Crimes of Fang Yuhong, Former Deputy Warden of Zhejiang Women’s Prison

(Minghui.org) Sanctioning human rights abusers has become a consensus among democratic countries. After the U.S. passed the Magnitsky Act in 2016, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the 27-member-country EU enacted similar laws. Australia and Japan are working on the same.

In accordance with these laws, Falun Gong practitioners have compiled lists of perpetrators involved in the persecution of Falun Gong these few years. Every year they submit several lists to democratic governments, urging them to sanction the named perpetrators.

Starting on July 14, 2021, Falun Gong practitioners in more than 30 countries began submitting the latest list of perpetrators involved in the persecution of Falun Gong to their respective governments, demanding sanctions on these human rights abusers, including denying entry into their countries and freezing their assets overseas.

One name on this list is Fang Yuhong.

Perpetrator Information

Full Name of Perpetrator: Fang (last name) Yuhong (first name) (Chinese: 方玉红)

Gender: Female

Country: China

Date/Year of Birth: March 1965

Title or Position:

2003 - May 2013: Deputy Warden of Zhejiang Women’s Prison (in charge of supervision and reformation); Director of Hangzhou Dongsheng Industrial Co., Ltd. (the foreign business unit of Zhejiang Women's Prison)

May 2013 to Present: Secretary of the Disciplinary Committee of Zhejiang Women's Prison.

Main Crimes

Ever since Fang Yuhong became the deputy warden of Zhejiang Women’s Prison in 2003, she has striven to implement the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s persecution policy against Falun Gong. She directly plans and implements the persecution of imprisoned Falun Gong practitioners. During her tenure, hundreds of female Falun Gong practitioners were subjected to various types of violence and brainwashing. At least one Falun Gong practitioner was persecuted to death in Zhejiang Women’s Prison. Many Falun Gong practitioners suffered severe physical injuries. In order to avoid responsibility, the prison sent the practitioners home early before they passed away.

In late 2003, Fang Yuhong implemented the so-called “Spring Thunder Tackling Plan” in the prison, targeting 70 to 80 Falun Gong practitioners. On May 25, 2004, she started a total-immersion brainwashing class, further confining eight steadfast Falun Gong practitioners. Brainwashing videos were played at high volume around the clock. If the practitioners closed their eyes and refused to watch, Fang Yuhong would pull open their eyelids with her hands, pinch their eye sockets, and force them to open their eyes. Falun Gong practitioners were also subjected to mental and physical torture to force them to write a pledge never to practice Falun Gong again. Those who refused were deprived of sleep. This campaign lasted more than 20 days.

Fang Yuhong often led several staff members and groups of violent criminals to intensify torture of Falun Gong practitioners who remained steadfast to their faith and refused to write the pledge. They set up several secret, pitch-black prison cells to completely isolate the practitioners. The interior walls were covered with posters, and videos demonizing Falun Gong were played all day. They flashed bright lights at the practitioners and kept them locked up for six to twelve months. They deprived the practitioners of sleep for several days to months. When practitioners fell asleep, they shook them and pricked them with needles.

For months, practitioners were only given a small amount of rice and pickled vegetables each meal to maintain minimum sustenance. Sometimes they would bind the practitioners’ hands and feet on a bed for months at a time and forbade them from using the restroom. As a result, the practitioners had no choice but to soil their pants. Practitioners were also not allowed to bathe or change for several months despite the smoldering summer heat averaging around 37 degrees Celsius (99 degrees Fahrenheit). Over time, their underwear rotted due to the accumulated bodily fluids.

Under Fang Yuhong’s command, violent murderers imprisoned in the same prison would be rewarded for persecuting practitioners. They would press the practitioners’ heads to the ground, punch and kick them, and bang their heads against the wall. The prison guards tortured the practitioners to the brink of death and taunted them, saying, “We will not let you die. Instead, we will make your life more miserable than death.”

The practitioners protested and appealed, but Fang Yuhong rejected all their appeals. The practitioners eventually protested via hunger strikes. Zhejiang Women’s Prison has seen many hunger strikes ranging from a few days to a few years.

In retaliation, Fang Yuhong and others violently force-fed practitioners who went on hunger strikes. They pinched the practitioners’ noses to keep them from breathing, gripped their mouths, and pried their jaws open with hard objects in order to force-feed them. The practitioners’ mouths often bled profusely. They also subdued Falun Gong practitioners and forcibly inserted nasogastric tubes to pour chili water, concentrated saline, and other concoctions into their stomachs.

They tightly bound practitioners’ hands and feet to the bed for extended durations, cutting off their circulation and making their limbs swell and become black and purple. The practitioners’ hands and feet soon became disabled. They also kept the feeding tubes in the practitioners’ bodies and prohibited them from moving even when they needed to urinate. Fang Yuhong and others also inserted urinary catheters into Falun Gong practitioners to torture them into giving up their faith. All practitioners who attempted long-term hunger strikes in this prison endured these pains.

