I Witnessed the Abuse of Fellow Practitioners in Sichuan Women's Prison

I was detained in the Yangmahe Town Women's Prison in Jianyang City, Sichuan Province, for three years because I practise Falun Gong. I experienced and witnessed the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners by guards and criminals. More than 100 practitioners were detained in that prison.

When I first arrived at the prison, I saw Yu Zhifang and other guards search practitioners thoroughly, mainly for Falun Gong articles. Items practitioners carried that stuck out were thrown on the ground. Later, two criminal inmates were assigned to watch practitioners 24 hours a day, following us closely. Inmates that took part in the persecution with the guards did not allow practitioners to talk to, contact, or even glance at each other. At night, the lights were always on for the guards to keep an eye on practitioners and to prevent them from doing the exercises. Practitioners were not allowed to bend their legs when they sat or lay down. The criminals enforced this prohibition even when practitioners were sitting on the edge of the bed.

Due to the prison's interest in economic profit, practitioners were forced to do slave labour. Practitioners whom the guards felt were not brainwashed were not allowed to purchase items, make phone calls, or have family visitors--they totally lost their freedom.

In July 2002, I had been in the prison more than a month when the guard that persecuted practitioners the most in each ward was transferred to ward seven to conduct a "law class." In actuality, this was a brainwashing class. Over a hundred practitioners were sent to the 7th ward and tortured with all kinds of evil methods, pressuring them to give up Falun Gong. Three or four practitioners were detained in every room. Each practitioner was monitored by one or two criminals. The criminals strictly confined practitioners' freedom, reporting what they said and did to the guards. Eating, washing clothes, showering, going to the toilet, and other everyday activities had time limits. The guards did not allow the inmates to talk about Falun Gong with practitioners. If they did and were discovered, they were punished. The guards spread malicious lies to stir up hatred towards practitioners. They induced teaching assistants and inmates with credits and penalty reductions to persecute practitioners. Criminal inmates and teaching assistants that persecuted practitioners encountered no intervention from the guards. Photos and banners cursing Falun Gong were hung all over the ward. Practitioners were forced to watch videos and read books badmouthing Falun Gong. Inmates that could sing Party propaganda songs were designated by the guards to coerce practitioners into learning to dance along with, sing, and listen to Party propaganda songs. The inmates tried to induce practitioners to learn other forms of exercises. Those that did not listen to the criminals were insulted and tortured. The guards assigned many teaching assistants and criminal inmates to surround the practitioners, verbally circulate all types of propaganda, take turns talking hypocritically to practitioners every day, or force practitioners to write experience sharing materials and so-called "thought reports." They threatened practitioners who did not denounce Falun Gong, increasing penalties for those that did not write the three statements. If the teaching assistants and other inmates could not brainwash the practitioners, they were replaced. The guards threatened the criminal inmates involved in persecuting practitioners not to publicly reveal what they did inside the prison walls.

If practitioners were steadfast in their faith, besides being subjected to brainwashing attempts, the guards used other methods of torture, including running, doing military drills, doing exhausting exercises, etc. Some could not walk with their feet swollen from running. The guards assigned criminals to drag such practitioners to run. Those that disobeyed were beaten and kicked, forced to stand or sit, exposed relentlessly to the sun, or sent to further torture in solitary confinement. Those that did not attend military marching training, wear the prison uniform, or report crimes were humiliatingly stripped, dragged to a small room for criminals to torture, and/or deprived of food and bathroom use. A number of practitioners were handcuffed, hung up, and not allowed to eat or use the toilet. Some were tortured by being handcuffed in a position called "Carrying a Sword behind the Back."

The brainwashing session lasted for about 50 days, and practitioners were tortured every single day. Practitioner Ms. Lin Li was against the persecution, so she was hung on a gate post by guard Yu Zhifang and his confederate in April 2002. Then she was hung on another post, arbitrarily beaten, insulted, and not allowed to eat or use the restroom. She was tortured for more than a month in order to pressure her to give up her belief. Practitioner Ms. Zhang Zhiqin refused to wear the prison uniform, report numbers, or report crimes. Yu Zhifang designated a group of criminals to insult her, drag her, punch her back, kick her, and shock her with an electric baton. She was handcuffed to a tree or a post every day, isolated from everyone else, made to sit or stand and not allowed to eat. In addition, she was forced to stand upside down, and held down by criminals while they chopped off her hair. She could not keep up her hunger strike to protest the persecution, but the guards still forced her to do slave labour.

Guard Yu Zhifang and others used evil tactics to persecute and humiliate practitioners. On days that leaders and officers came to inspect, or other particular events took place in the prison, the guards were afraid people would find out about their bad deeds. A military police officer once saw them order criminal inmates to take off practitioner Ms. Zhang Zhiqin's clothes . She was then thrown into the trash near the toilet, an area full of mosquitoes, flies, and bedbugs.

Practitioner Ms. Ye Shunying refused to wear the prison uniform to protest the persecution. Guard designated criminals dragged her to slave labor grounds and stripped her in front of the workshop supervisor to humiliate her. Practitioner Ms. Zhang Qunfang refused to report numbers and was insulted, hit, and beaten by criminals that pressed on her lower back with their knees. Another practitioner, Ms. Lu Yanfei, would not give up her belief in Dafa and offered information on Falun Gong to others. She was handcuffed by guards Liu Hong and Jian and not allowed to eat. Once when she was in the toilet, guards Liu Hong and Jian told several criminal inmates to hold her down and stuff a wash towel into her mouth. After what they had done was revealed, Liu Hong and Jian denied all responsibility.

Ever since the beginning of the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) persecution of Falun Gong, numerous practitioners have been detained in the Yangmahe Town Women's Prison in Jianyang City, Sichuan Province. In this living hell, the guards and criminals use brutal methods to torture practitioners. What is described above are just a few examples.

Guards involved in the persecution:

Yu Zhifang, former leader in the 7th ward
Liu Hong, former leader in the 8th ward
Jian, former team leader in the 8th ward
Zhou Hui, former deputy leader in the 8th ward
Fu, former leader in the 4th ward

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2008/10/3/187037.html