Falun Gong Practitioners Tortured by Zhengzhou City Prison Guards

Zhengzhou Prison is one of the persecution centres in Henan Province where many practitioners are being tortured. More than 200 practitioners are incarcerated there. Many of them could not endure the extreme terror and signed the "Four Statements¹" to compromise their true belief.

1) Deputy Prison Ward Head Feng Xiaohui and Guard Li Zengwei

The practitioners are first sent to Ward Nine (now called "Education Ward") at Zhengzhou Prison. Deputy Ward Head Feng Xiaohui (in charge of discipline) and Guard Li Zengwei incited several criminal inmates to torture Falun Gong practitioners. They deprived practitioners of sleep for a long time, forced them to remain in a half-squatting position and to "ride a wood donkey" (they use a wooden stick and stir it in practitioners' anuses), and had human waste inserted into their mouths. As a result of such brutal torture, several practitioners became badly injured and could not walk. The abusers frequently confined practitioners in solitary confinement cells for additional punishment. After three months of harsh torture, the practitioners were sent to other prison wards.

Former head of Ward Ten, Ye Hui, often encouraged criminal inmates to hit practitioners Zhang Xianting and Mao Changqing. He also set up some secret solitary confinement cells to torture practitioners and other inmates.

2) Prison Guard Ye Hui

In 2006, Ye Hui told several criminal inmates to torture some other inmates in secret cells. An injured inmate eventually revealed the torture to his family members during a prison visit. His family then wrote to the Xinmi City Procuratorate to reveal the brutality in Ward Ten. As a result, Ye Hui was demoted, and the criminal inmates who assisted Ye Hui were locked in solitary confinement themselves.

At the 2007 Chinese New Year's Eve Party, Ye Hui told some inmates to strip another inmate of all his clothes. He then forced him to perform a nude dance. In March 2007, Ye Hui was transferred to Ward Five to work as a prison guard. He continued to beat and insult Falun Gong practitioners.

3) Ward Five guards Wei Guohong, Ye Hui, Guo Jianmin, Chen Shaolin and Liu Wanchao

Practitioner Yao Hengshe practised the Falun Gong exercises in the winter of 2005. To punish him, guard Wei Guohong told criminal inmate Wang Zhaowei to give Yao a hard time. Wang found some Falun Gong articles in Mr. Yao's clothes and subsequently beat him badly. Wang Zhaowei even threatened to kill him. The harsh torture and terror caused Mr. Yao great harm. He was mentally traumatised. He could not walk for more than a year and is still unable to care for himself. Even now, guard Ye Hui still does not leave him alone. He told other criminal inmates, "Yao does not do any work. I don't care that he cannot walk. You guys carry him like a pig to the work site." Yao Hengshe now suffers from this kind of harsh treatment every day.

Ward Five guards Guo Jianmin and Wei Guohong told inmate Yang Yi to torture and insult practitioner Chen Yunlong, who was badly injured after being slammed against the wall. Criminal inmate Jia Yinwei physically assaulted practitioner Wang Kaipo. He forced Wang to "ride a wood donkey," deprived him of sleep for a long time, and forced him to remain in a half-squatting position for a long time.

A former head of Ward Five once repeatedly slapped practitioner Yang Zhi on the face, causing hearing loss. Current ward head Liu Wanchao told inmate Xu Hailong to beat practitioner Pan Shishen and locked Pan into a solitary confinement cell for 15 days. Liu Wanchao also told inmates Yang Xiaolei and Guo Yingfu to beat practitioner Zhang Minggui, causing injury to his left foot.

4) Guards in Ward One

Guards in Ward One encouraged criminal inmates to torture practitioner Mei Shengxin. They force-fed him human waste. They also forced Mei Shengxin to hit his head into a fish tank. He sustained cuts and required eight stitches to close the wound.

5) Guards in Ward Seven

Guards in Ward Seven encouraged criminal inmates to beat practitioner Xie Xiaoguang and forced Xie to hit his head against a fish tank, resulting in cuts from shattered glass on his head and hands.

