Jilin Prison: Described by Inmates as "Hell on Earth"

For the past 14 years, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has been brutally persecuting the peaceful cultivation practice of Falun Dafa (Falun Gong). Hundreds of thousands of Falun Gong practitioners have been imprisoned, sent to forced labour camps and brainwashing centres, and nearly 4,000 are known to have been killed by torture or abuse – though due to the information blockade in China, the actual number is likely much higher.

Practitioners in prison are subjected to severe mental and physical abuse, including torture, in an effort to force them to renounce their belief. This article exposes some of the heinous crimes perpetrated on practitioners at Jilin Prison, in Jilin Province, in the Northeast of China. The severity and depravity of the crimes at Jilin Prison have earned it the moniker “Hell on Earth.”

Sexual Humiliation and Abuse

In Jilin Prison, Falun Gong practitioners are frequently subjected to beatings by the prison guards and criminal inmates, who are incited by the prison staff with the promise of reduced prison sentences if they participate in persecuting practitioners. In addition to vicious beatings, practitioners are subjected to inhuman sexual humiliation and abuse as part of a systematic strategy to break their will and force them to renounce Falun Gong.

1) The “Naked Zone”
The “Naked Zone” in the prison's Supervision Unit is an example of the institution's base methods of humiliation and torture. Practitioners who have become disabled from persecution and mentally ill inmates are detained in the “Naked Zone.” Every once in a while, they are taken to the water room where they are “showered” with a high-pressured water hose. After that, they are given a towel with metal shards in it to dry themselves. The prison guards shamelessly call this “taking a cosmetic bath.”

Some practitioners have lost the ability to take care of themselves due to the persecution in Jilin Prison. In order to simplify the process of practitioners relieving themselves, the prison guards don't allow them to wear clothes. They are left bare in the “Naked Zone” all year round, forced to live like animals. The room is not cleaned, and because of the filth, they develop lice, scabies and other infections. Prison guards usually come to check on those incarcerated in the “Naked Zone” once every 6 days.

Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Yang Guang was taken to Jilin Prison in 2002, where he was repeatedly tortured and became disabled as a result. He was detained with inmates suffering from mental illness. They were held in the “Naked Zone” year round and given poor food.

2) Sexual Assault
Another routine method of humiliation and torture sanctioned at Jilin Prison involves sexual assault, including pinching the genitals and inserting a broomstick into the victim's anus. In addition, many practitioners have been stripped and subjected to electric baton shocks.

3) Drugs and Rape
On April 17th, 2008, Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Zhang Wenfeng, detained in Room 509 of the Third Supervision Unit, was was given food mixed with drugs by his fellow inmates during dinner. The next morning, Mr. Zhang had a discharge from his anus and suffered neck pain. He suspected that he was drugged and sexually assaulted by inmates Xie Guochen and Zhang Hui who had previously threatened, “If you don't listen to us, we will drug you and rape you.” Mr. Zhang Wenfeng report the incident to the prison guard Chai Hongjun. Chai ignored Mr. Zhang's report and did nothing about it. Instead, he moved Mr. Zhang to the Strictly Monitored Unit where he was severely abused for one and a half months.

One morning in mid-September 2008, Mr. Zhang felt feverish. He could hardly move his eyes and was very weak. He rolled up his sleeve and saw needle marks on his right wrist. He then realized that he had been injected with drugs by his cell mates when he was sleeping at night.

Falun Gong practitioners at Jilin Prison have suffered forced injection of unknown drugs that damage the brain and central nervous system. Mr. Xin Yanjun was injected with drugs that damaged his brain, causing him to become mentally incapacitated. Mr. He Yuanhui was also injected with unknown drugs that caused mental illness to the extent that he refused to wear clothes or eat. He became emaciated and developed a severe cough and difficulty breathing.