Guangyuan Prison has a long history of treating practitioners more harshly than other prisoners.
Guangyuan Prison is located at the foot of Qinling Mountain in northern Sichuan Province. More than fifty years have passed since its establishment in the early 1950's, and as a result all the buildings in the prison have become decrepit. Many people (mostly prisoners who worked as miners) died in the prison when the earthquake hit Sichuan Province.
Afterwards, most survivors of the earthquake were transferred to other prisons in Sichuan Province. However, about 30 Falun Gong practitioners were still detained and persecuted in Guangyuan Prison.
Guangyuan Prison has never stopped the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. They subject practitioners to brainwashing attempts and try to force them to undergo a thorough "transformation." The prison guards constantly abuse practitioners with physical violence and torture, and have even sent for military police to beat practitioners. They constantly use corporal punishment, including ordering practitioners to stand under the exposure of the direct sun or in the cold winter wind and snow, depriving practitioners of sleep. Falun Gong practitioners are forbidden to contact their families.
Practitioners Mr. Xu Weidong, Mr. Zhu Weibing, and Mr. Xu Langzhou are detained in the 4th Ward and they are not permitted to call their families. In particular, Mr. Xu Weidong has been illegally detained for six years, during which time he has not been allowed to contact his family.
The prison guards withhold practitioners' letters and packages. Practitioner Mr. Bai Shuquan's mail has been withheld for four years. The picture of the wife of practitioner Mr. Kang Li has been withheld by prison guard Tian Yong for three years for no reason. Practitioners Mr. Tang Deliang, Mr. Kang Li, and Mr. Tan Zhouping are not allowed to speak to anyone. Practitioner Mr. Xu Langzhou's sixty-something mother once traveled from Panzhihua City in southern Sichuan Province to visit her son, yet the prison guards did not allow her to see Mr. Xu.
The prison guards also force practitioners to perform extra labor duties in the prison's brick factory and cement factory.
On May 22, 2008, the warden of the 4th Ward, Zhan Weiming, went to the cell where Mr. Xiang Ning and Mr. Zeng Geping were detained, and attacked them verbally and physically, slapping them in the face and hitting and kicking them.
The above is just a small sample of the brutal torture endured by Falun Gong practitioners in Guangyuan Prison.