Ms. Wang Minli Tortured to Death at Jilin City Detention Centre, Jilin Province, Other Practitioners Brutally Persecuted

On March 15th, 2007, Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Wang Minli, a resident of Jilin City, Jilin Province, was arrested and tortured. She was later taken to the Jilin City Detention Centre, where she was subjected to additional torture. Her family went there on many occasions to request her release, but the guards told them that she was in good health. On June 19th, 2007, however, her family was notified that Ms. Wang had passed away.

Ms. Wang and several other practitioners were arrested by officers of the Changyi District Police Department, under the leadership of Du Xingze, director of the National Security Section. Ms. Wang was held at the police canine training centre, where she was tortured. After her transfer to the detention centre, she was tortured continuously by the guards and officers from the "agency involved in the case" (an apparent reference to the 610 Office¹). Ms. Wang refused to wear an inmate's uniform, and both the guards and the other inmates used this as an excuse to mistreat her even further [Note: because Falun Gong practitioners have not committed any crimes and should not be incarcerated, they often protest detention by refusing to wear the prison uniform]. Du and the other police officers interrogated Ms. Wang many times. Each time, she entered the interrogation room under her own power but had to be taken out in a wheelchair. Du knew that he was on the "villain's list" (an online list of individuals known to be involved in the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners). He thought it was because he had arrested and tortured Ms. Wang in 2003, and he hated her as a result.

Shortly before her death, after returning from her last interrogation session, Ms. Wang suffered from incontinence. Every day, she would lie on the floor of the ward, where she was given injections. At noon on June, 19th, 2007, Ms. Wang was tortured to unconsciousness with electric batons. There was a water shortage at the detention centre, but the guards used their entire supply - thirteen basins in all - to pour over Ms. Wang, but they were unable to revive her. They covered her with a white sheet and carried her away on a stretcher. The guards had become accustomed to treating human life as if it had no value. Even after Ms. Wang's death, one female guard said in the presence of other inmates, "It is better for people like Wang Minli to die as soon as possible." Even staff members tell people outside the detention centre, "Cong Maohua (the deputy director) is the worst one of all. There isn't one good person at the detention centre."

Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Zhao Yingjie was arrested on February 12th, 2007, at the house she had just rented. She was brutally tortured at the police canine training centre. (For details, see the report: http://www.clearharmony.net/articles/200804/43890.html) However, few people know that she was also tortured at the Jilin City Detention Centre.

When Ms. Zhao learned of Ms. Wang's death, she cried out, "You have committed a terrible injustice in torturing Ms. Wang Minli to death!" At this, the guards came and took her out of the ward. In the hallway, Ms. Zhao held onto the metal railing to resist her removal. A female guard, also named Zhao, hit Ms. Zhao in the face and broke her glasses before taking her away. This took place in the morning. Ms. Zhao did not return until the afternoon. The guards had beaten her severely. A male guard brought her back to the ward and threw her onto her bed. She was wearing a restraint that kept her from moving any part of her body. She was kept in this restraint all day and all night. Ms. Zhao went on a hunger strike to protest this cruel treatment, but the guards retaliated by brutally force-feeding her daily.

In front of everyone, the guards ordered five or six inmates to force-feed Ms. Zhao. They made her suffer even more because she did not cooperate with them. Each time they finished, Ms. Zhao had the food mixture all over her head and face. On the third day of these feedings, the guards and inmates accidentally forced rice soup into her trachea and lungs. She began asphyxiating and struggled against her restraints with such force that her hands were bleeding. She then passed out. The guards and inmates shouted at her for twenty minutes to try to revive her. Ms. Zhao finally began to breathe slowly and regained consciousness. This took place at 1:00 p.m. They took her to the 222 Hospital, and she did not return until 4:00 p.m.

Ms. Zhao had to remain in bed for an entire week before she was able to sit up. But as soon as she was able to stand, the guards directed the inmates to take turns forcing her to stand every hour. (Two inmates were directed to watch the others in each ward to prevent accidents.) They did this as another form of torture. Ms. Zhao did not dare to cough for a long time afterwards, but she frequently had to cough up some rice. There are reports that Sun Aiying (female, in her thirties), the director of the section, was frequently involved in beating Falun Gong practitioners and brutally force-feeding those who went on hunger strikes.

Despite her condition, the guards attempted to transfer Ms. Zhao to the Jilin Women's Prison, but the prison rejected her because of her poor physical state. She was then transferred to the police hospital. Sometime later, before she had recovered, Ms. Zhao was transferred to the women's prison. She was placed in the "education" ward, where Falun Gong practitioners were persecuted. But she was soon taken to the prison clinic, suffering from tuberculosis and fluid in her pleural and peritoneal cavities. She was then placed in isolation. They used the excuse that Ms. Zhao was sensitive to injections to order oral medication for her treatments. Ms. Zhao has become very weak as a result.

In 2007, the guards at the Jilin City Detention Centre forced many Falun Gong practitioners into making "confessions" under torture. Even when the practitioners had been severely injured or had their faces disfigured, the guards still took their "confessions," which is strictly illegal. There is no question that the entire process followed by the police, prosecutors, and courts in dealing with Falun Gong practitioners has been to break the law in the name of "enforcing the law." Whenever practitioners were held at the detention centre, the guards would brutally force-feed those who went on hunger strikes. At the women's ward, guards often force-fed one practitioner as a means to frighten and intimidate the others. Ms. Zhao Guoxing had her front tooth broken by a guard in this manner.

Falun Gong practitioners are not allowed to speak to each other at the detention centre. There is also a policy of punishing those who have communicated with practitioners. All practitioners are forced to wear prison uniforms. Practitioners in one ward are tortured with the "Shangzuo" method, that is, they are forced to sit on the floor for long periods of time. Guards direct inmates to mistreat practitioners. In addition, practitioners are victimized financially. Families who deposit money on a practitioner's behalf are charged a fee. At the same time, when practitioners buy something (at prices that are already twice as high as normal), they are charged even more.

Supervisory Subsection, Jilin City Police Department
Director: Dong Ping (male)
Political director: Fan Zeng (male)

Jilin City Detention Centre
Director: Li Wei (male)
Deputy directors: Cong Maohua (male), Liu Changjun (male)

Note

1. "The 610 office" is an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other political and judiciary systems.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.org/mh/articles/2008/4/9/176100.html