Mr. Liu Zhansheng Subjected to Three and a Half Years of Persecution in Zhejiang Province Fourth Prison

Mr. Liu Zhansheng, a Falun Gong practitioner from Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province, was arrested in December 2004. He was sentenced to three years and six months, and taken to Zhejiang Province Fourth Prison on July 28th, 2005. He has since suffered more than three years of abuse. He has been beaten, brutally force-fed, had pepper sprayed into his eyes and mouth, subjected to brainwashing, forbidden to have fluids for a long time, and subjected to other outrages. Following is background information:

On December 14th, 2004, Mr. Liu Zhansheng gave a CD-ROM exposing the persecution of Falun Gong to a passerby in a village close to the Xiaoshan District in Hangzhou City. A village bureaucrat intercepted him. Mr. Liu Zhansheng was thrown to the ground while more onlookers gathered. He shouted, "Do not believe what is said on TV. Take a look at this CD!"

Mr. Liu was eventually taken to the Wenyan Town Police Station in the Xiaoshan District and locked up in a detention centre that evening. He went on a protest hunger strike for seven days. On the fourth day he ended up in the Xiaoshan People's Hospital and had a force-feeding tube inserted. Once back in the detention centre, his hands and feet were cuffed. He took out the feeding tube when no one was watching him. On the last day of the hunger strike he was sent to the hospital for force-feeding again.

Agents from the local National Security Bureau interrogated Mr. Liu 17 times. He didn't cooperate. He withstood the pressure, kept silent, and refused to sign any document for all 17 interrogations, which lasted from morning to evening on two occasions. Once, the questioning began in the middle of the night. These agents slapped his face and dragged him outside by his hair. On June 18th, 2005, the Xiaoshan People's Court sentenced Liu Zhansheng to three years and six months in prison and transported him to the Zhejiang Province Fourth Prison on July 28th, 2005.

Once there, Mr. Liu was placed in the Strictly Monitored Team for refusing to wear the prison uniform [Note: because Falun Gong practitioners have committed no crime, and therefore should not be in prison, practitioners often protest the unjust detention by refusing to wear the prison uniform]. The guards shaved off all his hair and put him in a uniform. He was handcuffed to a metal fence for about two hours. He went on a hunger strike again. The next day, a deputy chief surnamed Zhang shocked Mr. Liu with electric batons several times. On the third day of the hunger strike, they took him to the prison hospital and forced a saline solution into him. They repeated this for several days. After Education Section staff member Gao Nanjun examined Mr. Liu, he told the criminal inmates who monitored him to force-feed him. The inmates answered that this was no problem as long as the head of staff would stand by. Gao Nanjun did not say anything and walked away. Later on, they again sent Mr. Liu to the prison hospital. Criminal inmate Ye Zhihui attempted to force-feed him. Because Mr. Liu didn't cooperate with the forced-feeding, he beat and slapped his face.

Those in charge of monitoring Liu Zhansheng abused him brutally because he refused to wear the prison uniform and went on hunger strike. He kept asking to speak with the prison head. At one point, Deputy warden Qiu Jiaqi wandered around the entrance to Mr. Liu's cell and left. Mr. Liu did not know then, but later learned who this was.

On August 29th, 2005, he was transferred to the Sixth Ward's Fourth Team. Sixth Ward deputy head Zhou Miaozhong and Cao Wumin, Fourth team political head, and a team leader surnamed Shi were in charge of persecuting Falun Gong practitioners. These vicious guards incited the following criminal inmates to monitor practitioner Mr. Liu around the clock: Zhang Zhiping, Qiu Yupao, Yang Jifa, and Yang Jiangwei. They were the practitioner's cell mates. Criminal inmate Shen Quanshi joined later on. Mr. Liu was reported to have tried to write letters to his classmates and co-workers. The Education Section head told Mr. Liu that the officials could decide not send his letters out, and that if they did decide not to send his letters out, they were not required to notify him.

