(Minghui.org) Ever since Shandong Province Women’s Prison first started detaining Falun Gong practitioners in 2000, it has become notorious for how brutally it treats them.
Incarcerated practitioners are subjected to insults and abuse, and their rights to appeal and to communicate with their families are restricted.
In 2013, the prison moved from Gongye South Road in the Licheng District in Jinan City to a new site in the Zhangqiu District. After the move, the persecution of practitioners became more covert and the tactics used were more ruthless.
The prison’s 11th Division is designated for the detention of Falun Gong practitioners. From 2001 through 2019, up to 200 practitioners per year were held there.
The 11th Division is a separate compound, surrounded by electric grids, located in the northwest wing of the prison. In the west side of this part of the prison, there are more than a dozen solitary confinement cells on two levels.
This division has three floors in total, and each floor is divided into east and west sections:
On the west side are single rooms for practitioners who have just arrived and who have not given up their faith. Two inmates are assigned to monitor each one. These monitors often includes former practitioners who were “transformed” and now participate in the persecution of other practitioners. They monitor practitioners and subject them to brainwashing, verbal abuse, and beatings. The persecution here is the worst in the division.
The east side is for practitioners who have been detained for over three months. They are restricted to this area, and it is where they eat and use the bathroom. Practitioners held here are subjected to ideological “transformation.”
The third floor has a “’transformation’ chamber,” where practitioners are forced to watch fake news reports and videos that defame Falun Gong. When these practitioners are forcibly “transformed,” they then need to go through “ideological remolding” and show “remorse.”
While most practitioners were “transformed” against their will, some indeed turned to the other side and now participate in the persecution.
Xu Yumei, the current head of the 11th Division, is one of the main perpetrators responsible for the persecution. She has worked there for over 20 years and has accumulated a great deal of “experience” in torturing practitioners. Below are some of the main methods of torture she has implemented.
1. New Arrivals Bombarded With Slander and Beaten
After practitioners are admitted to the prison, they are locked in small huts where about five groups of former practitioners who were “transformed” take turns brainwashing the new arrivals.
The former practitioners start by pretending to care about the practitioner and then begin to defame Falun Gong and its founder. If she disagrees with anything they say, the group will surround her and punch and kick her. They will slap her face and even stuff toilet rags into her mouth and seal it with tape so that she cannot make a sound.
They do this until they get tired, then they take a break and start again. This cycle repeats several times. The torture continues until around 11 p.m., when the practitioner is taken to a small private room and ordered to stand for at least 30 minutes. She is not allowed to talk or use the bathroom, and on-duty personnel watch her closely.
2. Those Who Uphold Their Faith Are Subjected to Prolonged Torture
Practitioners who persevere in their faith are put into solitary confinement in a small hut-like space where they made to sit from 5:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. They must remain in a sitting position or they will be beaten. Many practitioners developed ulcers on their buttocks from sitting for prolonged periods.
They are also forbidden from showering, drinking water, and using the bathroom. To use the restroom, they must write, “I am criminal [name], applying to use the bathroom. Guard, please approve my request.”
If the practitioner refuses to acknowledge that she is a criminal (even though she has not committed any crime), she cannot use the bathroom. This has caused some to soil themselves. Though their clothes are filthy, they are not allowed to wash them or borrow clothes or buy toilet paper. One practitioner was only allowed one roll of toilet paper for almost three months, and she had to buy it herself.
3. Mental Abuse
Practitioners who are determined in their belief are held in small dark rooms, where they are forced to listen to propaganda slandering Falun Gong and its founder. If they point out any errors or loopholes in the propaganda, such as in the staged Tiananmen self-immolation, enraged former practitioners will surround them and start hurling insults and beat them. The guards will ignore what is happening.
It’s even worse at meal times, when the former practitioners insult Falun Gong and its founder. Many practitioners are unable to eat because of this and are forced to go without water and food, or forced to go on a hunger strike. Those who don’t eat are taken to the bathroom or another surveillance blind spot and are beaten before being taken back to the small dark room. They are also subjected to force feeding, with unknown drugs frequently being added into the liquid mixture.
4. Sleep Deprivation
Practitioners who refuse to “transform” are subjected to sleep deprivation, which can be as long as 10 days at a time. During the time, they are watched closely 24 hours a day. If they doze off, two people will drag them awake. They are also forbidden from speaking, meeting with anyone, and buying daily necessities.
Practitioners routinely have their blood drawn and physical exams. The guards often collude with doctors to fabricate their medical records and then force dietary restrictions on them, such as forbidding them to eat meat, rice, steamed buns, or sweets. Sometimes they are simply starved, given only a small amount of plain congee or two tiny steamed buns.
5. Involuntary Drug Administration
Drugging practitioners is another common method of persecution in the 11th Division. Unknown drugs are added to practitioners’ food, intravenous drips, and the liquid used for force feeding. The drugs cause them to appear listless, mentally confused, or to suffer memory loss. The symptoms normally appear as a type of dullness but gradually descend into a loss of rationality.
Many practitioners, after being jailed for six months to one year, pass away or develop severe psychological problems due to involuntary drug administration and other torture methods.
Ms. Wang Yuling of Zibo City, Shandong Province, was forced to take unknown medications three times a day, while she was serving a 1.5-year term. The inmates force-fed her if she did not comply. They also beat and verbally abused her at will. She was often forced to sit on a small stool motionless for hours and was not allowed to use the restroom.
After Ms. Wang was released on January 30, 2023, she was very weak and struggled with severe complications from being drugged in prison. The suffering often worsened at night, sometimes causing her to scream in pain.
Ms. Wang passed out on August 31, 2024, and was taken to the hospital for emergency treatment. The doctor said she had multiple organ failure. She died two months later on October 7, 2024.
6. Guards Indulge Accomplices and “Transformed” Former Practitioners
The inmates who brainwash and torture practitioners the most violently are rewarded with “merits,” “bonus points,” and sentence reductions. Condoned by the prison guards, the former practitioners who “transformed’ and on-duty inmates act even more unscrupulously. They often say, “Who would dare do this without the guards’ permission?”
Related Reports:
Mental Abuse of Falun Gong Practitioners in Shandong Province Women’s Prison
Falun Gong Practitioners Tortured in Shandong Province Women’s Prison
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