Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Zhang Jieping from Shapingba District, Chongqing City died from lung failure at about 6:00 a.m. on September 5, 2006, after being tortured for over four months by policemen at the Baihelin Detention Center in Shapingba District.

Mr. Zhang Jieping, 56, was a retired worker from Jialing Plant in Shapingba District, Chongqing City. During 2000, he was sent to a brainwashing center twice the police housed at his employer, Jialing Corporation. The first time, he spent a week at the brainwashing center, and the second time he was kept there for over 100 days. His home was illegally searched as well.

In late September 2001, the police arrested him when he was clarifying the facts to people in the plant, and later they illegally searched his home. He was sentenced to a two-year forced labor term and was kept at the Xishanping Forced Labor Camp in Chongqing City. After he returned home from the camp, the police from Jialing Plant, Zhanjiaxi Police Station and Neighborhood Committee officials kept harassing him by coming to his home and calling him, causing great pressure and harm to him and his family.

On April 15, 2006, Mr. Zhang Jieping was arrested by policeman Deng Bin of Jingkou Town when Zhang was explaining the facts about Falun Gong to a group of migrant workers at a construction site at Yuanzuqiao, Jingkou Town. He was sent to the Baihelin Detention Center of Shapingba District Police Department, Chongqing City.

On the morning of August 29, Mr. Zhang's son was called into the detention center and saw his father at the facility clinic. A nearly unrecognizable Zhang Jieping, all skin and bones, was unable to speak and needed constant infusions. Blood was visible in his urine led out through a tube. On the same day, while wearing shackles around his ankles, he was first sent to the 1st People's Hospital in Shapingba District for emergency treatment and then transferred to Shapingba District Hospital. Zhang died on the morning of September 5.

Ms. Huang Baozhen was a teacher at Zhenhua Middle School in Qiannan Prefecture, Guizhou Province. She was forced to leave home to avoid being arrested for spreading the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party. Ms. Hunag died on February 1, 2005. The Qiannan Prefecture CCP (Chinese Communist Party) Political and Judiciary Committee is still arresting practitioners.

Ms. Huang Boazhen, 61, suffered from hyperthyroidism, high blood pressure, and other illnesses before she started practicing Falun Gong. After she began the practice in 1996, all of her diseases went away.

Ms. Huang continued cultivating in Falun Gong even after CCP began to persecute Falun Gong on July 20, 1999. At the beginning of 2005, Ms. Huang gave copies of the Nine Commentaries to students, and was reported by security guards. She had to leave home to avoid being arrested. Due to the long-term pressure of the persecution, her former diseases returned, and Ms. Huang died on February 1, 2005.

At the beginning of 2005, each level of the local CCP Political and Judiciary Committee, the 610 Office, and police held a forced brainwashing session in Qiannan Prefecture CCP School, and compiled a list of names. At the end of May 2005, large-scale arrests of Falun Gong practitioners and the ransacking of their homes took place with the excuse of searching for the Nine Commentaries.

On June 20, 2006, the CCP Political and Judiciary Committee held a secret meeting, claiming that the identification of handwriting showed that at least five people had mailed out truth-clarification materials. Falun Gong practitioners Ms. Zhou Yun, Ms. Wei Tianlin, and Ms. Liang Zhengfeng have been arrested and detained at the Lannigou brainwashing center located in Guiyang City.

On July 28, 2006, Wang Bo and her family were arrested in their temporary home in Dalian City. They have been transferred from the Hebei Provincial Brainwashing Center. The 610 Office in Hebei Province failed to brainwash them and is now attempting to illegally sentence the three of them to a forced labor camp.

Wang Bo and her mother Liu Shuqin were transferred to Shijiazhuang Second Detention Center, where they are being tortured. Their family members tried to send them clothes but were not allowed to see them. The reason the family was given was that their case was not "solved," therefore they could not see them.

Wang Bo's father Wang Xinzhong was transferred to Zhao County Detention Center. The authorities did not allow his family to send him clothes, either. A police section director from Wang Xinzhong's work unit, Shijiazhuang Railway Mechanical Department, has managed to send him some clothes.

