The Gross Physical Abuse and Mental Torment I Suffered in Jilin Prison Between 2002 and 2005

I am a practitioner from Changbaishan, Jilin Province, who was sentenced to five years in February 2002 because I spoke to people about the facts of Falun Dafa. On June 28th, I was sent to the Education Team/Education Division in Jilin Prison. After four months of brutal torture I had lost 60 pounds—from 140 to 80.

There are three teams in the Educational Division: The Comprehensive Inspection Team, the Strictly Monitored Team, and the Education Team. The guards put practitioners in solitary cells in the Strictly Monitored Team. Each cell contains a torture instrument called the Stretching Bed. The prison officials ordered several criminal inmates to manage other practitioner inmates.

On June 28th, 2002, at 2 p.m. they took me to the Comprehensive Inspection Team and restrained me on the Stretching Bed. They inserted a tube through my nose into my stomach and force-fed me with salty rice soup. Later they pulled me up and forced me to walk. When we walked to the Education Team a group of criminals came up to me, made fun of me, teased me, and verbally abused me. I told them, "You are deceived by the regime. What you are doing is sinful."

Seven criminal inmates monitored me at night. I heard loud screams from the Strictly Monitored Team next door. The screams were horrifying. The criminals told me, "Somebody is on the Stretching Bed now. They stretch his legs and arms. That person will either die or be disabled if they keep stretching him for a long time. Jilin Prison is extremely brutal."

Since I was very weak they stopped torturing me physically for a time, but they never stopped the mental torment. People from the Education Department and the Prison Affairs Department, several officers from this division, Chief Wen, Chief Pang, and several instructors came to me in turn. They tried to convince me to "reform¹" and forced me to watch videos that slandered Dafa. They also ordered criminal inmates to keep me under surveillance and try to make me reform.

In November 2002, the prison officials, using various torture methods, tortured more than 100 practitioners. The methods included the Stretching Bed, a "V" shaped Hanging Instrument, Strictly Monitoring, Solitary Cell Jailing, Sitting on Hard Wood or Bumpy Surfaces, beatings with a belt or stick, and other cruelties. The guards beat practitioners ruthlessly, sometimes even breaking their sticks. They would not stop until the practitioners gave up their belief.

Some practitioners developed lung disease from the torture.

Besides the physical torture, policeman Li Yongsheng from the Education Department, who is in charge of "reforming" practitioners, also tried to brainwash us. He forced us to listen to the radio and watch a video that slandered Dafa. They played a tape of the staged Tiananmen Square Self-Immolation² incident and other lies to pollute people's minds. To resist this unconstitutional violation of human rights I started a hunger strike again and petitioned them to stop slandering Dafa. I told them that I would not eat until they stopped. On the sixth day I was sent to the Strictly Monitored Team and locked restrained on the Stretching Bed. Criminal inmates applied all kinds of additional torture. They hit my eyeballs, kicked my head, and stepped on my arms and legs, which were being stretched. My wrists hurt with excruciating pain and became paralysed.

Policeman Li Huiyu told the other inmates, "What is hell on earth? This is it!" After the torture they started force-feeding me. Several inmates held my legs and head. I felt that my head was going to explode. I could hardly breathe. Ding Zhaosong pushed a tube very deeply into my stomach through my nose saying, "His stomach is really deep. Look, his stomach is really deep." They fed me salty rice soup and pushed on my stomach. I felt the rice soup going all the way down to my intestines. I rushed to toilet, expelling salty water and blood. They locked me on the stretching bed again. Li Huiyu said, "You are only 1.68 metres tall now. I guarantee that you will be 1.70 metres tall after the stretching." He also stated that nobody could endure this for more than two hours.

Three days later the Prison Affairs Department chief came and said, "Let’s see who is tougher; you or the government!" Since I refused to renounce my belief, my wrists were swollen and bleeding from the torture. I still have scars on my wrists. Whenever I lie down my arms hurt and are still numb.

