On October 21st, 2000, practitioner Mr. Cao Dong, 30, and Mr. Gao Feng, 31, were arrested by police in Beijing for producing Falun Dafa leaflets exposing the persecution, speaking out for justice and explaining the facts about Falun Dafa. They were sentenced to four and a half years and four years in prison respectively without any legal representation or process.
Force-Feeding
The most brutal torture was the savage force-feeding. After Mr. Gao and Mr. Cao were separated during their joint hunger strike, Clinic Director Lu Chaohua and many guards and team leaders began to force-feed Mr. Gao. Several criminal inmates pressed him against a chair, holding his head, his shoulder and his arms and pushing down his legs. Lu Chaohua tried to insert the feeding tube into his stomach. But the tube was too thick, so he had to change to a thinner tube. They force-fed Mr. Gao with some corn paste. Since then, they force-fed him once or twice a day. Lu Chaohua threatened Mr. Gao that if he did not cooperate, they would use a pair of iron pliers to knock out his teeth. They also inserted a thick tube through his mouth, causing Mr. Gao to vomit continuously and almost lose consciousness.
After a few days of force-feeding, Mr. Gao suffered from nausea and vomiting. His nose was swollen and often bled. He had swelling, soreness and a feeling of a foreign body inside his throat. He felt chest tightness and back swelling. He frequently suffered from stomach spasms and spine pain as if his spine were burning. His throat was swollen and the force-fed food often came up. His trachea and oesophagus felt burnt and his duodenum felt expanded. Once, a tube was inserted too deep in his stomach and passed through his pylorus, causing him extreme pain. Mr. Gao said that the tube went into his intestines. But the prison doctor said he was lying. They did not stop until Mr. Gao was sweating and shaking heavily and his face changed colour. Then they took out the tube, admitting it was inserted too deep. During the force-feeding, Mr. Gao felt as if a cat was scratching, tearing, and biting inside his stomach. Even after the tube was taken out for a long time, he still felt as if his stomach was extremely itchy. The tube insertion also caused Mr. Gao great pain at his navel. It felt as if the tube would come out through his navel. He felt depressed and scared. He had a lot of headaches and he was living in great pain daily.
Then, Mr. Gao became so weak that the force-feeding had to be stopped. The prison switched to I.V. injections. They checked his blood pressure, temperature, heartbeat, his tongue, his eyes, his heart and gave him blood tests. After the thirtieth day, the doctor said that his pupils were dilated and he might not survive. Prison staff took him to the forced labour camp hospital, where he was injected with unknown substances. Mr. Gao later gave in to his family's persuasions and stopped the hunger strike.
Later, criminal inmates told Mr. Gao that the forced labour camp hospital had tortured many practitioners, including Mr. Wang Youjiang, Mr. Ma Lansheng, Mr. Guo Shoujun and Mr. Guan Ziping. There was also a practitioner who was sentenced to a three-year prison term. He never told his name to the police so the court just called him "number 1014" when sentencing him. That practitioner was taken away the forced labour hospital in early 2004. No one saw him afterwards. Some criminal inmates suspected that he was taken to the Hualinping Mental Hospital for further torture.
Shocked by Electric Batons
The first day when Mr. Gao stopped his hunger strike, he had diarrhoea and went to the restroom more than thirty times. The following days he just was not hungry. Criminal inmate Ma Ling reported this to the team leader. Guards Zhao and Liu Bingcheng often scolded him for eating too much and they tried to force him to work. To protest this new torture, Mr. Gao went again on a hunger strike. A few days later he was taken back to cell number one. Liu Bingcheng and Wang Changlin ordered him to work. They threatened to take him to pick melon seeds if he held a hunger strike again, claiming that was the order from the "top." Mr. Gao just ignored them.
In the afternoon on December 24th, 2001, guards Wang Changlin, Liu Bingcheng, Zhao and He Liqing brought electric batons to cell number one. They kicked out all criminal inmates except He Congshan and Ma Ling. They handcuffed Mr. Gao to an iron bed. Liu Bingcheng said, "You are still doing the exercise. You do not respect the leaders. A high-ranking official criticised us today. They said that if we could not handle one practitioner, what could we do when more practitioners were brought here?" Wang Changlin beat Mr. Gao with an electric baton. Mr. Gao clarified the truth to them. Liu Bingcheng was more irritated, "You still dare to speak out! I will burn you to pieces!" He grabbed the electric baton and shocked Mr. Gao's mouth. He repeatedly shocked his mouth, head, neck and face, cursing at Mr. Gao all the time. Zhao also kept cursing. They beat Mr. Gao with an electric baton and cursed at him for over an hour. Mr. Gao felt great pain in his nerves. There were many blisters on his body and it was very painful. His mouth, face, head and neck all were swollen.