In October 2005, prison officials refused to let Mr. Liu read newspapers or speak with others. They sent several inmates to take turns monitoring him. He wrote to the prison administrators during that time, reporting that inmate Ye Zhihui beat him and Gao Nanjun swore at him. He also wrote that criminals should not be used as "management," and protested installing a camera in the cell and bathroom, an invasion of personal privacy. The following individuals then held a conversation with Mr. Liu: Deputy Head of the Sixth Ward Zhou Miaozhong, a guard surnamed Shen from the Education Section, and Feng Yun, head of the Education Unit of the Sixth Ward.

After the 2006 Chinese New Year, Mr. Liu was forced to watch brainwashing television programmes: two hours in the morning and another two in the afternoon. The first week, the programs were so-called "classical liberation TV serials." Interspersed were Party propaganda speeches. A week later they also played some programs that slandered Falun Gong and forced Mr. Liu to watch. The criminal inmates once pushed him down for refusing to watch. He protested loudly.

Liu Zhansheng eventually wrote two letters: one to Prison Administration Division Head Wang Jucheng, and another letter to Deputy Warden Qiu Jiaqi. Neither of the letters got a response. Mr. Liu had already written four letters: one to the Appeals Office of the State Council; one to the Appeals Office of the National People's Congress that reported his former labour camp sentence and the abuses that he was subjected to at the Shanghai Forced Labour Camp; one to the Hangzhou City People's Intermediate Court; and one to the Hangzhou City National Security Bureau. The latter two letters reported the violent tactics that Xiaoshan National Security Division agents subjected him to during the 17 interrogations. The National People's Congress Appeals Office immediately forwarded the petition letter to the Shanghai Third Forced Labour Camp, where Liu Zhansheng had been held previously. The latter declared that all charges against them in Liu Zhansheng's letter were quotes from minghui.ca (the Chinese version of Clearwisdom.net) and denied all charges. The response from the Hangzhou City People's Intermediate Court was that the letter was forwarded to the People's Procuratorate in the Xiaoshan District. Then, no further response. The two letters sent to the State Council Appeals Office and the Hangzhou National Security Bureau elicited no response. After Mr. Liu wrote the above letters, he was not allowed to write any more petition letters.

The ward supervisor's regulations were eventually adjusted to institute "centralized management" on the third floor of the Sixth Ward's 3rd Team. Those in charge attempted to have Mr. Liu sit in a separate room to read "the supervision regulations." He refused, so they made him sit motionless in front of a table. By the end of March 2006, a criminal inmate who "supervised" Liu Zhansheng ordered him not move. When Mr. Liu didn't obey, four criminal inmates began to violently slap his face, pushed him to the ground, and stepped on his head.

One or two days after this happened, Education Section Deputy Chief Chen went to visit Mr. Liu Zhansheng, who reported the incident to him. The deputy chief said hypocritically, "The prison forbids criminals to have physical contact with Liu Zhansheng."

By early 2006, Sixth Ward guards distributed an appointment card to everyone to meet with a prosecutor. After Mr. Liu made several requests, prison officials finally gave him permission to meet with the prosecutor who arrived one or two days later. Mr. Liu reported to him the gross abuse the criminals had subjected him to. This prosecutor didn't address any of the problems and never again returned.

By the middle of April 2006, Mr. Liu Zhansheng was again made to watch Falun Gong-slandering programmes. Because he did not cooperate, they subjected him to forced brainwashing. He was pushed to the floor and had to watch the programme several times. At one point, he felt he could not stand it any more and slammed his head into the TV set in protest. Guard Shi took him to be examined in the hospital. He had two bumps on his head, one of which was 4 cm in diameter. Later on they attempted to force him to watch TV again and handcuffed him when he refused. Guard Cao Wumin shocked him with an electric baton. Mr. Liu continued his protest. As a result, more severe torture followed. Cao called up three more guards: He Jianjun, ward head, and team heads Zheng Chen and Kong Jun. First they poured a bottle of mineral water over him. Then the four men held four to five electric batons and shocked his temples, lips, and other sensitive parts. His lips were full of blisters.

