Ongoing Torture of Falun Gong Practitioners in Liaoning Province Women’s Prison

(Minghui.org) Since the Chinese communist regime began to persecute Falun Gong in 1999, the authorities at Liaoning Province Women’s Prison have been following the persecution policy closely.

The torture methods frequently used in order to force the practitioners to renounce their faith include pouring boiling water on practitioners’ bodies, administering poisonous injections, electric shocks, forced-feeding with chili pepper water, inserting chili peppers into practitioners’ private parts, hanging practitioners up with handcuffs, stripping them naked and pouring cold water on them, and intensive forced-labor. 

Some practitioners were forced to work for extended periods of time every day until they collapsed. Then they were sent to the hospital for treatment. Before they fully recovered, they were made to work again.

Falun Gong practitioners were not allowed to report inmates’ torture to the prison guards, or tell their lawyers. When they did, they were retaliated against with severe beatings. 

Before practitioners were released from prison, they had to record a video of themselves renouncing Falun Gong, otherwise, they were tortured with long-term standing. Sometimes, the practitioner’s whole team, more than 60 inmates, were forced to stand for hours so as to incite them to hate the practitioner.

The prison guards warned the released practitioners not to talk about the prison situation because their phones were tapped.

According to available data, at least 37 Falun Gong practitioners have been persecuted to death in the prison, and many have been tortured to the point of insanity and disability. Ms. Li Guirong, a retired elementary school principal from Shenyang City, was persecuted to death after being beaten severely by prison guards in mid-January 2020 when her five-year term was ending soon.

The 12th Ward

The 12th Ward of the prison has been specifically designated to detain Falun Gong practitioners. Inmates were instigated by the prison officials to torture the practitioners, with the reward of term reduction. With impunity, they stopped at no evil in torturing the practitioners. 

When new Falun Gong practitioners were taken to the 12th Ward, they would first be forced to attend a brainwashing session, which was designed to make them renounce their faith. At least three inmates were assigned to work on each practitioner. They first tried to deceive the practitioners by treating them nicely while trying to coerce them to renounce their faith. If it did not work, they began to beat and threaten practitioners. Some practitioners were confined in small cells, and some were exposed to extreme cold with open windows in the winter. 

Ms. Wang Sumian, 70, was arrested on May 24, 2018 and later sentenced to three years in prison by the Lushunkou District Court. She was taken to Liaoning Province Women’s Prison on November 19, 2019 and detained at the 12th Ward.

On the first day of her arrival, the prison guards ordered the inmates to work on her. They demanded she write the repentance statement. When she refused to cooperate, they yelled at her and didn’t allow her to drink water for days. They also took away her own toilet paper and forbade her from washing herself even with the water from the toilet bowl. 

After a few days of abuse, Ms. Wang’s blood pressure became extremely high. Fearing she might develop a life-threatening condition, the inmates finally allowed her to drink water. However, they did not allow her to go to the toilet all night, from 9:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. the next day. Being unable to urinate for this long caused her stomach pain and difficulty sleeping. When she was allowed to use the restroom during the day, she had to be watched by the inmates. 

The abuse and torture lasted throughout her term, until she was released in May 2021. 

For other practitioners, Ms. Kuang Hong, was exposed to low temperatures in a small cell for ten some days. 

Ms. Jiang Wei was confined in a small cell.

Ms. Zhou Yuzhen was beaten badly with bruises all over her body. She was also deprived of sleep for several nights.

Ms. Zhang Dongqing and Ms. Xu Yanxia, were forced to stand for long hours day and night, and deprived of sleep, while the inmates took turns torturing them.

Ms. Zhao Hongmei was once tortured to the point of being unable to walk. Two inmates carried her around, dragging and dropping her. She was emaciated.

Ms. Zhong Shujuan suffered breast cancer after long-term torture, but she still held firm to her faith.

Torture in the 5th Ward

Some practitioners are also detained and tortured at the 5th Ward in the prison.

Ms. Xu Guixian, from Jinzhou City, Liaoning Province, was deprived of sleep for eight days. Since she refused to give up Falun Gong, prison guard Yang Min instructed inmates Li Jingchun and Lou Shuang to torture her by rolling a bottle of boiling water back and forth on her back. They tortured her this way periodically and Mr. Xu’s back was full of large blisters as a result.

Ms. Zhang Yuhong, in her 50s, from Fuxin City, Liaoning Province, was tortured by inmate Zhang Xiaomeng, under the instruction of prison guard Niu Jingjing, for not giving up her faith. Zhang Xiaomeng slapped Ms. Zhang’s head with shoes so harshly that she suffered cerebral hemorrhage in June 2020 and went through two operations. 

Prison guard Yang Min also instructed inmates Xu Yan and Li Jingchun to torture Ms. Liao Xiaojie. They deprived her of sleep for seven days and forced her to stand for long periods during this time.

Torture in Other Wards

Some practitioners were detained at the Elderly and Disability Ward where they were tortured with various means regardless of their age or physical conditions. Sometimes, five to six inmates dragged a practitioner into a small room, then held her down and covered her eyes while taking her fingerprints. Some practitioners were forced to stand for a long periods of time, not allowed to call their families or buy daily necessities. In addition, all the inmates in a cell would be punished with sleep deprivation if the practitioner in the cell refused to renounce her faith, so as to incite the inmates to hate Falun Gong practitioners.

At the 3rd ward, three inmates once dragged a Falun Gong practitioner who refused to renounce her faith into a room without cameras and brutally beat her. The practitioner was forced to do labor work during the day and stand at night while the inmates took turns watching her at night and kept her awake. When the practitioner closed her eyes, the inmates pushed and shoved her, and poked her eyes. 

During one winter, some Falun Gong practitioners were confined in a small storage room with two inmates watching and beating them. One practitioners’ teeth were knocked out during a beating.

Related article in Chinese:

辽宁省女子监狱十二监区折磨法轮功学员