Dafa Practitioners Mr. Xiao Huisheng and Mr. Xiao Zhiqiang Brutally Tortured for Refusing to Do Slave Labour at Prison in Hunan Province

Mr. Xiao Huisheng from Hengyang City, Hunan Province is a doctor in his 20s. He was arrested and sent to Chishan Prison in Hunan Province at the end of 2001. Administration Office Director Li Feiwen and Education Section Chief He Yong ordered that Xiao Huisheng string 3,000 coloured light bulbs (these are very small bulbs that are usually used for decorations) every day. Several days later, team leader Qi Zhigang summoned a criminal inmate called Chen Ming and told him, "Starting tomorrow make sure Xiao Huisheng strings 3,500 bulbs." Xiao had already had great difficulty finishing the original quota of 3,000. Now with the increased workload, he had to work as hard as he could. Usually at the end of each work day, detainees were divided into three groups and sent back to the prison cells to rest. Whoever finished their assigned work first could get into the first group to go back to the cells. The first group usually went back at around 7 or 8 in the evening. Xiao Huisheng wanted to catch the first group to go back early to practise the Falun Gong exercises, so he worked extremely hard. Three days later, he almost collapsed due to the intense labour.

Unexpectedly, Qi Zhigang and Li Feiwen came to talk to Xiao Huisheng at this time, "You've been doing great these several days. So from tomorrow on, you need to string 4,000 bulbs." Mr. Xiao was shocked and replied, "No, I can't finish that much!" Li Feiwen said, "You should be clearheaded. If you refuse to be "transformed," (1) it means you're against the government and the people. What awaits you is harsh punishment. Don't you see the fate of those who refuse to cooperate with us? They're sent to solitary confinement to be severely punished." Qi Zhigang said, "Why don't you have a try? After several days, you'll get used to stringing 4,000 bulbs." Mr. Xiao did not say anything.

Criminal Chen Ming who was present, pulled Xiao Huisheng aside and threatened him, "You haven't really suffered hardships, have you? Wait and see what methods the Party uses to transform you! To tell you the truth, 4,000 is only the quota for now. I assure you soon you'll get a quota of 5,000 or even 6,000. If you refuse to cooperate, see if you are still strong in front of the government's torture methods. People who are ten times stronger than you could not even endure the torture. Prison officers have said that Falun Gong practitioners who are tortured to death are simply counted as committing suicide. You're not even as valuable as a dog. I advise you to be clear about who has the upper hand. If you can't finish your quota, then torture will be waiting for you right there!" However, Xiao Huisheng was determined to resist the slave labour.

At that time, another practitioner named Xiao Zhiqiang was transferred from the Education Section to Division Five. This was in February 2002. Xiao Zhiqiang was from Xiangtan City, Hunan Province. He was in his 60s and he worked as a middle school principal and was a former manager of the service division of a coalmining company. He was sentenced to three years for going to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong. After he was sent to Division Five, he was also ordered to do hard labour.

In order to resist the slave labour, the next morning, Xiao Zhiqiang brought a small bench and went to sit in the corner of the workshop without working. Xiao Huisheng quietly went to the gate of the workshop and started to cross his legs and do the sitting meditation.

Seeing Xiao Huisheng doing the sitting meditation instead of working, the officer on duty immediately brought in three criminal inmates and rushed over to him. They stomped and kicked Xiao Huisheng's legs with their leather boots. Xiao Huisheng maintained his meditation posture with his eyes closed. They just couldn't uncross his legs. With the consent of the officer, criminal Chen Ming then dragged Xiao Huisheng to the guard's office. Xiao Huisheng's flesh was torn while being dragged across the cement floor. After his legs were uncrossed during the process, Chen Ming dumped him in front of the office. Chen Ming then stomped on Xiao Huisheng's stomach, causing fluid and food to come out of Mr. Xiao's mouth. Li Feiwen did not stop Chen Ming at all, allowing Chen to torture Xiao until he was exhausted. Then they hung up Xiao Huisheng and Xiao Zhiqiang by handcuffs from basketball supports, with their feet barely touching the ground.

The criminal inmates all know that such hanging torture is very painful. Many people would collapse after just one or two days. The two practitioners were not only hung up, they were also beaten by criminals Chen Ming and Geng Tao at the same time. Every night when they were removed from the basketball support, they had wounds all over their bodies. Even their internal organs felt excruciating pain. They went on a hunger strike to protest, but they were still hung up everyday and beaten.

This time the two practitioners were hung up and beaten for over 10 days. Every minute felt like extreme pain. On the last day, Xiao Huisheng passed out. When he woke up, he found that he had been taken down from the basketball support. After that, the prison officers never hung the two practitioners up again, because they did not want to take the responsibility should the practitioners die from this torture. Moreover, they did not force the two practitioners to do hard labour anymore.

The prison officers played a new trick though. Li Feiwen arranged for two criminal inmates who are old and can't do much work to stay together with the two Xiaos, to monitor them around the clock. Li Feiwen told the two criminals, "Don't ever allow them to talk to each other. Don't allow them to practise the exercises. Don't allow them to leave the dorm area (about 50 meters by 100 meters). Don't allow them to talk to other criminal inmates about Falun Gong. We must isolate them!"

After a while, prison police Yan Xiaoming and Li Feiwen began to force the two practitioners to do hard labour again. The two Xiaos firmly resisted. Li Feiwen then ordered criminal inmates to drag them to the workshop. Therefore, Chen Ming led two other criminals and dragged the two practitioners to and from the dorm and the workshop every day. The two Xiaos then went on hunger strike to protest the persecution. They were again hung up just like the last time. The only difference was that this time they were hung up from the window of the workshop.

Because of the constant persecution and torture, the two Xiaos felt their health had deteriorated. This time when they again protested the persecution, both of them felt they were much weaker.

Seeing that Xiao Zhiqiang was advanced in years, Instructor Wu was a bit sympathetic toward him. So Wu asked the criminal inmates not to drag Xiao Zhiqiang to the workshop anymore. Instead, Wu asked the criminals to use a garbage cart to carry Wu back and forth between the dorm and the workshop every day. One criminal saw that the cart very filthy, so he put a piece of cloth on the floor of the cart. Xiao Zhiqiang told the criminal, "Dafa practitioners are all good people who practise Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance. Thank you for your sympathy. You will be blessed." That criminal replied, "Even though we are criminals, most of us know that you are good people after half a year of contact with you. Why don't those bad guys die early?"

Xiao Zhiqiang said, "They persecute me so much, yet I've never hoped that they would die early. I just hope they can awaken to the lies of the government, that they can tell right from wrong, cherish Dafa, learn the truth, and stand up with conscience and justice. They'll also have a good future." That criminal's eyes moistened, "Dafa is really good! If I had learned Dafa before, I wouldn't have been detained here!" Xiao Zhiqiang said, "The evil persecution won't last long. You will for sure see the day when you can learn Dafa openly." That criminal waved his hands, "No, I can't [learn Dafa] at present. If those officers knew, they would beat me to death. I'll learn after I get out of jail." Xiao Zhiqiang encouraged him, "The propaganda shown on TV is all lies and fabrications, you must not believe in them." The criminal said, "I know. Not only me, anyone who is still clearheaded would understand after no more than 10 days of living with you, that practitioners are good people and the government is telling lies."

(1) "Transformed" refers to giving up Falun Dafa.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.org/mh/articles/2004/6/5/76402.html