Mr. Hong Chang Repeatedly Tortured in Zhejiang Province No. 4 Prison

Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Hong Chang from Hangzhou City started practising in April 1998, and has been repeatedly persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) because he refused to renounce his faith.

From September to November 1999, Mr. Hong Chang was jailed for two months at the “Ranger Police Brigade” of the Jianggan District Police Station in Hangzhou City. He was then transferred to a forced labour camp for one year. Shortly after his release, he was arrested again for exposing the facts about the persecution and sentenced to four years imprisonment. He was sent to Zhejiang Province No. 4 Prison, where he was tortured and nearly died.

In May 2009, Mr. Hong was falsely charged again and sentenced to three years of imprisonment. On November 11th, 2009, he was sent back to Zhejiang Province No. 4 Prison.

The following is Mr. Hong's personal account of the abuse he has endured.

1. Monitored by Inmates

“In May 2009, I was arrested for distributing DVD's of the NTDTV's “Chinese New Year Global Gala” and was sentenced to three years of imprisonment. I was sent to Zhejiang Province No. 4 Prison for the second time on November 11th, 2009.

Right after I was imprisoned, they assigned six inmates to monitor me. These prisoners threatened me and tried to force me to renounce my faith. I was forbidden to speak to others, walk out of the cell, or read books and newspapers.

2. Corporal Punishment, Humiliation and other Torture

On February 23rd, 2010, the inmates began to force me to stand still continuously for over 15 hours with no breaks, even while I ate. Sometimes I was forced to stand until 10:00 p.m. They also often played recordings slandering Falun Gong--sometimes even holding the recorder up against my ear, at full volume, in an attempt to brainwash me.

They also employed many torture methods to abuse me, including lifting me up by my arms and running me around in circles before suddenly stopping, which caused me to dizzily fall over. The guards then clapped and laughed. They lifted me up by clamping my ears and swaying me back and forth, holding me on the ground and scribbling on my face with a marker and holding my heels from the back and forcing me to crawl on my hands, which also evoked their laughter.

In addition to the physical punishment during the daytime, they woke me up anywhere from 3 to 20 times during the night, which kept me from resting properly. Sometimes, they even rested their heads on me so that I could not fall asleep again.

At the end of March, the tortures in the daytime became less severe, but the harassment during the night continued until September 3rd.

Another form of abuse involved suddenly lifting me up by the head and forcing me to stand while I was sleeping. This was extremely painful, as if my body was exploding. The monitoring inmates often coldly stared at me, saying that I had to confess my guilt because they would receive reduced prison terms.

3. Forced Facing the Wall while Standing, Forbidden Toilet Use

A new team head was appointed in January 2011. On February 21st, he ordered the monitoring inmates to force me to face the wall while standing in the interrogation room. He closed the door and windows. Then he dropped down the curtains and started threatening me. Every day, I was forced to stand from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Due to the prolonged abuse, my hands and feet became swollen. In addition to the physical punishment, they also intentionally humiliated me: When I wanted to use the toilet or drink water, they told me to wait. I sometimes waited for a whole morning.

At 9 p.m. on March 8th , the team head walked into the interrogation room and asked me, “Do you want to confess?” I replied, “I have not changed my mind.” He began to roar: “I have so many ways to reform [forcibly renounce Falun Gong] you, just wait and see!” He planned to use more brutal measures to torture me. On the following day, Qiu, deputy prison head, walked in and saw me standing facing the wall and an inmate by my side. He asked what was going on and I told him my story. He put a stop to the torture.

Two months later, the physical punishment resumed, with the only difference being that it was a little less severe. Sometimes, they let me sit down to watch the CCTV News and deemed it a “rest.” On other occasions, they allowed me to sit down for five minutes in the morning and five minutes in the afternoon. When the higher level authorities were sent to inspect the team, they let me sit down, but I was told to stand up immediately upon their departure.

On October 3rd, I met with the team head and requested to write to the prison head to report my appalling situation. He immediately became angry and threatened me.

On December 1st, 2011, the team head was transferred. Through my own effort to expose the persecution, the environment improved a little bit during the last few months of my incarceration, as they allowed me to read some books and newspapers and purchase some food.

My prison term ended in May 2012.