Falun Dafa Practitioners Detained in Chishan Jail Remain Steadfast Despite Relentless Persecution

There are three jails in Hunan Province which illegally detain Falun Dafa practitioners: The "Women's Jail of Hunan Province," the "Jail of Changsha City" as well as the "Chishan Jail" (also known as the "First Jail of Hunan Province"). In 1996, the residents of Chishan District established a Falun Dafa practice site. By 1999, it had attracted 50-60 practitioners, including police officers, workers, families, and other residents of Chishan Island. During the time period starting in 2000, and leading up to December 2002, Chishan Jail had altogether detained 36 Falun Dafa practitioners.

Typical Cases of Persecution of Falun Dafa Practitioners and their actions to deny the persecution

I. Torture and Mental Damage:

Practitioner Li Xuexian was detained in a room smaller than 10 square metres for 24 hours a day from June to October of 2002. Three prisoners took turns to stop him from practising the exercises or studying the Fa [the teachings of Falun Dafa], then beat him. The guards and police often read materials slandering Dafa and forced him to watch videos attacking Falun Dafa. After keeping a righteous mind, he was able to improve his environment and was no longer watched at all times.

Practitioners Xiao Zixiang, Xiao Huisheng, Huang Yonghui, and Chen Yang refused to wear prisoner's uniform or go to work, and persisted in studying the Fa and doing the exercises. As a result, the police and other prisoners beat them, forcibly carried them to work and dragged and threw them on the concrete ground. In protest, the practitioners went on hunger strike, which resulted in force-feeding. Practitioners Xiao Zixiang and Xiao Huisheng were handcuffed to a basketball frame, with their legs spread apart, for many extremely hot days and rainy days, to the point of exhaustion. In addition, they were detained in solitary confinement.

Huang Yonghui was sent to the hospital in May 2002. He had become extremely weak and moved very slowly. His face had a numb expression, which was very different from previous months, when he was always laughing and quick-witted. He has been diagnosed as a sick person and other prisoners around him reported that continued beatings have caused the deterioration in his health and damage to his spirit.

II. Falun Dafa Practitioners were Beaten, Handcuffed and Detained in Solitary Confinement:

On April 25 of 2002, imprisoned Falun Dafa practitioners Zhou Pingyang, Liu Ruirui, and Jia Zhefa refused to work and wear the prison uniform; they also wrote a truth-clarifying letter to the prison authorities. As a result, they were brutally beaten by police and prisoners, and then forcibly dragged to work. When the police realised that they were still not co-operating, they handcuffed the practitioner's hands and used a second pair of handcuffs to suspend them from the highest part of a window from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. The only occasion for which they were released from this position was the meal break. This cruel form of torture has continued for two months. During this period, the first set of handcuffs was never taken off, and seriously influenced their everyday lives. Both of Liu Ruirui's wrists have blistered and festered; Jia Zhefa's feet are so swollen that he could no longer put on shoes. Since the weather was extremely hot during the summer they requested to be released from the handcuffs to take showers, but the malicious police kept ignoring their requests. They have suffered all kinds of brutal persecution. On one occasion, Jia Zhefa managed to escape from the handcuffs on his own and practise the Falun Dafa exercises, whereupon the vindictive overseer of the jail, as well as police, beat him with a police baton and shocked his body with an electric baton. After this, they tied his hands at the back of his neck using thin strings and tortured him in various ways, causing much pain. After the guards took all their Dafa materials away, the practitioners fasted to protest and requested to get them back. Not only did the police ignore them, but also the regular prisoners were ordered to force-feed them. Liu Ruirui's throat was poked in many places by the iron spoon wielded by those prisoners, causing it to hurt very much when swallowing. Jia Zhefa's throat was poked by bamboo sticks and started bleeding badly. They were also forcibly fed with concentrated salt water. Liu Rurui was detained in solitary confinement for nine and Jia Zhefa for eleven days.

III. The Persecution towards All the Falun Dafa Practitioners in the Jail:

Starting in the latter half of 2000, and until 2001, the evil police began their so-called "brainwashing" work using threats and false promises. More than twenty practitioners have been brainwashed. Since then, all except one have awakened to the truth and have declared all deviated notions, words, conduct and coerced written promises as invalid.

A. Falun Dafa practitioners were required to complete a psychological profile when they were sent to the jail. The police assumed that the practitioners were not mentally stable.

B. Practitioners were forbidden to talk amongst themselves; otherwise, they would be physically punished, detained in solitary confinement, or beaten up. After practitioners held upright minds, usually in that part of the jail they were no longer prohibited from talking amongst themselves.

C. In May 2002 the "Education Department" forced all practitioners in the jail to watch the so-called "transformation" video. While watching the video, Chen Yang sent forth righteous thoughts [using upright thoughts to purify the environment] holding his right hand in front of his chest, so police handcuffed his hands.

D. During the video education class, wicked Zhi Wei, vice-director of the jail and in charge of transformation, and Xie Shoulian, director of the "Education Department" often cursed Falun Dafa. One room in the Chishan Jail "Education Transformation" Center set up by the Education Department has been dedicated to display the "Three Statements" [Practitioners are coerced under brainwashing and torture to write these as proof that they have given up their belief. Created by the "610 Office," the three statements consist of a letter of repentance, a guarantee to never again practise Falun Gong, and a list of names and addresses of all family members, friends and acquaintances who are practitioners.] and other propaganda material to the visiting higher authorities and others in order to spread the propaganda poison to everyone.

Examples of Successful Truth-Clarification by Falun Dafa Practitioners in Jail

I. Meng Kai and Zeng Shuguo wrote truth-clarifying materials in January 2002 and have distributed them to four places within the jail. This had a significant impact. Many police and prisoners took the opportunity to read them. The Political Department of the Jail has started to investigate the case.

II. On March 19, over ten practitioners together wrote a letter to the jail requesting to be allowed to study the teachings of Falun Dafa, do the exercises, and exchange experiences. They also requested the jail to pass on their requests of being released to the higher authorities. They requested a reply by a specific deadline. When on March 22, the jail had still ignored their requests, all practitioners refused to work or attend any jail activities.

List of People that Directly Persecute Falun Dafa Practitioners:

I. 610 Office of Hunan Province.
II. Jail Administration Bureau of Hunan Province.
III. Chishan Jail
Address: Mail Box 101, Yuanjiang City, Hunan Province, Zip: 413104.
The organizations that directly interact with Falun Dafa practitioners are the Policy Department and Education Department. The vice-president of the jail who is in charge of transformation is Zhi Wei. The Director of the Education Department is Xie Shoulian.
IV. The Yuxin Newspaper of Hunan Province (sponsored by the Jail Administration Department).
Address: 98 Bayi Road west, Changsha City, Zip: 410001; Phone: 86-731-4592638.

http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2003/2/10/31947.html