Some Details About the Persecution of Falun Gong in Heilongjiang Province Women's Prison

The ninth and eleventh wards of Heilongjiang Province Women's Prison are places where the guards attempt to forcibly “transform” [forcibly renounce Falun Gong] Falun Gong practitioners.

For the last two years, practitioners who have been sentenced to prison were assigned to the ninth ward. First, the guards force practitioners to sit on a stool without moving as a form of torture. From five o'clock in the morning to nine at night, the criminals slander Falun Gong in front of practitioners as well as humiliate and attack them.

Practitioner Ms. Sun Jin from Fulaerji District, Qiqihar City was forced to sit on a stool for two weeks. She was forced to sit without moving for twenty-two hours a day, causing both sides of her buttocks to develop festering wounds. Her left toe was stepped on and the criminals kicked her spine, causing it to swell. Due to the abuse and mental pressure, Ms. Sun signed a statement to give up her belief on September 1st, 2009. Regarding the “transformed” practitioners, the guards first forced practitioners to “study” for three months and then the 610 Office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong) tested them. The guards transferred practitioners to other wards only after they thought the practitioners passed the so-called exam. After the practitioners were assigned to other wards, for the next three months, the guards continued to transfer them in order to make the practitioners betray Falun Gong.

If the practitioners did not give up their belief, they continued to persecute them. Some practitioners were persecuted in the ninth ward for two or three hours at a time or longer. Practitioner Ms. Mu was persecuted in the ninth ward for more than three years. When she protested the persecution the inmates assigned to her shoved dirty socks into her mouth and sealed it shut, so that she could not talk.

The guards detained "transformed" practitioners in one group and steadfast practitioners in another. Practitioners who had just been brought to prison were detained in the ninth and eleventh wards. Steadfast practitioners were detained in the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and twelfth wards.

“Transformed” practitioners were detained in the seventh and thirteenth wards. “Transformed” practitioners were “re-educated” (i.e. brainwashed) for two months in the seventh ward and then forced to do slave labour. They worked from six o'clock in the morning to six at night. Some practitioners were forced to work from morning until eleven or twelve o'clock at night, enduring long-term work overload. Some practitioners who had been ”transformed” were forced to help the guards “transform” steadfast practitioners, slandering Falun Gong each day. They followed the practitioners around, hounding them. They promoted the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) lies and humiliated and abused the practitioners who did not give up their belief.

In February 2011, two dozen practitioners made a collective statement, announcing that they would determinedly practise Falun Gong and resist the persecution, thus shocking prison personnel. The head of the prison led the guards to the seventh and thirteenth wards to search for Falun Gong teachings. They found nothing, so they became very angry and cut Ms. Yang Yanchun's hair. Xu Yang, head of the thirteenth ward searched the ward on April 29, 2011, and Ms. Yang Yanchun did not cooperate with her. Finally they found Falun Gong teachings, so Xu Yang instigated inmates Cuigui Qin and Yu Ying to participate in persecuting Yang Yanchun. They put Ms. Yang into a solitary confinement cell and did not release her until May 8th.

Practitioner Ms. Zhang Jiqiu, who was detained in the thirteenth ward, returned to the ward after work and did not work overtime in November 2010. Therefore, they put her into a solitary confinement cell for eight days. It was winter and they opened the windows to freeze her. During the cold November weather they did not provide her with bedding and gave her only gruel three times a day to eat. They also did not allow her to wash herself until she promised to continue working.

On April 25th, 2011, practitioners Ms. Liu Bobin, Ms. Zhang Yuhua and Ms. Liu Bo declared their determination to cultivate Falun Gong and did not acknowledge the forced labour. The guards threatened to put them into solitary confinement cells. They were forced to continue to do slave labour.

One hundred and sixty practitioners are detained in the seventh and thirteenth wards. The guards do not allow them to go out of the wards and walk around and contact practitioners in other wards. They only allow practitioners to go to the dining room during two meals so they can finish doing the forced labour.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2011/5/24/41378.html