Jilin Women’s Prison Continues to Persecute Falun Gong Practitioners

(Minghui.org) Ms. Fu Guihua, a resident of Changchun City, Jilin Province, died only two months after she was admitted to Jilin Women’s Prison for practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual practice also known as Falun Dafa that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

Ms. Fu was taken to the First Hospital of Jilin University emergency room on July 25, 2021, and died shortly after. The official cause of the death was cirrhosis of the liver. However, authorities refused to let her family see her before or after her death. It was said prison officials had repeatedly asked the guards and inmates assigned to monitor Ms. Fu to sign statements that stated Ms. Fu died of illnesses, in order to evade responsibility for her death.

Jilin Women’s Prison is notorious for persecuting Falun Gong practitioners in the past two decades. According to available information collected by Minghui.org, at least 29 Jilin practitioners have died as a result of the abuse they suffered at the prison, and many more are being physically and verbally abused on a daily basis.

Ms. Li Cong from Nong’an County was locked in a room for refusing to renounce Falun Gong and not allowed to eat, drink, use the toilet, or sleep. One time, she ran to the hallway and shouted “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-compassion-forbearance is good.” Several inmates dragged her into the restroom. They stuffed her mouth with a rag and pushed her head into the toilet. Another time, they stripped her naked and beat her. In the middle of the winter, she was left in a room with the windows open and no clothes on.

Ms. Cao Yanfen was arrested on July 19, 2019, and was later sentenced to seven years in prison. Because she refused to renounce Falun Gong, she was forced to sit on a small stool every day for a long period of time, during which time she had to place her hands on her knees without moving, or she’d be punished. Sitting in such a position over a long period of time resulted in redness and swelling in the buttocks, blistering, festering, bleeding, and infections in the pelvic area. It also led to hypertension and severe swelling of the legs and feet.

After eight months, Ms. Cao still refused to give in to the guards’ demand to renounce her faith. She was not allowed to eat, drink, use the toilet, or sleep. Her health condition was so bad that prison authorities were afraid to let her family see her. She was moved to a different cell later, but still subjected to physical abuse from other inmates and forced to sit on a small stool for a long period of time.

According to people who are familiar with the situation, Falun Gong practitioners at the No. 8 ward of Jilin Women’s Prison are being persecuted most severely. They are made to get up at 4 a.m. in the morning and forced to attend brainwashing session all day except for during meal and sleeping times. Many elderly practitioners developed hypertension from the mental distress.