Persecution of Practitioners in Shiling Prison, Siping City, Jilin Province - (Part 1)

Since the persecution of Falun Gong began in 1999, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has sent out a secret order "kill without mercy" Falun Gong practitioners. It has used every available resource to keep the persecution alive: television, radio, newspaper, army, police, and secret agents. It made known that all civilians are to be involved in the persecution and has forced everyone to take a position. The CCP's intention regarding practitioners was to "destroy them physically, cut them off economically, and destroy them mentally and spiritually." Its goal was to destroy Falun Gong within three months. Practitioners' right to be good people was taken away, and the word "practice" alone could land one in prison. Practitioners have suffered and continue to suffer physically and spiritually, and some have even lost their precious lives.
Staff at the Shiling Prison of Siping City, Jilin Province, (also referred to as Siping Prison) is actively involved in the persecution of practitioners - those who are all good people. This prison is under the auspices of Jilin Province. It uses deeply hidden and cruel torture methods.

The methods and degree of persecution of Falun Gong has been revealed to the international public over the past years. Especially after the public revelations of organ harvesting from living Falun Gong practitioners for economic profit, those perpetrating atrocities and crimes against practitioners were shocked and frightened. But the evil people in Siping Shiling Prison did not restrain their criminal activities, but instead learned "lessons" from other prisons. They now block any such information from going beyond the prison walls. They use all means to deceive the outside world. They've created an image of a happy, jolly life in prison, yet their cruel torture of those who believe in Truthfulness, Compassion and Tolerance has worsened.

Although the information we are able to document is not complete, the little we can recount below gives a clear picture of the extremely evil acts committed at Siping Shiling Prison against Falun Gong practitioners. To provide a transparent historical accounting, we will divide the physical and mental torture into two sections and include supplemental information in subsequent sections.

I. Physical Torture

The staff at Siping Shiling Prison, from the top to the bottom levels, put much effort into the goal of "destroying practitioners physically," unless they renounce their belief in Falun Gong. Yet, they show a completely different image to the world beyond the prison gate. When a Falun Gong practitioner is first transferred from another prison to Siping, they give the practitioner the impression of having escaped the brutality experienced in other prisons. However once they discover that the practitioner cannot be "transformed¹," they show their brutal side. They then use all kinds of torture methods to the point of "physical destruction."

A. Forced "Transformation"

Forced "transformation" is carried out in secret. For example, they first imprisoned practitioners from Changchun in three cells located in the Educational Division. Then they cut off all communication with the outside. They first use different brainwashing techniques. These are supposed to initiate the breakthrough in the forced transformation. We were unsuccessful in obtaining details about this type of persecution.
However, shortly after this forced "transformation" was initiated, over 20 practitioners were "transformed." We note that these are practitioners who already had endured several life and death situations. Knowing this, we can conclude with confidence that the most inhuman tortures, resulting in such excruciating pain that was beyond human endurance, must have been used. The suffering was so great that some compromised.

On November 20th, 2006, practitioners' relatives who visited the prison found out that a new round of torture had begun. The prison staff used unimaginable torture against practitioners. Practitioner Mr. Liu Dapeng from Songyuan City, Jilin Province, is currently held in the 12th Division, also known as the Educational Division. He was tortured brutally. He can no longer sit upright without feeling excruciating pain in his back and has to hold on to something to be able to sit.

B. Monitoring by Prison Inmates

Monitoring by prison inmates is another method used by every prison in China in the persecution of practitioners. Inmates' cooperation is achieved by rewarding them. They are given six extra points a month for monitoring practitioners. Such points are used to reduce their prison terms. If inmates are successful in having practitioners write the three statements², they are awarded quite a number of extra points. Many criminals who don't know the truth bribe guards so they can monitor practitioners. Some monitors, to be awarded these points, brutally torture practitioners. Several criminals monitor practitioners who remain firm in their belief. They watch the practitioner around the clock.

