Falun Gong Practitioner Zhou Yuren Exposes Atrocities at Liaoyang's Huazi Prison

Practitioner Mr. Zhou Yuren of Qingyuan County, Liaoning Province was arrested in May 2003, for exposing the death by torture of his younger sister Zhou Yuling. Mr. Zhou was sentenced to six years imprisonment, where he experienced and witnessed the persecution of practitioners in Liaoyang's Huazi Prison.

Mr. Zhou exposed the atrocities after he was released from prison. 59 Falun Gong practitioners were being held at the Huazi Prison when he was there, and six died due to torture. The following is Zhou Yuren's account of what he has seen and experienced.

Arrested for Exposing the Death of My Younger Sister

At around 9:00 p.m. on May 19th, 2003, I was cleaning my home when officials from the Fushun Domestic Security Division and the Qingyuan County 610 Office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong) suddenly broke in and arrested me. They confiscated Falun Gong materials and over 1,000 yuan¹ in cash. After subjecting me to interrogation, the Fushun Domestic Security Division sentenced me to three years of forced labour at the Fushun Forced Labour Camp.

Wang Liguo, chief of Brigade No. 9 at Fushun Forced Labour Camp, along with four to five subordinates, took me to an empty room, forced me to squat, and then kicked me in the head and face. My nose was bleeding, and I could only hear the sound of an electric baton in the hand of Wang Liguo next to my ear.

Less than one month later, I was transferred to the Qingyuan Detention Centre. My younger sister Zhou Yuling was persecuted to death in that facility. The judicial and public security organizations sentenced me to six years imprisonment after they discovered that I wrote about and publicized this atrocity.

My younger sister, Zhou Yuling, was arrested at the Hongtoushan Copper Mine in Qingyuan County on August 30th, 2002. Liang Daming, manager of Hongtoushan Copper Mine Police Station, tortured her with an electric baton, and then sent her to the Qingyuan County Detention Centre that same day. She died as a result of the torture on September 20th. When our family arrived, police had already prepared to cremate her body. Song Yi, the Public Security Bureau Deputy Director, handled the matter, and said that they wanted to cremate the body immediately. Our family requested an autopsy and to see the body. Song Yi agreed, but wanted us to pay 5,000 yuan, and stipulated that they would provide a medical examiner. We refused to compromise, and after 4:00 p.m., they obtained a medical certificate from the county hospital, which claimed that Zhou Yuling died from a sudden heart attack. Officials allowed only one representative from her mother's family and husband's family to view the medical certificate. Moreover, they didn't allow the certificate to be transcribed or photocopied, nor could we get the original copy. Song Yi made a phone call, and then policemen came in a van and removed my sister's body for cremation.

More information about Ms. Zhou Yuling can be found at: http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2003/5/21/35982.html

Afterwards, we investigated and discovered two things. First, Zhou Yuling died before she arrived at the hospital. When her body arrived at the hospital, police asked doctors to examine her. The doctors announced that she was dead, and questioned why they needed to examine her. Police and doctors then quarreled over this. Tests for blood pressure, ultrasound or electrocardiogram weren't conducted. Second, it was determined that the Politics and Law Committee assisted the police, and enabled them to obtain a falsified medical certificate from the county hospital.

Based on what I found, I wrote an article that exposed the truth about Zhou Yuling's death, and publicized it locally. The judicial and public security organizations then arrested me and sentenced me to six years of imprisonment.

Countless Crimes at Liaoyang's Huazi Prison

I was taken to the Huazi Prison in Liaoyang. All activities in Huazi Prison were strictly controlled, including labour, study, watching the news, and wearing prison uniforms. The prison once banned family visits and didn't allow prisoners to shower or buy daily necessities because Falun Gong practitioners refused to wear prisoner name tags.

Practitioner Liu Quan refused to be subjected to inspection, and was struck by division chief Xu Changhai, causing him to bleed from his nose and mouth. Practitioner Bai Heguo refused to perform the forced labour, so the guards assaulted him until his eardrum ruptured. Practitioner Li Wensong's lips were cut by Li Chengxin, the warden's assistant. Practitioners Lu Yunqing and Feng Wenzhong were beaten many times.

When practitioner Ren Xiaobei shouted “Falun Gong is good!”, the guards covered his mouth. Once, platoon leader Wang Jianjun ordered inmates to force-feed Ren Xiaobei, and then re-feed him with his own vomit. Another time, inmate Cui Ke tried to steal the Falun Gong lectures from Ren Xiaobei. When Mr. Ren stopped him, Cui beat him until he was unconscious. The guards also dragged Mr. Ren to an empty cell, whose window and door were covered with paper. They handcuffed Mr. Ren to a chair. Monitored by two people, he was not allowed to use the toilet, and had to relieve himself in his trousers.

In 2006, the Huazi Prison transferred some Falun Gong practitioners from Brigade No. 9 to another brigade, and then began brainwashing and forced labour. I was taken to Division No. 6 of the Dalian Prison, where the division head forced me to perform manual labour and brainwashed me every day. The prison staff told inmates that if they were successful in “transforming” [forcibly renounce Falun Gong] a practitioner, they would be rewarded with 90 points, where each point reduced their prison term by one day. Therefore, the persecution got worse, and the methods applied became more sinister and violent.

Huazi Prison guards took practitioners that were soon to be released to the second floor to use all means of coercion to effect “transformation” one month in advance of their release. The cells on the second floor were isolated, cut off from all forms of outside communication. Only guards patrolled this area. They used sleep deprivation and beatings against the practitioners. They forced practitioners to watch slanderous anti-Falun Gong videos at high decibel levels under ultra-bright lighting, which was designed to confuse and disorient them, to the point of knocking them unconscious after a long period. Guards took turns carrying out brainwashing activities while depriving practitioners of sleep. If these two methods weren't successful, guards resorted to beatings.

At the end of 2008, the Huazi Prison transferred Falun Gong practitioners to the Panjing Prison, Nanguanling Prison in Dalian, and Dalian City Prison.

I was taken to the Huazi Prison in 2003, where 59 practitioners were being held. Six practitioners died from torture: Lian Ping (sentenced to six years), Fan Xuejun died in Huazi Prison, Bai Heguo (sentenced to eleven years), and Wang Baojin (sentenced to ten years) died in Nanguanling Prison of Dalian. Lu Yunqing was transferred from the Huazi Prison to Dalian City Prison, then to Tieling Prison; he died less than two days after he returned home. Lu Wenzhong was critically injured from torture in Huazi Prison, and also died soon after he returned home.

Note

1. "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://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2011/1/13/234834.html