Hankou Prison in Wuhan City Tortures Falun Gong Practitioners

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Hankou Prison in Wuhan City Tortures Falun Gong Practitioners

March 11, 2020 | By a Minghui correspondent in Hubei Province, China

(Minghui.org) The Hankou Prison in Wuhan, Hubei Province was a prison spun off from Wuhan Women’s Prison and has both men and women’s wards. The prison hired the guards from Wuhan Women’s Prison who had aggressively participated in the torture of Falun Gong practitioners and they promoted them to continue the work. Encouraged by the promotion, the guards in Hankou Prison intensified the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners who refused to renounce their faith.

Falun Gong is a spiritual practice that promotes mental and physical wellness. The Chinese communist regime launched the persecution of the practice in 1999 and since then hundreds of thousands of practitioners have been incarcerated and tortured for holding firm to their belief. More than 4,300 practitioners are confirmed to have lost their lives to the persecution.

The following are several cases of the practitioners persecuted in Hankou Prison.

Death Cases

69-year-old Dies 3 Weeks After Release

Because she refused to renounce Falun Gong, Ms. Cui Hai from Wuhan City was twice imprisoned, fired from work and lost all her wages and benefits after the persecution started. Her latest arrest took place in October 2012 and she was subsequently sentenced to five years in prison in January 2014. After years of tortures in prison, 69-year-old Ms. Cui died on January 1, 2018, 19 days after she was released from prison.

Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Cui Hai

Ms. Cui was previously arrested on May 13, 2000, after she went to Beijing to defend her constitutional rights of religious freedom. She was sentenced to three years and sent to Hankou Prison in May 2001.

In order to force her to renounce her faith, a guard often had her stand still for two days straight. It was scorching hot during the day and insect-infested at night. She wasn’t allowed to shower. One time the guards hung her up by handcuffs after she had stood for two days, and continued to deprive her of sleep for eight days after putting her down. As a result, Ms. Cui’s lower legs were severely swollen. She couldn’t climb the stairs or squat down to use the toilet.

Ms. Cui was forced to work on the farm from 6:00 a.m. and wasn’t given a lunch break. She would be the only person working under the scorching sun at a 104⁰F temperature.

The guards forced her to watch brainwashing videos during her free time. She had to write thought reports until 3:00 a.m. The brainwashing process started all over again at 5:00 a.m. Ms. Cui became emaciated after a summer of torture.

Sixty-four-year-old Ms. Cui Hai from Wuhan City Seriously Injured While Being Interrogated and Tortured

Young Man Dies After Long-Term Beatings and Force-Feeding

Mr. Xu Guanglin

Mr. Xu Guanglin, a former hospital worker, took up Falun Gong in 1995 when he studied at Hubei University of Chinese Medicine. The police arrested him in March 2000 and he went on a hunger strike to protest the arrest. He was force-fed at the local detention center and his nostrils, esophagus, and stomach were severely damaged.

Mr. Xu was sentenced to three years in prison in September 2000. In Hankou Prison, the prisoners, instigated by the guards, forced him to sit on the floor and bend his body. They then tied his upper body to his legs and placed him under the bed. A few prisoners would then stomp on the bed, putting extreme pressure on his back and chest. He was deprived of sleep and constantly beaten and hung up by the handcuffs.

After three months of being on a hunger strike and force-fed, Mr. Xu’s health deteriorated. He never recovered after his release in 2002. He died on May 1, 2005, at the age of 33.

Elderly Man Dies After Multiple Incarcerations

Mr. Kang Youyuan from Wuhan City started to practice Falun Gong in 1997 and his end-stage stomach cancer soon disappeared. Because of not giving up the practice after the persecution began, he was arrested six times, twice locked in a brainwashing center, twice in a forced labor camp, and once sentenced to three years in prison.

He was sentenced to three years on August 15, 2014, by Dongxihu District Court. He was sent to Hongshan Prison on October 28 and later transferred to Hankou Prison.

The torture destroyed his health and he died on January 22, 2019, at the age of 70.

Mr. Kang Youyuan from Wuhan Detained for Over Three Months for His Belief

Long Sentences

Two Practitioners Sentenced to 8 and 7 Years

Ms. Hou Aila and Ms. Rao Xiaoping from Wuhan City in mid-September 2019, were convicted for practicing Falun Gong. Ms. Hou was sentenced to eight years and fined 40,000 yuan while Ms. Rao was given seven years and fined 30,000 yuan.

Both practitioners appealed to Wuhan Intermediate Court and the judge withheld the sentences of the lower court. Currently, both are locked in Hankou Prison.

Husband and Wife Sentenced to Eight and Six Years

Mr. Wang Hansheng and his wife Ms. Xu Xianglan were tried in Wuhan Intermediate Court on January 6, 2000. Mr. Wang was sentenced to six years and sent to Houkou Prison. Ms. Xu was sentenced to eight years and served time in Wuhan Women’s Prison. The court also confiscated all assets of Mr. Wang’s private company at the time.

Denied Visits

Many Falun Gong practitioners are beaten, deprived of sleep, and forced to do unpaid labor in the prison. Some are also subjected to other corporal punishment and brainwashing.

In addition to the physical and mental abuses, another tactic used by the prison to pressure the practitioners to give up their faith is to deny their lawyers and families from visiting them.

Elderly Practitioner with Medical Condition Denied Family Visits

Ms. Wu Bilin was sentenced to five years in April 2019. The judge at a higher court rejected her appeal and upheld the original sentence. She’s been held in Hankou Prison and denied family visits since then.

The prison authorities refused to disclose any details of Ms. Wu’s situation. Her family was worried sick because she was in her 70s and suffered hypertension. She couldn’t walk normally after a car accident years ago.

Young Woman Denied Meetings with Lawyer and Family

Ms. Jiang Liyu (left) and her older sister, Ms. Jiang Lianjiao

Ms. Jiang Liyu was tried in Shijingshan Court in Beijing on July 12, 2018, after she was arrested for posting Falun Gong fliers. The 27-years-old from Shiyan City, Hubei Province, was given four years. She appealed and the Beijing Second Intermediate Court upheld her sentence.

Ms. Jiang was transferred to Hankou Prison in March 2019. The prison authorities refused to let her family see her.

Her lawyer tried to visit her three times in July and December 2019, but the prison authorities demanded to see different legal documents and official approvals, all to deter the lawyer from meeting with her. Her lawyer filed complaints with a prosecutor and the prison management bureau, but the issue was never resolved.

Her family’s requests to see Ms. Jiang was also denied. The prison authorities then asked the family to talk Ms. Jiang into signing the statements to renounce Falun Gong. The family refused to cooperate.

Category: Accounts of Persecution