Wang Xinzhong and Liu Shuqin both practice Falun Gong and try to be good people. However, their whole family was illegally detained, sent to a forced labor camp and brainwashed. Their daughter Wang Bo was constantly harassed by the authorities. In order to avoid further harassment, they took their daughter, who had been tortured both physically and mentally, to Dalian. However, they were put on the "wanted list" by the Chinese Communist Party authorities and once again arrested and detained.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) began a nationwide persecution of Falun Gong on July 20, 1999. The 610 Office at various levels within Jiangsu Province carried out the persecution policies of Jiang's group and the CCP against all Falun Gong in the province. According to an incomplete estimate, nearly 1,000 Falun Gong practitioners in Jiangsu Province have so far been illegally sentenced to forced labor, approximately 100 practitioners have been sentenced to prison, about 100 practitioners have been sent to mental hospitals and 25 practitioners have died as a result of torture. Most people, however, are not aware of these facts under the CCP's information blockade. What we reveal below is only the tip of the iceberg.

Fangqiang Labor Camp in Dafeng City and Judong Labor Camp in Zhenjiang City

Male and female Falun Gong practitioners who were illegally sentenced to forced labor in Jiangsu Province are held at Fangqiang Labor Camp in Dafeng City and Judong Labor Camp in Zhenjiang City, respectively. In these camps, they are subjected to inhuman torture and abuse.

Beginning from late May 2001, the 610 Office and Jiangsu Province Labor Reeducation Bureau not only issued "reform" quotas for the two labor camps, they also linked the Falun Gong practitioners' renouncing the practice with the guards' bonuses, achievement awards and promotions. According to this policy, each guard can receive several thousand yuan for making one practitioner give up his or her belief, and he would also get a promotion and other advantages. As a result, the practitioners were savagely tortured at these two labor camps during the past several years. Below are several of the most commonly used methods to force practitioners to renounce their belief.

1. Beatings and Torture

Article 1 of the "12 Prohibitions in the Process of Administering the Law and Policies" published by Jiangsu Province Labor Reeducation Bureau, clearly states: "Police officers and guards are forbidden from using physical or verbal abuse, or corporal punishment [on detainees]." This policy, however, is ignored at Fangqiang Labor Camp and Judong Labor Camp. Under Jiang Zemin's instigation and tacit approval, torturing Falun Gong practitioners became the guards' common practice.

Guards Zhou Ruihua, Hong Ying, Huo Yan and others in the 4th Squadron of Judong Labor Camp often torture Falun Gong practitioners on the drill ground. They slap the practitioners' faces, pull their hair, and kick them. Jiang Dongmei, a guard from the 3rd Squadron, forced practitioners to stand and squat day and night without sleeping, sitting or talking. She forces two practitioners to stand back-to-back on a tile at night without going to the restroom or wearing warm clothing in the cold weather. Sometimes this torture lasts 11 days straight. Practitioner Qin Yanqiu was forced to squat continuously for 18 days until she became incontinent, her face turned pale, and she was on the brink of death. Only then did Jiang Dongmei cease the torture temporarily.

Practitioner Ms. Chen Yujie from Nanjing City was 54 years old. Guards Zhao Yulan and Zhou Ying locked her in a solitary confinement cell and didn't allow her to sleep, in an attempt to force her to write a "guarantee statement." Her legs and feet swelled up and she could not wear shoes, and her health deteriorated drastically. She often vomited right after a meal. Zhao Yulan and Zhou Ying force-fed Ms. Chen drugs, which caused her ears to discharge pus and she eventually lost her hearing. Her weight dropped from 72.5 kg [160 lbs] to 44.5 kg [98 lbs]. She became paralyzed and she could not take care of herself. The labor camp authorities released Chen Yujie for medical treatment, and falsely claimed that it was because she had a mental illness.

Practitioner Mr. Chen Longchang, held in the 4th Group of Fangqiang Labor Camp, opened a sack of grain and poured out a little so he would be able to carry the heavy sack. Guard Wei beat Chen Longchang until his eyes were swollen and bloodshot, and he could not see. Chen Longchang's body was covered with wounds and blood. Afterwards, the guards forbade him from contacting other practitioners and they ordered the inmates to lie and claim that Chen Longchang threw himself against a wall and hurt himself. They tried to get Chen Longchang to sign this fabricated statement, but he refused. Practitioners Wang Changhua, Lu Xiucai, Zhen Qimin, Zhang Xianming and others wrote a letter to the secretary of the provincial CCP Committee, head of the Provincial Labor Reeducation Bureau, and the prosecutor regarding this savage beating, but Political Head Li Xiaoxiang of the 4th Group illegally seized the letter.

2. Intensive Slave Labor

Torturing practitioners by forcing them to do filthy and heavy labor is a method that Fangqiang Labor Camp and Judong Labor Camp most often use against Falun Gong practitioners.

