(Clearwisdom.net) For a long time, the authorities at the Heilongjiang Province Women's Prison have used inmates to persecute practitioners. On August 30, 2005, inmates Xu Zhen, Shang Xiaomei, and Wang Fengying received sentence reductions because they participated in brainwashing a practitioner. On March 24, 2005, Zhao Yingling and Zhao Huihua, head and deputy head of the prison, led a dozen guards and more than 20 inmates. They pinned practitioners to the floor and drew blood from them. They claimed to be conducting a blood test. We can only speculate about their real purpose.

Persecution in the Infirmary Ward

The guards that persecute practitioners at the Infirmary Ward include Zhang Xiaoying, Qu Hua, and Tian Chuang, and also inmates Wang Xin, Xu Zhen, and Jiang Fengyan.

They prevented practitioners from reading Dafa books and periodically searched the practitioners' cells and bodies. They stripped the practitioners naked and even torn open their quilts. They took away and tore up Teacher's articles. They held the practitioners on different floors. Practitioners who refuse to "reform" are held on the fourth floor, practitioners who are "reformed" are held on the third floor, and practitioners on hunger strikes are held on the first floor. They covered the doors and windows with newspapers and detained each practitioner in a different room, surrounded by several inmates. First they play soap opera videotapes for the practitioners, and then they play Buddhist videotapes, followed by videotapes that slanderously attack Teacher and Dafa. They held the practitioners down and forced them to watch these tapes.

They refused to allow the practitioners to sleep at night. Several abusers stand around one victim at a time and use "soft" and "hard" tactics to try to force her to write a Guarantee Statement. They held the practitioners' hands to get their fingerprints. Some inmates even kowtow before practitioners. They carried practitioners who were "reformed" from the fourth floor to the third floor. Practitioner Ms. Xiao Shu refused to go, and the they wrapped her in a quilt and carried her downstairs. She remained determined in her belief. Practitioner Ms. Wu Yulan was tortured for more than 20 days. She was gagged and her hands were tied behind her back. One day an inmate went to give a message to a guard in the monitoring room and saw Ms. Wu tied up. She told the guard about it and the guard phoned the head of the prison. The head of prison arrived, and they untied Ms. Wu.

Another debased means they used was that they lied to the practitioners by telling them that they would be released or receive points or a sentence reduction if they "reformed," but in fact only inmates who helped persecute the practitioners received sentence reductions. They refused to let the practitioners eat in the cafeteria because they didn't want information passed around. Practitioners now refuse to have their photos taken and refuse to register their prison terms. During family visits the practitioners refused to write down the names of their family members. Guard Zhang Xiaoying went to various cells and told the practitioners to report their family members' identities, but no one complied.

In the infirmary ward, inmate Xia Guixian claimed she had mental illness and always persecuted practitioners. She took advantage of the practitioners' kindness and extorted food and drinks from them. She would swear at the practitioners if they didn't give her food. She hit the practitioners several times, but the guards let it go, saying, "She has mental problems." She always snatched and tore up the practitioners' Dafa books or articles and verbally and physically attacked the practitioners when she saw them sending forth righteous thoughts. She would not even allow it when Dafa practitioners talked about things related to validating Dafa. The guards called her "a good person," despite her vicious behaviors.

Between December 23 and 26, 2005, Xia Guixian hit four practitioners. On the morning of December 23, Xia Guixian hit practitioner Ms. Zhao Yalun, who is also in Group 6, until people stopped her.

Around 5:00 p.m. practitioners Wang Jinfan, Zhao Yalun, Pan Hua, and inmate Fang Shuqin were washing their clothes at the washroom when Xia Guixian went there to get some water. She heard the practitioners talking about how to validate Dafa and she said, "If you are really that great, you should go directly against the Communist Party." Practitioner Ms. Wang Jinfan said, "What does that have to do with you? You are an inmate! You shouldn't interfere with these things." Xia Guixian poured two basins of water on Ms. Wang Jinfan, soaking her cotton coat and pants. Ms. Wang walked toward the door, but Xia Guixian grabbed her hair and struck her head with a basin. She then struck Ms. Wang to the floor with a blow from her fist while still grabbing her hair. The practitioners and the inmate shouted, "Help! It's a beating!" Inmates who were watching TV and other practitioners quickly came to the washroom and pulled Xia Guixian away.

