(Minghui.org) On the 25th anniversary since the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) began to suppress Falun Gong in July 1999, practitioners from 44 countries submitted a new list of perpetrators to their respective governments, asking them to bar the perpetrators and their family members from entry and freeze their overseas assets according to the law.
Among the perpetrators listed were Wang Liguo and Han Yanwei, former and current wardens of Heilongjiang Province Women’s Prison.
Perpetrator Information
Full Name of Perpetrator: Wang (last name) Liguo (first name)Chinese Name: 王立国Gender: MaleCountry: China
Full Name of Perpetrator: Han (last name) Yanwei (first name)Chinese Name: 韩延伟Gender: MaleCountry: China
Title or Position
Wang Liguo
Prior to August 2021: Secretary and director of Heilongjiang Compulsory Isolation Drug Rehabilitation CenterAugust 2021 – August 2022: Warden of Heilongjiang Women’s Prison
Han Yanwei
Prior to September 2022: Warden of Heilongjiang’s Huashan PrisonSeptember 2022 – Present: Warden of Heilongjiang Women’s Prison
Main Crimes
Heilongjiang Provincial Women’s Prison is the only women’s prison in Heilongjiang Province. The number of practitioners detained there are among the highest in the country, and at least 1,000 practitioners were incarcerated there.
As of September 2023, at least 40 practitioners died from torture in the prison. At least 90% of those incarcerated there were permanently injured and continue to suffer from the long-term effects after being released.
During their tenure, Wang Liguo and Han Yanwei vigorously enforced the persecution policies against Falun Gong. They instigated the prison guards and criminal inmates to violently torture the practitioners, in order to force them to renounce their belief.
The images show some of the torture methods used in the prison, including the tiger bench, violent beatings, the death bed (or stretching bed), electric shocks, being suspended in the air by handcuffs, force feedings and drug administration.
Select Death Cases
Case 1: 75-Year-Old Retired Teacher Dies in Heilongjiang Province Women’s Prison
Ms. Mou Yongxia, a 75-year-old retired teacher, died from ongoing abuse at the Heilongjiang Province Women’s Prison on July 13, 2023. The guards cremated Ms. Mou’s body before they notified her family that she died.
Ms. Mou was arrested in September 2019 and sentenced to a six-year prison term by the Ranghulu District Court in May 2020. Guards at the Heilongjiang Province Women’s Prison instigated the inmates to beat and verbally abuse her. Years of torture and abuse took a toll on her health and she could barely move.
After Ms. Mou suffered bowel incontinence in August 2022, an inmate beat her and poured cold water on her. She also subsequently suffered a mental disorder, yet the guards and other inmates continued to beat her routinely.
In late December 2022, a prisoner complained that Ms. Mou walked too slowly and roughly pushed her from behind. Ms. Mou fell to the ground and her face was bruised. That night she developed frequent urination, and she had to get up over ten times each subsequent night. The inmates assigned to watch her often verbally abused her and beat her because of this.
Ms. Mou often woke up in the middle of night screaming because of the ongoing abuse. It was so loud that inmates in other cells could hear her. She was disoriented and could not even recognize other Falun Gong practitioners who were staying in the same cell with her.
Her son demanded that the prison authorities release Ms. Mou on medical parole, but his requests were repeatedly denied.
Case 2: 77-year-old Woman Dies While Serving a 13-year Term
Ms. Fei Shuqin from Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province, died in Heilongjiang Province Women’s Prison on February 16, 2023, while serving a 13-year term. She was 77 years old.
According to Ms. Fei’s family, she developed uterine fibroids, high blood pressure, and a heart condition shortly after her imprisonment, yet the prison repeatedly denied their application for her release on medical parole. The family hadn’t been allowed to see her since 2019.
When Ms. Fei lost her appetite and was plagued with constant drowsiness, she was taken to the prison hospital on January 13, 2023. The doctor found she had multiple lacunar infarctions, brain atrophy, and a severe lung condition. Despite her condition, the prison still denied her family’s requests to visit her and also refused to release her.
The prison informed Ms. Fei’s family at 1 p.m. on February 16 that they were transferring her to another hospital. But just an hour later, the prison called again and said that she just passed away. Her family suspected that she might have already died when the prison called earlier.
The prison initially barred Ms. Fei’s family from seeing her body. But given their insistence, the guards relented after getting approval from their supervisor. Ms. Fei’s family said she appeared to be extremely thin and her head was shaved.
Ms. Fei, who’d retired from the food industry, was arrested on March 29, 2013, for putting up banners reading “Falun Dafa Is Good” along a major highway. The Yilan County Court sentenced her to 13 years in prison.