Hung up in the Air
Before the guards left, Wang Changlin told the inmates, "It is too comfortable for him to sit. Hang him up in the air." The inmates hung Mr. Gao up on the upper bed for a night. A few days later, when Wang Changlin and Liu Bingcheng saw that Mr. Gao lay on the bed for an I.V. injection, they forced him to sit on a small stool. They ordered Mr. Gao to attend all classes, otherwise they would deduct points from the criminal inmate. For this, criminal inmate He Congshan dragged Mr. Gao from his bed to the ground. Mr. Gao's leg was hurt so badly that he could not walk for over half year. He Congshan also said that if Mr. Gao did not attend the class, they would hang him on the heating pipe in the classroom. They hung up Mr. Gao in the evening.
Ma Ling and some other inmates monitored Mr. Gao at all times. They did not allow him to talk to any of the other criminal inmates. One day when a new young inmate said a few words to Mr. Gao, Ma Ling ran to drag that criminal inmate away and scolded him, threatening to report to the guards. Later Mr. Gao talked to practitioner Mr. Guan Ziping in the toilet. Some criminal inmates saw it and reported to Ma Ling. Ma Ling dragged Mr. Gao back to cell number one. He and He Congshan threatened to report this to the team leader.
After a long period of I.V. injections, it was difficult to find a blood vessel. The guards switched back to force-feeding. The inmates said, "The 'top' said that it's OK as long as you did not die. We only need to forced-feed you once every three or four days. We don't need to take you to the clinic or the forced labour camp hospital."
Inmate Dong Shucheng, assigned to monitor I.V. injections, told a new inmate who was getting an I.V. injection, "Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Gao had so many I.V. injections that it was more than what you will have for your entire life."
During the two months between the Western New Year and the Chinese New Year, prison staff conducted security checks of the cells more than ten times. Mr. Gao's cell was checked more than twenty times. His socks and shoes were checked. His watch, small mirror, nail clipper and pencil were confiscated. Some criminal inmates gave Mr. Gao knives, asking him to commit suicide. They appeared very sincere. Mr. Gao told them that Teacher [Teacher Li Hongzhi, the founder of Falun Dafa] told us not to commit suicide and what you saw on the television was false.
This time, Mr. Gao's hunger strike lasted until the Chinese New Year's eve.
Enticing and Manipulating Inmates to Savagely Torture Practitioners
Criminal inmates are ordered or manipulated into torturing practitioners in all of China's prisons. The guards take advantage of the criminal inmates desire to be released early. This is a highly effective technique to have criminal inmates torture practitioners inhumanly.
In the middle of March 2002, the prisoners from the Supervisory Squadron were assigned to pick melon seeds. Mr. Gao was very weak from his hunger strike. But the inmates told him, "Guards An and Liu said that you must also work. Even if it means that we have to carry you or drag you to work on a cart." Mr. Gao was assigned to the darkest corner of the factory. He was threatened that he would not be allowed to sleep if he did not meet his quota. He was also frequently searched.
One day after watching a movie that glorified the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), all prisoners were asked to write a report about their thoughts. Mr. Gao did not write anything. Wang Changlin deducted points from every criminal inmate on his team. The inmates harassed Mr. Gao and He Congshan beat him and twisted his left ear. He Congshan went to Wang Changlin to ask for his points back, but Wang Changlin said, "No, you need to ask Gao Feng to give you your points." He Congshan came back to pressure Mr. Gao, claiming that he would not stop until Mr. Gao did as he was told and he got his points reinstated. He forced Mr. Gao to sit on an iron stool and did not allow him to sleep. Mr. Gao went to reason with Wang Changlin. But Wang Changlin refused to listen, "I will deduct other inmates' points if you do not hand in your report." A few weeks later, inmate Ma Ling appealed to Mr. Gao, "Please write something. It is o.k., even if you write about Falun Gong. I will turn in your report and then we will get our points reinstated." Mr. Gao did not quite understand this issue, so he complied with the inmate. He wrote some thoughts from the angle of Falun Gong teaching practitioners to be a good person. Then, the points were reinstated.
