Savage Abuse of A Practitioner in His 60's in Sichuan Province Prison

The following incidents occurred in Zigong Prison in Sichuan Province.

In late May 2003, the authorities started to incarcerate Falun Gong practitioners in Zigong Prison. Between July and August 2003, Mr. Zhang Liujun, who is in his 60s, from Qingbai Jiang, was imprisoned there. While the authorities were videotaping everyone, this older man declared that he was practising "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance," and was therefore innocent. He didn't want them to videotape him as a criminal prisoner. The prison guards restrained Mr. Zhang on the punishment bed for about 20 days. They intimidated this older man, who was cultivating his mind toward compassion, to acknowledge guilt and admit that he deserved to be punished. In or around November 2003, as Mr. Zhang was passing a gate, he told about the goodness of Falun Dafa to the staff, telling them that Falun Gong practitioners were innocent, that they were treated unjustly, and that Falun Dafa is great. He was again confined to the punishment bed for about a month.

Because his arms and legs were handcuffed to the metal bed he couldn't avoid the biting mosquitoes. His clothing was drenched with sweat, then dried and became soaked again, again and again. His clothing wasn't washed for three weeks. He was not allowed to wash his face or drink water, and had only a few cold steamed buns each day. During working hours, four or five policemen took turns interrogating him. They forced him to listen to the lies which they themselves didn't even believe, and they forced him to write false information according to their fabricated propaganda so that they could use these documents to get rewards. Six or seven criminal prisoners monitored him in turn. In order to reduce their sentences, these criminal prisoners insulted and tortured him at will.

If a Dafa practitioner wrote an acknowledgement of guilt, the criminal prisoners could get credit to reduce their sentences. They sought to do this by subjecting the practitioners to severe mental torment, insulting their characters, beating them and threatening them. In particular, they wanted this over 60-year-old man to compile an essay "exposing and criticising" Falun Gong in order to confuse the public. Principles that Falun Dafa practitioners believe, such as "Good is rewarded with good and bad deeds provokes retribution," they scoffed at. These techniques are what they claim constitute their "reform education."

It was stated in a government officials' report that this type of prison violence was "reform education" for the Falun Gong practitioners. They claimed that the criminal activities and unjust actions against the practitioners were legitimate. A prison guard whose nickname was "Principal Yang" said it more directly, "Even if we torment or torture one or two of you to death here, it would not impact the officials or the prison. We can just issue a report stating that you died of an accident during work or died of illness."

The practitioners are strictly forbidden to have any conversation with others in the prison. Each practitioner is closely monitored by three criminal prisoners around the clock. Any move such as a glance, a hand gesture or even just extending one's leg could be berated as Falun Gong practice. From all appearances it looked like the practitioners didn't do much labour, yet they were subjected to wrongful treatment. The purpose was to force the practitioners to follow the prison guards' orders to write false statements defaming Falun Dafa. One official said, "If you don't write this, we won't be selected as a model prison and won't get a bonus." They frequently used the false statements and lies to deceive people.

In January 2004, Mr. Zhang Liujun, who was severely punished for writing "Falun Dafa is Great!" on the wall and declaring that the practice of Falun Gong was non-criminal, was once again imprisoned. He was handcuffed to the punishment bed for about two months and was monitored by six or seven criminal prisoners. Three or four officers interrogated him in turn every day. They verbally abused him during the daytime, and the criminal prisoners abused him in the evening. One criminal prisoner said that many "real men" feared the punishment bed, yet this over 60-year-old man still didn't collapse after being handcuffed on it for about two months. He was really admired!

In these years since Zigong Prison has incarcerated practitioners, several practitioners have suffered the gross abuse of being handcuffed on the punishment bed. Now all the practitioners confined in Zigong Prison solemnly declare to the world and to all the people: "We are determined Dafa practitioners. Falun Dafa is Righteous. We declare invalid all the written statements and deeds not reflecting the true facts of Falun Dafa that we may have written or signed with unclear minds under intense persecution. We appeal to everyone: Do not believe any slanderous or false information of any kind against Dafa. In the meantime, we ask that all kind and concerned people pay attention to, condemn, and stop Zigong Prison's brutal persecution towards those wo practise Falun Dafa."

In addition, around May 2004, an over 50-year-old Falun Dafa practitioner (name not yet known) was arrested and taken to the Zi Zhong Detention Centre. Refusing to write the three statements¹, this practitioner was shackled in steel chains to the punishment bed, suffered forced feeding after a hunger strike, and was beaten and verbally abused during the night by the criminal prisoners who were given orders by the prison guards. Fifteen days later this practitioner was sent to a hospital and died.

Note:

(1) "Three Statements": Practitioners are coerced under brainwashing and torture to write "Repentance Statement," "Guarantee Statement" or 'Dissociation Statement" as proof that they have given up their belief. In the statement, the practitioner is forced to admit remorse for practising Falun Gong, promise to give up Falun Gong, and never again associate with other practitioners or go to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2005/7/31/107316.html