In June 2006, Feng Yun was promoted to political head of the Sixth Ward, Fourth Team. From then on, Feng Yun began his personal abuse of Liu Zhansheng. After he talked with him several times, he incited criminal inmates to interfere with Mr. Liu's sleep. They intentionally hit the fans and bed boards when he was sleeping. After July, they began to insult him, berate him, and beat him on the forehead. On July 17th, 2006, they forced him to remain squatting for one and a half hours. On July 24th, the Sixth Ward's Fourth Team officials placed Mr. Liu in a solitary cell and ordered him to remain motionless on a small stool without leaning on anything and "think." One criminal was constantly on duty to monitor him. When Zhang Zhiping was on duty, he would close all the windows and turn off the fans.

Mr. Liu Zhansheng was forbidden to buy extra food since March 2006. The soup provided in the summer for everyone at lunch and dinner was not available to him. When criminal inmate Zhang Zhiping was on duty, he often spoke foul language to Mr. Liu and swore at him. He even spit on Mr. Liu to insult him when no others were present. Liu Zhansheng repeatedly reported this to the team leader, but this enraged Zhang Zhiping even more and led to additional abuse. Sometimes Mr. Liu was provided only half a meal and was occasionally only served vegetable soup.

Toward the end of October, 2006, the guards began to deprive Mr. Liu of sleep and pulled off his blanket in the night. His blood pressure and pulse began to increase. He reported this to the team leader several times--that he should not be treated this way. In November they began again to play the video that slandered Falun Gong. At first, it was played at the same time when all criminal inmates were working. Later on it lasted from breakfast to 8:00 p.m., non-stop, and ran even at lunch and dinnertime, at a high volume. Mr. Liu was forced to sit across from the TV set. The volume was so loud it affected everyone in the room. They continued to disturb Liu Zhansheng's sleep at night. In December it was very cold. Sometimes when they tried to pull his blanket off, he had to sit up to stop them. But when he lay down again, they would come and bother him again. This nonstop harassment lasted all night long.

In January 23rd, 2007, the Sixth Ward officials made internal adjustments. No empty room could be used to torture Liu Zhansheng, so he was made to sit by the restroom entrance. Sometimes criminal inmate Zhang Zhiping would not let Mr. Liu eat until others had finished, and once he threw away Mr. Liu's chopsticks. He had to eat with his hands. Deputy officer He saw this and asked someone to give Mr. Liu another pair of chopsticks.

It was very cold during the winter. Criminal inmate Zhang Zhiping would deliberately open the windows every day and make Mr. Liu freeze. In addition to pulling off Mr. Liu's blanket at night, Zhang poured water into Mr. Liu's cotton shoes. Mr. Liu reported to Deputy Head of the ward Zhou Miaozhong, who hypocritically said a few empty words. Sometimes Zhang did not let Mr. Liu drink water for a long period of time. Mr. Liu become so thirsty once that he drank his own urine. When he reported the water deprivation to Zhou Miaozhong, Zhou said it was Mr. Liu's fault. Mr. Liu was forced to sit by the entrance of the toilet until the Chinese New Year's Eve. He finally was allowed to go back to his cell for the New Year's-end dinner. On the first day of the Chinese Lunar New Year he had to sit by the entrance to the toilet again. During those two months, Mr. Liu did not once have a chance to take bath.

By the end of February 2007, Feng Yun and Sixth Ward's Third Team Political Head Zhang Jianguang swapped positions. Zhang Jianguang became political head of the Fourth Team. Mr. Liu reported to Zhang Jianguang the incident of the water-filled cotton shoes and other issues. He even took off his shoes to show Zhang Jianguang. Zhang Jianguang didn't address Mr. Liu's concern.