Shortly after this incident, the prison had its annual "One Hundred Days of Safety" event. All inmates were asked to give a written promise that they would not have any safety accidents during the one hundred days. Mr. Gao wrote that persecution of practitioners was the most unsafe thing. Ma Ling read it and shouted, "He is spreading Falun Gong again." Inmates He Congshan, Ma Ling and Feng Shengcai kept shouting, "Don't let him sleep!" They dragged Mr. Gao from of his bed and threw his clothes away. Later Mr. Gao was forced by them to copy other inmates' reports to say something like getting up on time, clipping fingernails, washing hair and keeping the environment clean.
Forced Labour
In August 2002, Mr. Gao refused to comply with any order, including work orders. To force him to work, the guards asked criminal inmates to harass him. They forced Mr. Gao to recite prison regulations and sit on the small stool. They harassed him continuously. Some criminal inmates said, "You only eat, but do not work. What kind of good person are you?" The guards threatened to disallow family visits. Liu Bingcheng threatened to handcuff him. Officer Yang Zhou asked him to pick melon seeds and beat him with an electric baton. Once Liu Bingcheng asked several inmates to clean the factory floor, except a small dirty corner. Then he ordered four or five criminal inmates to force Mr. Gao to clean it. They dragged him there and ordered him to clean it. Liu Bingcheng awarded those inmates more points and documented it on the black board. Mr. Gao realised that this was a trick to get him to work. Therefore, he refused to cooperate with any of the criminal inmates requests. He even refused requests from those with whom he had good relationships. Later, He Congshan and Ma Ling shouted that they did not want Mr. Gao to live in their cell any longer. They asked Mr. Gao to request a transfer to another cell. Actually this was also setup by the guards.
Mr. Gao had many nightmares because of the years of torture he suffered. He often screamed loudly and woke up in the middle of the night from his nightmares. The inmates frequently complained that he frightened them and disturbed their sleep. Inmates Dong Shucheng and Feng Shengcai said many times that they needed to tie Mr. Gao to his bed by a chain, otherwise he might kill them during sleepwalking.
Mr. Gao had no choice, so he went to the guards in charge, An Jinglu and Wang Changlin. He asked to be released from the prison. They said that it was not for them to decide, but did not believe that the superiors would agree to release him. Then, Mr. Gao requested to be transferred to another cell. They turned him down. Then, he asked to be transferred out of the Training Centre to a regular division. They said that he had to work if he wanted to be transferred to a regular division, otherwise no division would accept him. At that time, many practitioners were taken to the prison and they were all forced to work, including those who were tortured and disabled from torture at detention centres.
Practitioners had to clean the toilet, door, bed frames, windows on weekends, the factory floor, mark several hundred sacks, record the time criminal inmates entered and left the factory, record new inmates names, create blackboard newspaper and much more. Practitioners were tortured daily. An Jinglu, the guard in charge of the Supervisory Squadron, was the most vicious criminal torturing practitioners in that squadron.
Whenever Wang Changlin came to the inmates' cells, the inmates said quietly, "The wolf is coming!"
Guards asked criminal inmates from the Supervisory Squadron to hold so-called struggle meetings during which they would denounce Mr. Gao at the end of the work day, for more than ten days. Several dozen criminal inmates were asked to attend the meeting. The inmate in charge, Cao Feng, hosted the meeting. Criminal inmates Feng Shengcai, Dong Shenglin, Ma Ling, He Congshan and Yang Bin were the most active during the meetings. They threatened and used other cruel methods, but still were unsuccessful.
