On the Verge of Death Multiple Times – Ms. Liu Zhi's Personal Account of Persecution (Part 2)

Continued from Part 1: http://www.clearharmony.net/articles/a111574-On-the-Verge-of-Death-Multiple-Times-–-Ms-Liu-Zhi-s-Personal-Account-of-Persecution-Part-1.html

Torture at Liaoning Women's Prison

Shenyang No. 1 Detention Centre continued to monitor me. Seeing that I had recovered somewhat, they took me from my apartment complex on July 12, 2011 and transferred me to Liaoning Women's Prison the next day.

One Week Rack Torture

Upon my arrival, prison guard captain Liu Jie assigned me to rack torture for a week. My arms and legs were bound to four corners of a metal bed. There was no mattress on the bed, just a wooden board. I was tied in this position all week, 24 hours a day.

It was very hot in Shenyang in mid-July. I was denied water. If I desperately called for water, I was given only a water bottle cap-full. I couldn't move, even during meals. I had to yell for my needs, but my mouth was soon taped shut.

I couldn't see my feet, but my hands were black and blue. The skin around my tailbone was ground open from my restricted movements. I experienced multiple spasms that week.

To make matters worse, the prison staff deducted 19 yuan in cash from me to pay for the ropes that they used to bind me to the rack.

Auditory Torture, Brainwashing and Humiliation

On one occasion, Liu took me to a room without surveillance cameras and forced me to lie down on a bed. My head was put above a metal container covered by a blanket. An inmate sat next to me and beat the container. Because of the intensity of the sound, I thought the container must have been made of brass. My head throbbed for two days, and after that my brain felt numb.

I couldn't get up and had to lie in bed. I was forced to watch movies that slandered Falun Gong. Once, in the middle of the night, my head was sucked at by a device, but I couldn't see what it was. The inmates often verbally insulted me.

After a month, the inmates told me that those who were immobile in bed for more than a month could get medical parole, if they cooperated. They often held medical parole paperwork in front of me. I knew that medical parole came with a precondition: abandoning my belief in Falun Gong.

Even though I was eager for freedom and comfort after being mentally and physically tortured for a month, the price was not something I wanted to pay.

After the week-long rack torture, my legs and feet were often numb. Since I refused to renounce my belief in Falun Gong, the torture and humiliation escalated. I was often denied of personal hygiene needs.

The inmates would drag me to the shower room without allowing me to clean myself. Then they would laugh at me for being smelly.

The winter in Shenyang is very cold. The temperature can fall as low as -22°F (-30°C). The windows in the prison toilets were usually left open.

I had a lot of difficulties squatting down to go to the toilet, because of the rack torture. On one occasion the inmates forbade me from holding onto the walls in the toilet. I lost my balance and fell. The bathrooms didn't have any doors. I was left lying on my back for over half an hour, with my lower body exposed and my head on the toilet paper bin receptacle.

Forced Urine and Blood Tests

My legs and feet were badly swollen. Liu Jie often took me to the prison hospital, but not to seek treatment for my legs and feet. When a doctor offered to take a look at my legs and feet, Liu gestured at him not to and instead asked for antibiotics. She told the doctor that I had a urinary tract infection. I refused to take the antibiotics because I had none of the symptoms she described.

I was forced to have urine and blood tests every two or three days. Once the prison hospital drew 3 cc (about 0.1 ounce) of my blood. The normal blood tests I had outside prison were all just a sting in the finger.

One day when I was forced to give a urine sample, I couldn't provide any after more than two hours in the toilet. Liu Jie then directed several inmates to force me to drink water. I had to drink six water bottles. My clothes were soaked.

My swollen legs and feet were never attended to.

“Venting Room”

On October 22nd, 2011, Liu Jie instructed three inmates to transport me on a wheelchair to the “venting room.” Once inside the room, I saw a large sand bag with hammers and boxing gloves placed next to it.

The inmates started punching the sand bag, then they came at me. They surrounded me and showed me some paperwork. They told me that the papers were “guarantee statements” that I could sign to renounce my belief in Falun Gong. I refused to sign. They kept pushing the papers at me.

I tore the papers up, and the inmates rushed at me. During their assault two pieces of flesh were gouged from my palm. The blood dripping from my hand covered my trousers.

By the end of the year I still refused to “transform,” [forcibly renounce Falun Gong] so Liu Jie didn't get her bonus. She cursed me and vowed to put me through the “most painful life.”

(To be continued)