The Systematic Persecution of Falun Gong Practitioners in Beijing Women's Prison

For many years, the 4th and 8th Divisions of Beijing Women's Prison have focused on persecuting Falun Gong practitioners. The present head of the 4th Division, Zhang Haina, has been very actively involved in the persecution for more than ten years. She was originally in the 8th Division, but because she actively focused on persecuting practitioners, she was promoted to head of the 4th Division. Liu Jing, the new head of the 8th Division, has also been very active in persecuting practitioners in the past few years.

When practitioners are brought to the prison, they are videotaped as soon as they get out of the car. The division head, prisoners, and collaborators¹ who have been waiting for them to arrive hurry over to the practitioners and pretend to be very caring, with the intent of gaining the practitioners' trust. However, as soon as the practitioners actually enter the prison, they are isolated and monitored by prisoners around the clock. All the practitioners are isolated from each other to prevent them from talking to or communicating with anyone else. Newly arrived practitioners have to get up around 6 a.m. and go to a small room used just for brainwashing. They have to spend the whole day there, and all their meals are brought in so that they cannot leave or get a break from the intense situation. Those practitioners who refuse to do forced labour are also taken there for brainwashing. The brainwashing goes on all day and does not stop until the other prisoners finish working and come back. Because they are kept in such strict isolation, even after being in the prison for years, some of the practitioners were still unknown to the prisoners or other detained practitioners.

The newly arrived practitioners usually don’t have enough clothes or daily necessities. The prisoners or collaborators “help” them get the things they need in order to confuse them. After they establish a relationship with the practitioners, they chat with them about family, everyday life, or their jobs in order to assess their personalities and find their weaknesses. If you refuse to be “transformed” [forcibly renounce Falun Gong] the collaborators think of ideas for the guards or the prisoners on how to persecute you.

Three guards are assigned to each practitioner. They are required to attend frequent “study sessions” on how to persecute practitioners and to report their progress in persecuting them. The guards also talk with prisoners that are monitoring the practitioners, as well as the collaborators, to find each practitioner's weak points that they can use. They persecute the practitioners in a very systematic way and are very experienced.

After all the discussion, the guards start to “talk” to the practitioners to create an atmosphere of tension. They specifically choose the evening to talk to you, and they do not let you go until 2 a.m. Not only the guards but also the dozens of other division heads who are on duty in the evening come to talk to the practitioners at any time. They come every day. Although on the surface it seems that they don’t deprive you of sleep on purpose, they always come and keep talking to you when you are about to sleep.

The prison specifically chooses the most low level prisoners to find fault with and verbally abuse the practitioners who remain steadfast. The division head just turns a blind eye to this and does nothing to stop it. Using the techniques the CCP used during the Cultural Revolution, they hold “struggle sessions” in which 20 or 30 handpicked prisoners sit in a circle surrounding the practitioners, criticizing and yelling at them.

If the practitioners do not “transform,” they are never left alone. Sometimes while the prisoners are doing forced labour, the prison officials arrange an on-site brainwashing session, making the practitioners sit in a circle and “study.” The practitioners who have not “transformed” have to sleep where they can be easily monitored by guards who talk to them. The practitioners are also not allowed to meet with or talk to their family members over the phone. They can only write letters. This specific rule was especially made to persecute the practitioners.

About 50 practitioners are still being detained and persecuted in this prison. They range in age from their 20s to their 70s. Their terms range from three years to more than ten years. After years of persecution, the physical conditions of some practitioners are very worrying.

Note

1. "Collaborators" (former practitioners, brainwashed against Falun Gong, made to assist in brainwashing and torturing practitioners)