Other Practitioners Tortured
More practitioners were imprisoned in the Lanzhou City Prison, including Mr. He Jianzhong, Mr. Wang Youjiang, Mr. Zhang Bo, Mr. Yang Faxiang, Mr. Zhang Zhilu, Mr. Zhu Dayi. There were several dozens of new practitioners. Practitioner Mr. Wang Xiaodong from Jinchang City in Gansu Province refused to comply with any order or request. He refused to wear the prisoner's uniform, report to the guards, squat, attend study class, do work, and so on. He was handcuffed to the headboard of his bed or the door-frame and tortured daily. To cut his hair, six or seven criminal inmates pressed down his head and there were a lot of wounds on his head after they finished. To please Wang Changlin, the criminal inmates pressured Mr. Wang Xiaodong into attending "study" classes and Cao Feng and Zhao Hui even beat him. Later Wang Changlin asked the criminal inmates to handcuff Mr. Wang Xiaodong to the door-frame of the political classroom. The guard in charge, He Liqing, also beat Mr. Wang Xiaodong. A few days later, Mr. Wang Xiaodong was locked up in a solitary confinement cell and Mr. Gao was taken to the Second Division. The prison staff feared that Mr. Wang Xiaodong and Mr. Gao would join forces.
According to the criminal inmates who were also in solitary confinement, guards and prison inmates beat Mr. Wang Xiaodong brutally . Mr. Wang Xiaodong was transferred to the Jinchang Prison in Gansu Province. Practitioner Mr. He Jianzhong's leg was disabled but he still was handcuffed and had to wear foot shackles. He was also on hunger strike and his health was deteriorating. Even going to the restroom was a challenge for him. He had to be carried. One criminal inmate who also suffered solitary confinement for three months said, "This time I really saw how the CCP tortures you Falun Gong practitioners." One criminal inmate monitoring the solitary confinement prisoners saw a practitioner sitting in meditation. He stepped on the practitioner's legs and remained like this for a long while. A practitioner who was on hunger strike was dragged down the stairs, beaten, and then force-fed. Practitioners on hunger strike were tied on the Tiger Bench1 for force-feeding. They were also forced to do military-style drills, stand for a long time, and threatened to be hung up in the air. Inmate Xu Jun said to other inmates, "Take the tube out and insert it again. See if he dares not to eat any more." Some practitioner lost consciousness during the force-feeding.
Guard Liu Youren told others that when a practitioner did not listen to his command during the military-style drill he ordered him to be dragged to the office where they beat him. Several practitioners planned to reason with Liu Youren. He did not listen. Instead, they were all taken to regular divisions that night.
Torture at the Second Division
In December 2002, Mr. Gao Feng was transferred to the Third Squadron in the Second Division.
Wang Mingzhong was the Division Head of the Second Division. Si Chaoyang, Wang Weihong and Liu Runyun were the Political Instructors. There were four squadrons in the Second Division. The guard in charge of the Third Squadron was Liu Weipeng. Team leaders were Wu, Wang, and Wan. There was a guard named Li Shengyong.
At the Third Squadron of the Second Division, the criminal inmates monitored Mr. Gao closely, disturbed him when he was exercising and frequently reported him to the guards. The team leader continued to discuss the situation with Mr. Gao. But he always lost his arguments when reasoning with Mr. Gao.
Guard Liu Yongsheng from the Investigation Section was very ruthless to all inmates. Once he forced Mr. Gao, who was extremely weak, to leave his bed and stand on the floor. He demanded to be shown respect. Liu Yongsheng also tried to stir up conflict between practitioners.
Shortly after Mr. Gao arrived at the Third Squadron, they decided to force him to work. Squadron leader Liu Weipeng, Political Instructor Si Chaoyang and guard Li Shengyong told him, "There is a lot of pressure from the top to get you to work. We are given the order to put practitioners in solitary confinement if they refuse to work." Therefore, Mr. Gao was "guarded" by two personal monitors and had to pick up stones everyday for fifteen days. Then Li Shengyong increased the workload for him. Mr. Gao had no choice but go on a hunger strike again. Two managers from the Division came to see him and Mr. Gao clarified the truth to them. They understood how the CCP spread lies during its past political persecution events, so they canceled Mr. Gao's work assignment.
One day a criminal inmate who believed in justice told Mr. Gao quietly, "There are eight inmates in your cell monitoring you openly. There are another two monitoring those eight criminal inmates secretly. Also there were inmates assigned to monitor you in each of the twenty some cells on the third and fourth floors. What you said, and to whom, and in which cell is all reported to the guards."
This long-term mental torture left a deep mental scar. It is most difficult to know that all your moves are monitored and that you are constantly followed, could be reported at any time, could not trust anyone and constantly worried that something might happen soon. Criminal inmate Dai Jianlong and another criminal inmate in cell number three had their prison term reduced for frequently reporting other people.
