23 Falun Gong Practitioners and One Family Member Have Died from Torture in Jiazhou Prison (Graphic Photos)
(Minghui.org) The Jiazhou Prison in Leshan City, Sichuan Province, was established after the merger of Wumaping Forced Labor Camp and Shawan Prison. Known to the outside as the “Chenma Group Co., Ltd,” it’s in fact a place that has been used to incarcerate male Falun Gong practitioners from various parts of the province since 2006.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a mind-body practice that has been persecuted in China since July 1999.
While in the prison, Falun Gong practitioners are subjected various torture methods, including long hours of standing, electric shocks, beating, being forced to finish a meal within seconds, and unpaid labor. They are not allowed to talk with one another and are ordered to write thought reports and guarantee statements to renounce their faith. Those who refused are placed under strict management, sprayed with pepper water, or tortured by other inmates. Inmates involved in persecuting Falun Gong practitioners are rewarded with term reductions.
According to Minghui reports, at least 23 practitioners and one family member of a practitioner have died as a result of the torture in prison. Some died in the prison, while some passed away after they were released on the brink of death.
24 Deaths Due to Torture in Jiazhou Prison
1. Mr. Zhang Xingcai, of Panzhihua City, was taken to Jiazhou Prison on September 8, 2006. He became disabled due to the torture and died in the prison on March 31, 2007. He was 59.
2. Mr. Li Yuanrong, of Yibin City, was sentenced to five years in 2006 and was persecuted to death in Jiazhou Prison in July 2007. He was in his 70s.
3. Mr. Zhao Guoji, of Bazhong City, was taken to Jiazhou Prison on October 18, 2007. He soon fell into critical condition due to the torture. He was released on medical parole in April 2008 and passed away on October 18, 2008. He was 63.
Mr. Zhao Guoji
4. Mr. Liu Tianhou lived in Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture. He was arrested on April 15, 2006. He was sentenced to three years and held in Jiazhou Prison. He died in the prison on October 27, 2008. He was in his 70s.
Mr. Liu Tianhou
5. Mr. Zhang Kunyang, of Nanjiang County, Bazhong City, was arrested on May 29, 2006, after the police suspected him of distributing Falun Gong informational materials. He was sentenced to Jiazhou Prison and endured severe torture there. After returning home in 2008, his silicosis recurred, leading to emphysema. He passed away in the hospital in July 2009. He was 55.
6. Mr. Jiang Yunhong, an air compressor factory engineer, was on the brink of death after being persecuted in Jiazhou Prison. He was released in 2009 after completing his term. His abdomen was swollen and he had bleeding in his mouth after returning home. The doctor declared that he wouldn’t live for long. He passed away on March 8, 2011. He was 43.
7. Mr. Feng Zhongliang used to work in the Construction Bureau Design Management in Panzhihua City. He was unable to walk, suffered organ failures, and had difficulty breathing when he was released from Jiazhou Prison on April 28, 2009. He passed away on June 6, 2011. He was 48.
Mr. Feng Zhongliang
8. Mr. Gao Guangchong lived in Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture. He was sentenced to three years on March 28, 2008. After being persecuted in Jiazhou Prison, his body became swollen and he suffered from incontinence. He was released on medical parole on August 16, 2009, and passed away on November 19, 2011. He was in his 60s.
9. Mr. Liu Xueming, of Xinjin County, Chengdu City, was sentenced to seven years. He died in Jiazhou Prison on February 11, 2012. He was 57.
Mr. Liu Xuemin
10. Mr. Xu Langzhou, a police officer in Panzhihua City, was sentenced to eight and a half years. He was held in several prisons before being transferred to Jiazhou Prison in 2010. He was hospitalized due to torture in early 2012. He died on March 18, 2012. He was 39.
11. Mr. Deng Jiangang, of Pengshan County, Meishan City, was severely abused in Jiazhou Prison and vomited blood. He was taken to the hospital on May 4, 2012, and released while in critical condition on June 14. He passed away on July 18, 2012. He was in his 60s.
Mr. Deng Jiangang
12. Mr. Wu Mingshan, a former repairman of the Iron and Steel Automobile Transport Company in Panzhihua City, was sentenced to four years in December 2009. After falling into critical condition in Jiazhou Prison, he was taken to Shuangliu Prison Hospital on April 8, 2010, for resuscitation. He was released on medical parole in May 2010 and passed away in his hometown in Hunan Province on November 26, 2012. He was 63.
13. Mr. Zhang Shixiang, of Jianyang City, was sentenced to six years in 2008. He was given unknown drugs in Jiazhou Prison and was on the brink of death when he was released in November 2014. His body and legs were swollen and bleeding. He died on December 4, 2014, a month after his release. He was 66.
14. Mr. Zou Yunzhu, of Lushi Town, Huaying City, was arrested on October 31, 2012, and sentenced to three and a half years. He suddenly died of a heart attack in Jiazhou Prison on May 11, 2015. An insider revealed that he was forced to do extensive heavy labor for long hours every day before he died. He was in his 60s.
15. Mr. Tan Degang, of Neijiang City, was on the brink of death in November 2014 after being tortured in Jiazhou Prison. He was taken to Shuangliu Prison Hospital and released on medical parole in January 2015. He passed away on March 8, 2015. He was 42.
