Mudanjiang City Prison Officials Subject Mr. Zhao Bo to Torture

Mr. Zhao Bo from Mishan City, Heilongjiang Province was arrested in the evening of March 20th, 2003. Mishan City Police Department political head Liu Qin, the previous Politics and Security Section head Meng Qingqi, and other police officers broke into his house and captured him. Mr. Zhao was sentenced to seven years in prison. The following lists part of the gross abuse and mistreatment he suffered in Mudanjiang City Prison.

Locked Up in a Small Cell

At the end of November in 2003, Mr. Zhao Bo was covertly transferred to the Sixth Ward in Mudanjiang City Prison, and to the 11th Ward in April 2004. Everyone in this ward was forced to make car cushions for more than eight hours a day. Mr. Zhao went on a hunger strike to protest the abuse. He was locked up in a small cell. Sometimes five people were in a cell that measured only three square metres. Some of them in there were beaten and seriously injured or severely malnourished. Mr. Zhao was released from the small cell 20 days later and was soon transferred to the 17th Ward.

Detained in a Small Room

Guard Li Hongming beat Mr. Zhao in July 2004 because he refused to do hard labour. He went on a protest hunger strike. On the fourth day, ward head Zhong Gui saw Mr. Zhao lying in bed, not moving, and poked him with a stick, telling him to get up. He sent several people to monitor him. Mr. Zhao escaped from the cell and ran toward the prison head's office. Two guards on patrol on the drill ground tackled him from behind. When political head Yu Fugang arrived, despite more than one hundred people watching, he beat and kicked Mr. Zhao. He kicked him so hard that his shoes flew off.

Four people took Mr. Zhao back to the cell and handcuffed him on a metal bed and beat him. Later in the afternoon he was taken to a small, confined room with one door and a 25 cm by 20 cm hole. The light was on 24 hours a day. In the summer the small room was like a steam bath, and everyone inside sweat nonstop. The prison limited Mr. Zhao's water supply to a small cup of water every two days. He was held in this cell for 25 days and not let out once.

Shocked with an Electric Baton

In March 2005, Mr. Zhao refused to do forced labour again. This time, ward head Jiang Weidong hit him on the back of his head with an electric baton. Mr. Zhao lost consciousness, his head bleeding. Jiang Weidong and staff member Yi Yongxiang dragged him to a metal chair in the confinement room and immobilised his hands and feet. Then Jiang Weidong shocked him with an electric baton on his head, face, hands, ears, spine, and other sensitive places. Yi Yongxiang helped him to recharge the baton. They tortured Mr. Zhao for several hours and didn't stop until they were exhausted.

To prevent others from seeing the injuries, Yi Yongxiang took him to the hospital and ordered doctors to stitch him up. After that, they held Mr. Zhao in the confining room for another two weeks. Once he had healed, they sent him back to the ward.

Exposed to Freezing Cold for Six Days

Prior to the 2006 New Year's Eve, guards found Master's articles on practitioners Mr. An Yongzhen and Mr. Zhao. The two men were locked up in the confinement room, which was as cold as the outside during that winter. The practitioners were unable to sleep for six days.

In June 2006, Mr. Zhao was transferred back the 17th Ward.

In 2007, more than 60 practitioners were held in a cell and forced to listen to how other practitioners had been "reformed [forcibly renounce Falun Gong]." Mr. Huang Guodong and many other practitioners present were not swayed by these tactics, so the guards beat them savagely and held them in solitary cells.

Hanged and Beaten

On October 31st, 2009, Mudanjiang City Prison officials demanded that every ward "reform" Falun Gong practitioners, by whatever means necessary. A prisoner who aided in the effort would have his/her sentence reduced. If a guard did the same, he/she would earn merit awards. Deputy ward head Geng Lei was in charge of this policy in the 17th Ward.

Prisoners Xu Baoliang, Meng Xianwei, and Lu Chunfeng monitored Mr. Zhao and didn't let him sleep for four days. Mr. Zhao protested this treatment with a hunger strike. Guards Wang Weidong, Wang Jianfeng, Wang Heyi, and Lin Shijie then ordered prisoners to hang him up by his handcuffs on the upper metal railing of a bunk bed, with his toes barely touching the ground. Prisoner Lu Yongjiang gagged Mr. Zhao with a towel, and Lu Chunfeng and Zhang Yuchun kicked the bed to increase the pain. This lasted for two hours.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2010/6/11/225216.html