Torture

  • Cruelty, Torture and "Transformation" in the Fifth Division of Shanghai Women's Prison

    After the persecution of Falun Gong began in July 1999, Shanghai Women's Prison became known as a hell on earth for women who refused to renounce their belief in Falun Gong. The inmates were trained to monitor and “transform” [forcibly renounce Falun Gong] practitioners. They tortured practitioners using various means, including sleep deprivation, beatings, prohibiting the practitioners from taking showers, taking breaks, using the toilet. They forced practitioners to watch videos that defamed Falun Gong, and pressured them to write all kinds of guarantee statements to renounce Falun Gong.
  • Luo Dongsheng Brutally Tortured in Detention

    After the persecution began in 1999, Mr. Luo Dongsheng used different ways to inform people that were deceived by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) about the truth of Falun Gong. Because of this, he was severely persecuted in 2011 in detention centres. Mr. Luo began a hunger strike to protest the brutal treatment in the detention centre and was force-fed. Four inmates pushed him down, while a guard grabbed Mr. Luo's hair and pulled his head back. One inmate pinched his nose closed, so that when Mr. Luo had to breathe, they could force food into his mouth. He almost choked to death. Mr. Luo was tied to the torture device "tiger bench" with his feet shackled with a 15-kg weight. Mr. Luo was tied to the tiger bench for over 10 days, until he promised that he would not go on a hunger strike. When he was finally let down, his legs were severely swollen and he almost collapsed.
  • Zhai Hui, Senior Technician from Shenyang City, Barely Alive Due to Persecution

    Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Zhai Hui was arrested in April 2012. At the end of 2012, he was sentenced to four years. As a result of abuse in detention, Mr. Zhai is now near death. On June 20th he was urgently transferred to Hunnan Hospital. Mr. Zhai has been persecuted to the point that he is now very weak and barely able to walk. He doesn't have enough strength to sit up straight, and talking even a little exhausts him. He had a fever and diarrhoea. He has become emaciated. Despite his condition, he was still handcuffed to the bed.
  • Innocent Woman in Seventies Incarcerated for 18 Months at Heizuizi Forced Labour Camp

    Ms. Cao Yuzhen, in her 70s, was subjected to forced labour for 18 months for practising Falun Gong. She was taken to the Heizuizi Women's Forced Labour Camp in Changchun in August 2011. Ms. Cao had suffered from heart problems prior to practising Falun Gong but her illnesses disappeared shortly afterwards starting Falun Gong. In the labour camp guards slapped her in the face, beat her and shocked her with an electric baton to try to force Ms. Cao to renounce her belief.
  • Dead Falun Gong Practitioners Sent to Hospitals as Police Attempt to Cover Up Crimes

    Mr. Li Jian, an attorney from Zhengyang County, died in 2002 after enduring many months of torture, sleep deprivation, and slave labour in the Xuchang Forced Labour Camp. On April 26th, 2002, he experienced trouble breathing. He died two hours later. The guards took his lifeless body to a hospital that day. They ordered the hospital to perform standard resuscitation procedures, in order to fabricate evidence that Mr. Li had died at the hospital.
  • Mr. Yang Zhonggeng Tortured to Death in Henan Province

    Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Yang Zhonggeng, 38, was arrested by police at a post office on June 23rd, 2013. Mr. Yang was beaten and tortured while in police custody until he was on the verge of death. He was then transferred to the Lingbao Detention Centre. He passed away on June 28th, just five days after the arrest. Mr. Yang had also been arrested for his belief in Falun Gong in December 2000 in Rushan City. He suffered inhumane torture—including being shocked with high-voltage electric batons and injected with unknown drugs—while in police custody and detention.
  • Sixty-Three-Year-Old Ms. Yin Guizhi Dies after Enduring Prolonged Torture at Masanjia Forced Labour Camp

    Ms. Yin Guizhi passed away on May 30th, 2013. She was 63. She had been tortured and abused to the brink of death in the notorious Masanjia Labour Camp, and was released on medical parole so that she could recover from the brutalities she suffered in the labour camp. Camp officials continued to harass her, however, and she soon passed away. The reason for the harassment? Her faith in Falun Gong, a peaceful cultivation practice based on the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.
  • Ms. Wang Wuhui, 61, Died of Kidney Failure after Being Tortured

