(Clearwisdom.net) Recently, 241 Falun Gong practitioners' family members in China sent a letter to the Ministry of Justice branch of the Supreme People's Procuratorate, and the Judicial Bureau of Hunan Province, which presides over all the prefectural levels of the Procuratorate and Judicial Bureau of Hunan Province. The letter was sent in order to expose the cruel torture that their relatives have suffered at the hands of lawless guards headed by Zi Wei, who is the deputy director of Chishan Prison in the city of Yuanjiang, Hunan Province. They strongly request that the authorities bring to justice the guards who are responsible for the torture.

The letter points out that the policemen who participated in the persecution publicly beat the Falun Gong practitioners, used torture instruments, and criticized and denounced practitioners at public meetings. They also forced practitioners to do hard labor, and if they could not finish the assigned work, the policemen cruelly tortured the practitioners. These acts violate article 234 of the Criminal Law provisions - the crime of intentional injury, article 247 - the crime of extorting confessions through torture, as well as article 397 - the crime of abuse of power. They also violate the "Labor Law" and "Prison Law," so the practitioners' families have filed these lawsuits based on the law, requesting an immediate investigation. The letter lists facts about the persecution that some Falun Gong practitioners have experienced and also lists the names of the guards who are responsible for the persecution.

Mr. Zeng Haiqi was held in the "Strictly Controlled Division" for three months. During the first month of Zeng's imprisonment, he was given only a half a bowl of rice for each meal. Later he was given only a tiny serving of rice (about 15 grams) and a tiny amount of vegetables for each meal. Zeng Xianbao, head of the "Strictly Controlled Division," used many cruel methods to handcuff and hang up Zeng Haiqi for 18 hours every day. For example, sometimes the jailors would cuff his hands behind his back and hang him up by his hands from the window. They would then lift up his legs and affix them to a high chair so that his entire body weight was pressed onto the cuffed hands. It was excruciatingly painful. Sometimes, in addition to the "carrying a sword on the back,"(1) torture, the police would tie a rope to the cuffs and hang him up in the air from a metal ring on a big tree. Each time he would be hung up for hours, and once he was hung up like this for a whole day.

On May 5, 2003, Zi Wei led the guards from the Special Police Squad in beating and kicking Zeng Haiqi, and in using several electric batons to shock him continuously all over his body. On May 20, after Zi Wei had the guards from the Special Police Squad beat Zeng Haiqi again, they stripped off Mr. Zeng's shirt and tied him up with a long, thin rope, which constricted his blood flow and caused his entire body to swell up. They then shocked his entire body with high-voltage electric batons. The smell of burning skin and flesh soon filled the room. Mr. Zeng felt the high-voltage shock over all of his muscles, bones, and internal organs. They shocked Mr. Zeng continuously like this for more than an hour.

In mid-June 2003, guard He Yong tied Mr. Zeng Haiqi to a brick wall. The red brick wall faces west into the sun. From noon to dusk, the temperature of the wall surface reaches 50^o C (122^o F), which caused his hands and feet to swell, and his wounds to fester and run with pus. Mr. Zeng was cruelly tortured like this numerous times over three years.

On March 1, 2004, Mr. Zeng insisted on standing upright with dignity while speaking. Because of this, the deputy director Zi Wei asked the prison guards and several prisoners to separate his legs, pointing his toes out so that his feet formed a straight line. They then kicked his calves, forcing him to kneel down for several hours.

On May 5, 2003, Zi Wei asked the guards of the Special Police Squad to shock Lu Songming's temples using electric batons, causing severe injuries to his head. Mr. Lu passed out due to the extensive loss of blood. They also coerced the prisoners to beat Lu Songming and gave rewards to prisoners who cruelly tortured Falun Gong practitioners. They also held public meetings in the fifth prison yard to criticize and denounce Falun Gong practitioners.

In January 2003, when Lu Songming held a hunger strike to resist the persecution, the prison guards in the fifth prison yard encouraged the prisoners to force feed Mr. Lu, which caused him to excrete and urinate blood, have stomach convulsions, and his face to turn purple. Prisoner Xiong Jiangang kicked Mr. Lu viciously on the right side of his body in the liver area, seriously injuring Mr. Lu's internal organs and causing great pain. Mr. Lu was also handcuffed and hung up for ten days. Mr. Lu was cruelly tortured numerous times over three years, and his body was covered with cuts and bruises. Mr. Lu is extremely weak, and both of his legs are now swollen, yet he is still forced to do slave labor for 15 to 16 hours each day.

