(Minghui.org) The authorities in Guangdong Province Women’s Prison have actively participated in the persecution of Falun Dafa practitioners for the past 23 years. Many cases of persecution have been published on Minghui.org, and the situation against Dafa practitioners inside the prison remains grim. The guards, along with the inmates they manipulate, continue to torture practitioners who refuse to renounce their belief. 

Torture Means: Verbal Abuse, Deprivation of Food, Sleep, and Toilet Use 

The prison guards have trained select inmates (called collaborators) to assist them in persecuting steadfast practitioners. The guards and experienced collaborators force other inmates to familiarize themselves with the slanderous information against Falun Dafa, and require that they join them in torturing the practitioners. If inmates refuse to do so, they are forced do labor-intensive work in the prison sweatshop. 

The guards use the collaborators to carry out specific tortures. One of the commonly used torture tactics has been dubbed the “Night Owl,” in which the collaborators used a stick to pry open the practitioners’ eyes and prevent them from blinking. Many practitioners who sustained this torture became incoherent and their hair quickly turned gray. The collaborators surrounded the practitioners around the clock and constantly verbally abused them. 

The collaborators also would not let the practitioners eat or use the toilet. Some practitioners had to stand or sit still on a small stool for a long period of time, which severely injured their buttocks and lower backs. If a practitioner refused to admit in writing that she was a criminal, the guards would not let her purchase daily necessities such as food, toilet paper and menstrual pads. 

Torture re-enactment: “Night Owl,” in which a practitioner’s eyes are pried open with a stick so that they cannot blink or sleep. 

The collaborators frequently stuffed filthy mops or used menstrual pads into the practitioners’ mouths, or turned up the volume of the television or music to stop the practitioners from telling other inmates about the brutal persecution. 

The 4th Ward at Guangdong Province Women’s Prison is a designated ward to “transform” practitioners who do not succumb to the tortures. The guards there do not let the practitioners eat, go the bathroom, or sleep for long periods of time. When the practitioners develop stomach pain, bladder problems, and other related health issues, the guards then force the practitioners to take toxic drugs. 

Cases of Persecution 

Ms. Chen Pingzhen was sentenced to five years in 2019. The authorities had previously seized and put her in a brainwashing center in 2015. Lacking supervision as a result of his mother’s incarceration, her toddler son fell into a well at home and drowned. 

The police arrested Ms. Chen Guangyun in 2016. She was jailed for 3.5 years and released in 2019. She was arrested again on November 24, 2020 and is facing another prison term. 

Because Ms. Zhang Yuzhen refused to renounce her faith, she was imprisoned multiple times. The guards accused her of being a “repeat offender” and treated her with cruelty. The inmates often heard her screaming during brutal torture sessions. She was in her 50s, but looked like someone in her 70s; her back was hunched and her legs shook uncontrollably. Despite her physical condition, the guards wheelchaired her to the sweatshop and forced her to work every day. 

Many times Ms. Yuan Yumei had to stand still overnight after working all day in the sweatshop. 

The collaborators forced a senior practitioner to kneel for a long period of time. She was often seen with one hand on the ground supporting herself, her knees in excruciating pain. 

A Perpetrator

The prison authorities can monitor every corner of the prison through surveillance cameras. However, they ignore the torture of practitioners who refuse to sign statements renouncing their faith. 

Guard Yu Yunxia (female, badge number 4455406) has been working at Guangdong Province Women’s Prison since the beginning of the persecution. She has often bragged about how many practitioners she has “transformed” over the years.