Fifteen days later (on New Year's, January 2003) I was released from one department but still jailed in the Strictly Monitored Team. I was forced to sit straight up in the full lotus position, facing the wall, hands on knees, and I was forbidden to move, otherwise they would beat me. I was forced to sit like that from 4:30 a.m. to 7:30 pm. every day. I was permitted meal and bathroom breaks. I was exhausted from this torture. My legs hurt and the skin on my buttocks peeled off. My feet were swollen and the skin on my feet also peeled off. According to official prison rules, the maximum time in solitary confinement is three months, but I was incarcerated there for one year. The long-term torture paralysed my legs and I have difficulty walking, even now.

More than ten practitioners arrived in October 2003. Wu Yifeng, a college professor, yelled, "Falun Dafa is good" as several criminal inmates carried him in. The instructor ordered the inmates to restrain Professor Wu on the Stretching Bed. His whole body was lifted and stretched, and only his buttocks touched the bed. His hands and wrists swelled quickly. Criminal inmate Xu Zhigang told to two others, "Give him a massage!" The other two rubbed Professor Wu’s hands and feet against the metal rings, making his hands and feet bleed and swell. Professor Wu became incontinent from the torture. Urine soaked the wounds on his buttocks, injuries stemming from torture in another prison division.

Since I frequently protested the brutal persecution of Falun Gong, guards Xu Zhigang, Ding Zhaosong and Gao Yulin were angry. They beat me severely and made my back swollen. I had pain from my back to my chest. One of my fingers was broken and swollen.

At the end of October 2003 my weight had dropped to 70 pounds. I coughed constantly and had a fever. Every morning I coughed up red mucus. I was sent to the hospital on November 20th. I was diagnosed with serious lung disease and was in grave condition. Since I refused to collaborate with the evildoers I was again place in solitary confinement. They injected me with drugs and poured medicine into my mouth. My mind was not clear and I could not take care of myself. It was now wintertime. I wore only thin clothes. The cell window was broken, and the snow came into my room. I had constipation. My anus was ruptured and bleeding. Twenty days later, the guards took me to the hospital again.

In the hospital I heard that practitioner Liu Chengjun was next door. He had been force-fed and was in serious condition. A few days later he was sent to another hospital. Somebody told me later that Liu Chengjun died as a result of the persecution.

In April 2004 I was transferred to the Old and Disabled People's Division. A fellow practitioner told me, "There are too many Falun Gong practitioners in Jilin Prison. About 40 of them were sent to Meihekou Prison."

I heard about the persecution of many practitioners. According to a reliable source, Yang Feng was tortured to the point of extreme weakness and can barely walk by himself. Sun Qian was hung up and force-fed, which made his face swell. Because he had started a hunger strike to protest, the prison officials forbade all family visits. Policemen beat Cao Zhonghua and broke some of his teeth because he read Dafa articles. Zhang Hongwei was jailed in the Strictly Monitored Team and in a solitary cell for two years, making him extremely weak and unable to walk unaided. Yang Guang’s legs were disabled and he could not take care of himself. It was said that some practitioners had developed lung disease, brain disease, or liver disease and that some had died from torture. A practitioner was beaten to death in a brainwashing centre. The police took his body to the hospital and claimed that he had died from some sort of disease.

At the beginning of the 2005 Chinese New Year I started a hunger strike again to protest the persecution. My lungs were in very bad condition then. I coughed constantly. Five days later I was sent to a hospital. I strongly asked the prison to release me and refused any therapy or food. I was then locked into a solitary cell and force-fed drugs and food.

In March 2005 I protested the persecution again. On March 31st, 20 practitioners and I were transferred to Tiebei Prison in Changchun.

I refused to collaborate with evildoers in the Tibei Prison, so police guard Liu cruelly beat me. He also stepped on my feet, making them swell. He also severely pinched my face, making two marks. Two months later I became very sick. My left lung didn’t function at all, and my right lung became worse. The bronchial tubes were so swollen that I could not breathe or swallow food. I was sent to two hospitals. Since the prison could not afford the fee, they told my family to take me home in June 2005.

Note

1. "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")

2. 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]

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2006/6/26/131368.html