Chinese law states that labor camp detainees should not work for more than six hours a day, and they should not do heavy labor. At Fangqiang Labor Camp, however, Falun Gong practitioners sometimes are forced to work for more than 12 hours a day in the field and for 14 or 16 hours a day at the sewing workshop of the 1st Group and the 4th Group. When cleaning the latrine pits, other detainees are allowed to use a pole to carry barrels of feces, while Falun Gong practitioners are forced to carry the barrel in their arms. The feces often spill all over their faces and clothes. The guards do not even spare older Falun Gong practitioners. A 68-year-old practitioner was forced to remove his shoes and socks, and clean the sewage ditch while standing in freezing water.

Practitioner Kong Lingsheng from Gaochun County broke his spine before he practiced Falun Gong. Guard Sun Liming tried to force him to give up his belief, but he refused. Sun Liming then used slave labor to torture him. Kong Lingsheng could not carry a barrel of feces because of his back, so Sun Liming made him dig up feces with his hands and put it in a barrel. After one week, Sun Liming's hands were covered in open, bleeding wounds. Sun Liming saw that Kong Lingsheng was still determined to practice Falun Gong, so he forced him to carry barrels of silt on the riverbed, which is the heaviest field work.

3. Guards Instigated Inmates to Beat Falun Gong Practitioners

Guard Jiang Dongmei from the 3rd Squadron of Judong Labor Camp instigated inmates Xie Lifang and others to drag Falun Gong practitioners one by one into solitary confinement cells between May 3 and May 6, 2001. They stripped the practitioners naked and held them down. One inmate sat on the practitioner's upper body and one inmate sat on the practitioner's lower body, and they pinched the practitioner's nipples and stabbed their nipples with needles. They pounded the practitioners' abdomens with a stool and kicked their private parts. They kneed the practitioners' private parts and plucked their pubic hair out. They stuffed paper into female practitioners' vaginas. Inmate Xie Lifang and some other inmates pinched the practitioners' abdomens and acupuncture points on the inside of the practitioners' thighs.

Practitioner Ms. Du Xiuju, a 42-year-old single woman who taught at Lianyugang City Technical School, suffered from vaginal bleeding for over a month after this torture. Xie Lifang and other inmates severely tortured practitioner Ms. Huang Hongping from Nanjing City. They kicked and stomped her head and face, they banged her head against the wall and sexually abused her with the abovementioned tortures, until she urinated and defecated in her pants. The inmates screamed at her, "It's like killing a dog if we beat you to death! The labor camp won't hold us responsible!" Huang Hongping's abdomen, the inside of her thighs and her lower body turned black and blue. She had to stay in bed for more than a month, during which time she could not walk. Later when she started walking, she had to be supported by two people. When the guards tried to make practitioner Ms. Yu Shuxia write a guarantee statement, six inmates beat her one after another for three days. Her eye sockets turned black, her face and whole body were swollen, and she had bruises all over her body. Instigated by the guards, the inmates pinched the tendons at the inside of her thighs and plucked out her pubic hair. Ms. Yu called for help many times, but no one came to intervene; she nearly lost her life. In order to hide this atrocity from other people, the labor camp authorities locked Yu Shuxia in a storage room for over twenty days until the swelling had subsided.

Wei Honghui, a guard in the 4th Group, directed inmates to brutally beat practitioner Mr. Wang Changhua for over 2 hours on the evening of March 23, 2001. They even broke a heavy wooden bench while beating him. Practitioner Mr. Guo Naitong was beaten many times by inmates under the guards' orders. One time, he was beaten by three inmates for more than three hours until he was left with bruises all over his body and was unable to walk. Practitioner Zhu Yong was injured by inmates under the guards' instruction. He went to the office of the Dafeng Procuratorate residing at Fangqiang Labor Camp to state the situation, but the prosecutor completely ignored him.

The inmates act wantonly in torturing Falun Gong practitioners because of the support and encouragement from the guards, who are in turn instigated to commit crimes by Jiang Zemin and his villainous gang. As said by a guard in the 2nd Group of Fangqiang Labor Camp, "We have orders from above. We would be held criminally responsible for the death of other labor camp detainees, but not for the torture deaths of Falun Gong practitioners."

4. Electric Baton Torture

According to the law, each group is allowed to have only two electric batons, which are only to be used in the case of violent rebellion, and when other methods of restraint have failed. This policy becomes an empty talk at Fangqiang Labor Camp.