    Ms. Wang Wuhui, 61, died of torture injuries on December 24th, 2012. Because she refused to renounce her faith in Falun Gong, Ms. Wang was repeatedly arrested, imprisoned, and tortured in Hunan Women's Prison before she died. She was shocked with electric batons. She was beaten. She was kept in an isolated cell. She was made to stand in the sun for long hours. She was made to sit on a small stool or stand still for long hours. She was deprived of sleep. She was not allowed any visitors. She was made to work as a slave. She was even suspended by handcuff until her shoulders were dislocated and her wrists were torn. A total of seven years in prison resulted in a severe toll on her health.
  • Torture Methods Used to Persecute Falun Gong Practitioners in Henan No. 3 Forced Labour Camp (Part 1)

    Many Falun Gong practitioners detained in Henan No. 3 Forced Labour Camp suffered from this torture called “up on the rope”. Both hands are tied to the back with a thin but tough nylon rope and then lifted up. It causes unbearable pain. This torture lasts about half an hour each time, with the rope being periodically tightened and then loosened. Each round of torture lasts about 30 minutes. If the victim does not scream, the perpetrators insert bottles or bricks to increase the pain.
  • Ms. Liu Xinlan, 58, from Hubei Province Dies As a Result of Persecution

    Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Liu Xinlan died on January 13th, 2013, at the age of 58, due to harassment and persecution by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The Ezhou 610 Office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong) constantly had Ms. Liu monitored, including her phone calls. She was arrested many times and taken to brainwashing centres, detention centres, and forced labour camps. Officials also came to her home and harassed her frequently. In December 2012, Ms. Liu did not have money to buy warm clothes for the winter. She caught a cold and developed pneumonia. She was hospitalized in January 2013 and died shortly after.
  • Ms. Guo Boqin and Her Mother Died from Ruthless Persecution

    Since the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) launched the large-scale persecution of Falun Gong in 1999, to the time Ms. Guo Boqin passed away in 2013, she was arrested by authorities and officials of the CCP and detained more than 10 times. She was sentenced twice and spent a total of almost six years in prison. She was fired from her workplace and her wages were dramatically deducted. Her home was ransacked and she was fined and extorted money. While in prison and detention, she was subjected to cruel torture methods such as being handcuffed, confinement to a small cell, force-feedings, beatings, intense slave labour, intense sun exposure, and long-term starvation.
  • Officers in Suihua Forced Labour Camp in Heilongjiang Province Beat Falun Gong Practitioners without Fear of Retaliation

    The No.1 team in Suihua Forced Labour Camp in Heilongjiang Province is dedicated to detaining and persecuting Falun Gong practitioners. Almost every practitioner held here has been cruelly tortured. The guards insist that the torture is justified. The first thing every practitioner who has been held in the No.1 Team is told to do is to write the three statements to renounce practising Falun Gong. Those who refuse are tortured ruthlessly. They are beaten and shocked with electric batons.
  • Dong'gang, the Torture Chamber at Masanjia Forced Labour Camp

    Dong'gang is essentially a torture chamber specially created for Falun Gong practitioners who refuse to renounce their belief, have been recently incarcerated, or have started practising Falun Gong again after they initially renounced their belief under duress of torture. Practitioners taken to Dong'gang face an escalated level of torture and abuse than those held in the regular cells at Masanjia. Practitioners are forced to squat and wear a headset connected to a sound system that broadcasts hate propaganda against Falun Gong. The volume is set at the highest level and played for many hours.
  • Mr. Zheng Hongchang Died in April as a Result of Persecution

    Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Zheng Hongchang died on April 21st 2013, at Xinkang Prison (also called Jinan Police Hospital) at the age of only 37. On September 29th, 2012, Mr. Zheng was near death and could only move his eyes. The authorities still cuffed his hands and legs to the bed. He was fed liquids twice a day and given intravenous fluids. The intravenous fluids kept Mr. Zheng hydrated, according to personnel, but that was all. Mr. Zheng weighed only 55 lbs.
  • A Childhood of Suffering: Both My Parents Imprisoned for Practising Falun Gong

    My mother was arrested in late October 1999, when she went to Beijing to appeal for the right to practise Falun Gong. When our entire family went to see her at the police station, hoping to bring her home, the police told me that she was not allowed to go home unless she signed a statement saying she would stop practising Falun Gong. Instead of being released she would be sent to Jiamusi Forced Labour Camp. I was young and very scared. I cried for a few hours until I passed out. My heart has since been weak, and I have had to avoid strong emotions. My father was sentenced to forced labour six months later. I was only ten years old. My elder brother and I lost parental care and were left at home without our parents.