Torture Committed against Falun Dafa Practitioners at the Changshou Detention Centre, Chongqing City

The Changshou Detention Centre, Chongqing City, is located in Duzhou Town. It sits on the top of a cliff with only one way to come and go. It is closely guarded and there are submachine guns pointed toward the courtyard from the watchtowers. The director of the detention centre is Zhang Jie, in his late 30s or early 40s, and the political instructor is surnamed Chen. Guards who torture practitioners are Chen Jian (promoted to deputy director for being ruthless in the treatment of prisoners), Zhou Jian, Li Heiguan (a nickname meaning "evil guard"), and Chen Xiaobi (female).

Since 1999, the guards at the Changshou Detention Centre have closely adhered to Jiang Zemin and his followers' dictates. They have brutally tortured several hundred Falun Dafa practitioners. Practitioners are held in a tiny, dark, damp cells and not allowed to go to the courtyard or any other place. Detention lasts from one month to longer than a year.

A 69-year-old steadfast practitioner refused to cooperate with the persecution, so the guards held him in the cell with death row prisoners, where he was brutally beaten and tortured. Practitioners are not allowed to take showers or wash their clothes. They may not go to the toilet outside their cell. When released, many practitioners have boils all over their bodies, which are itchy and fester, and other related illnesses. Many can't walk when they are finally released.

The guards spend most of their time eating, drinking or playing Mahjong, a Chinese game that is considered gambling. They have organised a group of inmates to control other inmates and torture practitioners.

Each cell holds over 20 people and the guards choose who is to be responsible for the cell. The lead inmate uses other inmates' money to hire criminal inmates who enforce his rules. Each cell has four to eight such "enforcers."

There is one toilet in each cell. Everyone in the cell is given a total of 20 minutes to eat and use the toilet. So quite often some people do not get to go to the toilet. They have to get the lead inmate's approval first. Some practitioners have to wait for more than 20 days to use the toilet once. Because inmates rarely get fresh vegetables, bowl movements are difficult.

The food in the prison is very poor. For breakfast, prisoners get only a tiny portion of rice with some cold water and a bun. The few ounces of rice tastes terrible and has many ants in it. No one gets fresh vegetables. Old pumpkin, winter squash, or cabbage quite are often served. And inmates have to pay for salt. Since inmates never get enough food, they will eat any food that they can find, including the leftovers that are thrown into a toilet. However, they face severe punishment if they are found doing so.

There are many insects and pests in the detention centre. The inmates are bitten all the time.

The lead criminal inmates extort money or even just take other inmates' money. The detention centre uses a cash card to record the balance for each inmate's account. The inmates' relatives or friends are asked to replenish that account every week. The lead inmate holds all the cash cards for all the inmates in his cell. The guards pretend not to know it and keep telling prisoners to take care of their own cash cards. Some guards even directly ask the lead inmates for money or other things. Each week the lead inmate takes three yuan¹ for himself from each card. He either demands the money from the inmates or uses their cards to buy good food or cigarettes for the guards. Some inmates do not even know how their money was spent.

The detention centre does not allow an inmate's family to bring food or personal things for their family member in detention. All daily necessities have to be bought in through the guards. The guards charge a huge markup. For example, a bar of soap that generally costs one yuan is sold for five yuan to inmates.

The largest cell in the detention centre is about 30 feet wide, with boards on the long side of the wall to form a big wide bed. Normally there are at least a dozen, and sometimes as many as 30, people imprisoned in a cell this size. The lead inmate and his "enforcers" occupy more than half of the big bed and force others onto the other half. Inmates are forced to lie on their sides. Sometimes it is so packed that the " enforcers" have to press them together so that they can all fit on the bed. To save room, some inmates are forced to sleep on the floor. Sometimes six people share a single sheet.

The criminal lead inmates and their enforcers allow no inmates but themselves to use soap or a toothbrush. They steal inmates' clothes and belongings. One lead inmate has taken nine quilts from others. The prison gives inmates a total of 20 minutes to eat, clean the dishes, use the toilet, and wash their clothes. Inmates have to wash the clothes of the lead inmate and his enforcers first. Since there is no drying rack in the cell, inmates are forced to wave the lead inmate's clothes or bed sheet in the air to dry. Therefore, the cell is always damp. In the summer, inmates are forced to fan the lead inmate and his enforcers.

Besides being beaten and having money extorted by the guards, Falun Gong practitioners suffer abuse from the lead inmates in particular. New inmates have to "beimu" 50 times, bending with their legs straight and hands touching their feet. Then the lead inmate or other inmates jump down from the bed and hit the victim's back with their elbows. Another torture is the "prison bath." The person is stripped and the tormentors repeatedly pour big bowls of cold water over him. The lead inmate also drags the inmates by their hair and smashes their heads against the stone wall. He either does this either or tells his enforcers to do it for him. Then he reports to the guards that this inmate is trying to commit suicide. Other inmates are coerced to lie. Then that victim's prison term is extended.

