The Brutal Persecution of Mr. Li Yansheng at Baoding Prison in Hebei Province

Dafa practitioner Li Yansheng is from Sizhilan Village in Sizhilan County, Xingtai City, Hebei Province. He steadfastly cultivates Dafa, and because of this, he was detained at Beijiao Prison in Shijiazhuang City and brutally persecuted. The authorities placed him in solitary confinement and beat him. He was sent to a special team and monitored by designated personnel. After their plots to "transform¹" him failed, Mr. Li was transferred to Baoding Prison in Hebei Province.

After his transfer to Baoding Prison, Li Yansheng suffered more serious abuses by guards and criminals. The following is a summary of his treatment at Baoding Prison. News of his situation was only obtained after passing through many people.

In July 2005, Mr. Li was meditating in the morning. The officer on duty, Yang Yong, told prisoner Xu Shuli to come in. Xu grabbed Li Yansheng by the neck. Then he told prisoners Liu Lihua, Tian Xiaoping, and Ma Jianli to come in and hold Li Yansheng's hands and feet. He fell to the floor. Xu hit his abdominal area, while Yang Yong pressed him for an answer: "Will you still practise?" Li Yansheng answered, "Yes." This type of abuse occurred many times. To protest this treatment, Li Yansheng refused to do labour work.

On July 20th, he was meditating on his bed in the evening. Xu Shuli told him to put his hands down. Li Yansheng said, "How can I listen to you?" Xu told Liu Lihua, Tian Xiaoping, and Ma Jianli to drag him down onto the floor and they did this several times. Xu also wore gloves to punch him in the abdomen. Mr. Li was beaten until he almost went into shock. The scars still remain. In the afternoon, Yang Yong and Wang Xiong (the Party chief) sent Li Yansheng to the factory district. He told the Party chief about his injuries sustained during the beatings and asked Wei Donglai, the political instructor, to reflect on this matter. Yang Yong denied it. At 2:00 p.m., Mr. Li went for a check-up at the hospital. The doctor decided he should stay in the hospital. At around 1:00 a.m., Mr. Li was transferred to the No. 252 Hospital for an emergency operation. After the surgery, they inserted a tube in his stomach, catheterized him, put him on a saline drip, and put him in a ward for seriously ill patients. Twelve days later, they put him in a regular ward. The doctor-in-charge, Yin Chengxiang, told the head of the team that the beating had caused life threatening abdominal injuries.

Because Mr. Li's injuries were so serious, two weeks later when the stitches were due to come out open, the wound still hadn't fully healed, so they only took out a few of the stitches. On day 19, they put in two more stitches. The tube inserted in his right side was only removed after two months.

The prison's medical examiner determined that Li Yansheng's liver, gallbladder, stomach, and intestines had been damaged. The surgical incision was 16 centimetres long and needed 18 stitches.

Despite the serious abuse suffered by Li Yansheng, he did not receive fair redress. When Xu Shuli beat Li Yansheng, to avoid inflicting scars and to hide the damage, he often wore gloves when he hit him and used his bare feet to kick his abdomen. As a result Li Yansheng was severely injured internally and ended up needing 12 days of emergency care at the No. 252 Hospital in Baoding. After 20 days, he was sent to a hospital in the vicinity of the prison, and after 40 days, he was released from the hospital. Despite his injuries, the court still sentenced Li Yansheng to another two years in prison. This was a very unjust sentence.

In the morning, when Li Yansheng tried to do the exercises in the prison cell, his cell mates Xu Shuli, Liu Lihua, Tian Xiaoping, and Ma Jianli (who would be implicated if Li Yansheng was caught doing the exercises) held his feet and hands and hit him while he was on the floor. Xu Shuli inflicted violence on Li Yansheng many times. On one occasion in October 2002, Mr. Li was hung up by handcuffs and was punched and kicked. On another occasion in March 2003, his cell mates Wang Xinqiang, Liu Tao (since released), Sun Quanyou (since released), and Wu Cunbao took turns hitting him on his thighs. Mr. Li then had difficulty walking. Wang used a cigarette butt to burn Li Yansheng's toenail. Sun Quanyou used a live 2000-volt electric wire to shock his neck and face many times. In April 2004, inmate Luo Xuepei violently pressed on Mr. Li's knee joints until they were dislocated and his ligaments were torn.

Above is the abuse experienced by Mr. Li Yansheng in the No. 5 Prison Division of Baoding Prison (the Founding Unit).

Note: In July 2005 after Mr. Li Yansheng was tortured, Xu Shuli's prison term was extended by two years; Yang Yong was placed in solitary confinement; and Liu Lihua, Tian Xiaoping, and Ma Jianli received a warning, hardly fair punishment when measured against Li Yansheng's treatment.

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")

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2006/11/16/142553.html