(Minghui.org) The 8th Ward at Jilin Province Women’s Prison has been an “exemplary” unit in the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners, with many officials from other prisons coming here to learn torture techniques.

The prison warden, Qian Wei, and deputy prison warden, Gao Yang, instigated guards and inmates to use various methods to torture practitioners, in order to force them to renounce their faith.

According to available information collected by the Minghui.org website, at least 29 practitioners have died as a result of the abuse they suffered at the prison, including three who died in 2021 (one of them being 80-year-old Ms. Wang Qingwen).

Practitioners were once taken to the 8th Ward, they were forced to sit on small stools that were about half a foot high, with their backs straight and legs together. They had to look straight ahead and put their hands on their laps. They were forbidden from moving even during meal times and when the floor was being cleaned.

Torture illustration: Sitting on a stool for a long time

The practitioners were not allowed to use the restroom, causing many to wet or soil their pants. They were sometimes forced to urinate on their own blankets. In another torture, those who refused to renounce their faith were starved. The inmates sometimes brought the food to them and asked if they were hungry, but didn’t allow them to eat.

During the winter in 2021, an inmate soaked a pair of shoes, placed them outdoors to freeze, and then forced practitioners to take turns wearing the shoes. The inmate dubbed the torture “wearing crystal shoes.”

The inmates sometimes blocked the surveillance cameras, poured water on the practitioners’ blankets, then forced the practitioners to sleep on them. Practitioner Ms. Yu Wenhua was subjected to this torture method.

Warden Qian set up a strict-management team in 2021 to torture the practitioners. She selected the most vicious inmates to join the team. During the freezing winter weather, the inmates opened the windows to freeze the practitioners, who were forced to wear only summer clothes. Some practitioners could not bear the torture and signed the guarantee statements against their will.

Even after the practitioners were forced to renounce Falun Gong, the guards still made them sit on the small stool every day for at least one more week to instill fear in them.

The practitioners had to get up at 4:55 a.m. to attend brainwashing sessions from August 22, 2021 to the 2022 New Year. An inmate in charge swore at them and Falun Gong’s founder. The brainwashing was extended to afternoon and night, and there was no break on Saturdays.

Some practitioners had to get up at 4 a.m. to clean their cells before attending the brainwashing sessions. Everyone took turns being on night shift for one hour beginning at 9 p.m. every night. They were also forced to write thought reports that had to be more than three pages long.

Qian ordered all practitioners to rewrite guarantee statements in the first half of 2021, with the minimum length of 15 pages, as well as 13 thought reports, before they were allowed to leave their cells. This caused much mental distress to the practitioners, and many of them developed high blood pressure and heart disease. Yet the guards accused them of having the conditions because of practicing Falun Gong.

The prison also forced the practitioners to recount their experience in life, from their childhood to their imprisonment, which would then be used by the guards to make customized torture methods targeting the practitioners.

Related reports:

Exposing the Torture of Falun Gong Practitioners Jailed at Jilin Province Women’s Prison

Jilin Women’s Prison Continues to Persecute Falun Gong Practitioners

Jilin Province Women’s Prison Continues to Persecute Falun Gong Practitioners

Changchun Women’s Prison Instigates Inmates to Torture Falun Gong Practitioners

Persecution of Falun Gong Practitioners Held at Jilin Women’s Prison

Falun Gong Practitioners Tortured in Jilin Province Women’s Prison

Forms of Torture Used in Jilin Prison on Falun Gong Practitioners Who Refuse to Renounce Their Faith