(Minghui.org) The Jiazhou Prison, formerly known as the Wumaping Prison, is located in Leshan City, Sichuan Province. It was merged with the Shawan Prison in August 2014. It is designated as the central location in the province to imprison male Falun Gong practitioners who were wrongfully sentenced for their faith.
The persecution of jailed practitioners is directed by the Sichuan Province Party Committee, the Sichuan Provincial Political and Legal Affairs Committee, the Sichuan Provincial 610 Office, the Sichuan Provincial Department of Justice, and the Sichuan Provincial Prison Administration Bureau.
There are 11 divisions in the prison, including a hospital division. Some of the divisions manufacture products such as clothes and network adapters. The ninth division, also known as the “concentrated training team” for newly admitted inmates, is where Falun Gong practitioners are subjected to systematic abuse.
About ten days after a practitioner is admitted to the prison, the guards would talk to him to determine how to try to make him renounce Falun Gong. They use information from the practitioner’s arrest warrant, indictment, and verdict as references to ask him specific questions.
For the prison guards, “transforming” a practitioner is a way for them to get promotions. For the inmates, it earns them credits towards term reduction.
Some inmates would threaten the practitioners, “You will weaken in three days, collapse by the end of the week, be bedridden in two weeks, and feel like you are in hell in a month – this will be the fate for anyone who refuses to sign the three statements within the time window set by the prison.”
A Falun Gong practitioner who was once jailed there commented on the torture methods used to “transform” them: “There is nothing they would not do—only things you haven’t thought of.”
As of 2023, at least 25 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.
Gong Jinfu, a guard in the fourth division, has participated in the persecution for nearly 20 years. He once said to the practitioners, “We can’t beat you or kick you with our hands or feet, but we can torture you with batons or other instruments. It doesn’t matter if we injure you, maim you, or even kill you. I will continue working here and get paid. What can you do to me? We are also recognized by Liu Zhicheng (the director of the Sichuan Provincial Prison Administration Bureau); Zhu Wei (the warden of Jiazhou Prison); Shao Ling (deputy chief of the prison’s education division); and Chen Guosheng (the division head). I have nothing to worry about.”
In May 2024, the prison established “transformation teams” overseen by Gong. Each team consists of six inmates who focus on one practitioner at a time.
“Transformation” Tactics
The main goal of the transformation campaign, led by the prison’s education division, is to have the practitioners write statements to renounce and denounce Falun Gong. Yang Xilin of the education division often visits the ninth division to examine the results.
Common torture methods used against steadfast practitioners include long term standing and sitting without moving, electric shocks, beatings, restricted meal times as short as 20 seconds, pepper spray, sleep deprivation, and involuntary drug administration.
Sometimes the practitioners’ families are also implicated. Shao Ling, the deputy chief of the prison’s education division, once threatened to summon a practitioner’s son to persuade him to renounce Falun Gong. After the practitioner was forced to renounce Falun Gong against his will, Shao still worked with the local 610 Office to get his son terminated from his job.
Related Reports:25 Falun Gong Practitioners and One Family Member Have Died from Torture in Jiazhou Prison (Graphic Photos)
Falun Gong Practitioners Tortured in Jiazhou Prison in Sichuan Province, Two Die
Falun Gong Practitioners Subjected to Severe Abuse in Sichuan’s Jiazhou Prison
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