On March 12th, he swapped Liu Zhansheng for another prisoner of conscience, a democracy advocate named Wu Yilong, who was in the 3rd Team. Thus, Mr. Liu ended up under Feng Yun's supervision once again. Other criminal inmates that persecuted Mr. Liu were Yang Jiangwei, Zhang Yuecun, Feng Wanchun, and Hu Genquan. Three days later, they had him sit in front of the toilet again. When Mr. Liu reported to Feng Yun, he was told that this was just "strict monitoring." After a few days, they once again harassed Mr. Liu when he was trying to sleep. They poured water on him, applied essential balm into his eyes and mouth, and occasionally took his bed cover away. Later on when it became hot, they forced Mr. Liu to sleep under two blankets. Criminal inmates Wang Haichao, Yang Jiangwei, Zhang Yuecun, and Feng Wanqing abused Mr. Liu Zhansheng together.

When eight months of continuous abuse produced no results, and Mr. Liu still refused to renounce Falun Gong, they changed their tactics. They began "training" Mr. Liu. The first week was walking. He had to walk for one and a half hours, rest for five minutes, and then walk for another one and a half hours. Also, criminal inmate Zhang Yuecun tortured Mr. Liu while he was sleeping. Their tactics kept changing. For example, they usually ordered Mr. Liu to open his eyes for a certain time and then close them. After some time at night, Mr. Liu was ordered to go to the toilet again and again. Eventually it became a rule to make him go to toilet five times in the first half of the night and five times the second half. Thus, he could never have a good night's rest and had to get used to frequent trips to the toilet. Zhang Yuecun even poked Mr. Liu with a needle as he slept. Liu Zhansheng mentioned the above abuse in a conversation with Gao Nanjun, Chen Jin, and Feng Yun.

After walking for one week, they forced Mr. Liu to run. He had to run one hour and then rest for five minutes and then run again. Before other criminal inmates went to work or after their work, Mr. Liu was ordered to sit or squat. By the end of April he was forbidden to sit for the whole day, even while eating. Because of long-term standing, his legs became swollen and the skin cracked. Later on they ordered him to lie down for 24 hours and not get up. He could only go to the restroom five times during the day and three times at night, in contrast to the previous abuse when Zhang Yuecun had tortured him by making him go to toilet ten times a night, so he had to adjust accordingly. Because he ate "mixed food" [mixed vegetables without meat] for three meals a day for a long time, he was constipated and usually needed a long time on the toilet.

In June the weather was very hot. They made him lie down all the time. He was not allowed to wash his clothes.

For close to two months they Mr. Liu him watch TV while lying down. The TV set was put on the night table in front of his head. Sometimes the volume was very high. After a few weeks of this, they ordered him to sit down and watch the television, requiring him to focus on the television. The brainwashing attempt had no effect on Mr. Liu at all. By the second half of August they began to subject him to training under the sun. He was ordered to stand still for long time motionless. Sometimes the standing lasted for one and a half hours without a break. Because of the high temperatures, his arms and eyes swelled after one day of this abuse and his eyes swelled even more after the second day. On the morning of the third day he was unable to open his eyes. He had to use his hands to open his eyelids so he could see. His head also got sun-burned. His blistered mouth hurt when he opened it.

Around December 2nd, 2007, prison Deputy Head Xu Bo ordered Mr. Liu to write the prison regulations by hand 50 times a day. The regulations contained more than 900 words. He was not allowed to sleep until he had finished the daily quota. Two criminal inmates who were dispatched to monitor him were Li Bo and the former "swapped-out" Zhang Yuecun. It was impossible to finish the assigned quota, which meant he was forbidden to sleep and was monitored in two shifts. He had to write around the clock. Whenever he dozed off, the criminal would splash water in his face. Whenever he closed his eyes, Wang Haichao would punch him or kick his thigh. When other inmates were not watching, he poured a cup of tea down Mr. Liu's collar.