Practitioners never returned a blow; they only asked, "Why are you hitting her?" They went to find the guard on duty, who was absent. They found guard Feng at the Prison Administration Section. He only asked for Xia Guixian and Wu Shuhua. Wu Shuhua told guard Feng that Xia Guixian had mental problems, and they came back. Xia Guixian talked and laughed as she watched TV. Practitioner Ms. Wang Jinfan suffered from dizziness and nausea and could not eat. Practitioners on the west side of the fourth floor all sent forth righteous thoughts to stop the perpetrator from doing evil deeds.

The next day, the guard on duty, Cai Liping, did not punish Xia Guixian, say she had mental problems.

Xia Guixian saw that nothing was done to punish her, so she became even more unscrupulous. Right after 5:00 p.m. Xia Guixian beat practitioner Ms. Ma Fenglan, who was in her group, but inmates pulled her away. Guard Cai Liping saw the beating and feared practitioners would gather and protest, so she held a meeting for all of the guards. Afterwards they told the practitioners that Cai Liping had said, "This incident must be dealt with, but I cannot make the decision on my own. I have to wait until Monday when the head of prison is here."

On Monday, December 26, all of the prison officials came to work. Gao, a political head at Group 8 where Ms. Wang Jinfan was being held, came and asked about Ms. Wang's condition. She also told Ms. Wang to go to a hospital and have a medical image taken. After meeting in the morning, the prison authorities still said that, because Xia Guixian had mental problems, nothing would be done about the beating. Xia Guixian saw that even the head of prison was not going to do anything. She blustered and told the other inmates, "I'll beat up whoever talks to Dafa practitioners." Ms. Liu Lingling happened to go to Group 6 to get something, and Xia Guixian proceeded to hit her. Other inmates pulled her away.

Other practitioners visited Ms. Wang Jinfan after they heard that she was beaten. Cai Liping learned about it and went to Group 8 and saw practitioner Ms. Cao Yingchun. She said to Ms. Cao, "Who gave you permission to leave your group and come here?" Ms. Wang said, "It's only natural for them to come and see me after I was beaten." Cai Liping got angry and cursed at the inmates for failing to watch Ms. Cao Yingchun and prevent her from leaving her group. Ms. Wang said to Cai Liping, "Guard Cai, why are you swearing? You are a government cadre and you should not swear at people." Cai Liping could not answer and left the room.

The head of the prison, Xia Guixian, and asked why she hit Ms. Liu Lingling. She answered, "Liu Lingling cursed the Communist Party." The head of the prison and the guards wanted to shield her and prevent the truth from getting out. They cuffed one of her hands and asked her to take medications. They did this to pacify the practitioners. Ms. Wang went to the guards and explained the incident. She said, "If you don't solve this in a fair manner, I will go to the head of the prison." Other practitioners also responded with righteous thoughts. On the morning of December 27, practitioners on both sides of the fourth floor refused work, including those who were responsible for getting breakfast and those who were assigned to clean the yard, which powerfully suppressed the evil. Later that morning, Xia Guixian was taken down to the third floor.

"Group attack" in Ward No. 9

The prison authorities assigned four inmates to watch each practitioner. They didn't let the practitioners talk to each other and followed and watched the practitioners when they used the restroom or washed themselves. The inmates used debased tactics to persecute the practitioners. Practitioner Ms. Liu Xian wrote a letter to the head of the prison, Inmate Cheng Tiemei, who was assigned to watch Ms. Liu, was punished that month for failing to watch her.

They detained practitioners Wang Jinhua, Liu Xian, Wang Yin, Jia Lihua, Yang Chengping, Wang Yuzhuo, Deng Jianmei, Yang Xiaolin, Zhang Dan, Jiang Minshan, and Dong Limin individually in separate rooms. Two or three inmates who have been "trained" to brainwash the practitioners watch each practitioner.

The prison authorities built a "reform" base as early as 2001 to train inmates and persecute practitioners. In the first 10 days they played soap opera videotapes to distract the practitioners, and next they played the videotape of the staged Tiananmen Square self-immolation incident. They also played Buddhist videotapes and tried to force the practitioners to convert to Buddhism. People in other groups are prevented from talking to the practitioners or they receive point deductions.

One month later the "reform" effort could no longer continue. Ward head Yan Yuhua held a meeting to motivate the inmates and former practitioners who had turned against Dafa, saying, "You shouldn't think that this is not going to work, that you don't want to do it anymore. You should work even harder and use all of your abilities and skills to 'reform' Dafa practitioners." This brainwashing lasted two months.