The lead inmate sets the rules of the cell. The most important rule is to always be honest to the lead inmate. Once a new teenage inmate was brought into the cell. After he was tortured, a group of enforcers jumped on him and beat him cruelly. Then the lead inmate asked him, "Did anyone hit you?" He answered no. The lead inmate said, "You are dishonest. I saw someone beating you just now. Did anyone hit you at all?" He kept asking until that person acknowledged the rule. If an inmate tells the truth to others, even if he manages to be transferred to another cell, the lead inmate of his previous cell will use the money from inmates' cash accounts to bribe the guards and the lead inmate of the cell to beat him.

Many criminal inmates have fractured ribs or internal injuries from the brutal beatings. However, the tortures in the prison are not to be exposed to the outside. When the government's inspection team is scheduled to come to the detention centre, the lead inmates are called for a meeting or invited for a good dinner with the guards to prepare for the inspection. The lead inmates then go back and warn all the other inmates that if they dare to do or say anything against the prison, there will be severe punishment after the inspection team leaves.

Inmates are not allowed to talk in the cell. They are not even allowed to move during newspaper reading time. They are required to memorise prison regulations. If they fail, they will be beaten, forced to work, or deprived of sleep. Some illiterate inmates did not sleep for a week until they were finally able to memorise the regulations. If they fall asleep, they will be beaten or kicked.

More than 100 torture methods are employed at the Changshou Detention Centre.

Not a day goes by without someone being beaten in each cell. The lead inmate does not allow the victim to cry or others to speak for him. Otherwise there will be more cruel torture. Beating methods include using a quilt to cover the person and repeatedly hitting the person's heart. Another method is "eating headache noodles," which is dragging the person by his hair and knocking his head against the wall. To do the "big bang" they force the victim to lie on the floor and then jump from the bed to land on the victim with both feet. It goes on. For the "sticking moth," the person is forced to stand facing the wall with both hands on the wall. Other tortures are even more vicious and brutal and are carried out under the guards' orders.

Other tortures include the death bed, the "teaching chair," force-feeding, and "horse-riding cuffing." On the "dead person's bench," the victim is forced to lie on an iron bed with his limbs handcuffed to four posts. He can't eat. If he moves his arms or legs, the handcuffs will cut into his flesh, causing great pain. After over ten days, his hands and feet are so swollen that the handcuffs can't be seen any more. For the "teaching chair," the person is forced to sit on a chair in a dark and foul smelling toilet. Insects bite him and his entire body swells and becomes disfigured. When force-feeding is to done, they put the person on the "death bed" and his hands and feet are cuffed. Then a feeding tube is inserted through the person's nose, causing many injuries to the person's mouth and nose. "Horse-riding cuffing" is mainly applied to Falun Gong practitioners. The practitioners' feet are shackled first, then their wrists are handcuffed with one hand going between the legs. Even elderly practitioners in their 60s or 70s are handcuffed in this way.

The guards also use their heavy leather boots to step on practitioners' hands and feet. Or they hold two practitioners' heads and knock them against each other. They gag the practitioner's mouth with a dirty cloth that is used to clean the floor.

The Changshou Detention Centre uses the above mentioned torture methods on practitioners who shout "Falun Dafa is good" and "Truthfulness, Benevolence and Forbearance is good." When the detention centre runs out of torture instruments such as the "death beds" or the "teaching chairs" for practitioners, they handcuff them and take them to the Changshou Drug Rehabilitation Centre to have the drug addicts beat and torture them.

The Changshou Detention Centre has imprisoned many Falun Gong practitioners. The following practitioners were tortured to death:

Ms. Liu Shumei, Ms. Peng Chunrong, Ms. Zhang Sufang, Ms. Yu Xianglan, Mr. Zhang Haiming, Mr. Lei Dengcai, and many more.

The following are the names and contact information of government officials who have participated in the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners:

Sun Wei

86-13808366200 (Mobile)

86-23-40244297 (Office)

Former Changshou County Party Secretary: Jiang Chaozhi
Police Department Director: You Zhimin

Changshou Police Department

Director: Ye Heping

Deputy Director: Wang Daocheng

86-23-40586810

Changshou Police Department Deputy Director: Luo Jian

Worked at the Second Division of the Chongqing City Police Department. Hoped to be promoted by torturing practitioners. Was killed in a car accident

Changshou Detention Centre

Director: Zhang Jie

Deputy Director: Chen Jian
86-23-40244120

Changshou Detention Centre Guards: Luo Xuewan, Zhou Jian, Shi Luo,

Changshou District Political and Legal Committee Secretary: Wang Dailu

Changshou District Political and Legal Committee -- in charge of Falun Gong issue: Hua Changyi

86-23-40251893

Note

1. "Yuan" is the Chinese currency; 500 yuan is equal to the average monthly income of an urban worker in China.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2007/2/3/148194.html