Practitioner Mr. Li Weiping submitted an appeal letter to the guards on May 1, 2001, on behalf of all practitioners held in the 4th Group, and asked them to turn it over to the related government agency as required by the law. Later that night, the guards locked up Li Weiping in solitary confinement cell and tortured him with electric batons until 3 o'clock in the morning. Many practitioners held in this group decided to protest this brutal act and confronted the guards the next morning. The guards savagely beat the practitioners in front of nearly 400 detainees. Ironically, the 4th Group was awarded the title, "Modernized and Civilized Labor Camp Group."

Practitioner Mr. Zheng Qiming, a 58-year-old university professor, was the first one dragged into the office and shocked with electric batons. Seeing this, practitioner Mr. Zhang Xianming stood up and said, "Put down your electric batons!" Political head Wu and four other guards then pinned him to the ground and shocked him with six electric batons. Practitioner Mr. Cai Shijun then spoke up to stop the abuse, and he was also dragged out and shocked. The practitioners' necks and foreheads were covered with burn wounds from the high-voltage electric shocks.

According to an incomplete estimate, at the end of October 2001, at least 30 Falun Gong practitioners were tortured with electric batons in the 2nd Group of Fangqiang Labor Camp. One practitioner was shocked simultaneously with six electric batons until his head was covered with blood. Mr. Zhang Qihu, a practitioner who received a Ph.D. in mathematics from Xuzhou Teachers University, was shocked three times for very long periods of time. He was tortured for a whole morning on October 4, 2001. Yu Haiyong, Party secretary of the 2nd Group at Fangqiang Labor Camp, stepped on Zhang Qihu. He held electric baton(s) and said in a menacing voice, "Although I usually put on a smiling face, I also have a killer's side! I can make you wish you were never born if you don't "reform!"" Falun Gong practitioners' heart-wrenching screams when shocked with electric batons can often be heard throughout the 2nd Group.

Sun Liming, a guard in the 3rd Group of Fangqiang Labor Camp, handcuffed practitioner Tang Jianxin's wrists behind his back and hung him up by the handcuffs. He inserted an electric baton into Mr. Tang's mouth and shocked him until all of his teeth came loose. Tang Jianxin could not talk for a whole week. Practitioner Kong Lingsheng was hung up, and Li Yongji, political head of the 3rd Group, and guard Sun Liming stuck an electric baton underneath his clothes and shocked him repeatedly, which caused him to lose consciousness and become incontinent. Sun Liming continued to shock him despite his condition. When Kong Lingsheng came to after they poured cold water on him and pinched his philtrum, Sun Liming savagely beat him. One guard secretly told Kong Lingsheng when no one was around, "Li Yongji, political head of the 3rd Group, held a meeting for all guards before this electric shock torture and he encouraged us to use electric batons whenever we want. He said that all labor camp officials would take the responsibility should anything happen, and if the torture results in several 'reformed' practitioners, all of us would share the 'credit.'"

In early 2001, Miao Qi, political instructor at the women's station of Judong Labor Camp, personally shocked practitioners with electric batons, and Zhao, political head of the 3rd Squadron of the labor camp, instructed others to shock practitioners with electric batons. Practitioner Ling from Nanjing City lost consciousness after being shocked for a long period of time. Practitioner Wang from Nantong was dragged into an empty room by Zhao and was shocked for about 3 hours, causing his entire body to turn black and blue. Practitioner Lu from Changzhou City was shocked continuously until he could not stand on his left foot, a big blister filled with blood formed on his forehead, and he lost consciousness in a pool of his own blood. The guards shocked the palms of practitioner Wan Yuanzhen from Nanjing City with electric batons, and he could not wash his clothes for several months. Group head Li forced a practitioner to stand still in a straight-up position for four days and five nights without sleep. He ordered the inmates to beat him whenever he didn't like the practitioner's posture. He didn't allow this practitioner to wash himself, and he poured water on him and shocked him with electric batons. This practitioner's head swelled up and his body turned black and blue. Practitioner Song Weijuan was handcuffed with her arms behind her back and forced to the ground by about eight people including Zhao Yulan and Zhen Qihui on March 16, 2001. They shocked her to force her into making an "oral confession," and they shocked her mouth when she refused to speak. The guards later stuffed her mouth with dirty rags to prevent her from screaming in pain.

The guards in the 4th Squadron of the women's station of Judong Labor Camp would play loud music over a loudspeaker when they were torturing Falun Gong practitioners, in an attempt to cover up their crime. Sometimes the practitioners' screams could be heard even with the music on.

