Cruelties Committed in Fanjiatai Prison in Shayang City, Hubei Province

Since the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) started persecuting Falun Gong in July 1999, Fanjiatai Prison in Shayang City, Hubei Province, has actively participated in torturing Falun Gong practitioners. Many practitioners have died because of the torture. Some of them have become physically disabled or mentally disordered. Practitioners are forced to stand on hot bricks, so hot that a cigarette could be lit on them. They have also been forced to drink their own urine. The heinous crimes committed by the CCP in Fanjiatai Prison are too numerous to count.

Several hundred practitioners have been tortured in the prison. Some of their cases have been exposed on the Clearwisdom website, but the majority of them have not been disclosed to the public. Especially before April 2002, many practitioners who were imprisoned and tortured there were isolated from the other prisoners. For example, practitioner Fang Longchao was detained in solitary confinement. Many practitioners who were held there before or after 2002 had never seen or heard of this person. I later learned about his plight through a criminal inmate who was responsible for monitoring him. I asked him, "What were Mr. Fang's daily tasks?" He answered, "He was forced to stand by the window from morning to night. His legs were swollen like those of an elephant." "Was he allowed to walk around the room?" "Of course not. Even if he wanted to urinate, he had to use a cup to hold his urine, and then he was forced to drink it."

Practitioners Shen Xuewu and Chen Peisheng were locked in a closed room because they shouted "Falun Gong is good!" during a conference. Their hands and legs were handcuffed, and criminals took turns torturing them around the clock. After they were released, I saw extensive injuries all over their thighs and buttocks. One of Mr. Shen's legs was injured so badly that he couldn't bend it anymore.

On June 29th, 2004, because Mr. Liu Qingshiu, a practitioner from Wuhan City, didn't want to wear the prisoner's uniform and he shouted "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance" and "Falun Gong is good," he was severely beaten by criminals who were incited by Liu Muyang, the political commissar of the police department; Xiao Tainbo, the supervisor of the district prison; Xiong Zuyong, the instructor; and Wang Qingyi and Zhang Jianguo, the assistant instructors. On the afternoon of August 18th, 2004, the prison guards forced Mr. Liu to perform hard labour. Because he refused to cooperate with them, they ordered prisoners to hang a blackboard and bricks skewered with iron wires around his neck. At first, policeman Wang Xiongjie started hitting and kicking him. Then the other prisoners joined in. They beat Mr. Liu so badly that his bones fractured. On the morning of August 19th, even though they knew that Mr. Liu was severely injured, they continued slapping him in the face. One of the officers who was sitting there said: "Beating a person to death in the prison counts for nothing." On the evening of August 19th, guards Liu Muyang, Xiao Tianbo and Xiong Zuyong again ordered prisoners to hit Mr. Liu. Within two days, Mr. Liu was beaten so much he was unrecognizable.

In December 2005, practitioner Chen Song went to see Feng Weiguo, a warden in Fanjiatai Prison. He told him, "Prisoner Xu Jian has repeatedly hit me. No cadres seemed to punish the perpetrator. All they did was give him credits for hitting me." Feng glanced at Mr. Chen and said, "I will look into it." But the situation remained unchanged.

Since February 2007, many practitioners from Hubei Province have been transferred to Fanjiatai Prison. Practitioners' families were forced to pay for their travelling expenses, imposing on them more financial burdens. Practitioners' lives in the prison are very harsh. They can only buy up to 100 yuan¹ worth of personal items. These items are very expensive. Because of the long distance, some of practitioners' families haven't come to visit them for a long time. In May 2008, the prison abolished incoming parcel post services.

Prison guards claimed that, in order for practitioners' families to visit them, they had to first obtain an ID card (of approval) from their local 610 Office² and they must not be Falun Gong practitioners. Before the visit, a guard meets with them face-to-face to determine if they are fit to see them. They are also required to have their photos taken with them. No cell phones are allowed during the visit. Prison guards can open their letters whenever they want. Prison policy states that cooked food is allowed for the visit, but when practitioners' families tried to bring in cooked food, they had to buy it from the food store inside the prison, which was much more expensive.

After 2008, in order to achieve the goal of "transforming³" practitioners, prison guards forced them to watch videos designed to slander Falun Gong. They beat practitioners when they protested. They finally stopped because of their adamant boycotting.

Police guards Xiao Tianbo, Wang Xiongjie and Xiong Zuyong have beaten practitioners. Prisoners Fan Yaping, Xu Jian, Wang Shuilin, Jiao Wenjun, Zhou Weiming, Zhu Di, Li Bing, Pei Wensheng, Qiu Daowen, Wang Dongyuan, Ma Jun, Zhu Shengwen, Hu Shulin, Liu Hong, have repeatedly beaten practitioners severely. Almost all practitioners were forced to do hard labour, write a "guarantee statement⁴," stand, and bend in unnatural positions for long periods of time.

Practitioners who still refused to give up the practice were sent to Wuhan Brainwashing Centre for further persecution after their jail term was finished. For example, without any legal proceedings, one practitioner was sent to Erdaopeng Brainwashing Centre immediately after his term was due to finish.

Recently, Mr. Zhou Xian, a practitioner from Yichang City whose 8-year term was about to finish, was collected by the 610 Office police in Yichang City, and taken to the Wuhan Brainwashing Centre due to his continued belief in Falun Gong.

We urgently call on kind hearted people and international human rights organizations to pay attention to the plight of Falun Gong practitioners, and hope that they will help end the persecution of Falun Gong.

Fanjiatain Prison in Shayang City, Hubei Province:
Feng Weiguo, warden and head of the police department: 786-24-8570010
Li Zhengliang, assistant warden: 86-13972881166

Note

1. "Yuan" is the Chinese currency; 500 yuan is equal to the average monthly income of an urban worker in China.

2. "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.

3. "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")

4. "Guarantee Statement": A statement to declare that one is remorseful for practising Falun Gong and guarantees not to practise Falun Gong again, not to go to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong, and never again associate with any Falun Gong practitioners.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2009/3/18/197369.html