At the end of June 2003, some criminal inmates reported that Mr. Gao sat in meditation in the morning and at noon. Political Instructor Wang Weihong reprimanded Mr. Gao. Wang was a vicious person and had frequently threatened Mr. Gao in the past. Mr. Gao requested the freedom to do the exercises. Wang Weihong locked him into a solitary confinement cell. Wang Weihong also did not allow him to write appeal letters and took the notepad away.
Solitary Confinement
When Mr. Gao was put into solitary confinement, he was put in special military handcuffs that cuffed a person's hands in a straight line position and prohibited any hand movement. Criminal inmates said that this handcuff was recommended by inmate Xu Jun who was brought to the prison by the army. Mr. Gao went on a hunger strike and water fasting again. A team leader said viciously, "If you don't recite the prison regulations, we will put foot shackles on you." Another practitioner, Mr. Guan Ziping, refused to perform labour. He was pulled around by the Division Head Yang Dong of the First Division, who was promoted recently from the Education Section Chief of the Supervisory Squadron. Mr. Guan's clothes were torn and his skin broken. They put handcuffs and foot shackles, with a short chain linking the handcuff to the foot shackle. That forced him to lower his back when walking and he was not able to lay down. Mr. Guan had been hung up on the iron gate and not provided food or water, and beaten by the guards for more than two weeks at the First Division. He is currently imprisoned at the Longjiawan Brainwashing Centre in Lanzhou City.
While in solitary confinement, Liu Yongsheng said to Mr. Gao, "See? Finally I got you here!" He was responsible for deciding on the torture methods. The criminal inmates, including Ma Jiadi and Li's monitoring of the solitary confinements was very ruthless. Xu Jun was the most ruthless. Guards guarding the solitary confinements were Shen, Gao and Zuo.
After Mr. Gao was released from the solitary confinement, he was transferred to the Eleventh Division. There he was monitored more closely and the inmates took shifts in the middle of the night to monitor him. He was not allowed to see his family for half a year, forced to participate in "political study," watch "news" and sit in groups to watch video-tapes that slandered Falun Dafa. He was also asked to watch the video-tapes by himself, but he refused. He was forced to take a "political exam."
Later Mr. Gao heard that there was a rule to award the guards three thousand yuan2 if they "transformed3" a practitioner. So he wrote a long letter to the prison's managers, requesting them to stop torturing practitioners immediately and stop "transforming" practitioners. He also warned that the guards or criminal inmates who participated in torturing practitioners would be punished if they did not stop. To punish him, the guards prohibited Mr. Gao from going downstairs for two months, even getting water and food had to be done by his personal monitors. He was not allowed to write to his family and had no contact with the outside.
When Mr. Gao's prison term came to the end, because he refused to be "transformed" and held onto his belief, he was taken to the Longjiawan Brainwashing Centre for further torture.
The guards participating in the tortures included Yang Dong, Su, Wang Changlin, Liu Bingcheng, Yue, Zhao, Yang Zhou, Lu Chaohua, Doctor Ma, Wang Mingzhong, Wang Weihong, Liu Runyun, Si Chaoyang, Wan, Wu, Kong Fanping, Li Shengyong, Zhang Wenjun, Liu Yongsheng, Duan, Hua , Zuo, Shen, Gao, Zhao Jun.
The inmates participating in the torture include He Congshan, Cao Feng, Ma Ling, Zhao Hui, Gong Jian, Feng Shengcai, Dong Shenglin, Dong Shucheng, Ma Jiao, Yang Bing, Wang Lei, Yan Xiaoping, Wei Aimin, Ma Suli, Ma Ni, Li Bing, Su Douwa, Dan Zhankui, Dai Jianlong, Ma Shanlin, Xi Guoqiang, Xu Jun, Ma Jiadi, Li , Liu Zonghu, La Congxiang, Wang Jianrong, Wang Qianglin.
Note
1. "Tiger Bench": Prisoners are forced to sit on a small iron bench that is approximately 20 cm (6 inches) tall with their knees tied together. With their hands tied behind their backs or sometimes placed on their knees, they are forced to sit straight up and look straight ahead without movement for long periods of time.
2. "Yuan" is the Chinese currency; 500 yuan is equal to the average monthly income of an urban worker in China.
3. "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/2007/1/28/147771.html
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