his teeth. They also beat and kicked him.
One night a guard ordered six prisoners to hold Mr. Lu down on the ground. They stood on his shoulders and legs to immobilize him and burned the middle finger on his right hand until it was charred. To conceal the fact that he’d been tortured, the guards wouldn’t let him seek medical treatment. His finger got infected and festered months later.
Mr. Lu was transferred to another ward and a guard designated six inmates to closely watch and torture him. They verbally abused and physically assaulted him. He was unable to get out of the bed as a result. When Mr. Lu refused to sign statements to renounce Falun Gong, the prisoners pinched the muscles of his inner thighs and clamped his finger with chopsticks. When the chopsticks broke, they switched to stronger wooden sticks. They took turns keeping Mr. Lu from sleeping for three days. He went on a hunger strike to protest.
Henan Man Force-fed Unknown Drugs While Serving Wrongful Term
Mr. Xu Jianchao from Taikang County, Henan Province, was arrested on March 29, 2023 and secretly sentenced to five years on October 12, 2023. He was admitted to Xinmi Prison on an unknown date, and held in division 9. He was subjected to strict management and involuntary drug administration.
According to an insider, Mr. Xu refused to write a statement to renounce Falun Gong. Several guards held him down on the floor and took his blood pressure. Then they force-fed him unknown drugs, after which he had pain in the right side of his body. When his family learned about this and condemned the guards for abusing him, guard Lu Junyi told the family, “We have all kinds of ways to make him take the medications.”