Crimes Committed in the “Education and Transformation Ward” in Yangjiang Prison, Guangdong Province

There is an “Education and Transformation [forcibly renounce Falun Gong] Ward” in the No. 13 Division of Yangjiang Prison, Guangdong Province. All Falun Gong practitioners detained in this prison are taken to this ward and tortured brutally, both mentally and physically.

In this ward is a special group of inmates—the monitor inmates—that persecute practitioners both day and night under the supervision of prison guards. They beat, abuse, and torture practitioners at will.

In order to motivate the monitors to spare no effort in persecuting practitioners, the prison directly ties the monitors' abuse of practitioners to having their sentences reduced or other benefits. No matter how horribly they treat practitioners, they won't be charged with anything.

In the “Education and Transformation Ward,” practitioners are detained in cells separately and are isolated long-term. They are allowed no outdoor activities and are forbidden to interact with inmates, talk with anyone, or greet anyone. Three to seven monitors live with each practitioner in the same cell and monitor him or her 24 hours a day. Whether they are eating, sleeping, or going to the toilet, they are closely followed by these monitors, even as close as one foot. Their every single movement and expression is closely observed and controlled. The monitors try everything to make practitioners uncomfortable and upset. They force practitioners to squat, do super-intensive physical exercise, and do housekeeping. If they are the least bit dissatisfied, they beat the practitioners and don't allow them to go the toilet, drink water, or eat. The monitors try to brainwash practitioners with the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) propaganda that slanders and defames Falun Gong. They stop practitioners from explaining the facts of Falun Gong or making any rebuttal to the slander. The practitioners are not allowed to express their opinion. If practitioners do not submit to the brainwashing, they are violently abused.

Typical forms of violence include: beating, kicking, twisting wrists and ankles, handcuffing behind the back and hanging up, choking, twisting the neck, blowing water into the mouth and nose, etc. When practitioners get injured or become disabled, prison guards cover up for the perpetrators and attribute it to the practitioner's former injuries or claim that the practitioner fell out of bed or in the toilet.

Torture re-enactment: Beating and kicking

Torture re-enactment: Blowing water

Sleep deprivation is a common torture. Although practitioners are allowed to lay in bed and sleep, the monitors push and wake them up every 10 minutes, so the practitioner does not get to sleep undisturbed throughout the night.

The guards clearly know that persecuting practitioners is illegal and are afraid of being exposed. They keep everything that happens in the ward confidential. Except for the monitors, no inmates are allowed to enter the ward cells. Each guard assigned to this ward is required to sign a confidentiality agreement, and each monitor is required to sign a statement that he or she is “volunteering” and will keep silent. The guards who work outside of this ward do not know anything about the situation within the ward. Monitors are not allowed to talk about their monitoring work when they talk to those outside the ward, such as during phone calls, meeting with relatives, or interacting with other inmates.

Yangjiang Prison personnel have never stopped brutally persecuting Falun Gong practitioners. The cells outside of the “Education and Transformation Ward” are always full. Only in this ward are there many empty beds. They do not let non-practitioner inmates stay there so that they can intensify the persecution. They also fear having their crimes and the horrific stories of this evil place exposed to the outside world.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2011/6/30/243166.html