Dafa Practitioners Tortured and Hung Up for Days In Minxi Prison

On May 5, 2003, in Minxi Prison, Dafa practitioner Xiao Le wanted to tell the prison warden the facts about Falun Dafa, but suddenly he was beaten by the prison's deputy supervisors Chen Fengwei and Wang, just because he refused to squat as ordered. At lunchtime that day, Xiao Le started a hunger strike. On May 6, Dafa practitioners Lu Yaocai and Hu Tianwu started a hunger strike. Hu Tianwu refused to work on the 6th in protest. He was dragged out and thrown to the ground by the prison police chief Chen Limin and others in charge. On the morning of the 5th, Xiao Le also protested by refusing to work, but was beaten and kicked by Chen Fengwei. Xiao Le continued to hunger strike until May 12. On the morning of May 8, Xiao Le and Hu Tianwu were force-fed. On May 9, Xiao Le was force-fed twice, with one hand cuffed to the window from morning until evening. On the morning of the May 10, Xiao Le wanted to talk to the prison police about Dafa, but he was force-fed again in the afternoon.

On February 22, 2003, Dafa practitioners Chen Ridong, Chen Jin, Li Jian and Wang Minhui posted a statement that indicated that innocent prisoners should not wear prison uniforms nor be forced to work, but should be released. In the afternoon of the 22nd, under instructions from the prison vice-chief Luo Yingjie, the supervisor of the new prisoners Deng Yunchun and supervisor Xu Shangsheng ordered prisoner helpers Wu Jianghai and Wang Xiaodong to cuff the four Falun Gong practitioners, including Chen Ridong, to the second floor window, suspending them in the air. Chen Ridong was hung up for over thirty hours. He was not let down until he passed out on the second day. The prison guards tried to force him to write the so-called "Guarantee Statement." Chen Jin and others were hung until May 24. The prison guards also tried to force them to write the so-called "Guarantee Statement." The supervisors used two pairs of handcuffs to hang them up, with only their toes touching the floor. The prisoners within the same ward could not bear to see such brutal persecution and tried to give them slippers to step on. However, the police ordered prison helpers Wu Jianghai and Wang Xiaodong to make sure that no other prisoners helped the Dafa practitioners. [The Guarantee Statement is a statement to declare that he or she is remorseful for practising Falun Gong and guarantees not to practice Falun Gong again, not to go to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong, and never again associate with any Falun Dafa practitioners].

On January 3, 2003, Dafa practitioner Wang Erxin was handcuffed by police officer Wu Yihao with both hands behind his back and was brutally beaten. The reason was that he refused to sign his name in a roll book. His face, especially his nose, was swollen all over. He was handcuffed for several hours. A person from Wang Erxin's hometown named Liu Xianmei could not bear to see this and said some words to support him, but was brutally beaten for doing so. The conference room was stained with blood. Furthermore, Liu Xianmei was locked up in a separate ward afterwards. The labour camp's No. 1 middle team was ironically named a "Civilized Prison in the Province" by the government.

In March 2003, Dafa practitioner Xiang Benzi was beaten by prisoner helpers and the police for doing the Falun Gong exercises. Prisoner Lan Pu (former deputy mayor from Xiamen City imprisoned for corruption) organised a group of prisoners to attack Dafa practitioners.

During the Spring Festival of 2003, Dafa practitioners Xu Guotai and Jiang Sheng from the plastics factory were suspended in the air for two days just for trying to talk to other practitioners. They were only released after going on hunger strike. This team was named as a model of "Humane Management" in Minxi Prison.

On December 18, 2002, Dafa practitioner Jiang Sheng was seen by policeman Xu Shangxian while practising the exercises at night, and was suspended in the air for several days. On the December 19, Mr. Jiang told Xu that he would name the policeman in a lawsuit. Xu then hung him up for three days. After he was let down, Jiang Sheng limped around with feet so swollen that he could not wear shoes.

Between August 12 and 15 of 2002, more than twenty Dafa practitioners were tortured in a conference room of the second and third floors of the new prison building. They were beaten, hung in the air by two pairs of handcuffs, and they were even forbidden to use the toilet, to the extend they became incontinent. The head of the education section shamelessly said that this method of torture was used for treating a "disease." In order to try to force Dafa practitioner Yang Wenbin to appear in a propaganda video, they hung him in the air and tortured him. One prison leader said, "There is no law here, we don't talk about the law here." Zheng Zhangru and Wang Erxin from Changding City wrote solemn declarations to void their previous statements against Dafa, and they were forced by the police to stand facing the wall for more than one month.

On May 1, 2002, Dafa practitioner Yang Wenbin was suspended in the air for two days for reading Dafa books. Ten practitioners were forced into fixed positions under the sun for one day. Dafa practitioner Ye Guohua was hung with two pairs of handcuffs. A guard wanted to strip off his clothes so that the mosquito swarms could feed off him. Dafa practitioner Lin Shilai solemnly told him that this was against the law, and for this, he was also hung up.

Before these events, large groups of Falun Gong practitioners were subjected to all types of torture, sometimes in secret inside conference rooms. Starting on May 1, 2002, a Dafa practitioner was hung up for seven days. In January 2001, one Dafa practitioner was hung upside down for three days. One practitioner was beaten, hung up, and tortured with all types of inhumane methods.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2003/6/11/52043.html