5. Term Extensions for Falun Gong Practitioners Who Refused to Give In

According to related policies, only detainees who caused severe injuries to others in a fight or who have severely violated laws and regulations would receive term extensions. The Fangqiang Forced Labor Camp, however, uses the threat of term extension as a common tactic to try to force practitioners to give in and renounce Falun Gong. The Provincial Labor Reeducation Bureau issued a secret document in May 2001 for the two labor camps, which states that Falun Gong practitioners who refuse to write guarantee statements would have their terms extended by up to one year. According to this document, Fangqiang Labor Camp extended Falun Gong practitioners' terms when they expired in June. Practitioner Ms. Wang Changhua, held at Fangqiang Labor Camp, had her term extended by five months, and practitioners Chen Jian, Di Jinhua, Chen Hanchang, Chen Guoliang, Hua Jianguo and Li Qin, whose terms expired, had their terms extended by three or four months.

6. "Cartwheel" Brainwashing

Several guards who specialize in brainwashing take turns trying to brainwash the practitioners. During the intense brainwashing sessions, they only allow the practitioners to rest for one or two hours a day. They bombard the practitioners with questions when they are tired and unfocused. This torture lasts from days to months in an attempt to destroy the practitioners' will.

At Fangqiang Labor Camp, several guards would take turns talking to a Falun Gong practitioner who refused to give up his belief until midnight or even later, then they would force the practitioners to stand and they ordered the inmates to monitor the practitioners. They force the practitioners to stand until 2:00 a.m. or all night long, while holding so-called "study sessions" that slander Falun Gong, and they force the practitioners to write their "understandings" after each talk session. Many practitioners are not allowed to sleep for 20 days or 30 consecutive days.

The Judong Labor Camp escalated their brainwashing after 2002 and uses about five people to brainwash each practitioner. The practitioners were forced to get up at 5:00 a.m. and stayed up until 3:00 a.m. the next day. They were not allowed to sleep while enduring insults from the guards and inmates. Each brainwashing session lasts from 40 to 50 days or as long as 80 to 90 days.

7. Persecution in the Name of "Humane Efforts"

The officials deceive the practitioners' families and ask them to coerce the practitioners to give up their belief. They would threaten and intimidate the families, who would kneel before the practitioners, screaming, crying and tugging at the practitioners, begging them to give up cultivation practice. Practitioner An Zhenbing's mother was tricked into going to the labor camp and she was intimidated by the guards until she had a heart attack. She was sent to a hospital for emergency rescue and was later taken home in an ambulance. An Zhenbing confronted the guards, saying, "You will take full responsibility if anything happens to my mother."

8. Verbal Abuse

The guards force practitioners who renounce Falun Gong against their consciences to write four statements and five copies of an article that attacks Falun Gong. The four statements are the guarantee statement, the break away statement, repentance statement, and the self-criticism statement. They force these practitioners to read these statements publicly on a platform and they take pictures of the practitioners. Officials from the Provincial Labor Reeducation Bureau would come to inspect the "reform" outcome. During the inspection, the officials force the practitioners to publicly curse Mr. Li Hongzhi, the founder of Falun Gong, and walk on, write on and or spit on Mr. Li's portraits. Practitioner Mr. Yang Kui, who once gave up Falun Gong due to torture, refused to do it, and he was brutally shocked with electric batons.

Liu Xiue, a 59-year-old practitioner, refused to wear a prisoner's uniform. The guards stripped her naked and forced her to stand in the courtyard. The guards also stuffed into her crotch slips of paper with slanderous words against Falun Gong.

Local 610 Office agents pick up Falun Gong practitioners when their sentences expire, and practitioners who had not yielded are directly taken to mental hospitals or other facilities to undergo more torture and brainwashing. Local police officers threatened practitioner Chen Guoliang when they picked him up at the labor camp, saying, "We'll send you to a mental hospital if you don't "reform." If we can't fix you, the mental patients will."

(To be continued)

Mr. Wang Zhuang, 50 years old, is from Jiamusi City, Helongjiang Province. He started practicing Falun Gong before the persecution began on July 20, 1999. He has been illegally arrested and sentenced to a forced labor camp multiple times. While in prison, he was brutally tortured by the prison guards and inmates.

Under pressure from the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Mr. Wang's workplace fired him. Previously he enjoyed a harmonious family life, but now this has all been destroyed. He still carries the scars and pain from the torture he suffered.

The following is a brief summary of the persecution Mr. Wang experienced.

