Persecution of Practitioners in Shiling Prison, Siping City, Jilin Province - (Part 4)

Part 1 - http://www.clearharmony.net/articles/200701/37524.html
Part 2 - http://www.clearharmony.net/articles/200701/37546.html
Part 3 - http://www.clearharmony.net/articles/200701/37559.html

B. Persecution By Taking Advantage of Sentimentality Between Family Members

Staff at Siping Shiling Prison is very adept in methods to make practitioners renounce their faith. They use threats, promise various benefits, use the "stick and carrot" approach, and so on. They come up with methods that no normal human mind would even dream up.

Practitioner Mr. Huang Yuxin was sentenced to nine years to be served at Siping Shiling Prison. Prison staff and the 610 Office¹ of Jilin Province cooperated extremely well. They used the dire living conditions of Mr. Huang's destitute family to force Mr. Huang to be "transformed²They even used the attraction between Mr. Huang and his wife, as well as threatened her during a visit. They also attempted to video record them.

Practitioner Mr. Liang Zhenxing was sentenced to a 19-year term, because he had been involved in the March 2005 television incident in Changchun City. He had been transferred to many prisons and suffered torture in every one of them. During the second half of 2005, he was transferred from Tiebei Prison in Changchun City to Siping Prison, where he is still imprisoned. Family visits have been and are still not allowed. Beginning on May 6th, 2006, Mr. Liang went on a hunger strike to protest the persecution of practitioners. Between May 11th and 12th, prison staff found Mr. Liang's wife and invited her for a visit. His wife could see him at Siping Hospital on May 12th and saw that he was wearing leg-irons. Mr. Liang mentioned that the guards prohibited anyone from talking to or even looking at him. Talking to or looking at him could lead to brutal beatings. Mr. Liang said that he went on a hunger strike to protest this persecution. He demands that all practitioners are released unconditionally. During that visit, the guards wanted to video record the visit, but Mr. Liang's wife refused to cooperate.

C. Psychological Attacks

Siping Shiling Prison staff's minds worked overtime to find many terrible methods to persecute practitioners. No method was too inhuman. All they want is to torture good people and try to destroy their righteous thoughts. They always "review" their experiences and change methods. As soon as they discover that brutal beatings don't work, they switch to torture that results in excruciating pain. If that is not successful, they use psychological attacks.

Eleven practitioners were transferred from Jilin Prison to Siping Shiling Prison. Prison staff pretended to be nice at first and tried psychological attacks. I must note here that all prison guards have read Zhuan Falun [This book comprises the principal teachings of Falun Dafa], but they read it with negative thoughts on their minds and thus of course couldn't understand what they read. Practitioners' lives first appeared to be better than they were at other prisons, but this was only a ruse. It was only to make them give up their beliefs. The minute they realised that psychological attacks wouldn't work, they became extremely cruel and brutal.

D. Use of Collaborators³ to Slander Dafa

The persecutors have always used collaborators, those who betrayed their conscience and gave up their faith and honesty, to transform practitioners. These collaborators twist and distort the truth and slander Dafa. They no longer can be called practitioners. They bow in front of persecutors and betray their conscience for momentary happiness. They've done many bad deeds that are even worse than those who are following the dictates of Jiang Zemin.

In Changchun City, Zhu Jiahui (male), Zhang Jingxu (female), and Wang Mingli (male) are just a few names of the six or seven collaborators. They receive a monthly salary from the 610 Office. Since July 5th, 2006, they are under the auspice of the Jilin Province 610 Office. They were brought to the prison to brainwash and persecute practitioners.

E. Persecution in the Hospital

Shiling Prison has its own hospital. To many practitioners, however, this hospital is no better than being in a small isolation cell, as cruel and inhuman torture continues. Compared with the small isolation cell, torture in this place is even more brutal.

According to a Minghui.net [Chinese version of Clearwisdom.net] article dated December 18th, 2006, practitioner Mr. Liang Zhenxing was transferred from Jilin Prison to the 22nd Division of Tiepei Prison in Changchun City on March 20th, 2005. Because he refused to cooperate, he was again transferred to Siping Shiling Prison. He has been on a hunger strike for more than three months. He is being tortured in the prison hospital. Several inmates were assigned to monitor him.