This situation lasted more than 10 days. One day a criminal deceived Mr. Liu into signing the three statements. He had been copying the regulations, and, when he was almost unconscious, he was told to sign the papers. Mr. Liu thought it was another copy of the regulations. He signed and then fell asleep.

The next day Xu Bo spoke with Mr. Liu, saying how capable those criminals were to get him to write the three statements. At that moment Liu Zhansheng realized that they had written the statements beforehand, covered them with the copies of the prison regulations, and duped him into signing them when he was almost unconscious. Mr. Liu pointed out right away that he had not signed them willingly, stating that he had been deceived and would not acknowledge it.

He also reported that criminal inmates should not be permitted to beat people. Xu Bo called those inmates and asked them in front of him who had beaten Mr. Liu. Of course none of them admitted to beating him. From that day on they again refused to let him sleep. They also clamped his fingers and earlobes with metal clips. The marks on one finger were still visible five months later. They also put clamps in his hair. One end of a rope connected the clip while the other end was tied to the bed board. They used all manner of tactics to torture Mr. Liu, whose legs were swollen so much that he had difficulty squatting.

One night, the two criminal inmates pushed him on the bed, poked his legs with a needle, and twisted his legs with their hands. They got blood all over his legs. The next day they even shamelessly asked, "Where did the blood on your clothes come from?" This kind of abuse lasted about seven to eight days. Then one day they pulled him into a room the door of which was covered with a cloth. A bucket of water was put in the middle. They took off his shirt and put a powdery substance on his genitals. Then five of them lifted him up, turned him upside down, and put his head into the bucket. He struggled and turned the bucket over. They got another bucket and continued. He turned the bucket over again. Again they got another bucket of water and went on with the torture. Five persons held him tightly. Mr. Liu was so exhausted he was near suffocation.

By the end of April 2008, Mr. Liu told Xu Bo, "You should not use violence against me." The next day when Chen arrived, Mr. Liu also complained to him about the violence he was being subjected to. He showed the bruises on his hands and legs. When Gao Nanjun arrived in the afternoon, Mr. Liu once again told him about the abuse.

Xu Bo was later transferred to the Tenth Ward's ThirdTeam as a political head. Guard Kong Jun became the person in charge of persecuting Mr. Liu. Mr. Liu once again showed the signs of the abuses he suffered and asked to see the main person in charge and at the Discipline Commission and the prosecutor. Kong Jun told him that he would get to see them before his release. None of the persons Mr. Liu kept asking for showed up. Two weeks prior to his release, only Gao Nanjun and a guard surnamed Shen spoke formally with him, and he briefly explained to Gao and Shen the method used to torture him and said he would not acknowledge the "transformation¹."

Gao and Chen took notes. On June 4th, 2008, the local officials in Hangzhou City's Binjiang District stopped by before Mr. Liu Zhansheng was released. Also present were Education Section Head Hong; Zhou Miaozhong, deputy head of the Sixth Ward; Gao Nanjun; and Kong Jun. Liu Zhansheng related all the incidents of abuse he was subjected to and stated that whatever he had said or written under these circumstances was not valid. He also told the Binjiang District officials that if they really wanted to help him, they should "Please help me to sue Xu Bo and others."

Guards and other officials involved in the persecution of Mr. Liu:
Cao Wumin, former political head of the Fourth Team, current political head of the Second Team, and political head of the Sixth Ward
Feng Yun, former head of the Education Unit, former political head of the Fourth Team, and current political head of the Third Team of the Sixth Ward
Xu Bo, former deputy head of the Third Wub-ward of the Sixth Ward and current political head of the third team of the Tenth Ward
Kong Jun, head of the Fourth Team of the Sixth Ward
Zhou Miaozhong, deputy head of the Sixth Ward
Gao Nanjun, political head of the Education Section
Chen Chin, deputy head of the Education Section
Qiu Jiaqi, deputy head of the prison

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")

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2008/9/7/185459.html