(Minghui.org) Minghui.org previously reported on the abuse of a Beijing man who is serving a nine-year term at Qianjin Prison, where he served a prior ten-year term also for his faith in Falun Gong. This article presents newly available information on the torture that Mr. Shi Shaoping has been subjected to.
Mr. Shi, 53, holds a master’s degree from the Photochemical Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He was most recently arrested on November 18, 2019 and later secretly sentenced to nine years. He was first held at the Beijing Second Prison and later transferred to the third division of Qianjin Prison in 2021. He previously served ten years (2001 – 2011) in the same prison.
Qianjin Prison has been notorious for abusing Falun Gong practitioners incarcerated for their faith. The third division, along with the first division (which was re-purposed as a high-security division in 2022), have been used to hold and torture steadfast practitioners since the persecution of Falun Gong began in July 1999.
As soon as Mr. Shi was admitted to the third division in 2021, he was placed in a storage closet in the lobby. The closet has two racks along either side of the walls to store inmates’ personal belongings. One of the racks is about two meters away from the door. The space between the rack and the door is outside the range of the surveillance cameras. The inmates assigned to monitor Mr. Shi around the clock dubbed the space a “transformation corner,” meaning that they could do anything without worrying about consequences in an attempt to make a practitioner “transform” (give up his belief).
Mr. Shi refused to admit “guilt” and was forced to sit on a small plastic stool, about 15-cm in height and 20-cm in length, (approximately 6 inches x 8 inches) with his back straight, legs touching each other and hands on his lap. He had to keep his eyes open. Two inmates stood on either side, and sometimes a third would stand in front of him. Any slight movement would invite verbal abuse or beatings in the “transformation corner.”
The sitting torture was from 5 a.m. to 12 a.m. every day. When Mr. Shi was finally allowed to stand up, he was allowed only five hours of sleep on a bare bed board. If he had to use the restroom, he had to ask permission from the monitors. Two of them would escort him out of the closet. While en route to the restroom, he was required to call out “report” or “yes” every time he passed by an office. Before each meal, he was forced to sing songs praising the Chinese Communist Party. Any refusal would result in food deprivation or beatings in the “transformation corner.”
Despite the torture, Mr. Shi refused to write any statement to renounce his faith. He was then taken to solitary confinement (which was different from the closet), a space so tight that he could not stand up straight. There was no heat. He was handcuffed and shackled. He was also given very little food to eat.
After 15 days of solitary confinement, Mr. Shi was reassigned to the first division, the newly designated high-security division. He held firm to his faith and was pepper sprayed. He was then restrained in a metal chair (see image below) with his four limbs immobilized with cuffs and shackles. During meal times, the food was placed on the metal bar across the chair. He remained handcuffed and could not use his hands. He had to lower his head to reach the food and eat. Every day he was forced to sit in the chair from 5 a.m. to 12 a.m. During the remaining five hours of the day when he was let out of the chair, he remained handcuffed and shackled even during sleep.
Torture reenactment: Restrained in a metal chair
Mr. Shi still did not buckle. The metal chair torture ended one month later and he was reassigned to the Strict Management Team of the third division, where he was subjected to intensive physical and mental torture. He was forced to recite the prison rules and study materials smearing Falun Gong. At night, he was called to the lobby to do military posture training.
He refused to admit guilt and was forced to stand or squat for long hours. He was also made to transcribe the prison rules.
The guards later subjected Mr. Shi to the metal chair abuse again for another month, using the excuse that he failed the political exams.
The prison intensified the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in August 2022, two months before the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party. The first and third divisions gathered practitioners into their lobbies to watch anti-Falun Gong videos and write “thought reports.” Yao Yiping, then head of the third division, and deputy head Zhang Chao put Mr. Shi through the metal chair torture for a third time. He was again restrained in the metal chair for 19 hours every day (from 5 a.m. to 12 a.m.). During the remaining five hours, the inmates assigned to watch Mr. Shi would wake him up every ten minutes to stop him from sleeping.
One inmate made a paper roll to poke the inside of Mr. Shi’s nostril. Another inmate grabbed his penis to yank him up and make him walk around the cell.
Deputy head Zhang claimed Mr. Shi had couple of nails and alleged that he was planning to harm himself. Mr. Shi refuted this, saying that he had no intention of hurting himself. He was again restrained in the metal chair and watched by four inmates, which would have made it impossible for him to find and pick up any nails. Zhang refused to listen and ordered him to wear a hard hat, which made him hot and sweaty. The inmates even put damp towels over the hard hat to try to suffocate him.
Mr. Shi reported the abuse with Fang Yong, an inmate who was sympathetic to his situation. The prison announced more than six months later that the two of them were making things up and accused them of framing the guards. Each was given 15 days of solitary confinement.
Because Mr. Shi had been in the Strict Management Team for one year, the maximum time allowed, the prison changed its policy, stating that solitary confinement could be indefinite as needed.
The prison management removed Yao from the head position of the third division and replaced him with deputy head Chang Jianghao, who was even more cruel in torturing practitioners.
Mr. Shi is not the only practitioner who faced such abuse. Many other practitioners were also tortured similarly over the years. An elderly practitioner in his 70s was once also held in the closet. An inmate said to him, “I know you are a good person. You are even older than my father and I should respect you. However, the Chinese Communist Party is in power and the prison guards ordered me to torture you. If I don’t follow orders, I’d be beaten myself. So don’t blame me.” He then proceeded to torture the elderly practitioner using various means. He and other inmates repeatedly kicked and punched him and forced him to sit on the small plastic stool or stand for long hours in the “transformation corner.” This daily abuse did not stop until several weeks later.
Related Reports:
After Spending Ten Years in Prison, Beijing Man Sentenced Again to Nine Years
Once Imprisoned for Ten Years, Beijing Man Arrested for His Faith Again
The Persecution of Falun Gong Practitioners in the Qianjin Prison in Beijing
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