Practitioner Mr. Yang Zhanjiu is still in the prison hospital. His lower body is paralysed and he cannot live by himself. He's suffering terrible pain day-in and day-out. Practitioners Liu Zhijun, Wang Hongge, and others are also in this hospital and being subjected to inhuman torture.

Practitioner Mr. Jin Xuezhe was arrested three years ago. His family does not know any details about him. They don't know his health condition or the type of torture he suffers. They only know that he's in the prison hospital. During visits the phone line is monitored and he cannot talk about the torture he suffers or the phone line will immediately go dead, and he no longer would be allowed family visits.

F. Persecution by Forming an Education Brigade

In the second half of 2006, a new round of persecution was initiated. A so-called "Education Brigade" was formed, and at this time more than 50 practitioners are held at that Brigade, all brought in from separate divisions. The cells are rigged with a monitoring system, and practitioners are often made to sit on a wooden stool. They are not allowed to talk or walk.

The Minghui website reported on December 18th, 2006, that around 3 p.m. on July 25th, 2006, most practitioners held in Shiling Prison were brought to the Education Division (also called the Education Brigade). In reality this is a place where they actually assault law-abiding people. More than ten practitioners are in cells Number 1, 2, and 3 for intensified persecution. They are not allowed to talk, and if practitioners in the same cell even looked at each other, they would be verbally abused by the guards. If a practitioner tries to explain anything, he is cursed at. If an argument ensues, the guard orders inmates to brutally beat practitioners.

In the morning of the 26th, practitioner Mr. Liu Zhijun in cell number 2 didn't cooperate with a prisoner's order to "sit and study." Prisoner Li Wenjun beat him without mercy with everyone looking on. Then he was dragged into the guard's office, a small dark room, where officers Yang Tiejun and Zhang Sixing shocked his face, head, neck, and the rest of his body with electric batons. Two prisoners carried Mr. Liu Zhijun back to the cell. Mr. Liu was mentally disoriented and he had severe burns all over his body. Even after a long time had passed, his skin bore the scars of the electric burns.

Prisoners Li Wenjun and Han Jingjun in Cell number two were paid by the guards to threaten practitioners. They would say, "Do you know why you were brought here? Let us tell you! It is for more focused torture. The guards claimed that everything would be just like when Falun Gong was first banned in 1999. If you Falun Gong people don't listen or obey, you will be beaten, and if you are beaten to death, we will just say you died naturally. What can you do then? Who will witness this?" These two evil people always threatened practitioners like this in the hope that they would be terrified.

July 31st, 2006, was a clean-up day. Just after 3 p.m., some prisoners forced everyone to mop the floors and clean the glass windows. One practitioner refused to cooperate. Inmate Li Wenjun cursed for a while and then reported to guard Zhang Sixing. After he returned, he and inmate Han Jingjun took this practitioner to a corner near the washroom and brutally beat him. One inmate hit the practitioner's face and head, and the other hit his chest, back, and ribs. Other prisoners then joined in. The practitioner was beaten until he spat out blood and passed out. When he regained consciousness, he saw blood all over his clothes. The inmates then placed him between two big iron buckets. Criminal prisoner Zong Yanlong from cell number one demanded to know whether he would work, but the practitioner didn't answer. Zong Yanlong got mad and hit the practitioner's throat brutally. The practitioner passed out again. When he regained consciousness, the criminals cleaned his head and face to hide their crime and then took him back to his cell. Afterwards guard Zhang Sixing threatened the practitioner, "Beating you like this was nothing; next time it will be worse." Because this practitioner was hurt very badly, he asked for a medical examination, but guard Zhang Sixing just ignored it. The practitioner then asked to see the supervising officer, but the guard and his criminal accomplices prevented it.