Many criminal inmates monitored practitioner Mr. Jiang Quande from Nong'an County around the clock. They claim that the guards ordered them to record everything Mr. Jiang said and did every day, and that their records were checked daily by the heads of the divisions, including by the heads of the Department of Political Affairs and staff from the Office of Re-educating Unrelenting People. This office was created to persecute practitioners, with the goal of monitoring and "transformation." Some practitioners are forced into slave labor. They greet each other when they meet. The inmates assigned to monitor practitioners become very scared. They immediately stopped the practitioners from talking to each other. They are afraid that if guards notice, they will be punished. Inmates who monitor practitioners cannot leave them even for a moment.

On Chinese New Year's Eve 2005, Mr. Jiang wanted to take the New Year's Eve meal with practitioner Mr. Hou Qinghua, who was also held in the Fourth Division. The inmate who monitored him refused the request. To protest, Mr. Jiang did not eat anything on New Year's Eve.

Several days later, Mr. Jiang tried to borrow a shoe brush from Mr. Hou, and the monitor did not allow it. Mr. Jiang argued with them and was beaten brutally by prisoners. Then the head guard of the fourth division moved Jiang to a small isolation cell.

Prison authorities assigned inmates with criminal records to the Educational Division to monitor practitioners. These prisoners do not have to work as slave labor. In this division, practitioners are brainwashed. They cannot go to the bathroom when they need to. The monitors arrange the times when they can use the bathrooms as a group. Practitioners are followed and monitored at all times. These inmates also force the practitioners to go to the prison grounds, where they train them to walk in [military] formation or order them to run. Even elderly practitioners are not exempted from such exhaustive exercise.

C. Locking Them Up in a Small Isolation Cell

Many practitioners who are firm in their belief are locked up in small isolation cells. Almost every practitioner who refused to be "transformed" was isolated in a small cell. Inside the small isolation cells there are more, hidden torture methods, which are more brutal and inhuman. Since others can't observe what goes on in the isolation cells, the torture methods are worse, because they can do whatever they want.

Practitioner Mr. Jiang Quande resisted. Four inmates who monitor practitioners beat him to the ground. The prison head watched without blinking an eye. On the way to the small isolation cell, Mr. Jiang yelled loudly "Falun Dafa is good." In that small cell he was tortured on a Death Bed³.

Practitioner Mr. Fu Hongwei from Shulan City, Jilin Province, was arrested and held in the twelfth Division in 2005. Because he refused to participate in name-calling, answering roll call, or numbering, the director of the Office of Re-educating Unrelenting People, Yin Shoudong, called him in and talked to him. Mr. Fu was then locked up in a small isolation cell. In the small cell, the guards used several electric batons to torture him for over an hour. He protested with a hunger strike. He was taken to the prison hospital for force-feeding.

Practitioner Mr. Zou Jihua from Changchun City, Jilin Province, was arrested and held in the eighth division. In May 2005, Master's writings were found on him. He was locked up in a small isolation cell for one month. In the small isolation cell, every meal was one spoonful of watery hominy [also called grits--dried and puffed whole kernels of boiled corn]. Later, because his mother visited him, he was released from the small isolation cell.

Practitioner Mr. Jin Xuezhe from Changchun City, Jilin Province, was put into a small isolation cell for a day, because Teacher Li's writings were found on him.

Practitioner Mr. Wang Guiming from Tonghua City, Jilin Province, was transferred from Jilin City Prison to Shiling Prison of Siping City on February 23rd, 2004. He was held in the 11th Division. In March 2006, Master's writings were found on him. He was locked in a small isolation cell, and guards beat him with four electric batons. His face was beaten badly and all out of shape. Mr. Wang protested with a hunger strike. The guards took him to the prison hospital where he was brutally force-feed for a month.

Practitioner Mr. Zheng Guomin from Nong'an County, Jilin Province, ran out of the iron gate of the prison's passageway to escape being beaten by inmates. This gate was not allowed to be used by inmates, especially Falun Gong practitioners. He was punished for "rushing out the gate without permission." He was locked up in small isolation cell for two weeks.

To be continued

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. "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.

3. "Death Bed" torture: A practitioner is tied to a bed with his hands handcuffed above his head to the bed rails, and his legs tied with thin nylon ropes. The rope is then tightly wrapped around the practitioner's body and the bed, from his legs to his chest. The rope is wrapped so tightly that the practitioner has difficulty breathing and eventually loses consciousness.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.org/mh/articles/2006/12/28/145663.html