For implementing the CCP’s cruel persecution of Falun Gong practitioners, Fang Yuhong was awarded by the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Justice in 2012. The award states, “Fang Yuhong directly participated in the transformation of special criminals during the period from April 2003 to July 2010 and was in charge of supervision and reformation…” The “transformation of special criminals” here refers to the cruel persecution of Falun Gong practitioners who would not give up their faith.

As the deputy warden in charge, Fang Yuhong should bear responsibility for persecuting Falun Gong practitioners in Zhejiang Women’s Prison during her tenure.

The following depicts some cases of Falun Gong practitioners being persecuted during Fang Yuhong’s tenure:

Partial Cases of Practitioners Persecuted to Death

Case 1: Ms. Zhang Mingyi, a Falun Gong practitioner from Jilin Province, was arrested while working in Zhejiang and was persecuted in Zhejiang Women’s Prison for more than two years. Due to the long-term abuse, her health deteriorated and she often had fevers. Soon after the prison doctor injected her with an unknown drug, her body became extremely weak, and her weight dropped sharply. The prison released her early to avoid liability. After returning home, Ms. Zhang continued to have fevers and developed purple spots on her body. The results of the hospital examination indicated she had hemolytic anemia, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and dark spots on her pancreas. She passed away on August 29, 2007, at the age of 34.

Case 2: Ms. Wang Yuzhi, was illegally detained by the police twice for appealing for the right to practice Falun Gong in Beijing after the CCP began to persecute Falun Gong in 1999. In February 2002, she and her younger brother, Aping, were arrested in their hometown and illegally sentenced to eight years in prison. She was detained in Zhejiang Women’s Prison, where she suffered physical and mental torture, including solitary confinement, brainwashing, forced administration of drugs, and slave labor. In order to avoid liability for her health condition, the prison asked Ms. Wang’s family to pick her up on February 7, 2009. She was noticeably thinner after the persecution. After returning home, Ms. Wang could not eat, and her whole body was swollen. She died on February 20, 2010, at the age of 64.

Case 3: Ms. Hong Misu, born in 1966, was arrested from her home after talking to people about the persecution of Falun Gong in November 2015. On May 24, 2016, she was illegally sentenced to three years and nine months in prison by the Taizhou City Court. She was arrested and persecuted in Zhejiang Women’s Prison. On August 15, 2018, Ms. Hong was tortured to death in prison at the age of 52.

Partial Cases of Disability and Mental Disorders Caused by Persecution

Case 1: Ms. Su Shufen was sentenced in 2007. She was force-fed drugs at Zhejiang Women’s Prison, causing her to become mentally unstable and unable to care for herself. To avoid liability, the Zhejiang Women’s Prison released Ms. Su home in October 2009. At that point, Ms. Su was unrecognizable from her previous gentle demeanor. She was restless and frightened, and often muttered to herself, “Zhejiang Women’s Prison and the 610 Office came to harm me.”

Case 2: In 2006, Falun Gong practitioners Ms. Tang Baozhi and her daughter Ms. Chen Yao were illegally sentenced to five years and three-and-a-half years in prison, respectively. They were taken to Zhejiang Women’s Prison. Ms. Chen was abused and held in solitary confinement multiple times. In the second half of 2007, Ms. Chen was forcibly relocated to the Qingchun Hospital (“Youth Hospital”) set up by the Zhejiang Provincial Prison Administration. She was tortured until her lower limbs atrophied and she was unable to walk.

On January 7, 2008, Ms. Chen went on a hunger strike to protest the persecution. Ms. Tang asked the prison to let her daughter, Ms. Chen, see a doctor, but her request was denied. Ms. Tang also went on a hunger strike on April 8, 2008. They were intubated and force-fed, and their family members were not allowed to visit them.

After Ms. Chen’s hunger strike lasted 488 days, she was sent home on May 10, 2009. During the hunger strike, Ms. Chen was deliberately tortured to the verge of death several times. Ms. Chen could not swallow when she returned home. She could not stand, and her body was very weak and thin. Her health was completely different from before the persecution.

Case 3: Ms. Zhang Xiulian, in her 40s, was sentenced to ten years in prison and has been illegally detained in Zhejiang Province Women’s Prison for more than six years. She refused to give up her faith and was thus categorized as mentally ill by the prison. Each month, three or four prisoners would kneel on Ms. Zhang’s body while forcibly injecting sedatives and psychiatric drugs into her. Her family members were not allowed to visit her. She was not allowed to buy anything, including underwear or shoes. She was also not allowed to talk to anyone and was often punished by being forced to stand for long periods of time. Ms. Zhang was persecuted to the point of mental disability.