We are detailing just one example of "transformation" by brutal violence. At 8 p.m. on September 9th, 2006, captain Yin Shoudong; instructor Geng Mingcai; and some policemen, including Yang Tiejun and Zhang Sixing, called all nine practitioners from cell Number three to the office. They told them to sign an agreement not to practise Falun Dafa anymore. The practitioners refused, so the guards brutally tortured them with electric torture devices. The entire prison could hear the practitioners' painful screams.
Police guards Yang Tiejun and Geng Mingcai, as well as inmates Li Wenjun and Gao Minglong, are the worst offenders in Shiling Prison when it comes to persecuting Falun Dafa practitioners. Their torture methods are extremely cruel. Those who don't give up cultivation are either brutally beaten or tortured with electric batons. They pour water on the ground and then shock practitioners with electric batons. Guard Geng Mingcai threatened practitioners, "Do you know what district this is? Do you know me? Do you understand why I was transferred here? It was precisely to torture all you practitioners."

Another practitioner (name unknown) was tortured in Shiling Prison until his entire body was paralysed, and he could no longer live independently. It has been two years, and he is still facing persecution.
In June of 2006, staff at Shiling Prison and from the 610 Office in Changchun City began another round of irrational persecution of practitioners from Changchun City and the greater Changchun area. On July 25th, guards put all the practitioners into one area and started a round of inhuman torture, resulting in excruciating pain. For several days, every morning at 8 a.m., practitioner Mr. Xie Fei was brought to an empty room. The police ordered several inmates to brutally beat him once the door was closed. Then he was taken to see the 610 Office agents, who had prepared materials slandering Dafa to brainwash practitioners. Every day this cruel method was used to torture practitioners. Mr. Xie was tortured inhumanly. His head was totally out of shape, his eyes were badly congested, and he suffered great pain for a long time.

Practitioner Mr. Liu Xiaoyong, who was held in the Fourth Supervised District at the prison, was tortured twice by guards Du Guo, He, Li, and others. They took turns to torture him with electric batons. His skin was badly burned, and he was locked into a small isolation cell.

Practitioner Mr. Shen Lixin lived in the District of Relatives of the Sifangtuozi Prison in Jilin Province. He was a police guard at Zhenlai County Second Prison, Jilin Province. Because he persisted in practising Falun Dafa, he was sentenced to forced labour. In 2004, he was arrested at home and sentenced to a seven-year prison term. He was taken to Shiling Prison, where he was brutally tortured by guards because he refused to cooperate and was not afraid of their threats. In November 2005, he was transferred to the 12th Supervised District of the Tiebei Prison in Changchun City, where he still would not cooperate. In March 2006, he was transferred to the 22nd District for persecution. He went on a hunger strike to protest the persecution. He was transferred to Jilin Prison at the end of March for further persecution. His current condition is unknown.

III. Examples of Practitioners Disabled from Torture

The following was reported on the Minghui website on January 12th, 2005:

On December 20th, 2004, Mr. Yang Zhanjiu, a practitioner from Yushu City, Jilin Province, was forced to jump out of a building at Siping Prison in Jilin Province. His current condition is unknown. In order to avoid responsibility, prison staff claimed that Mr. Yang jumped because he regretted writing a repentance statement⁴. But the fact is he never wrote it. He jumped to escape forced "transformation."

Siping Shiling Prison does its utmost to block information to reach the world outside the prison camp. They hold great fear that their evil acts will be exposed. The prison authorities established a new rule: Family members of practitioners must provide proof from the local police station that they do not practise Falun Gong before they are allowed to see imprisoned practitioners. This has deprived many family members of their legitimate visiting rights. The prison could not provide documentation citing this regulation when family members of practitioners demanded to see it. The prison staff put great pressure on practitioners who refused to be "transformed." They used despicable means in an effort to "transform" practitioners. They also doubled monitoring by criminal prisoners.

