Exposing the Persecution of Dafa Practitioners at Zhengzhou Prison in Henan Province

There are four so-called "transformation¹ bases" in Zhengzhou City, Henan Province. They are Shibalihe Women's Labour Camp, Xinxiang Women's Prison, Xuchang No. 3 Labour Camp, and Zhengzhou Prison.

In order to persecute Dafa practitioners, the government provided financial support in constructing buildings and setting up electronic monitoring systems. Zhengzhou Prison received 48 million yuan² and built five buildings. Even the local county received money for setting up brainwashing sessions to further persecute Dafa practitioners.

1. Brainwashing sessions in prison attempt to "transform" Dafa practitioners and incessantly persecute them

Deputy-warden Feng picked inmate Zhang Jingqun, a former deputy director of the state petrochemical company who was sentenced to 3 years for bribery, along with hundreds of other inmates to form a "transformation" team. Their job was to "transform" Dafa practitioners. Practitioners with firm belief were sent into solitary confinement and forced to perform the "three positions" (standing, sitting, squatting for extended periods of time). They were also sent to intense brainwashing sessions, and were subjected to electric baton shocks.

Practitioner Ren Lidong was sent to solitary confinement, was deprived of sleep, was forced to perform the "three positions," and told to be "well-behaved." Otherwise, three to five perpetrators would begin seriously beating him. Under such inhumane abuse and torture, Ren Lidong almost lost his vision within one month. His left eye had vision of 0.03, while the right eye was 0.013. Dafa practitioner Lu Yuankun refused to be "transformed." He was tortured with electric batons and beaten with a thick club. His face and body were covered with bruises and were deformed. He lost twenty-four teeth and the rest of his teeth were loose. He could not eat regular meals anymore, and could only eat soup.

Deputy warden Sun Jianhua, who was then in charge of "transformations" said, "The only thing I want is a high transformation rate." So the guards and inmates acted in collusion to systematically and brutally persecute over three hundred practitioners. Dafa practitioner Song Xu was tortured with electric needles whose voltages were increased by five volts between each successive "treatment" until he passed out. He has since been on a hunger strike for 426 days in protest.

Deputy warden Zhan Guichao, who is now in charge of "transformations" stated, "Prison is a place where dictatorship is carried out. We will firmly deal with inmates who do not obey!" Zhao Xiaomin claimed, "I will see who dares not to be transformed." He ordered "club teams" of thirty perpetrators to brutally beat twelve Dafa practitioners. There were four practitioners from the Xinxiang Earthquake Bureau, Anyang City and Linzhou City who were in a coma after being severely beaten.

Guard Chen Youzhi of the No.12 Prison District specifically picked inmate Mao Chunfang, a former policeman who murdered someone in Gongyi City, to take charge of Dafa practitioners.

Dafa practitioner Lu Shunmin, from Xuchang City, started a hunger strike to protest against the persecution. Mao Chunfang and Zhou Qihong force-fed Mr. Lu Shunmin faeces and urine, forced him to kneel, burned his finger and tongue with a cigarette lighter, and forced him to squat for a long period of time. Deputy warden Zhan Guichao ordered other prison districts to come to learn their techniques. One inmate, Yue Jinsheng, who drugged two children to death, intensified the persecution against practitioners. Each Dafa practitioner was closely monitored by two to three inmates. They followed them everywhere, whether they went to meals or to the toilet. Practitioners were subjected to slave labour during the day and were deprived of sleep during the night. They were subjected to beatings, verbal abuse, and were threatened with further violence. Practitioner Mei Shengxin from Zhanjiang was beaten by several inmates for three days around the clock. He was forced to change the water in the fish tank the next morning. He was hit with the tank, and two open wounds on his head started to bleed profusely and he passed out. Mr. Mei was in critical condition and required twenty-one stitches on his head.

2. Mental abuse and physical torture

Zhenzhou prison guards usually begin the "transformation" attempts with mental abuse. Whenever a practitioner arrived at the prison, he would be forced to sit by himself in the corner and would not be allowed to talk to fellow practitioners. One inmate would monitor him at close range. They formed so-called "mutual monitoring teams" with layers of monitoring. Sometimes practitioners were surrounded by two to three teams of one to two guards, along with several "transformers" who would viciously attack Dafa. Their obscene language was very offensive. The guards would do this two to three times a day. In the meantime, they forced practitioners to watch Dafa-slandering DVDs and books. Practitioners who refused to answer their questions or refused to be "transformed" would receive physical torture.

In the No. 4 Prison District, the guards brutally tortured Dafa practitioner Wang Chunjian, a former engineer from Cotton Spinning Factory in Nanyang City, Henan Province. The perpetrators covered him with a blanket, turned off the lights, and twenty people beat and kicked him. They did not stop until he passed out. The perpetrators used a cigarette lighter to burn his tongue and fingers. Wang Chunjian's tongue was covered with blisters and he was unable to eat. His fingers were black and yellow and his nails were all curled up. He could not sleep due to the excruciating pain. Wang Chunjian still firmly believes in Dafa and nothing is going to shake his belief.

The guards receive two to four thousand yuan for "transforming" each practitioner. The prison uses praise and a decrease in their sentences to incite other inmates to torture and "transform" practitioners. The purpose is to create an even worse environment and add pressure to practitioners.

Note

1. "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")

2. "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/2007/5/23/155429.html