(Minghui.org) “We will physically destroy you, mentally torture you, and starve you! Besides handcuffs and shackles, we have high-tech stuff too.” This is what instructor Lin of Wumaping Prison told Falun Gong practitioners at a meeting.
Exposure to extreme temperatures, physical abuse, non-stop brainwashing and forced “self-reflection”, withholding of food, and locking practitioners up with inmates infectious diseases have culminated in at least eleven practitioners who have died as a result of persecution suffered in this prison.
I. Prominent Persecution Cases in Wumaping Prison
Xu Langzhou
Mr. Xu Langzhou, an outstanding police officer from Panzhihua City, Sichuan Province, was sentenced to eight years of imprisonment after being subjected to two years of forced labor. Mr. Xu died on March 18, 2012 in Wumaping Prison at the age of 39. He was subjected to brutal physical and psychological torture in the prison.
Mr. Xu Langzhou’s mother, who was over 70 years old, tried to seek justice for him. Several guards at the prison surrounded her and threatened her. She eventually filed a lawsuit in December, 2013.
Jiang Yunhong
Mr. Jiang Yunhong was a former engineer at the Chengdu Air Compressor Factory in Sichuan Province. From 2005 to 2008, he was held in the Chengdu City Xinjin Brainwashing Center, Chengdu City Detention Center and Wumaping Prison. While Mr. Jiang was confined to a hospital to receive treatment for injuries suffered as a result of torture, the Chengdu City Chenghua District Court sentenced him to three years in prison. Officials from the Chengdu Detention Center then took him to the Wumaping Prison on a stretcher, while hooked up to an oxygen tank.
As a result of the mistreatment Mr. Jiang endured in Wumaping Prison, he suffered from symptoms of ascites and cirrhosis, and was in critical condition five times. He was released when his term expired in the beginning of 2009, but the doctor told his family that he was not likely to live much longer. On March 8, 2011, Mr. Jiang passed away at the age of 43.
Yuan Bin
Mr. Yuan Bin
Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Yuan Bin, a middle school teacher in Longquan, was sentenced to eight years in prison for practicing Falun Gong and was subjected to brutal torture in Wumaping Prison. He was emaciated after being in prison for the first four months. His head, eyes, and nose were injured, and his face looked swollen and dark. From November 2009 to the Chinese New Year in 2010, he was forced to stand still for more than twenty hours and given only three hours of sleep each day.
II. Torture Methods Used in Wumaping Prison
Exposure to Extreme Temperatures
Wumaping Prison is located in a mountainous area of Leshan, Sichuan Province, about 1,000 meters above sea level. The area is noted for its brutally hot summers and harsh winters.
Falun Gong practitioner Xiao Hui launched a 40-day hunger strike to protest against the persecution in October, 2007. He was handcuffed to a basketball goal during his hunger strike, and sometimes forced to face the wall with his legs spread. He was force-fed through the nose. In November 2008, it snowed continuously for a month, yet the guards only allowed him to wear three pieces of clothing for warmth. Mr. Xiao suffered frostbite on his ears, hands and face. Despite the frostbite, he was forced to stand still for long periods and repeatedly perform calisthenics such as doing squats, running laps, and doing push-ups.
Falun Gong practitioner Li Ronglai, in his 50's, was another victim of the same torture method. He was only allowed to wear three pieces of clothing during the winter of 2008, and got frostbite on his ears, face and hands.
During the hot summer days in July 2013, Falun Gong practitioner Xiang Lin was punished for doing the Falun Gong exercises. He was forced to stand in the scorching sun with his hands cuffed and periodically stare directly into the sun, while guards mockingly called him a “sunflower.”
Torturing the Disabled
Falun Gong practitioner Gu Mingcong is physically handicapped due to polio from his childhood. The prison tried to “transform” him in November 2009. He was forced to stand under a blackboard to do “self-reflection” and deprived of restroom usage. He was moved to the “strict-restriction” team in the evening for further self-reflection. He fell down the stairs when he tried to resist the persecution that he was being subjected to, and suffered spinal fractures.
Arbitrary Beatings and Abuse
The prison authorities allowed and even encouraged inmates and guards to arbitrarily beat and physically abuse Falun Gong practitioners. The practitioners who refused to be “transformed”, refused to wear prison uniforms, or launched hunger strikes were frequent targets.
Falun Gong practitioner Xiao Hui was beaten and tortured by inmates for refusing to wear the prison uniform in 2006. Another practitioner Li Zhigang was tortured for more than 40 days in 2007 because he refused to write the “Three Statements” to renounce his belief. He was forced to sit still with his legs crossed for more than ten hours a day and often physically abused by inmates. Practitioner Su Gang launched a hunger strike to protest the persecution, and was tortured in May 2007.
In September 2011, guard Li Bo tried to drag practitioner Zeng Shengliang outside because he refused to recite the prison regulations. When Zeng resisted, Li slapped him in the face repeatedly. Zeng cried out, “Falun Dafa is great!” He was then subjected to torture for the next two weeks.
Psychological Torture
Falun Gong practitioners Xu Weidong, Ran Tongyi, Xiang Lin and Xu Min were transferred from Guangyuan Prison to Wumaping Prison in the summer of 2010. Guards Li Yi, Li Bo, Qiu Peng and Zhou Nianping soon launched a round of psychological torture. They forced practitioners to sit on hard stools with little clothing on. As soon as a practitioner fell asleep, he would be shaken and woken up. Inmates took turns to bombard practitioner Xu Weidong with propaganda and slander of Falun Gong nonstop.
Withholding Food
Falun Gong practitioner Zeng Liangsheng was put into “self-reflection” for more than 40 days for doing Falun Gong exercises in April 2012. Guards forced him to stand on a hot surface with bare feet. He was given less than two ounces of rice for each meal. He became very weak and had to lean against the wall while walking. Several times, he had to crawl because he didn't have enough strength to walk.
Fostering Disease
Guards put Falun Gong practitioners into a cell with tuberculosis (TB) patients. Practitioner Deng Jiangang contracted TB and eventually passed away.
Deng Jiangang was emaciated by the time he was released.
Prison authorities who made the decisions to carry out the persecution include Zhu Wei, Tian Yi, Yuan Dingxing, Luo Jiangtao, Yang Shixian, and Wang Zhengqiang.
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