Shackled to an Iron Chair for Fifty Days at Panjin Prison in Liaoning Province

On August 18th, 2006, I was transferred from Wafangdian Prison (the admission division for South Liaoning Province) to the Sixth Section of the First Ward of Panjin Prison. After August 20th, I was shackled to an "iron chair¹" and force-fed twenty-four hours a day. In addition, I was forced to sleep on the iron chair. On September 10th, Doctor Yu from the First Ward's clinic did not want to take responsibility for my poor health; therefore, they transferred me in very weak health to the Patient Ward of Panjin Prison.

The iron chair is made of thin, irregularly-shaped steel bars that are welded onto a steel plate. One's chest and thighs are bound by two pieces of eight-centimetre-wide steel scrap, and the hands are cuffed onto the chair. In addition, one's feet are locked up by two steel bars that are connected. There are a total of five locks. Only one's head can move. One sits on three steel bars. In fact, sitting on the "chair" means sitting on three steel bars. As a result, one's buttocks will be torn very soon; one's neck, lumbar and coccygeal vertebrae will be injured to different degrees.

I was forced to sit on this iron chair for a long time. My whole body was shackled to the chair and only my head could move. As a result, my hands, feet and legs soon swelled. Under a doctor's suggestion, I was unshackled for a while, but I was cuffed to the chair again a while later.

During the fifty days that I was shackled to the iron chair, Zhang Guolin often abused and intimidated me. He said, "A hunger strike is equal to self-inflicted injuries, and then you die in vain. If you want to become a hero, you will wait and see. I have already given you chances, but you disregarded them. Therefore, you will have no chance to get out." In order to force me to give in, he used all kinds of cruel means to torture me. I was not allowed to sleep. The guards ordered the criminals to take turns to monitor me 24-hours-a-day. As soon as I lowered my head, the criminals would poke and awaken me. I was not allowed to wear warm clothes to keep out the cold. They forcibly took off my cold weather clothing. At night they opened the windows and turned on fans to freeze me. I was not allowed to speak. They incited the criminal inmates into beating, verbally abusing and humiliating me. I was restricted in of the toilet. I was not allowed to relieve myself in the evening, and in the daytime I was only allowed to defecate once and urinate three times.

On the day I arrived at the prison I learned that the head of the First Division forced practitioner Chen Mingli to sit on a small bench as punishment because Mr. Chen refused to work for them. In the morning of August 19th, I learned that Mr. Chen Mingli was forced to sit on an iron chair and was shocked with electric batons. When another practitioner, Mr. Song Zhendong, went to visit Mr. Chen Mingli, division head Zhang Guolin dragged him into the "study class" and forced him to sit on an iron chair together with Mr. Chen Mingli. In addition, Mr. Song Zhendong was shocked by Zhang Guolin with electric batons.

In the afternoon of August 19th, I went to ask the Education Section head (surnamed He) the reason for the torture. I pointed out that beating, abuse and physical torture were all illegal. He did not give me an explanation. I requested to meet with the procurator residing at the forced labour camp. Instead, he created difficulties for me by every means, and he derided and jeered at me. At that time, the head of the Administration Section, Wu Fenggang, was lying on a sofa sleeping. The talking between He and me woke him. As a result, Wu abused me and ordered me to stand facing the wall. I refused him. I found that he reeked of alcohol, so I pointed out that he had violated regulations. Ashamed, he became very angry and threatened me, "Later on I will let you know who I am."

On the morning of August 20th, I went to see Zhang Guolin, but he would not meet with me, saying that he was busy. When I went to see him for the second time, I heard the noise of electric batons from the "study class" (a room where brainwashing took place). I went into the "study class" to stop them from using electric batons. At that time Wu Fenggang was shocking two practitioners. Seeing me, he ordered the criminal inmates to force me into the "study class," and then they shackled me to an iron chair. In addition, he shocked me with electric batons and verbally abused me, "Why do you like to meddle? This time you will really know who I am."

Shortly after, Zhang Guolin and He entered the "study class." Zhang Guolin slapped my face and said, "I heard that you wanted to free the other two practitioners. All right, let me give you a lesson." Subsequently, he shocked me with two electric batons, and He also shocked me with two electric batons. They especially focused on sensitive areas of my body, such as my head, neck, hands and chest. These three people (Zhang, Wu and He) used six electric batons to shock Mr. Chen Mingli, Mr. Song Zhendong and me. In addition, they abused us verbally when the electric batons needed to be recharged. This torture lasted nearly one hour. Before leaving, Zhang Guolin told He and Wu, "Recharge them well in order to shock them again tonight." That night these three policemen used six electric batons to shock the three of us until the electric batons again needed to be recharged. As a result, our faces and necks were covered with blisters.

Because of the torture, we started a hunger strike to protest the persecution. The next day my family went to the prison to visit me. I told my family that I had been shocked and forced to sit on an iron chair In addition, I told my family to complain on my behalf and said that I would go on a hunger-strike to the end. Because my family saw me in time and discovered that I was being tortured and persecuted, the evildoers dared not use the electric batons on me further. However, we three were shackled to an iron chairtwenty-four hours a day. Later on we were separated.

From August 20th to September 10,th I was shackled onto an iron chair . Then I was transferred to the patient ward. I had refused to eat anything since August 20th. The guards force-fed me by inserting a tube into my stomach through my nasal cavity. In the beginning I was force-fed three times per day; as a result, I was extremely weak. Then I was force-fed four times per day, and the criminals force-fed liquid food into me.

The "study class" was an empty room that was called the "classroom." The windows of the room were covered with thick curtains so that the light could not pass through. They had welded two kinds of metal instruments of torture and brought them into the empty room: an iron chair and a "metal bench." The "metal bench" was an instrument similar to the iron chair. A lot of people could be forced to sit on a "metal bench." Almost all the divisions had these instruments of torture. In October 2006, the instruments of torture were suddenly removed.

I was on hunger-strike for six months, from August 20th, 2006 to February 20th, 2007. The Panjin Prison administration and the Procuratorate residing in Panjin Prison all knew what I was suffering, but nobody resolved the problems. Only Zhang Guolin of the First Division and a team leader came to visit me several times to persuade me to eat. At those times, I requested to be released unconditionally.

Contact Information:

The head of the Prison Administration Bureau of Liaoning Province (postal address):
38 Congshandong Rd., Yuhong district, Shenyang City, Postal code: 110032

Complaint Centre at the Prison Administration Bureau of Liaoning Province:
The Discipline Inspection Department of the Prison Administration Bureau: 86-24-86601675
The Punishment Implementation Division of the Prison Administration Bureau: 86-24-86601621
The Political Department of the Administration Bureau Prison : 86-24-86601986

Panjin Prison: postal code 124100
Panjin Prison of Liaoning Province (the No.1 Division; the Patient Ward; the Political Department of the prison; Head of the Prison): 86-427-5639444
Head of the Panjin Prison: 86-427-5637744
The Discipline Inspection Department of the Prison Administration Bureau: 86-246-5637356

Note

1. Iron Chair: The "Iron chair" is made of iron pipes. Victims are restrained on the iron chairs with both arms and legs tied for a long period of time, see illustration at http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2002/1/9/17577.html

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2007/4/22/153242.html