16. Mr. Chen Guangzhong of Chengdu City was arrested on February 9, 2017, and sentenced to three years. He was persecuted to death within six months.
17. Mr. Cheng Huaigen, of Tianfu District, Chengdu City, was sentenced to four years and held in Jiazhou Prison. He was persecuted to death on May 29, 2017. He was 54.
Mr. Cheng Huaigen
18. Mr. Liu Shuming, of Weiyuan County, Neijiang City, was sentenced to five years in February 2012 and held in Jiazhou Prison. He was released in March 2016 and passed away on October 3, 2017. He was 52.
19. Mr. Chen Zhaozhong, a relative of a practitioner, died in the No. 2 Division in Jiazhou Prison in late 2017.
20. Mr. Wang Huaifu, of Mianyang City, was injected with a large amount of unknown drugs while serving an 18-month term in Jiazhou Prison in 2018. He was emaciated when he was released on June 10, 2018. He passed away a year later on July 16, 2019. He was 71.
Mr. Wang Huaifu
21. Mr. Luo Xuefang, from Linshui County, Guang’an City, was arrested in July 2014 and sentenced to seven years. He was taken to Jiazhou Prison in April 2017 and tortured to death in early April 2020. He was 67.
22. Mr. Jiang Libin, from Beichuan Qiang Autonomous County in Mianyang City, was taken to Jiazhou Prison in 2015 to serve a three-year term. His body became swollen and he was in critical condition when he was released in 2018. He vomited blood on October 13, 2020, and passed away that night. He was 59.
23. Mr. Sun Renzhi, a former director of Xinzao Credit Cooperative in Mianyang City, was sentenced to three years on May 22, 2018. He was taken to Jiazhou Prison on August 9, 2018. He was emaciated when he was released in 2020. He passed away on June 25, 2022. He was 68.
24. Mr. Pang Xun was a former host of the Sichuan People’s Radio Station. He was arrested in July 2020 and sentenced to five years. He was tortured to death in the prison on December 2, 2022. He was only 30.
Case Highlights
Outstanding Police Officer Tortured to Death
Mr. Xu Langzhou, a police officer from Panzhihua City, Sichuan Province, began to practice Falun Gong in 1994. After he began practicing, he was given the Outstanding Police Officer award each year. The Panzhihua City TV station also did a feature story on him.
Because Mr. Xu refused to renounce Falun Gong, he was given two years of forced labor. He was later sentenced to 8.5 years and tortured in multiple prisons. After suffering years of abuse while incarcerated, he died on March 18, 2012, in a prison hospital. He was 39.
Mr. Xu Langzhou’s body three days after he died
Details of Persecution
After the persecution started, Mr. Xu went to the appeals office in Beijing to explain the facts about Falun Gong but was arrested and fired from his job. He was arrested again in 2000 and detained in the Panzhihua City Detention Center, for doing Falun Gong exercises outside his home. The guards tied him to a “death bed” torture device for 13 consecutive days.
On March 15, 2000, Mr. Xu was given two years of forced labor by the Panzhihua City 610 Office. He was then taken to Xinhua Forced Labor Camp in Mianyang, Sichuan Province, where he was subjected to brutal torture.
At the labor camp, the guards shocked Mr. Xu with electric batons. Several guards held him to the ground and tied him up with rope, which cut into his flesh. He was subsequently thrown outside under the scorching sun.
Mr. Xu was also forced to bake bricks at extremely high temperatures. He was made to pick up red-hot bricks that could light a cigarette after being taken out of the kiln. Because he refused to give up his belief, his term was extended by another nine months.
In order to make a living, Mr. Xu opened a paint supply factory. Just as the factory was starting to manufacture paint supplies, he was persecuted again. On April 9, 2004, a dozen officers arrested him at work. He was later sentenced to 8.5 years and taken to Guangyuan Prison in January 2005. Shortly after, he was transferred to the Jiazhou Prison.
When Mr. Xu’s prison term was almost up in 2012, the prison refused to release him as Mr. Xu did not renounce his faith. The inmates hung him up and beat him for seven days until he was in critical condition. He was then taken to the hospital for resuscitation. He died on March 18, 2012.
According to his family who saw his body, there was a knife mark on his stomach and abdomen, two small, round holes on both sides of his waist and abdomen, and a large blood stasis on the inside of the two front chest ribs. The family requested an autopsy, but the authorities refused to provide a copy of the results to the family and even threatened to arrest them. Mr. Xu’s body was held at the Donglin Funeral Home until the authorities forcibly cremated it in January 2017.
Related report:
30-year-old Former Radio Host Beaten to Death in Prison
Mr. Pang Xun, a 30-year-old former host of the Sichuan People’s Radio Station, was beaten to death on December 2, 2022, while serving a five-year term in Jiazhou Prison.
Mr. Pang’s body was covered with bruises from beatings, as well as marks from electric shocks and being tied up with rope. He had also become incontinent due to the torture.
The prison denied having tortured Mr. Pang but claimed that he died of hyperthyroidism.
Mr. Pang was arrested on July 27, 2020, for distributing Falun Gong materials and later sentenced to five years in Jiazhou Prison.