One night in January 2002, Wang Zhuang was stopped and questioned by police officers while walking on the street. A policeman with the surname Gao knew that Mr. Wang practiced Falun Gong. They took Mr. Wang to Jianguo Police Station for interrogation. They asked him if he was out on the street clarifying the truth, and they pressured him to write a guarantee statement that he would not practice Falun Gong. When Mr. Wang refused, the police beat him and ransacked his home. They took away Falun Gong books and audiotapes. Mr. Wang was sent to a detention center for seven days.

In April 2002, police officer Zhao Shiyou and two other policemen from Jianguo Police Station, a Dongfeng Police Sub-Bureau, broke into Mr. Wang's home and ransacked the place. They did not find anything.

One day in September 2002, around 3:00 p.m., Mr. Wang ran into Li Rui, a police officer from Changsheng Police Station, who is a neighbor of his. Li ordered two policemen to take Mr. Wang to the police station and interrogate him. One policeman used a lighter to burn Mr. Wang's hand and ear. They questioned him as to who was the source of the truth-clarifying materials. Mr. Wang was tied to a chair for the whole night, and the next day he was sent to Jiadong Police Sub-Bureau. The chief of the State Security Unit, Sui Shiming, tormented Mr. Wang using the Tiger Bench for over an hour. He was then sent to Jiamusi Detention Center. At the detention center, a policeman with the surname Yuan beat him twice. Mr. Wang was detained for over five months, and then sentenced to three years of forced labor. He was sent to Jiamusi Prison for further persecution.

At the 5th Group of Jiamusi Prison, prison guards tried to force Wang Zhuang to work, but he refused. Group Leader Zhang beat, kicked and slapped him. Later, Zhang instigated other inmates to harass Mr. Wang, and they beat him twice. He was also forced to stand for a long period of time.

In prison, the guards restrict Falun Gong practitioners' personal freedom and freedom of speech. Practitioners are not allowed to speak with others. The captain of the prison guards, Wang Hui, beat Wang Zhuang many times. He slapped Mr. Wang and kicked him. Once, while Wang Zhuang was walking, the captain suddenly kicked him, making him fall to the ground. Wang Zhuang went on a hunger strike to protest the unreasonable oppression and persecution. The guards ordered inmates to force feed him with a whole bag of salt. Guard Si Zhengming handcuffed Mr. Wang's hands behind his back so tightly that the handcuffs cut into his flesh. Wang Zhuang was handcuffed for a whole day, and was beaten by the inmates many times.

In March 2004, Jiamusi Prison merged with Lianjiangkou Prison. Wang Zhuang and several other Falun Gong practitioners were transferred to Lianjiangkou Prison. At the end of June, Lianjiangkou Prison started the so-called "transformation" effort on Falun Gong practitioners. They tried to force practitioners to slander Master Li and Falun Gong. Wang Zhuang was assigned to the 3rd Squadron of the 2nd Group. Staff at the prison were as follows: Group Leader Yang Xuwei, Assistant Hu, Education Officer Zhang Geqiu, the 3rd Squadron Leader Li Xiangkui and Education Officer Zhang Di. They conspired to have six or seven violent criminals try to "transform" Wang Zhuang. The guards ordered the inmates to torture the practitioners, and they stayed in the monitor room to monitor the entire process. They told the inmates that as long as they successfully "transformed" Wang Zhuang, regardless of the methods they used, they would have their sentences reduced. With the guards' instigation and promise of sentence reductions, these inmates began to fiercely beat and torture Wang Zhuang.

There was a group of seven or eight prisoners ruthlessly torturing Wang Zhuang. They tortured him by pulling his legs apart and forcing his head down between the legs, while his arms were pulled up vertically. In this position, his heart was under great pressure and his arms and legs were in such pain that it felt as if the flesh was being pulled off the bone. Mr. Wang gasped for breath until he passed out. At night, they tied down his arms and legs and put a plastic bag over his head and secured it around the neck so that he could not breathe. He was suffocated and passed out many times. He even lost control of his bowels. When he passed out, the criminal inmates did not dare take him to the hospital, so they repeatedly punched him on the chest to revive him. As a result, his chest was covered with bruises. They used this method on him five or six times.

However, Wang Zhuang did not yield to them. So they tried another method where they shoved a part of mop head into his mouth and told him, "If you don't 'transform,' you will be suffocated to death." Wang Zhuang indeed was suffocated until he lost consciousness. According to the inmates, they spent over an hour trying to revive him. When he finally came to, they told him, "We don't have a choice. The police told us to do this to you. If you had really died, we might have been blamed. From now on, we won't do this to you any more." That night they let him sleep through the night.

