Jilin Province Prison Management Bureau's Central Hospital Uses "Inmate Care" to Torture Prisoners

I was once detained for so-called "medical care" (in fact torture) at the Central Hospital of Jilin Province's Prison Management Bureau for practising Falun Gong and exposing the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) persecution of Falun Gong. While detained there, I witnessed many evil deeds committed by the guards and other officials. The hospital is also known locally as Tiebei Forced Labour Camp Hospital. Many of the criminal deeds are actually instigated by the prison doctors.

It is necessary to explain first what "inmate care" is:

The Central Hospital of Jilin Province's Prison Management Bureau selects prisoners from various prisons. After going through about one month's so-called medical training, they become "inmate care" personnel. In fact these selected prisoners have personal ties with the officials in charge; acting as "inmate care" personnel gives one a privileged position among the prisoners. In fact one must carry out the orders of the prison management to inhumanly torture people. Additionally, the prison doctors and nurses are too lazy to take care of the prisoners who need medical attention and so many of their duties, such as giving injections, drawing blood and chemical examinations are almost all carried out by the "inmate care" personnel, except when there is an inspection from higher level officials. It is a violation of internationally recognised regulations and an infringement on the basic human rights of the prisoners seeking medical attention.

Below is what I know. Since 2000, the Central Hospital of Jilin Province's Prison Management Bureau has instigated the "inmate care" personnel to commit horrendous crimes against prisoners in need of medical attention and Falun Gong practitioners.

1. Arbitrarily drawing blood from patients

At the time they drew my blood, the "inmate care" personnel drew a big syringe of blood one day, and another one a few days later. I was puzzled as to why a blood diagnosis needed so much blood. They also did the same thing to other criminal inmates seeking medical attention there. After some time, I learned from overhearing them talking the cause of their actions. The usage of the blood, however, remains unknown.

2. Using syringes as darts on patients who are not liked

The "inmate care" personnel were very quick in understanding the intentions of the camp guards, prison doctors and nurses. Towards those inmates they did not like, they would inject the entire length of the syringe needle into the buttocks. They also competed with each other for the fun of injecting inmates in various ways to inflict pain. Sometimes they would repeat intravenous injections back and forth several times although the injection was successful on the first try. Sometimes they would first bang the needle against the wall and then inject it into the patients' buttocks. This way the needle tip became crooked and would pull out flesh when it was withdrawn.

The "flying needle" is an infamous torture feared by all inmates. The patient would be asked to pull down their trousers and reveal their buttocks. Then the "inmate care" personnel would throw the syringe needle like a dart at their buttocks. Some criminal inmates detained in Changchun First Detention Centre often talked about their horrifying experiences with the flying needle torture in the forced labour camp hospital. Some inmates who were severely injured or had serious diseases would not dare to ask for treatment as they had heard about the flying needle torture. The "inmate care" personnel often incited prisoners to fear this method so as to reduce their work load.

3. Incidents of beating or starving to death are reported as death by natural causes

In the Central Hospital of Jilin Province Prison Management Bureau, beating to death, starving to death and other ways of killing are happening all the time and the authorities are indifferent about the deaths. When you come here you will know what is described as "disregarding human life."

I once saw a very ill inmate whose medicine and food were discontinued. While on the verge of death, the person's involuntary groaning in pain angered the "inmate care" personnel. The personnel grabbed the ill, emaciated person and hit him/her several times then flipped him/her on the bed (exchanging the positions of head and feet). A couple days later, the person died.

Another ill inmate in his 60's could not move and had to lie in bed all the time. He required help with his daily needs, including eating, drinking, urinating and defecation. The "inmate care" personnel would not provide care themselves. Instead, they forced other inmate patients to change his bedding every few days and feed him only a little food every day. One day, the head nurse ordered, "Look at the mess he makes in his bed. Feed him less!" After that the "inmate care" personnel would not feed him anything. They also would not allow other inmate patients to feed him. A few days later he died from starvation.

In the Central Hospital of Jilin Province Prison Management Bureau, if a patient was cuffed to a bed or was not tended for a few days, the patient was bound to die. Some inmate patients and Falun Gong practitioners were tied down to beds and injected with intravenous drugs. Sometimes the drug fluid would become exhausted and the blood would start flowing back into the injection tube, yet no prison nurses or "inmate care" personnel helped.

Changchun Province Falun Gong practitioner Wang Kefei, Jilin Province practitioner Yu Lixin, Changchun Nongan's practitioner Liu Chenjun, Changchun Province practitioner Xu Shuxiang, etc., were cuffed and shackled to beds for several days and their bodies were covered in blood, urine and feces.

I witnessed one death every 10 days during a period of one month. Some victims were tied down to the bed and severely beaten. Some were disallowed any medication even when on the verge of death. Some were examined by the prison doctor. Those who died had their noses, mouths and anuses stuffed with cotton by the "inmate personnel." Their bodies were then put in plastic bags, which were later sealed and shipped away. Nobody knew exactly what happened next. The above mentioned practitioners were all tortured to death in the Central Hospital of Jilin Province Prison Management Bureau.

4. Extorting money and enslaving patients and Falun Gong practitioners

The Central Hospital of Jilin Province Prison Management Bureau is practically a paradise for gangsters and corrupted government officials. They usually do not have any illnesses but can still stay in the hospital for long time periods. For some of them, the prison doctors and nurses and prison guards would often buy food from the outside for them. Some of them even have relatives or friends bring restaurant takeout food for them. After a period of so-called medical treatment in the hospital, they would bribe the law enforcement officials, prison guards, doctors and nurses so that they could get medical proof and be sent home on bail for medical treatment in some other hospitals. For those inmates who had real illnesses and Falun Gong practitioners, release on bail was very unlikely. On the contrary, the "inmate care" personnel would often enslave the ill inmates and practitioners to wash clothes for them, do cleaning work, polish leather shoes, wash socks, make beds, cook, and wash dishes for the prison guards, doctors and nurses. The "inmate care" personnel also extorted money and other belongings from the ill inmates and practitioners.

One inmate from Siping City was imprisoned for smuggling cars. The "inmate care" personnel targeted him for extorting money. This inmate from Siping City had a powerful relative who bribed the higher level law enforcement officials for protection. However, the "inmate care" personnel were not afraid and enslaved him to do all kinds of work. When he refused, they cuffed and shackled him down to the bed for several days until he gave in.

From discussions among the criminal inmates I learned that some "inmate care" personnel mailed home tens of thousands of yuan in a few years of prison time. Of course, that amount is what was left after deducting the bribes they paid to the prison guards. Some inmates gave several thousand yuan to the Director of the Prison Politics Division in just one bribe. Some prison guards received bribes of up to tens of thousands of yuan¹ at once. One can imagine how many filthy transactions have been and are conducted behind the scenes.

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/2007/3/24/151459.html