Practitioner Mr. Yang Zhanjiu is from Yushu City, Jilin Province. He was arrested during July 2002. He endured many torture methods in Yushu City Detention Centre. In March 2004, he was sentenced to seven years to be served in Siping Shiling Prison. Not long afterwards, prison staff notified Mr. Yang's family that he fell from the building and that the heel bones of both feet were broken into pieces. They said and that he was taken to a hospital in Changchun for treatment. Hospital doctors removed both bones and now the nerves in both legs are dead. He cannot walk and cannot live independently. In late February 2006, Mr. Yang's brother went to Changchun Hospital to see him. After checking Mr. Yang's body, his brother said that his lower body is completely insensitive, and surgery would not change anything. He did not want to be force-fed, so he ate one meal a day. He had become extremely weak. Prison staff were still trying to escape responsibility and kept telling his family members that after the surgery, if he gets better, he would be released. But surgery was unsuccessful, and Mr. Yang Zhanjiu was taken back to the prison. His family members asked many times for medical parole, which the prison authorities refused.

From information we could gather we understand that many practitioners in this prison are suffering one or another kind of disability or illnesses at various stages. Some have heart problems, some have kidney problems, and some are dizzy from high blood pressure. All these were caused by brutal tortures.

Practitioner Mr. Wang Lianshu was arrested and held in the Educational Division. He has been tortured brutally many times. Many years of arrests and forced brainwashing have taken their toll. His body shows much damage. He even has trouble walking and recently one side of his face was black and purple.
Practitioner Mr. Wang Hongge is also held in the Educational Division. He was arrested six years ago. His is in very bad health. His heart often hurts. He has stomach, liver, kidney, spleen, and gallbladder problems of different degrees of severity. He is loosing more and more weight and appears emaciated. His health symptoms keep getting worse.

Practitioner Mr. Jiang Quande from Nong'an County, Jilin Province, is 51 years old. In 2002, he was arrested in Songyuan City, Jilin Province, and taken to Changchun City, Jilin Province. Both his arms are paralysed from being tortured. He was sentenced. Now Mr. Jiang is suffering torture in Siping Shiling Prison. His looks emaciated, and many of his teeth fell out from being beaten. His remaining teeth were broken in half. When his family finally heard from the prison an entire year had passed. Then, Mr. Jiang was sentenced to another nine years in prison. Mr. Jiang refused to do forced labour, so his sentence was extended. He was held in Changchun Chaoyang Forced Labour Camp. Later, he was taken to Fenjin Forced Labour camp for more intense torture. He was with 36 practitioners, including Liu Chengjun, Liang Zhenxing, Liu Haibo, and others. They experienced all kinds of brutal tortures but did not renounce their faith. Mr. Jiang was then taken back to Chaoyang Labour Camp.

To resist the persecution, Mr. Jiang always yelled, "Falun Dafa is good" and similar sentences. In September 2001, he was released unconditionally. In the winter of 2002, he and several practitioners were arrested at Songyuan City's Dafa leaflet production centre. The First Department of the Changchun City Police Station arrested them. The police did not notify the practitioners' families and held them for four days in the police station. The police brutally tortured them. They hung Mr. Jiang up by tying his arms behind his back. His two upper front teeth broke from being beaten, and both his arms were broken. Even today there is a scar four or five inches long on each of his forearms. Both his arms became disabled. In order to avoid legal responsibility, the police took Mr. Jiang back to Nong'an County, ignoring his condition. Mr. Jiang was held for two days in the Nong'an County Detention Centre and then was taken to the Songyuan City Detention Centre, where he was held for about six months. Then he was taken to Da'an Detention Centre and held for another six months. Then he was taken to Siping Shiling Prison for further persecution. When his son and daughter-in-law visited him, they noticed that he was only skin and bones. Mr. Jiang told his family the entire story since his first arrest. He said, "It's so dark inside. You cannot reason with them."

On February 6th, 2005, Mr. Jiang's daughter-in-law and younger sister, Jiang Xiaoru, went to the prison to visit him. The prison police said, "Today is Sunday and no visits are allowed. You can come tomorrow." They had no choice but to find a hotel near the prison. The hotel boss said, "There are many Falun Gong practitioners in this prison. Any practitioner from Jilin Province who received a long sentence will be held here. We don't know the exact number. The entire prison staff is afraid of practitioners, because several days ago, a 37-year-old practitioner climbed up to third floor and jumped from the window. Three leg bones were broken, and they had to take him to a hospital. The prison lost more than 10,000 yuan (over 650 GB pounds). The prison guards were reprimanded.

