Mr. Dou Changying Brutally Tortured in Hulan Prison

Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Dou Changying from Zhaodong City, Heilongjiang Province was arrested on April 28th, 2010, by officers from the Zhaodong City Police Department. The Zhaodong City Court sentenced him to a five-year prison term in January 2011, for practising Falun Gong. Mr. Dou was imprisoned and tortured in Hulan Prison. He was released in April 2015.

Refusing to Renounce Falun Gong

The guards in Hulan Prison put Mr. Dou Changying into the prison's group training centre in 2011, to force him to give up practising Falun Gong. Mr. Dou refused, and was detained for 21 months, even though under Chinese law a prisoner should only be detained a maximum of three months. Mr. Dou's family was prohibited from visiting him.

Zhang Hongliang, the captain of the training centre (since replaced by Shi Donghui), along with coach Xu Ruye and team leader Huang Baidong, ordered prisoners Zhang Zhenlong, Xu Xiaochen, and Zhao Si to monitor and torture Mr. Dou.

Despite being tortured, Mr. Dou refused to give up Falun Gong. Guards and prisoners forced Mr. Dou to stand for a long time, beat him with a plastic tube and belt, and shocked him with electric batons. As a result Mr. Dou's legs were injured, he went deaf, and suffered memory loss.

Mr. Dou could barely walk and found it hard to breathe. His life was in danger. The group training center guards were afraid of being held responsible for his death, and took Mr. Dou to the second prison district in Hulan Prison on November 28th, 2012. However, his condition deteriorated and he was released on medical parole on December 12th, 2012. Mr. Dou continued practising Falun Gong at home and his health improved.

Staff from the Hulan Prison found out that Mr. Dou's health had improved. They imprisoned him again in the 15th prison district of Hulan Prison on December 11th, 2014.

Failed Attempt to Report Human Rights Violations

Mr. Dou handed the telephone number of the Chinese Communist Party's central inspection team to prisoner Sun Bo before the 2015 Chinese New Year, hoping to pass the number to Sun's family during their prison visit. He hoped that the family would expose Hulan Prison's human rights violations and mistreatment of prisoners.

Some prisoners reported the attempt to prison officials. Caption Chen Weiqiang, in charge of persecuting practitioners, ordered prisoner Zhang Jun to beat Sun Bo and hang him up by his handcuffed wrists (with only his toes touching the ground).

Chen also ordered prisoners Ji Guoliang, Gao Xiaoguang, Duan Xingguan, and Zhang Jun to torture Mr. Dou on February 10th, 2015. The prisoners dragged Mr. Dou to a room designed to detain mentally disordered patients. Zhang Jun tied Mr. Dou with ropes and covered his mouth, so no one would hear him scream in pain when they beat him.

Chen ordered the prisoners to take Mr. Dou to the confinement room. The doctor on duty refused to accept Mr. Dou because of his injuries.

The warden of the prison was told about the incident the next day. Instead of handing out punishment, Chen and the prisoners were told to monitor Mr. Dou and keep him from practising the Falun Gong exercises. Mr. Dou was released in April 2015.

Situation at Hulan Prison

There are currently over 40 practitioners being held in Hulan Prison. They are tortured in the hospital district, group training centre, and the 15th prison district.

Practitioner Mr. Mo Zhikui suffered serious injuries and could no longer take care of himself.

Practitioner Mr. Zhang Jinku suffered memory loss.