Tianjin Chadian Prison Inhumanly Persecutes Falun Gong Practitioners

Chadian Prison, a men's prison in Tianjin City, has incarcerated sentenced Falun Gong practitioners from Beijing since November 2000. Presently, more than 140 practitioners are still being held in the prison. In order to deceive the public, the authorities have imprisoned male practitioners from Beijing in Tianjin. Mr. Li Chang, Mr. Wang Zhiwen and Mr. Ji Liewu are all members of the former Falun Dafa Research Society and being held at Chadian Prison.

By the end of 1999 many of the practitioners at Chadian Prison were sentenced to more than 10 years of imprisonment. Between 2001 and 2005 more than 20 practitioners were sentenced to 9-10 years of imprisonment. The rest were given sentences of five to eight years.

Those practitioners who were sentenced in November 2000 were held at separate prisons in Chadian, Tianjin City. In November 2000 these individual prisons were merged into one large prison capable of housing more than 1,000 people. All the imprisoned Falun Gong practitioners were held together in Qianjin Prison. Later, when the prison was unable to hold any more practitioners, they were diverted to other prisons.

During 2000 and 2001 the authorities were the most ruthless. The staged "Tiananmen Square Self-Immolation¹" incident deceived countless kind-hearted people, including the prisoners and the prison guards. Before the incident they all showed their understanding and sympathy toward Falun Gong practitioners because they witnessed the kindness of the practitioners. However, after the staged "self-immolation" incident, the prisoners and the prison guards all hated the practitioners and regarded them as murderers. As a result, they mercilessly beat the practitioners.

To try to force the steadfast practitioners to give up their belief, the prison guards adopted all kinds of methods to "transform²" them. Those who were subjected to serious persecution included Mr. Xu Chengzao, escorted to the prison in November 2000, as well as Mr. Zhu Keming and Mr. Lin Shusen, who were imprisoned in January and February of 2001. Mr. Xu Chengzao was over 50 years old and a steadfast Falun Gong practitioner. The persecution he suffered was most serious and vile.

Winter in Chadian is extremely cold. The prison guards forced Mr. Xu to run outside and then to sing songs while standing for long periods of time³. Mr. Xu was subjected to this punishment despite being over 50 years old. Mr. Xu had scabs on his hands as a result of frostbite. However, this did not shake Mr. Xu's firm belief in Dafa. The prison guards hinted to other inmates that they should torture Mr. Xu. They used insidious and ruthless tactics to torture him. The inmates kicked him in places where injuries would not be seen by others. They pushed him to the ground and used a sharpened toothbrush to stab his buttocks, thighs, arms and ribs. They also inserted square chopsticks between his fingers and squeezed his hands while twisting the chopsticks. The pain Mr. Xu suffered was beyond description. One inmate even tore open the scab on Mr. Xu's hand, which caused heavy bleeding. This behaviour was savage and ruthless. (This inmate was later sentenced to death for other crimes.)

Practitioner Mr. Lin Shusen was escorted to the Qianjin Prison in Chadian in February 2001. In order to force him to renounce Falun Gong, the prison guards deprived him of sleep for six days and ordered several inmates to observe him around the clock to prevent him from closing his eyes. During this time they used four to eight electric batons to beat and shock him. Mr. Lin was nearly beaten to death as a result. In May 2005 Mr. Lin Shusen was arrested again by the Xinjiekou Police Station of the Xicheng District in Beijing, and his whereabouts are still unknown.

Mr. Zhu Keming suffered from inhuman torture with electric batons while being held at the Beijing Prison in 2001. Mr. Zhu was firm in his belief and repeatedly appealed his sentence. As a result, he was placed in isolation in the "strict control cell" for one month. During this time he was not allowed to close his eyes for seven days. Mr. Lin, who was previously in good health, was changed beyond recognition and not of sound mind due to the severe torture.

Mr. Zhu Keming, Mr. Yang Jie, Mr. Li Jinpeng and Mr. Li Baoshu all suffered from electric shocks, which left scars in their bodies. Up to six people took part in the persecution.

Practitioners held several times in isolated cells under strict control from November 2001 to the present include: the staff of the original Falun Dafa Research Society, Mr. Ji Liewu, Mr. Zhu Keming, Mr. Shi Shaoping, Mr. Lin Shusen, Mr. Shi Zhendong, Mr. Rong Wei and Mr. Jiang Tao. Among them, Mr. Shi Shaoping was held in an isolated cell under strict control from November 2004 to this day. He has a Master's degree and was working at the Chinese Academy of Science. In 2001, he was illegally sentenced to 10 years in prison. Right now he is being held at the No. 9 Sub-Imprisonment Area of the Chadian Prison in Tianjin and is awaiting forced brainwashing. Although under severe pressure, Mr. Shi has rebuffed the brainwashing many times and stated to the guards that it was wrong to impose this so-called "transformation." Because he spoke out like this, Mr. Shi Shaoping was put under strict control and placed in isolation many times. He was not allowed to meet or speak to other people or Falun Gong practitioners.

While in isolation the detainees usually suffer from despicable treatment. Even when the prison guards witnessed the maltreatment through the prison surveillance system, they would pretend they did not know what was going on. The victim placed in controlled isolation was forced to eat, sleep and relieve himself all in that one room. Under these circumstances, the living conditions soon became appalling.

As a matter of fact, every practitioner who arrived at the prison would be watched by several inmates. Everything he said and did would be strictly controlled. The perpetrators would talk to him during the day and force him to study and write his "confessions" in the evening. They also deprived practitioners of sleep. Until the practitioner renounced Falun Gong, he would not be allowed to sleep for more than five hours a day. These steadfast practitioners were physically and mentally injured as a result of such maltreatment.

Address: 106-12 Letterbox, Chadian Station, Jingshan County, Hangu, Tianjin City.

Note

1. The "Tiananmen Self-Immolation" [an incident on Tiananmen Square in January 2001 whereby four people set themselves alight and the Chinese Communist claimed they were Falun Gong practitioners, yet there was video evidence to strongly disprove this claim]

2. "Reform or Transform" Implementation of brainwashing and torture in order to force a practitioner to renounce Falun Gong. (Variations: "reform", "transform", "reformed", "reforming", "transformed", "transforming", and "transformation")

3. The punishment "Being forced to stand for a long time" means that the victim has to stand facing a wall all day long except for the time spent eating, sleeping and using the toilet. This occurs from the time one rises at 5 a.m. until 1 a.m. or 2 a.m. the next morning when one is allowed to go to bed. This abuse usually lasts several days. If someone cannot withstand the intensity of prolonged standing and loses consciousness, the guards will then force-feed him or her with drugs.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.org/mh/articles/2005/11/20/114876.html