On February 7th, practitioners' family members were allowed to visit only after all other criminal prisoners' family members had left. A criminal prisoner's family member said: "I just saw my son. My son is the cell leader in charge of Falun Gong practitioners. I heard from him that practitioners inside do group exercises and go on hunger strikes. Many are suffering severe torture. Practitioners inside that prison suffer a lot." Mr. Jiang's daughter-in-law and sister finally were able to visit him at around 2 p.m. They had waited since 7 a.m. and were allowed to visit only after signing up twice at the front desk. Also at 2 p.m. the same day, the brother of practitioner Zheng Guomin's was able to see him . They saw that Mr. Jiang had lost three more front teeth.

IV. Tortured to Death

Practitioner Mr. Zhang Guibiao, 51, lived in the Chaoyang District, Changchun City, Jilin Province. He started practising Falun Dafa in 1998. When he went to Beijing to appeal in 2000, he was arrested and sentenced to three years in Chaoyanggou Forced Labour Camp.

After having served three years of forced labour, Mr. Zhang was again arrested in April 2004 and sentenced to a nine-year term. During his time in prison, his 80-year-old father was eagerly awaiting his release.
On April 12th, 2004, Changchun City State Security agents arrested Mr. Zhang when he was producing leaflets exposing the persecution. They put a face-mask over his head and took him to an unknown place. They tortured him by handcuffing him behind his back, forcing him to sit on a tiger bench, and exposing him to freezing conditions. He was later taken to Tiebei Detention Centre in Changchun City, where he was detained for 18 months. Four other practitioners were arrested at the same time. One of them, Mr. Jiang Yong, was tortured to death in July 2004 at the Tibei Detention Centre.

On February 3rd, 2006, the Chaoyang District Court held a 30-minute trial and sentenced Mr. Zhang Guibiao to nine years in prison. They transferred him to Shiling Prison in Siping City. Mr. Zhang used to be very healthy and strong, but by the time he entered Shiling Prison, he had been tortured severely and looked like an old man in his 60s. The doctor said that he had late-stage lung cancer and would live less than six months. Despite the diagnosis, Shiling Prison would not release him. They transferred him to the Tiebei Police Hospital. On July 12th, 2006, Mr. Zhang Guibao was close to death. His family demanded his release. The prison administration allowed bail "for medical treatment" to avoid being held responsible for his death.

Finally, Mr. Zhang came home, but he was only skin and bones. He was bedridden and could not sleep, eat or drink normally. He could not take care of himself and suffered excruciating pain constantly. He passed away on September 12th, 2006.

Shiling Prison, Siping City: most practitioners are held in the Educational Division.

CCP members involved in the persecution in this division are:

Head: Yin Shoudong
Team captain: Zhang Yejun
CCP members: Geng Mingcai, Wu Tie, Yang Yejun, Yi Haifeng,

Guard He Yulin: he tortures and attempts to "transform" practitioners. For each "transformed" practitioner one earns 100 yuan (6.5 GB pounds). He also let it be known that no one outside that division, that is, Changchun 610 Office and "transformed" practitioners who are involved in the torture of firm practitioners, would be paid for "transformation" work.

Siping Prison Main telephones 86-434-5462364; 86-434-5463712; 6-434-5462211; 6-434-5462212
Address of Siping Prison 135 Mail Box, Shiling Town Post Office, Sihai Line, Jilin Province. Zip Code: 136505
Prison head Gao Ping 86-13904341008 (C); 86-434-5465001 (H)
Prison head Li Wendong 86-434-5469002 (O); 86-434-3209787 (H)
Office of Education and Transformation Chen Guomin 86-13944480566 (C); 86-434-6166111 (H)

Note

1. "The 610 office" is an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other political and judiciary systems.

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. "Collaborators": Former practitioners who have turned against Falun Gong under brainwashing and torture. They are then made to assist in brainwashing and torturing practitioners.

4. Repentance Statement: In this 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://minghui.org/mh/articles/2006/12/28/145663.html