The next day, these inmates were summoned by guards to attend a meeting. They were ordered to continue their efforts of "transforming" Wang Zhuang. They were told that if he died, it would be considered a natural death, merely requiring a form to be filled out. Under the guards' instigation and pressure, these inmates became more brutal. A convicted murderer forced Wang Zhuang into the double lotus position, and then stepped on his head until it touched the ground, and his face turned purple. When he was somewhat recovered, this person then stuck a needle under his toenails, causing them to become bruised, bleeding, and infected. Another inmate stomped on his toenails, causing his toenails to come off.

One day, three inmates tied Wang Zhang's legs together and a person weighing 170 to 180 lbs. sat on his back. His upper body was pressed to the ground while he was handcuffed to a bed frame, until his feet and legs turned black and blue and he could no longer breathe. Wang Zhuang suffered this type of torture many times. Another inmate put a pen cap between his fingers and then squeezed his hand so tight that it caused severe pain. Another inmate used a wooden stick to strike Wang Zhuang's pressure points. He also struck Wang Zhuang's knees and ribs. They also beat him on the chest while an inmate pushed him forward from behind.

Another time, an inmate stomped on Wang Zhuang's chest, and as a result he could only breathe in but could not breathe out for a while. He still has difficulty breathing, even to this day, and his voice has become hoarse. One time, a convicted murderer beat Wang Zhuang on the chest until he passed out. Although guard Yang Xinhua was patrolling the hallway and saw the beating, he did not do anything. Inmates also hacked Wang Zhuang's feet, underarms and buttocks with a bed board. Wang Zhuang went on a hunger strike to protest the abuse he suffered. The guard captain, Li Xiankui, summoned Mr. Wang to his office and while an inmate restrained his hands, Li used an electric baton to shock his mouth and throat. The entire area around his throat was burned and blistered. Wang Zhuang still has the scars from these burns.

During this period of time, every few days after the inmates tortured Wang Zhuang, Li Xiankiu would ask him, "How is it going? Are you 'transformed' yet?" When he saw no result, the guards then encouraged the inmates to continue torturing Mr. Wang. After two weeks of inhuman torture, Education Officer Zhang Geqiu talked to Wang Zhuang and threatened him, saying, "This will never end if you do not give in." Another guard standing near Zhang Di said, "Wang Zhuang's physical condition is getting better." This indicated to the others that the torture should still continue, so the whole "transformation effort" lasted over twenty days longer.

This is one example of how Jiamusi Prison is persecuting Falun Gong practitioners, and this is only the tip of the iceberg.

(Note: The inside story of how Jiamusi Prison authorities and guards persecuted Wang Zhuang is provided by a witness who cannot disclose his identity.  Other inmates' names are also not mentioned, because they have regained their conscience as a result of Wang Zhuang's kindness, honesty and forbearance.)

Earlier article: /emh/articles/2004/11/18/54666.html

Mr. Zhang Yanchao, 30 years old, lived in West Huangzhen Village, Lalin Town, Wuchang City, Helongjiang Province. On April 10, 2002, Mr. Zhang was illegally arrested by policemen from the Hongqi Village Police Station on his way home from Shuangcheng. He lost contact with his family. On April 30, when his family finally got to see him again, he was already dead.

One evening in January 2002, Mr. Zhang Yanchao went out to distribute truth-clarification materials to nearby villages with another person from his village. The temperature was minus 30 degrees centigrade. When they arrived in Luojia Wobao Village, they came upon a drunken man, who called together a group of villagers and they all beat him. Someone cut Mr. Zhang's ear with a knife. He covered the bleeding wound with his hand and cried out loudly, "I am a good man!" He then brought out the truth-clarification materials to give to the villagers and told them the facts about how Falun Gong was being persecuted. The villagers all went away embarrassed and ashamed when they learned the truth. When the wounded Mr. Zhang got home, blood had already soaked his jacket. His mother-in-law advised him not to go out to distribute Falun Gong materials, but he said that the mission of a Falun Gong practitioner is to validate Falun Gong and save people; he would not be qualified to be a Falun Gong practitioner if he did not do so. Mr. Zhang then went to the cellar again to print truth-clarification materials despite the pain.

When Zhang Yanchao's wife, Ms. Guan Yinghua, lost contact with him after he was arrested on April 10, 2002, she asked around everywhere for him. (Ms. Guan was also illegally arrested and detained in the Second Detention Center in Wuchang City. Later she was sent to Wanjia Forced Labor Camp for two years. She was released on January 17, 2004, and has been homeless ever since.)

