Firsthand Account of the Persecution Suffered by Li Dasen in Guangxi

Name: Li Dasen
Gender: Male
Age: 74
Address: Rong County, Yulin, Guangxi
Date of Most Recent Arrest: Unknown
Most Recent Place of Detention: Litang Prison, Guangxi
Province: Guangxi
Persecution Suffered: Forced labour, brainwashing, verbal abuse, torture

Mr. Li Dasen was sentenced to three years of imprisonment by a judge at Xingning District Court, Nanning, Guangxi. He was supposed to be sent back to Nanning First Detention Centre on April 2nd, 2008, before being transferred to prison. Due to his high blood pressure, however, he was instead taken to Maoqiao Prison Hospital (now Xinkang Hospital). Afterward, he was sent to the detention centre and detained there for nine months. During that period, he was hospitalised in the Maoqiao Prison Hospital three times. The third occurrence took place on the afternoon of December 26th, 2008, when he lost consciousness. Mr. Li was transferred to prison four days later.

The following is Mr. Li’s personal account of the persecution he suffered in prison:

I was taken to Litang Prison on the morning of December 30th, 2008. I was transferred to ward No. 6 on August 10th, 2009, and was forced to stay in a room where the temperature was turned up high from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. (except for about an hour at noon for lunch). I requested permission to rest in the cell at 7:30 a.m. on August 24, 2009, but the ward leader denied it. A couple of minutes later, I requested to go to the clinic, where my blood pressure was taken. It was 200/120 mmHg, so I was immediately taken to the hospital. I was hospitalised for over 20 days, then sent back to the ward on September 14th, 2009. There, I was only allowed to take a cold shower, even though the weather was very cold in the fall. Officials also said that a shower could only be taken after dinner. I was not given the three meals with pork and one meal with fish per week, as mandated by national regulations that were enacted on November 5th, 2009.
I reported this unfair treatment to the Procuratorate to request an investigation. I also requested to be transferred out of ward No. 6. Two police officers, who claimed to be from Nanning, showed up to investigate the ward around 10 a.m. on November 26th, 2009. Instead of interviewing me, they questioned the inmate who shared the same cell. I asked to report the situation to them, but the guard denied my request.

After I went to check the time on December 8th, 2009, I stayed at the door for a brief second. As a result, I was yelled at by the person in charge of monitoring me. Later, security lead Zhang Hua came to the cell and further verbally abused me. The head guard then ordered me to stay still for a prolonged period of time. When it was dinner time at 6 p.m., I went on a hunger strike. On the fourth day of the hunger strike, a guard ordered me to keep quiet and stand still 10 meters away from the cell from 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. and from 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.

I was transferred to ward No. 3 on April 12th, 2010, because my prison term was almost completed. The ward lead Deng Guowen wanted to “talk” to me on August 19th. When I arrived at the meeting area and was three meters from him, Deng ordered me to squat down. When I didn't follow his order, he became furious. He then ordered security lead Wei Jianfan and several strong men to force me down. However, they still couldn't make me do it. I was transferred out of the new ward on the afternoon of August 24th.
On the afternoon of September 15th, I was transferred again, this time to the second floor of ward No. 13. I was forced to work in the workshop every day and walk as fast as young inmates. Sometimes, I had to work overtime until 7 p.m. or 8 p.m. In the winter, every security guard (all of whom were young) had a bed to rest on and blankets to cover themselves with during break time in the workshop. However, I was forced to rest on the floor. I once asked guard Chen why I had to rest on the floor. He said I was “lucky” to be able to do so. Sometimes, I was given a piece of paper to lie on and slept in a corner. At other times, a big fan blew at me from a short distance.

Guard Yuan from the Education Section told me several times that I couldn't make phone calls, have visitors, or make purchases. In addition, I could only write letters that meet the prison's standards. As my prison term got closer to completion, I, a senior citizen over 70 years old, was persecuted even more.
Because I suffered persecution, I wanted guard Huang to hand in my report to the Prison Political Section. However, he refused to do it. When I felt dizzy after lunch on January 19th, 2011, I asked to see a doctor. I was taken to the hospital. My blood pressure was 240/142 mmHg, so I had to stay in the hospital.
When doctor Li checked up on me the next day, I told him that my illness was due to being persecuted. I then asked him to hand in my report to the Prison Political Section. In less than a week, two staff members from the Prison Political Section came to investigate. One of them said, “We still want to go back to the prison and further investigate [your claims]. Then we will make a decision.” They left it unresolved.

Since it was close to Chinese New Year, I had to return to the prison on the morning of January 31st. Ji Yaoguang ordered all of the prisoners not to talk to me. Anyone who disobeyed would get their points deducted, which went towards early release. He also ordered inmate Zhou Ming, who monitored me, to verbally abuse me. My blood pressure went up to 210/110 mmHg that night, so I was taken back to the hospital.

I suffered unjust persecution, including both physical and mental torture, during my imprisonment. I was released upon completing my term.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2011/4/28/239701.html