Torture Methods Used Against Falun Gong Practitioners in Gongzhuling Prison

(Minghui.org) Since the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) started the persecution against Falun Gong, a mind-body practice also known as Falun Dafa, in July 1999, countless practitioners have been arrested and subjected to brutal torture in prison. The following is a report covering some of the torture methods used against the male practitioners jailed in Gongzhuling Prison, located near Changchun City, Jilin Province, where Falun Gong was first introduced to the public.

Squatting

Falun Gong practitioners newly admitted to the prison are instructed to stand facing the wall. The guards call them over after some time, and force them to squat while being questioned. Questions include do they practice Falun Gong, for how long, and how they were arrested. The practitioners are also forced to write guarantee statements. The guards beat and shock practitioners with electric batons at will if they refuse to renounce Falun Gong.

Starving

Practitioners are given only corn paste for all meals. The guards sometimes add excessive salt to the corn paste without providing enough water to the practitioners.

When practitioner Mr. Ma Changqing was given a physical exam, the doctor noticed he was having stomach issues. Mr. Ma said that he was given only some corn porridge with salt added and he couldn’t drink it as it was too salty. He became emaciated after four months of torture, with his weight dropping from 60 kg to 40 kg (132 to 88 lb.).

Shocked with Electric Batons

After Mr. Ma said that he was not given any rice to eat, the captain of the No. 9 Division dragged him to a small room. The captain and other guards shocked him with electric batons with maximum current for more than two hours. More than 30 electric batons were used. The torture resulted in blisters all over Mr. Ma’s body.

Torture re-enactment: Shocked with multiple electric batons

Though Mr. Ma was extremely thirsty, he was not given any water to drink for 24 hours. When he finally got to drink, blisters formed over his entire body.

An inmate once snatched Mr. Ma’s shoes. Instead of punishing the inmate, the guards took Mr. Ma to a room and shocked him with electric batons.

Tied to Planks and Bed

Several inmates in the No. 8 Division are assigned to transform Falun Gong practitioners. The guards instructed some inmates to make sure that the practitioners sit upright. A practitioner was once reported to the guards for reasoning with the inmates whether he was sitting correctly. The guards then shocked him with electric batons until his face became swollen. The guards then put him on strict control and tied him to the bed. Such torture usually lasts between one and two weeks.

Torture re-enactment: Tied to a bed

Forced To Watch Videos That Slander Falun Gong

The No. 9 Division is dedicated to transforming practitioners through brainwashing sessions. The practitioners are prohibited from discussing Falun Gong matters, or risk being reported to the guards.

Every morning, the practitioners must watch videos that slander Falun Gong. At other times, they are ordered to read propaganda books.

Thought Reports

After watching the videos or reading the books, practitioners are forced to write “thought reports.” Thought reports were initially done once a month, but were later changed to once per week. Inmates are assigned to read through the reports and can request that practitioners rewrite them if they feel the reports were poorly written.

Some practitioners who refuse to be transformed are assigned to work in the workshop.

Since the second half of 2020, the brainwashing sessions were divided into a large and a small group. The inmates report practitioners who refuse to give in. Such practitioners are then transferred to the small group, where they have to watch the communist regime’s propaganda news program in the evening.

By 2021, practitioners who refused to transform were beaten or shocked with electric batons.

The prison’s education section chief told the practitioners that those who didn’t write good thought reports would be put under strict control and not allowed to work in the workshop. Some practitioners were held in the strict control team for three months. Some were unable to walk on their own after being tortured there.

One practitioner who refused to be "transformed" was placed under strict control for a long time. There was a period of time when he was blindfolded and had to be assisted by two people when going to the restroom. When the prison chief heard that this practitioner refused to transform, he criticized the team in the No. 2 Division, and told them to transform the practitioner at all costs.

Practitioner Mr. Yang Yucai died in the prison after he developed colon cancer.

Kicked and Punched

Two years after Mr. Ma was detained in the prison, he suffered from loose bowels every two weeks. He couldn’t lie down to sleep, as he would have difficulties breathing. He had diarrhea whenever he ate turnip soup. Once, as he used the restroom for longer times, the guards dragged him to the office. Mr. Ma said he had to go back to the restroom, but the guards didn’t allow him. Mr. Ma had to relieve himself in the corridor. The two guards then kicked and punched him until he was in a daze.

Torture illustration: Beatings

Slapped in the Face

Mr. Ma once felt pain in his chest and back. As a doctor told him before that he had chest pain, he asked a captain to take him to the hospital for a physical exam. The captain then slapped Mr. Ma in the face more than 20 times and refused to let him wear a hat despite the cold weather. On another occasion, the same captain slapped Mr. Ma again when Mr. Ma requested medical attention.

Mr. Ma also had his blood drawn two times in large amounts.

When Mr. Ma tried to persuade a former practitioner not to help the guards transform other practitioners, the former practitioner reported him to the captain. Mr. Ma was then beaten. Another time, the former practitioner pushed Mr. Ma, causing him to fall on his bottom, hurting his lower back. Mr. Ma couldn’t walk and had difficulties going to the restroom.

During the two years in prison, Mr. Ma was shocked with electric batons, starved, and slapped in the face. He became deaf and his vision blurred.

Related reports:

Falun Gong Practitioners Held at Gongzhuling Prison Subjected to Electric Shocks and Tie-up Torture

Over 30 Falun Gong Practitioners Tortured in the Ninth Ward of Gongzhuling Prison