Case 3: Ms. Teng Shuli Dies in Prison While Serving Seven Years
Ms. Teng Shuli of Jixi City, Heilongjiang Province, died on January 10, 2023, while serving a seven-year term. She was 53 years old.
Ms. Teng was arrested on October 12, 2020, and sentenced to seven years in prison, and fined 80,000 yuan on June 2, 2021. After she was taken to the Heilongjiang Province Women’s Prison in 2021, she was forced to watch propaganda videos which slandered Falun Gong every day. She was also deprived of sleep and forced to sit on a small stool for extended hours without moving.
The mental and physical torment took a toll on Ms. Teng’s health. She ate very little and became emaciated. She also developed a tumor in her abdomen, which caused severe bleeding whenever she defecated.
Ms. Teng was so weak that she was bedridden. She couldn’t get up even when the guards came to inspect the cell. Her cellmates feared that she might die at any time. She was later found to have late-stage liver and rectal cancer.
Ms. Teng’s husband was denied visits with her despite his repeated requests. The prison also denied his request to have her released on medical parole, even when she was on the verge of death.
Case 4: 74-Year-Old Woman Dies While Serving Four Years
Ms. Li Yuzhen, of Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province, was arrested on June 10, 2021 in a group sweep and was later sentenced to four years and fined 10,000 yuan. She was transferred to the Heilongjiang Province Women’s Prison on January 7, 2022 after her appeal was rejected.
In the prison’s eighth ward, two bunk beds were pushed together along the length of the walls and most of the newly admitted practitioners were made to sleep between two other people, who each took up a bunk bed. Those who didn’t have a bed had to sleep in the hallway. Ms. Li had some leg problems but was assigned to sleep in one of the upper bunk beds. However, the inmates claimed that they treated her well.
Inmate Yuan Jingfang, serving a life sentence, was assigned team leader by the guards due to her active participation in persecuting Falun Gong practitioners.
Ms. Li was taken to a hospital in early January 2024 where she died a week later. It’s not clear whether she developed a terminal disease or died as a result of being tortured in prison. She was 74.
Case 5: Heilongjiang Woman Tortured in Prison
Ms. Jing Yuhua, a 64-year-old retired heating company worker in Jiamusi City, Heilongjiang Province, was arrested on August 31, 2020, and sentenced to 3.5 years in prison days after she stood trial on December 28, 2020. She was admitted to the Heilongjiang Province Women’s Prison on August 12, 2021.
Because Ms. Jing refused to renounce Falun Gong, the prison guards assigned inmates to watch her around the clock. The inmates forced her to sit on a small stool from 4 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day. The slightest movement resulted in beatings and verbal abuse. Ms. Jing’s buttocks developed infected sores after this long-term sitting torture.
Due to the constant beatings, Ms. Jing had bruises all over her body and all but one of her teeth were knocked out. She had trouble eating and became malnourished and emaciated. Sun Shuhua, a convicted murderer, once slapped Ms. Jing in the face so hard that she became deaf in one ear. The prison also limited Ms. Jing’s monthly spending from her commissary account to 100 yuan. With the marked-up prices on everything in prison, Ms. Jing was barely able to purchase any daily necessities.
Case 6: Young Woman Develops Heart Disease in Prison, Still Forced to Do Hard Labor
Ms. Liu Kaixin, around 31, developed heart disease as a result of the abuse she suffered while serving three years, yet she is still forced to do hard labor without pay.
Ms. Liu, a native of Daxing’anling Prefecture, Heilongjiang Province, was arrested on September 5, 2021. The Songling District Court sentenced her to three years and she was transferred to the Heilongjiang Province Women’s Prison (located in the capital city of Harbin) on June 16, 2022.
In order to achieve a high “transformation” rate, the Heilongjiang Province Women’s Prison specifically picks ruthless criminals to persecute practitioners. These criminals were either made head inmates or team captains in charge of work production or other tasks. They are given free reign in abusing Falun Gong practitioners, and nothing is deemed excessive as long as they can make practitioners renounce their belief. The guards often turn a blind eye when these criminals torture practitioners. To ensure the continued persecution of practitioners, the guards offer various rewards to these criminals, including special privileges to move about in different cells, term reductions, additional food and daily necessities, and more phone calls with their families.
Some criminals were even allowed to mete out rewards and punishments to other non-practitioner inmates without seeking the guards’ permission. The guards’ purpose was to increase criminals’ loyalty to them in carrying out the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners.
Ms. Liu has been subjected to various forms of abuse at the hands of such criminals since her prison admission. For the first few months, she was held in the newcomers’ team. The head inmate Wang Min forced her to sit on a small stool motionless for long periods of time, while forcing her to watch videos that slander Falun Gong. Ms. Liu soon developed heart disease. It is unclear whether she received any medical attention.
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