Firsthand Account: Ms. Zhou Ling Tortured in Hunan Women's Prison

Name: Zhou Ling
Gender: Female
Age: Unknown
Address: Huaihua
Occupation: Unknown
Date of Most Recent Arrest: May 27th, 2008
Most Recent Place of Detention: Hunan Women's Prison
City: Changsha
Province: Hunan
Persecution Suffered: Detention, imprisonment, forced labour, brainwashing, brutal beatings, torture, sleep deprivation, home ransacked.

Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Zhou Ling was arrested by local police on May 27th, 2008. She was sentenced to three years in Hunan Women's Prison, where she was subjected to violent brainwashing sessions, beatings and torture. She was forced to stand for 49 straight days.

The following is her personal account of the persecution she suffered:

I suffered from numerous diseases before I began practising Falun Gong. I was in great pain for many years from hemorrhoids, along with gastritis and gynaecological problems. I spent a great deal of money on medical treatments, but never obtained relief from my symptoms. I was also addicted to Mahjong gambling, and was arrested twice and fined heavily for my addiction. After I began practising Falun Gong, I no longer played Mahjong, and all of my illnesses were healed.

After the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) launched its persecution of Falun Gong in July 1999, I persistently exposed the persecution of Falun Gong to the public.

I was arrested in March 2001, by Hongjiang police in Huaihua and sentenced to two years in a forced labour camp. I resisted the “transformation” [forcibly renounce Falun Gong] programme there, so the forced labour camp officials extended my sentence for eight additional months.

I was arrested again on May 27th, 2008, by officers from the Chengdong Police Station in Hecheng District, Huaihua, including Zen Qilian, Shi Kaihui, Peng Fang, Tan Shaolong, Zen Chunlin, Lei Wen, and Song Dongning. They broke into my home and took me to the police station. I was later sentenced to three years in prison.

Falun Gong practitioners in the prison suffered tremendous abuse, both emotionally and physically. All of the practitioners were held in the No. 6 Division, which was further subdivided into two areas. A brainwashing centre was located within these two areas. In the last seven to eight years, brainwashing centre staff have utilized brutal, violent means to “transform” practitioners.

The brainwashing centre was located above the cafeteria; five rooms were used for holding practitioners. Each room had three to four bunk beds. One practitioner was placed in one room along with 3 to 4 inmates, who were assigned to monitor the practitioner. The guards instructed the inmates on how to torture the practitioner. In March 2010, the brainwashing centre was relocated above the solitary confinement floor in order to better conceal the noise.

On September 1st, 2009, a fellow practitioner and I were taken to a room with the inmates who were ordered to monitor us. They tried to force us to write out the prison rules, regulations, and songs praising the CCP. I refused to cooperate, so they surrounded me and began kicking and punching me. They were afraid that I'd influence the other practitioner, so they took me to another room. The three of them took turns brutally torturing me for eight months. I was forced to stand for long periods of time and was deprived of sleep for the first 12 days. For the next 37 days, I was forced to stand 24 hours a day.

I began hallucinating and no longer knew where I was – I had no sense of direction. When I passed out, they poured cold water on me and smeared ointment on my eyes to make them burn. My legs were so swollen that they looked like water barrels, and had split open due to the pressure. My back was also injured during the process. The skin on my heels was peeled off and raw. I couldn't tell if it was day or night, and was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. I lost my memory, couldn't think and became delirious.

I was forced to stand for 49 days. The agony I felt in my mind and body was beyond description. Since I didn't succumb to their torture, they forced me to squat for nine days, which didn't work either. They then intensified the torture by cuffing my hands behind my back, one hand bent upward and the other facing down. After three hours, I felt severe chest pain – it felt like my heart and lungs were torn open. My body felt like it was split open, with an enormous weight on my back. My back was injured, and I was soaking wet with sweat. I lost all feeling in my hands and arms for two weeks as a result of this torture.

Guards Li Jun and Zou Yonghong made statements such as, “No matter how stubborn you are, even if you die, we aren't responsible.” All of the practitioners at the prison suffered terrible torture, including Wen Huiying who was tortured to death, Zhou Yunxia who became psychotic due to the torture, and numerous practitioners who became disabled.

In the dark den of the brainwashing centre, inmates were ordered to persecute Falun Gong practitioners, and did everything possible to slander Falun Gong, threaten practitioners, and assault and humiliate them. In order to achieve a high “transformation” rate, they utilized multiple methods to torture practitioners.

Parties involved in the persecution in Hunan Women's Prison:

Zhou Wu, warden
Long Guifang, assistant warden
Xue Fang, education director (Police # 4321523)
Xiao Ping, No. 6 Division director

No. 6 Division:
Zhou Chan, guard, former assistant director: +86-731-4321582
Li Jun, assistant director: +86-731-4321583
Deng Jin, director: +86-731-4321032
Yuan, team leader: +86-731-4321691

Inmate perpetrators: Huang Ping, Chen Qun, Liu Yan, Huo Rong, Xiang Lianhua, Chen Zhili, Zhou Qiufang, Zen Linglian, Yang Zhihui, Yuan Youling, Jiang Aijun, Li Lihui, Wu Caihong, Tao Haiyan, He Pingzhu, Liu Zhonglan.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2012/1/30/252525.html