(Minghui.org) A Yingcheng City, Hubei Province resident was subjected to a variety of torture methods while serving a two-year prison term for raising awareness about his faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since 1999.

Mr. Wang Gangqiang was arrested on November 7, 2017, after being reported for hanging up banners containing information about Falun Gong. The police confiscated his Falun Gong books and related materials, as well as his cellphone and 3,000 yuan in cash.

Mr. Wang was released on December 10, 2019. He recounted the torture he suffered while being held at the Banqiao Brainwashing Center and Fanjiatai Prison.

Banqiao Brainwashing Center

Mr. Wang was sent to the Banqiao Brainwashing Center after being held for ten days at the Yingcheng City Detention Center. 

Guards at the brainwashing center forced him to stand up straight, without moving, all day long for the first 15 days at the brainwashing center, attempting to break his will. 

As Mr. Wang still refused to renounce Falun Gong after the initial torture, the guards took him to an empty room, forced him to kneel down, and then put Zhuan Falun, the main text of Falun Gong, on his head. One officer with a strong build stood on his calves and placed his knees against Mr. Wang’s back. 

Mr. Wang almost fainted from the pain, while struggling to keep balance to prevent the book from falling to the ground. The officers held his hands and forced him to sign a prepared statement renouncing Falun Gong. They said to him, “We won’t let you go easily if you don’t sign it.”

He was forced to watch propaganda videos slandering Falun Gong every day for the rest of his detention at the brainwashing center, and write thoughts reports about it.

Fanjiatai Prison

Mr. Wang was sentenced to a two-year prison term by the Anlu City Court on September 28, 2018, and sent to Fanjiatai Prison shortly afterwards.

The prison authorities arranged four inmates to monitor him around the clock. They also forced him to stand straight without moving during the day. His use of the restroom was restricted as well. 

Despite that he had already endured attempts of being forced to sign statements renouncing Falun Gong at the brainwashing center, the prison guards required him to do it again. They threatened that if he didn’t do it, they would force him to stand all the time. If he moved a little while standing, the guards whipped him with a shoe, leaving bruises all over his body.

After Mr. Wang was forced to write the statement, the guards brought him to the prison factory, where he was forced to work ten hours each day without pay. Most of the work he did was making clothing. 

Torture illustration: Hanging by wrists.

The guards used various methods to torture Falun Gong practitioners, including hanging them up by the wrists, sitting them on a long bench with their arms tied behind their backs and their legs tied, holding them in solitary confinement, and injecting them with toxic drugs. The guards also stripped off the practitioners’ clothing and froze them outdoors in the winter, or inserted a beer bottle into their anus.

If any practitioner shouted “Falun Dafa is good,” protesting the persecution, the guards taped their mouth and put a mask on their face. 

The prison held weekly brainwashing sessions and daily sessions to sing propaganda songs praising the Chinese Communist Party. When Mr. Wang sang Falun Gong songs instead of the brainwashing songs, Zu Jian, the head of the third ward, warned him, “I’ve been persecuting Falun Gong for 20 years. I’m very experienced and I have many ways to deal with people like you.”

When Mr. Wang was released from the prison on December 10, 2019, he was forced to pay 800 yuan to cover travel expenses for the village officials who escorted him home. The village officials also ordered him to submit regular thought reports. They sometimes go to his home to check what he is doing. 

Related reports:

Three Falun Gong Practitioners Sentenced to Prison for Their Faith

Methods of Torture Used on Falun Gong Practitioners in Fanjiatai Prison