(Clearwisdom.net)

All illegally sentenced Falun Gong practitioners within Fujian Province are collectively imprisoned at the Minxi Prison. Dafa practitioners are intensively persecuted there. The Rujian Division of this prison is the most vicious. This division's guards Xu Shangxian and Wu use extremely brutal torture methods and enforce all kinds of illegal regulations. Recently, for example, practitioners who practiced the Falun Dafa exercises in the prison were handcuffed to the window bars and hung, suspended there. They were kept like this most of the time except for when they were to eat their meals or use the bathroom (sometimes they were even deprived of their right to have meals). They were tortured both mentally and physically. The practitioners were forced to write the so-called "Three Statements."* Some practitioners lost consciousness from the unbearable pain. Even so, the guards didn't stop the torture. The guards threatened other prisoners not to talk to or communicate with Falun Gong practitioners. Instead, they ordered criminal prisoners to closely watch over and monitor the practitioners. They illegally deprived practitioners' rights of sending mail and appealing.

Dafa practitioners are frequently tortured violently at the Minxi Prison. Almost every one of the practitioners had suffered from the brutal torture of being handcuffed and hung. They are also brutally beaten. They have all suffered from inhuman tortures. To protest, the practitioners held hunger strikes and labor strikes together many times. The following are only a few examples of the numerous brutal torture cases:

Practitioners Chen Wei, Xu Jianjin, and other practitioners of Jianyu Division went on a hunger strike together to protest against the animalistic torture methods imposed on them by the guards. Their hunger strike lasted eight days and nights. The guards, however, not only turned down the practitioners' requests, but also put Xu Jianjin and Chen Wei into the Strict Monitoring Division.

Practitioner Xu Xiaohong of the Rujian Division was handcuffed to the window and hung there because he resisted the prison's transformation requirement. After several days of torture, he was also put into the Strict Monitoring Division.

Practitioner Chen Xiaodong and three other practitioners from the Rujian Division took off their prison uniforms to protest the illegal persecution of practitioners. They also submitted a written protest letter to strongly request stopping the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. They asked for the restoration of justice and reputation of Falun Dafa. Later, all four practitioners were handcuffed and hung from the windows to be tortured even further. Chen Xiaodong was the eldest among the four. Due to his old age he could not bear the pain of the hanging and thus fainted. All four were cuffed to the window and were hung there for several days and nights.

Because he practiced in the jail cell, Falun Gong practitioner Jiang Sen of the Rujian Division was also handcuffed to the window and brutally tortured for as long as six days and nights. This led to health problems for Jiang Sen's body and mind.

Illegally imprisoned practitioners Yue Shengzhu, Hu Qiwu, and Lu Yaocai of the No. 2 Division, No. 2 Subdivision held a hunger and labor strike to protest against the persecution and requested an unconditional release. But the guards angrily and brutally beat Yue Shengzhu, who was later sent to the hospital. During his more than two-month hospitalization, Yue Shengzhu continued his hunger strike. The guards then began to force-feed him every day.

A Falun Gong practitioner from the No. 5 Division was brutally beaten by guards after they learned that his written article, which exposed the evil persecution of practitioners, was published on the internet. This practitioner was beaten and injured so severely that he had to be sent to the hospital. Practitioner Wang Dong, who was formerly in the No. 4 Division, No. 1 Subdivision, was brutally beaten by the guards and also tortured with the painful method of cuffing and then hanging after guards learned that he wrote articles to expose the evil persecution and that they were published on the internet. He was tortured for several days.

No. 4 Division, No. 2 Subdivision practitioner Xiang Benzi was brutally beaten by prison guard Lu Qianyi, whose badge number is 3512263, because he persisted in practicing Falun Dafa. Lu also ordered criminal prisoners Chen Biaorun, Liu Rong, and some others to treat Xiang Benzi with violence and extreme viciousness.

Practitioner Chen Xiaoqiang in the No. 4 Division, No. 2 Subdivision handed in an appeal to the court, according to legal procedures. However, he was illegally deprived of his right to appeal and encountered severe problems in the prison.

The brutal persecution of Falun Gong practitioners still continues at the Minxi Prison. Such atrocities severely violate the basic rights of human beings. Thus, we strongly appeal to the kind people of the International Human Rights Organizations and all walks of life to pay close attention and stop this vicious persecution taking place in Mainland China, especially in the prisons, which routinely violate the law, and where law enforcement tramples fundamental human rights. Falun Gong practitioners ask only that justice be served.

* Three Statements (also called guarantee or repentance statements) are documents coerced under extreme pressure, torture and brainwashing, designed by Chinese authorities to ensure that detained Falun Gong practitioners be appropriately brainwashed. The statements consist of a letter of repentance, a guarantee to never again practice Falun Gong, and a list containing names and addresses of all family, friends and acquaintances of the detainee who practices Falun Gong. This system was concocted by the "610 Office."

September 24, 2003