Falun Gong Practitioners Tortured and Killed in the Name of “Medical Treatment”

Zhengzhou Prison is persecuting Falun Gong practitioners by injecting them with “treatments” of unknown substances. The guards examine the practitioners, and then collaborate with the prison doctor to treat minor ailments with major medical treatments. Even when practitioners have no illness, unknown medications are forced upon them. If they refuse the treatment, other inmates are ordered to beat them. Many Falun Gong practitioners were healthy before, yet once forced into prison, they developed illnesses, and after the “treatments,” they became seriously ill. Some Falun Gong practitioners have died or been seriously harmed by such treatments.

A Falun Gong practitioner from Jiaozuo City was healthy when he came to the prison in 2004, yet two years later, his legs were amputated, and he is still forced to do slave labour.

Another Falun Gong practitioner with the last name Mei from Guangdong Province had signs of internal bleeding after ten years of “treatment.” She was dying when she was carried out of the prison.

Falun Gong practitioner Pang Long from Kaifeng was a military officer in perfect health, yet after “medical treatment” in prison for just one year, he developed muscular atrophy in his legs.

A Falun Gong practitioner named Wang was a teacher, and his colon developed perforations after treatment in 2010.

A Falun Gong practitioner with the last name Li, from Xingyang, Henan Province, became paralyzed while being held in a detention centre. Because he refused to give up Falun Gong, he was taken to a prison hospital every day and tied down to a bed. Five to six needles were inserted into his hands and feet, and connected with electricity for “treatment.” He screamed in agony each time. The prison authorities didn't stop the torture until he agreed to write a guarantee statement to renounce practising Falun Gong. The “electric treatment” was arranged personally by 610 Office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong) deputy director Bao.

Falun Gong practitioner Li Xilu from Zhengzhou arrived in prison in 2011, and in less than one year, on March 9th, 2012, died as a result of the abuse and “treatment.” He was only 58 years old.

All Falun Gong practitioners are subjected to physical exams in the prison hospital upon arrival, after which they are sent to the No. 9 Prison District. Inmates and former practitioners who had deviated from their paths monitored each practitioner. The monitors “exchanged experiences” with the practitioners daily from dawn to dusk. This would continue for months, during which time the number of monitors would increase to three or four. If the practitioners still didn't give in, sleep deprivation was also incorporated and time for using the toilet reduced.

The guards also instigate inmates to find fault with Falun Gong practitioners. They force practitioners to stand for long periods of time, and pour water on the ground so that they can't sit on the ground. Practitioners are not allowed to buy daily items, not allowed to take a shower, and inmates throw away their toothbrushes and toothpaste. In wintertime, practitioners are not allowed to wear winter clothes or shoes. No hot water was available to practitioners. Zhu Tiedan and Li Zhijun are two inmates that are particularly active in the persecution.

Another way of attempting to force practitioners to give up their beliefs is through deprivation of food. The guards would say, “No meals unless you are transformed” [forcibly renounce Falun Gong]. The prison authorities gave each practitioner only one cold bun every two to three days. In late 2010, one practitioner named Tian was emaciated.

After a Falun Gong practitioner named Liu went on a hunger strike in 2010, the inmates and guard used the chance to torture him. When a practitioner named Yue from Xuchang held a hunger strike in 2009, inmate Zhu Tiedan dug out his faeces and forced him to eat it and smeared it on his body. Zhu Tiedan and Li Zhijun did the same to a practitioner named Tian. If he refused to eat the faeces, several inmates would seal his mouth and brutally beat him.

When practitioners reported this to the guards, their reply was, “You will not transform, and you do not listen. Now you have trouble and report to us, what we can do?” Falun Gong practitioners and inmates all know that the guards instigate everything. Some inmates say, “Falun Gong practitioners are good people, and we don't have a grudge against them. We don't like to do things against our conscience, but we are forced to do so by the guards.”

In Prison District 9, the inmates’ behavior was measured by whether they could help guards "transform" Falun Gong practitioners, with the incentive of sentence reduction. Inmate Li Zhijun persecuted Falun Gong practitioners and was praised as a model inmate. Zheng Junwei, the warden of No. 9 Prison District who specialized in persecuting Falun Gong, once lectured several inmates who had committed crimes of rape and robbery, “Your behaviour is no longer suitable for society. You should learn from Li Zhijun, use your brain to earn a living.”

The guards developed many methods to harm practitioners. They had practitioners sleep on the top bunker bed, and pushed them off while they were asleep. Two inmates rammed a practitioner's head against a wall and claimed that the practitioner wanted to commit suicide. The guards choked a practitioner unconscious, and then claimed that the practitioner tried to hang himself.

The guards often deceive the family members of the practitioners and ask them to help convince the practitioners to give up their faith. The guards also write statements slandering Falun Gong, and ask family members to sign them and read them out loud. If that doesn't work, they intensify the persecution after the family members leave.

Zhengzhou Prison has been persecuting Falun Gong since July 1999. The perpetrators include:
Li Xilong, former warden of No. 9 prison district, now the director of the prison 610 Office
Niu Xiaoxue, deputy warden of No. 9 Prison District
Zheng Junwei, No. 1 team leader of No. 9 Prison District
Prison 610 Office deputy director Bao, who personally oversees the persecution
Li Xilong, who organizes propaganda against Falun Gong