Practitioner Ms. Wang Yuzhuo was tortured by inmate Wan Zhongli for more than one month; inmate Chen Cenglian hit practitioner Ms. Deng Jianmei with a stick. Ms. Deng went on a hunger strike to protest. Somehow two of her lower front teeth were knocked out. The guards also ordered the inmates to pass fake versions of Teacher's articles to the practitioners. Practitioner Ms. Yang Xiaolin did the Dafa exercises and recited Lunyu. She was sent to solitary confinement. During this period, practitioners Ms. Deng Jianmei and Ms. Wang Yuzhuo held a hunger strike to protest the persecution, and practitioner Ms. Liu Kun closed her eyes and sent forth righteous thoughts. Inmate Pang Hongyan poured cold water on her and completely soaked her cotton coat and quilt. The guards called Ms. Liu to the office and beat her. Ms. Liu shouted, "The guards should not beat people." Guard Kou Lili took off her uniform and sweatshirt, wearing only a bra and said, "Now I'm not a guard, so I can beat you."

Ms. Deng Jianmei closed her eyes and sent forth righteous thoughts. Inmate Nie pinched her eyelids with pliers until her eyelids bled, and then she sprayed Ms. Deng's eyelids with detergent. Practitioner Ms. Wang Jinhua got up at night to do the exercises, and inmate Li Chunyan woke up the more than 20 people in the room. She cursed Ms. Wang and demanded everyone in the room to also curse Wang Jinhua or she would not let them sleep. She cursed until the next day. When it was time for work she said, "I have to do it [persecute Dafa practitioners] 10 times more than what the division head asks of me, and only then will the division head be pleased. It's called 'understanding the division head's ideology.'"

Pang Hongyan twisted practitioner Ms. Wang Jinhua's feet with both hands when she sent forth righteous thoughts. Other practitioners and inmates pulled her away, but the division head forced Ms. Wang to squat for two days and two days. Her right leg is numb to this day.

The abusers often strip the practitioners naked, claiming to search for Teacher's articles, in order to humiliate the practitioners. Someone reported inmate Li Ailian, saying she passed information onto practitioners, which made it difficult for the persecution plans to be carried out. The prison authorities put a huge placard on a string around Li Ailian's neck. The placard carried denigrating words. They made her parade through all the prison wards before sending her to a solitary confinement cell, making her an example as a warning to other inmates.

Once, prison authorities on the east side of the building tried to force the practitioners to reform. One night they took practitioners to a "reform" room. There is no monitor installed inside the room, and no one can see inside when the curtain is closed. They dragged the practitioners inside and beat them. Once a practitioner shouted, "Falun Dafa is good!" Practitioners on the west side heard it and ran to the monitor room and asked the guards what was happening. The two guards at the monitor room answered, "Nothing! We were making noise, imitating animals."

Inmate Xu Zhen was convicted of murder and was transferred from Shanghai Prison to the Heilongjiang Province Women's Prison. She used to work at the brainwashing center. Later, practitioners wrote a joint letter to oppose the persecution and she could not stay there anymore. She went to the Infirmary Ward to again brainwash practitioners. In June 2005 she stole cash and as a result was sent back to the brainwashing center. She is malicious. Inmate Qiao Qingyan said at the brainwashing center, "After we go home, we'll establish a 'reform' base and continue to persecute Falun Gong practitioners." They use extremely debased and dark tactics to persecute the practitioners.

The prison authorities strictly block information. Practitioners' appeals and truth clarification letters are never sent out. The practitioners are forbidden to put their letters in the prison head's mailboxes or the procuratorate's mailboxes set up in the wards. Even when the practitioners put the letters inside, the procuratorate and prison head never report the truth to the central government. In order to deceive the public and persecute practitioners, the prison authorities held a meeting on August 14, 2005. They told the practitioners for a long time before the meeting that officials would come from Beijing and attend the meeting and that the meeting was going to be a legal consultation. Most practitioners attended the meeting, but the officials cursed Dafa and Teacher at the meeting. Practitioners immediately shouted, "Falun Dafa is good!" Some practitioners left the conference room and shouted outside, "Falun Dafa is good!" Practitioners held in the infirmary ward shouted out the window, "Falun Dafa is good!" Liu Zhiqiang, head of prison, ordered the guards to "maintain order." In the afternoon, few practitioners went to the meeting, and only inmates were there.

List of persecutors:

Yan Yuhua, ward head
Jia Wenjun, guard, main perpetrator in charge of persecution
Inmates Xu Zhen and Qiao Qingyan