Women's Prison of Hebei Province: A Criminal Organization

The Women's Prison of Hebei Province is supposedly an organization meant to execute the law; however, it is actually a criminal organization. It has been brutally persecuting Falun Gong practitioners. The prison guards specifically make use of the violent criminals in the inmate population to torture Falun Gong practitioners. This article exposes what the prison has done to Falun Gong practitioners in last six months.

1. The Persecution in the 4th Monitoring District

On May 12th, 2009, a female police officer named Zhang Xintuo searched practitioner Ms. Yang Runying (who is more than 50 years old); she found and confiscated a Falun Gong book. That night, after Ms. Yang Runying returned to her dormitory in the prison, to show her resistance to the persecution, she did not report her name during role call. In front of all of the other prisoners in the dormitory, officer Zhang Runying punched, kicked and slapped Ms. Yang. Then officer Zhang instigated a gang of inmates to get Ms. Yang into her office where they brutally beat her once again. Meanwhile, she claimed that if Ms. Yang Runying did not give in, all the prisoners in her dormitory would be punished by being forced to stand together, which is the way that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has always used "to incite the people to struggle with each other." This exerted a lot of pressure on Ms. Yang Runying but still she did not cooperate. Every night over the following several days, Ms. Yang Runying was summoned to the workshop office, where she was searched and tortured.

One day in June 2009, prison guard Yang Yang searched practitioner Ms. Xing Jingyun like a hooligan in the presence of more than 200 prisoners. Her shirt was torn off, exposing her chest.

Yang Yang also often treated Ms. Li Xiulan, another practitioner who is more than 70 years old, violently. There were many times that Yang Yang pushed Ms. Li Xiulan down to the ground to take her Falun Gong books or other materials. This usually caused Ms. Li Xiulan's blood pressure to rise, so much so that she would be unable to stand. Yang Yang also regularly gathered prison guards Niu Li, Zhang Lei and others, to persecute practitioners in a group, advocating following the CCP. They persecuted practitioners and tore up many Falun Gong books. They repeatedly beat and cursed all the prisoners. They would casually take the prisoners' food and daily necessities, and also directly order the prisoners to buy them things. They also told the inmates to wash their clothes and perform other personal services. When the prison guards are not pleased, the inmates are punished.

In April 2009, practitioner Ms. Hao Guizhi of Zhangjiakou City was sent to this prison. At first Ms. Hao was talkative and energetic. Then the prison started to persecute her and tried to forcefully "transform¹" her. The prison guards compelled her to write the "Four Statements²," ordered the prison doctors to medicate Ms. Hao Guizhi with psychotropic drugs, and so on. This resulted in Ms. Hao being in a trance-like state; she spoke to herself, became timid and cried all day. As time went on Ms. Hao was no longer able to take care of herself and she could not sleep at night. Despite this, she was still forced to work under their supervision. It is now hard to recognize Ms. Hao Guizhi; she looks like a completely different person compared to the way she looked when she entered the prison.

It was also found that prison guards were adding an unknown drug into the water bottles of practitioners. After practitioner Ms. Hu Shenhua drank her water, she felt dizzy and her neck was stiff. Ms. Hu could not figure out the reason and just thought her high blood pressure was becoming worse. Later when someone else drank the water from Ms. Hu Shenhua's bottle, the same symptoms occurred and the water was found to be light blue. Although practitioners resisted the maltreatment, the practitioners' water bottles were frequently found to be drugged.

Practitioners who stood firm and refused to participate in labour were deliberately given a hard time. Some examples of the abuse are: not being allowed to call home, not being allowed to eat, being limited to buying only 20 yuan³ worth of goods, being fined if they took a noon break, and other things. In addition, almost every practitioner was monitored openly or secretly, and some practitioners were even followed everywhere. Based solely on the whims of the prison guards, the practitioners would be beaten.

The prison guards also randomly searched the practitioners' belongings and confiscated their Falun Gong books and materials.

Guards of 4th monitoring district in the Women's Prison of Hebei Province: Zhang Weixia, Gao Lina, Yang Yang, Niu Li, Zhang Xintuo.

2. Other Persecution

In the 5th monitoring district, practitioner Ms. Zhang Caixia was persecuted by prison guards Ma Mei, Ma Guishuang and others. The persecution was for her refusal to report her number and her refusal to take her name badge. As punishment, Ms. Zhang was twice forced to stand against a wall, locked in a small cell. Even on bitterly cold days, the guards only allowed Ms. Zhang to wear a single layer of clothes. After Ms. Zhang was released from the cell, she was not allowed to sleep, was handcuffed to stairs, and was deprived of food. Another practitioner named Jun was beaten brutally by her "guardian," which resulted in her legs being lame for quite a long time.

In the 7th and 8th monitoring districts, whenever practitioners spoke the words "Falun Gong Is Good," they would be severely beaten. One practitioner was beaten so badly that her leg dragged on the ground; however, she was still forced to work. In the 8th monitoring district, practitioners were isolated for "transformation," and no one was allowed to talk to them. If they did not "transform," they would not be released. Some of them were badly battered. In the 7th monitoring district, practitioner Ms. Liu Shuqin (Wang Bo's mother) shouted "Falun Gong Is Good," so her mouth was taped shut. Ms. Liu was also frequently beaten in the workshop. Liu Shuqin was later moved and her whereabouts are now unknown.

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")

2. "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.

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

Chinese version available at http://minghui.org/mh/articles/2009/9/29/209220.html