6) Former Prison Affairs Section Staff Huang Yongqiang

In May 2006, former prison staff member Huang Yongqiang came to Ward Five and saw practitioner Qin Hezhuang carrying a water basin. Without a word, Huang kicked the water basin out of Mr. Qin's hands and broke the basin. Mr. Qin said, "Do you call this humane treatment?" Huang was furious and immediately assaulted Mr. Qin with punches and kicks. He also used an electric baton to shock Mr. Qin's body, causing burns in many places. Huang shouted at Mr. Qin, "Now you know what humane treatment is." He forced Mr. Qin to acknowledge his words. When Mr. Qin refused to answer, Huang continued to torture him until he lost consciousness.

Several days later, Qin Hezhuang wrote a letter to the prison authorities to report this incident. Instead of disciplining guard Huang Yongqiang, prison Affairs Section deputy head Liu Shen told Qin Hezhuang, "So what, he beat you up. Even if he kills you, we still treat it as a suicide. There is no use to report anyone. If you want, go ahead and sue me first. If you succeed in suing me, then you can sue him." As of today, Huang Yongqiang still acts brutally in Ward Ten and continues his persecution of Falun Gong practitioners.

7) Guard Zhan Guichao

Practitioner Lu Shunmin from Xuchang City in Henan Province was arrested at his home in 2003. He was later sentenced to eight years in prison and sent to the Zhengzhou Prison. Lu Shunmin was very determined and refused to write the "Four Statements" (promise to quit practising statement, repentance statement, admitting guilt statement, criticising Falun Gong statement). To punish Lu, Guard Zhan Guichao sent him to different prison wards to suffer tortures. From 2003 till now, he was transferred to seven different prison wards. The worst wards are Ward Six, Ward Nine and Ward Twelve.

8) Former Ward Head Chen Youzhi and a staff member at Ward Twelve

In order to force Lu Shunmin to write the "Four Statements," Chen Youzhi and another guard in Ward Twelve used electric batons to shock Lu on his mouth for four hours. Lu lost several teeth, and all of the others were loose. Lu can no longer eat normal meals; only porridge.

In July 2007 Lu told his visiting family members about the torture. He also wrote a report to reveal the guards' brutality. But the prison authorities not only refused to discipline the guards, they also intensified the persecution of Lu Shunmin. They forbade any contact between Lu and other practitioners. They also sent Lu to a hospital and had several loose teeth pulled. Guard Chen Youzhi additionally told other inmates to beat and insult Lu. They once did not let Lu get any sleep for 15 days. Whenever he closed his eyes, they would beat him.

9) Guards in Ward Six

Under the direction of guards in Ward Six, criminal inmates pressed wooden blocks heavily on Lu Shunmin's legs. They also burned his fingers with a cigarette lighter. His fingers suffered bad burns and he got an infection. The prison officials had to send him to a hospital. Lu Shunmin is now detained in Ward Five.

The following are some guards responsible for the persecution:
Li Guoyou, Prison Affairs Section Head
Liu Shen, deputy head
Zhan Guichao, Deputy Prison Head
Chen Youzhi, former head of Ward Twelve
Feng Xiaohui, deputy head of Education Ward
Li Zengwei, staff
Ye Hui, former deputy head of Ward Ten
Huang Yongqiang, deputy head of Ward Ten
Chen Shaolin, former head of Ward Five
Guo Jianmin, deputy head of Ward Five
Liu Wanchao, warden of Ward Five
Wei Guohong, staff

Note

1. "Four Statements": Practitioners are coerced under brainwashing and torture to write the "four statements" as proof that they have given up their belief. Created by the 610 Office, they consist of "a letter of repentance," "a guarantee" to never again practise Falun Gong, a "Dissociation Statement" to declare a dissociation with Falun Gong and promise not go to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong, and a list of names and addresses of all family members, friends and acquaintances who are practitioners.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.org/mh/articles/2007/12/5/167773.html