(Minghui.org) The areas defined as “strictly controlled” are unique to prisons in China. The term is used to imply “the torture of Falun Gong practitioners,” which is implemented across China in prisons and detention facilities where Falun Gong practitioners are held.
In the Jilin Women's Prison, the “strictly controlled team” is located on the ground floor. It is where brutal beatings and heinous arrays of torture are used to persecute Falun Gong practitioners under the false pretext of “educating” them. During detention in the “strictly controlled team,” family members are not allowed to visit, which prevents them from knowing that their loved ones are being beaten and tortured.
The “strictly controlled team” is actually an organized torture chamber. It is also where employees of the prisons devise and employ the most dispicable torture methods they can conceive of to “educate” practitioners of Falun Gong.
The guards stop at nothing to devise ways that cause the most severe pain and suffering imaginable, imposing it on Falun Gong practitioners as part of their daily routine. The array of torture methods are the so-called “tools” used in forcing practitioners to sign statements that slander Falun Gong and swear they will no longer practice it.
Beatings, hangings, and awkward and painful handcuffing positions are routine in these places. Practitioners are underfed and their water is restricted. The heat is kept off in the winter when the temperature can drop to -4° F. Meals consists of only a small bun and a piece of pickle. Sometimes the guards will throw the food in the toilet first, forcing practitioners to eat it, less they starve.
They often have no choice but to drink water from the toilet or die of thirst. Wu Zeyun, head of Jilin Woman's Prison once said, “We don’t care. As long as no one starves to death, we are just doing our job.”
Three Practitioners Detained
Falun Gong practitioners Ms. Fu Guihua, Ms. Wen Shujie, and Ms. Cui Fenghua are detained in the Jilin Woman's Prison.
The women were recently transferred to the “strictly controlled team” there. A family member of Ms. Fu Guihua questioned the prison officials, “Do those detained in the 'strictly controlled team' have enough food and water? Do they suffer beatings and torture?” She was not given any straight answers.
All three women were originally detained in Prison Cell 311, No. 2 Team of No.8 Ward in the Jilin Women’s Prison. Tu Qiang was the guard in charge of persecuting them. During a family visit on February 15, 2016, Ms. Fu told her family that Tu Qiang was transferred to the “strictly controlled team” on the first floor, and that new guard, Zhang Ying, was now in charge. Four days later, on February 19, all three practitioners were sent to the “strictly controlled team” because they were found in possession of an article about Falun Gong. They would also no longer be allowed family visits.
The family member of Ms. Fu Guihua came to the prison on February 29 and asked to see Ms. Fu Guihua and make sure she was safe. Zhu Xiaoyan, head of the prison administration section, refused the request and said that those in the “strictly controlled team” are not allowed family visits. However, she would not produce any documents in stating such a rule.
The family member questioned her, “Can a Falun Gong article harm anyone?” Zhu Xiaoyan said, “Anyone caught with a Falun Gong article must be sent to the strictly controlled team.” Zhu refused to acknowledge that Ms. Fu would be subjected to torture and that her food and water would be withheld. She instead insisted, “It's just a normal place for people to study and be educated.”
Additional Information
Ms. Fu Guihua, 51, is a practitioner in Nongan County. She was arrested on June 3, 2013, and sentenced to three years in prison for refusing to recant her belief in Falun Gong. She is scheduled to be released in three months. She was transferred to Jilin Woman's prison in September 2014. In less than a month after being transferred, she had been beaten so badly that she was unable to straighten her back and could barely walk. At that time, the guard in charge of persecuting her was Zhang Ying.
Ms. Wen Shujie, 60, is from Jilin City. She was arrested on April 25, 2009 and sentenced to seven years in prison because she practices Falun Gong. She is scheduled to be released this April.
Ms. Cui Fenghua is from Longjing City. She is of the Joseon ethnic group. Ms. Cui was arrested on April 25, 2009, and originally sentenced to three-and-half years in prison. Her sentence was extended and she is now scheduled to be released in October 2017.
Category: Torture of Women