Li Xuexian was cuffed and hung up for 19 days. He received electric shocks on the mouth, face, and legs

In the Chishan Prison, prisoners are forced to do labor-intensive work such as putting small pieces of dried bamboo sticks together to make bed padding, making dolls, and polishing artificial gems. The prison takes the profits from these products and uses it as a bonus. Falun Gong practitioner Li Xuexian was forced to polish 600 gems a day, which required working 12-13 hours a day.

On October 22, 2003, Li Xuexian asked the prison to cut down on the amount of slave labor. Li was hence cuffed and hung up for 19 days for more than ten hours a day. The so-called educator, Cheng Weidong, used a high-voltage electric baton to shock Li's mouth, face, and legs, causing severe damage. On May 15, 2004, Li physically collapsed from the brutal torture and couldn't finish the assigned work. The prison police then cuffed and hung up Li from the window of the prison factory for 16-17 hours, and even left Li there overnight. On July 23, 2004, Li protested because the prison police were torturing Zheng Haiqi. The prison police cuffed and hung up Li for 32 days. Li has endured many years of the brutal persecution.

Jia Zhefa was shocked with high voltage electric batons

Officers from the "strict management team" ordered prisoners to beat Jia Zhefa for an entire morning until Jia was swollen and had wounds all over his body. In the afternoon, Zi Wei ordered Zeng Xianbao to gather up prisoners and police to continuously torture Jia using electric batons with tens of thousands of volts, as well as other inhumane torture methods. They also deprived Jia of sleep. The police told Jia that the director of the prison had made up his mind to torture Jia.

On April 25, 2002, the fourth prison district "educator" Fan Yun'nan used a thin rope to tie both of Jia's hands behind his back and pulled his hands up to his neck level. Fan Yun'nan then used an electric baton to shock Jia's entire body and tortured Jia using many methods. The prison police cuffed Jia and hung him up for more than 2 months, for more than 10 hours a day. Jia had to shower with the rope on, which caused both of Jia's hands and feet to swell and ooze pus.

Chen Yang was stripped and beaten with bamboo strips

From April 6-9, 2003 the "educator" of the third prison district Wu Zhiguo used an electric baton to shock Chen Yang's mouth, neck, head, face, and all over his body. Wu then ordered five prisoners to strip Chen and beat him with bamboo strips. The prisoners pushed him down on the ground and beat him. On May 8, guards He Zhongmou, Liu Xiao, and Qiu Biaohua from the prison political division beat Chen until he was bleeding from the nose and legs, and had lost some of his teeth.

Zeng Yinhua was imprisoned in August 2002. The prison authorities ordered prisoners to beat Zeng until he was temporarily disabled. Zhang Peng was force fed and beaten until he was almost dead in 2003. Wang Yuexun couldn't finish his assigned slave labor work and was often brutally beaten. The sixth prison district captain Chong Chifeng, district director He Zejun, and "educator" Ren Fei cuffed and hung up Deng Hua for 17 hours because Ren asked them to pardon Li Xuexian. Xiao Zixiang and Xiao Huixian were tortured from 2002 to 2003. The prison police hung them from on a basketball goal with their arms extended, for more than 10 hours each day for many months. The police even laughed at them, saying "They look like Jesus." On May 6, 2004, the third prison district "educator" Deng Hao ordered prisoners from the second team, Liu Hong and Li Bingxiong, to beat Wang Quanlian for no reason, which caused severe wounds and temporarily disabled Wang.

In China, there are tens of thousands of Falun Gong practitioners who are brutally tortured every day. At the same time, there are so many families affected. This lawsuit filed will be a tough challenge for the Chinese judiciary system.

Signatures by the 241 Falun Gong family members (omitted)

Notes:

1. "Carrying a sword on the back" - The practitioner's hands are cuffed behind his back with one hand over the shoulder and the other hand against the lower back.