(Minghui.org) Wangling Prison, located in Wangling Town, Youxian County, Zhuzhou City, Hunan Province, holds male Falun Gong practitioners who have been sentenced for their faith. The guards brutally torture the practitioners in attempts to force them to renounce their belief. Many practitioners have been tortured to death as a result, and many more have become injured or disabled.
Mr. Lyu Songming (also translated as Lu Songming) and Mr. Liao Songlin passed away a few years after they were released from the prison. Mr. Cao Genshen and Mr. Lei Yangfan were on the verge of death and were admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) directly from the prison. Mr. Wang Gang, Mr. Liu Xiaojun, Mr. Zeng Zhiwei, Mr. Li Zhigang and Mr. Chen Yang were also hospitalized due to torture suffered at Wangling Prison.
Nearly 30 Falun Gong practitioners are still detained at Wangling Prison, with the oldest being in their 80s. The guards often threaten, “There are dozens, even hundreds, of ways to torture you.”
An inmate once said to the practitioners, “Once you are here, there are only two ways out. One is for you to “transform” (renounce Falun Gong), and the other is being carried out by others [dead].”
The guards often verbally torment Falun Gong practitioners. As practitioners are detained and therefore unable to take care of their families, the guards accuse them of being “bad people,” “heartless,” and “ignorant of their filial duty to care for their parents,” in order to increase their mental pressure.
Below are major torture tactics used by the guards in the 10th Division, the main division designated to detain and “transform” Falun Gong practitioners. The current director of the division is surnamed Yan, assisted by vice director Deng Yi, instructor Tan Pingping, captain Xie Wenguang, and guards Liu Xiaoliang, Liu Shao, and Li Gang.
Every day, practitioners are forced to watch videos or read materials smearing Falun Gong and the founder of the practice, or they are forced to watch propaganda that promotes the theory of evolution or glorifies the Chinese Communist Party. They are also forced to do daily “homework” and are subjected to punishment if the guards decide that their homework fails to pass their requirements. Some practitioners are deprived of sleep or are not allowed to rest until 2 a.m.
Before every meal, the practitioners are ordered to shout slogans to defame Falun Gong and its founder, or sing songs to praise the communist regime.
Physical torture includes sleep deprivation, denial of restroom use, starvation, and long hours of sitting, squatting, or standing motionlessly. Other tortures include having boiling water or ice water poured over one’s head, having one’s head submerged in water, being stabbed with sharp objects, being slapped in the face, being stomped on, or having the body stretched in extreme positions.
When subjected to sleep deprivation, in addition to not allowing the practitioners to sleep at all, the guards sometimes wake them up every 30 minutes or every hour, to disrupt their sleep.
Torture often takes place in “blind spots” in the prison, in areas not reached by surveillance cameras.
When practitioners develop medical conditions as a result of the torture, the guards force them to take toxic drugs under the pretext of medical care.
Crimes of Lu Xianyu, Former Party Secretary and Warden of Wangling Prison, in Persecuting Falun Gong
Falun Gong Practitioners Tortured at Wangling Prison in Hunan Province