(Minghui.org) Guards in the 8th ward of Changchun Women’s Prison in Jilin Province have been persecuting Falun Gong practitioners for not renouncing their faith.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is an ancient spiritual and meditation discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Recently, a new prison warden, Qian Wei, and assistant team leader Chen Qian have been personally instigating inmates to do whatever it takes to completely “transform” newly admitted practitioners and make them renounce their faith. The intensified abuse followed an order from the local justice bureau to achieve a one-hundred-percent transformation rate. As a result, the inmates started using various torture methods against the practitioners.
Practitioners imprisoned in the 8th ward are scattered across four floors, with a cell on each floor used specifically for transforming practitioners who are steadfast in their faith. Different methods are used on different people. The transformation occurs day and night until the practitioner can no longer bear the pressure and agrees to write the guarantee statements.
After practitioners are transformed, a meeting is held to criticize Falun Gong. There is also a one-on-one meeting with the Political and Legal Affairs Committee (an extrajudicial Communist Party agency tasked with persecuting Falun Gong) after the practitioner agrees to be transformed.
Below are details of how two practitioners were tortured in the prison.
Ms. Zang Zhongmei
Ms. Zang Zhongmei, in her 40s, was locked in room 202 in January 2021. She initially refused to be transformed. The guards assigned two inmates, An Haiyan, a drug dealer, and Yu Xuewei, a murderer, to persecute Ms. Zang. They made her sit on a small stool with her legs together and holding a piece of paper or a card holder. She was punished and not allowed to eat, use the restroom, or wash up if she dropped the paper or card holder.
If she refused to follow the instructions, the inmates made her sit down. If she didn't sit down, she would be dragged to the restroom and doused with water while being beaten and sworn at. Afterward, she would be dragged back and forced to sit on a small stool. Others claimed that they often heard her screaming when she was abused.
Unable to bear the torture, Ms. Zang agreed to write the guarantee statements. Inmates An and Yu said that Ms. Zang wasn’t completely transformed and wanted her to continue writing “homework” that slandered Falun Gong every day. If they were not satisfied, they would use different methods to punish Ms. Zang by not allowing her to eat, use the restroom, or wash up, and make her sit on a small stool or stand up for long periods of time.
Torture illustration: Standing with arms tied
An fought with other inmates in November 2020 and was transferred out of the 8th ward to work. Her application to have her sentence reduced was also retracted.
Another inmate, Yang Ying, arrived after An left. Yu and Yang cooperated together to torture Ms. Zang. Ms. Zang had to ask for permission if she wanted to use the restroom. She was instructed to swear at Dafa and its founder before she could use the restroom or eat. If she refused, everyone in the cell would not be allowed to eat so as to pressure Ms. Zang to comply. If she still refused, she would be dragged to the restroom and have her clothes stripped off. The inmates would then push her head into the urinal.
Ms. Zang was allowed to sleep at 11:00 p.m. instead of 8:30 p.m. and forced to wake up very early the next day to sit on a stool. The exact timing depended on the inmates’ mood. If Yu and Yang got wind of anyone in the room helping Ms. Zang, the inmate who helped Ms. Zang would be punished.
Despite diligently taking part in the abuse of practitioners, Yu did not have her sentence reduced.
Ms. Li Cong
Ms. Li Cong, 40, of Nong’an County refused to transform when she first arrived at the prison on November 23, 2020. The next day, the authorities started torturing her by dousing cold water on her and opening the window to freeze her. She was taken to the 8th ward to be transformed by inmate Tian Xiaoyun, who was responsible for tackling steadfast practitioners. Tian didn’t allow Ms. Li to rest. Other inmates were assigned to watch over Ms. Li. If any inmate relaxed a little, both the inmate and Ms. Li would be punished. When Ms. Li was having her period and her pants were wet, Tian refused to let Ms. Li change her clothes and sometimes still forced Ms. Li to stand. Tian also ripped Ms. Li’s thermal underwear.
On December 29, the authorities found Ms. Li’s head wet and her eyes dull after forcing her to stand.
When Ms. Li reluctantly wrote the guarantee statements, Tian felt that Ms. Li had not been completely transformed. Thus, Tian made Ms. Li memorize the transformation book and watch DVDs that slandered Falun Gong. After watching the DVDs, Ms. Li was forced to share her thoughts. If Tian felt that Ms. Li disobeyed, she put Ms. Li together with four inmates who were specially selected by Tian and placed her in quarantine. No one except the instructors would be allowed to enter the room unless permission had been granted.
Ms. Li continued to be under strict control after returning to her cell on January 10, 2021. For telling her family the torture she had experienced in prison, she was not given any dumplings to eat during the New Year and was starved for three days instead.
On April 10, Tian and another inmate dragged Ms. Li to the restroom to torture her. On April 21, Ms. Li was not allowed to eat as she had written about the torture in a letter to her family.
Tian also kept the fruits that Ms. Li had ordered and allowed her to eat if she behaved according to Tian’s wishes.
Ms. Dang Yanhua
Ms. Dang Yanhua, 69, from Jiangbei City, was tortured in July 2020 by two inmates. The inmates didn’t allow her to eat, sleep, or use the restroom, forcing her to often wet her pants. The inmates also pinched her nipples and poured cold water on her. Ms. Dang was not allowed to use the restroom for 19 hours or wash up for 9 months.
Ms. Dang was forced to sit on a small stool with her legs together and holding a piece of paper without moving. She was kicked and beaten if the paper dropped. Once, an inmate pinched both her shoulders, hit her, and pinched her nipples when the paper dropped. She shouted “Falun Dafa is good” and was dragged to the restroom. The inmates pressed her head into the toilet and stuffed her mouth with a mopping cloth. She was also deprived of sleep for three days.
Torture illustration: Doused with cold water
On August 12, 2020, five inmates tried forcing Ms. Dang to write the guarantee statements and press her thumbprints on the documents. When Ms. Dang refused, two inmates rode on her body while the remaining inmates tried to force her hand open. Later, they gave Ms. Dang a pen to write her statements, which she declined. An inmate then said that they would write them on her behalf. Two other inmates placed Ms. Dang’s blanket on the ground and told her to urinate on it. Deprived of restroom access, Ms. Dang wet her pants again.
Six inmates in cell 211 tried to transform Ms. Dang on October 14, 2020. That afternoon, three inmates grabbed her clothes and told her that they wanted to give her a bath. When Ms. Dang grabbed hold of her clothes, the inmates tore her underwear to pieces and threatened to rub chili noodles on her vagina.
That night, an inmate came to the cell where Ms. Dang was held and kicked her. She was dragged to the restroom and doused with cold water. Ms. Dang’s upper body was naked, and she was wearing only a piece of uniform. Her pants was completely wet. Ms. Dang was forced to sit on a small stool while the inmate opened the window to freeze her.
As Ms. Dang remains steadfast in her faith, she was not allowed to eat, sleep, or use the restroom. She was tortured day and night, and only allowed to sleep for two to three hours a day.
On November 23, 2020, Ms. Dang returned back to cell 208.
Ms. Sun Yazhen
Ms. Sun Yazhen, 61, was taken to the prison on December 20, 2020. The next day, an inmate slapped her, pinched her nipples, doused her with cold water, and deprived her of sleep and the use of restroom. Ms. Sun was not allowed to sleep for three or four days, and her body was bruised from the pinching. When she fainted due to the pinches, the inmate performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation and revived her.
Related reports:
Former Elementary School Teacher Secretly Sentenced to Five Years for Her Faith
How Guards in Jilin Province Women’s Prison Torture Falun Gong Practitioners
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