Atrocities Committed at Wuling Prison in Changde City, Hunan Province

(Clearwisdom.net) (Note: This article originated from Wuling Prison in 2007 and was recently received.)

Wuling Prison used to be called Wanjinzhang Farm. It is located in Baiheshan Township, in the northern suburb of Changde City. The prison guards consist of local residents and discharged soldiers appointed by the Changde Bureau of Justice. Two in-house procurators were Liu Tiejun and Zhang Bin from another judicial district.

The prison started to detain Falun Gong practitioners in 2003. To this day in 2007, several dozen practitioners have been held there and more than a dozen practitioners are still detained there. They include Luo Hongwei, Zhou Qingfeng, Yan Yong, Liu Chunquan, Hu Biyou, Zhou Zhigao, Liu Pu. Hu Chougai, Gu Zhihui, Zhou Zixian, Xiao Yuanxue, and Zhang Peng.

To force more than one thousand detainees to perform forced labor more than 12 hours every day, the prison guards employ various means, including cursing, beating and torturing. They often use truncheons, electric batons, wooden sticks, or bamboo sticks to beat the detainees, breaking open their skin and flesh and breaking their bones and joints. Some have been seriously injured and become disabled or have even died. One torture method widely used is hanging with handcuffs. They force the detainees to curl their bodies, tie their hands either together or with one hand in a high position, and the other hand in a low position, and then hang them in the air or with only the tips of their toes touching the ground. The wrists often have deep cuts by the handcuffs and became numb and swollen, as they bear the weight of the whole body. It takes several months to heal.

Torture re-enactment: Severe beating

All Falun Gong practitioners illegally detained at this prison have witnessed or experienced these torture and abuse tactics, and some of them still bear deep scars. They were able to make it through the hardship because of their firm belief in Falun Dafa. Some examples of practitioners being tortured at Wuling Prison in 2007 are briefed below.

On January 1, Mr. Zhang Peng was slapped in the face more than 10 times by guard Liu Yongwen of the Fifth Ward in front of more than 100 detainees at the cell gate. On January 24, his hands were tied to railing near the prison door by guards Liu Yongwen and Gao Shibiao for more than three hours. On February 3, several guards from this division including Da Minggui again handcuffed him, ripped his clothes off, then repeatedly beat him with wooden sticks and leather shoes. Mr. Zhang was tried and found guilty of escaping from the prison on April 5 by Wuling Court director Qin Xiaodong and others.

On January 26, Mr. Zhou Zixian was beaten by guard Hu Wei. He went on a hunger strike for several days to protest the abuse. He was beaten and injured again by several guards on May 1. Mr. Zhou went on another hunger strike after the beating.

On February 11, Mr. Gu Zhihui was tied up and hung to a metal gate in the Strict Monitoring Ward by several inmates who were abetted by guard Xie Ying. The gate was then deliberately swung open and closed for more than 10 minutes. His hands were swollen and his body covered with bruises as the result of the torture.

Relevant perpetrators and phone numbers:

Zhang Kewu, Wuling Prison warden: [phone], [phone] (Cell)
Wu Guogang, Wuling Prison deputy warden: [phone], [phone] (Cell)
Xie Ying, head of strict-monitoring ward: [phone] Liu Yongwen, Wuling Prison guard: [phone]