Guan Yinghua said, "When I saw how my daughter missed her father, and her pain at losing her father, I was at a loss for words." She often saw her husband return to her in her dreams, standing at her bedside and watching her. Once she dreamed that Yanchao was beaten to death in prison and was very sad. She ran out once because she wanted to see him. She saw Yanchao lying on a stretcher. In her dream, she touched his hand and he suddenly sat up, taking a banner from his pocket which read, "The Fa Rectifies the Cosmos." She shed tears and tied the banner up in the pine trees. She knew that she must be strong and carry on.

Zhang Yanchao's mother still does not know that her son has been persecuted to death. Because her family members feared that she would not survive the news, they have never told her. She missed her son so much that she could not eat or sleep. She traveled a long way to try to see her son again, and if anyone who did not understand Falun Gong ever spoke ill of him, she stood up and said good things about him.

Mr. Zhang Yanchao was kind, diligent, and ready to help others. This is also how of all the villagers remember him.

Their daughter, Zhang Dan, was forced to discontinue her studies and had to go to work after the death of her father. Zhang Dan said she was not jealous at all of those who could go to school, and she felt that she was one of the happiest children in the world. She feels that her father never really left her, and is watching over her all the time. She knows she had a great father and a strong mother who both loved her, so she felt like one of the happiest girls in the world. She once told her mother that whatever happened, wherever they were, however bitter life was, they should do well and not be a burden to others. Dan encouraged her mother to be strong. Falun Gong practitioners will certainly prevail over all adversity.

Mr. Wei Changbao, from Shuanghou Town, Yinan County, Shandong Province, his wife, Ms. Liu Changqin and his mother, Ms. Liu Yuantian, are all Falun Gong practitioners who started the practice in 1998. The whole family has benefited greatly from Falun Gong and lived in harmony. However, their peaceful life has been seriously disturbed since the Jiang regime started its persecution of Falun Gong on July 20, 1999.

Mr. Wei and his family went to Beijing to appeal for justice for Falun Gong after July 20, 1999, but they were apprehended by the police at the gate in front of the Appeals Office. They were taken to a stadium and detained there. Later they were sent to the police station in their hometown by officials from the Linyi City Liaison Office. There they were detained in a brainwashing center for a week.

In October, 1999, Mr. Wei, his wife, his mother, and his two-year-old child went to Beijing again. On the way, his wife and mother were arrested by Yu Houping, Secretary of the Political and Judiciary Committee, and Gao Hongbin, the chief of police. They were detained in Yinan Detention Center for two weeks, and each was fined 1,400 yuan.

Mr. Wei made it to Beijing but was arrested at the train station. Officers from the train police station chopped at his arms with a fire hook. Even though the temperature was about minus 12 degrees Centigrade (10.4 ^oF), they removed his coat. In the afternoon Yu Houping took Mr. Wei outside of the Beijing Detention Center. He slapped Mr. Wei's face with a book as soon as they stepped out the door. Mr. Wei was sent back to his hometown and detained at Yinan Detention Center for 28 days. The police wanted to extort 1,500 yuan from him before they would release him. His family had to sell their corn and an ox in order to get enough money together. The police promised to refund the money one year later, but they still haven't returned any of the money.

In February 2001, Wei Changbao and his wife were working in Qingdao City, Shandong Province, to earn enough money to repay their debts. Yu Houping, Gao Hongbin, and the chief of Xiawangpu Police Station in the Licang District of Qingdao City went to search Mr. Wei's rental house. They tried to force him to write a Guarantee Statement promising to give up the practice.

On their way to the house, Gao Hongbin told Mr. Wei and his wife, "If you two continue practicing Falun Gong, I will ask the mafia to kill you." He repeated this several times.

A few days later, his factory manager told Mr. Wei, "You are practicing Falun Gong, so we cannot keep you as an employee any more. If we keep you here, they will cut off the electricity to the factory." He continued, "You cannot stay in Qingdao anymore. They are going to drive you out of Qingdao." Wei Changbao had no choice but to look for another job.

At 11:30 p.m. on May 28, 2004, Zhang Changguo, Chief of Shuanghou Police Station, and approximately seven other officers with flashlights surrounded Wei Changbao's house. He managed to escape, but now he and his wife are living on the streets. They are homeless and dare not return to their home. Their nine-year-old daughter and her grandma have only each other to rely on, which makes their lives very difficult.