Outrageous Persecution Perpetrated at the Hebei Provincial No. 4 Prison
(Clearwisdom.net) The Fifth Ward of the Hebei Provincial No. 4 Prison uses a
cruel method of torturing imprisoned Falun Dafa practitioners called "Taming the
Eagle." This is considered an "outstanding torture" and was first used at the
Baoding and Taihang Prisons to persecute Falun Gong practitioners. It was later
popularized by the Hebei Provincial "610 Office."(1) In this torture, three to
four criminals and several police guards make up what is called a
"transformation" team. The team works in three shifts so that Falun Gong
practitioners can be beaten 24 hours a day. They use all kinds of torture tools,
and do not allow the practitioners to sleep, or even close their eyes, otherwise
the practitioners are beaten. As long as practitioners refuse to renounce their
belief in Falun Gong, the torture continues. Practitioners are continuously
tortured day after day for up to a month, or even for 40 to 50 days. Cai Baohua was tortured like this for three consecutive days and nights, Liu
Huanjie for five days and four nights, and Xia Xingmin five days and nights. Liu
Zhengqing's hands and legs became deformed after eight days and seven nights of
this treatment. Liu Rufeng, political instructor of the No. 3 Division, prisoner
Tian Xinshan, and others beat Liu Zhengqing for three nights in a row. They
punched and kicked him, and used the sole of a shoe to beat him around the eyes.
On the seventh night Mr. Liu lost consciousness during the severe beating. On
the eighth night his head and face were so swollen and deformed that he was
unrecognizable. 1. Intensive Brainwashing Center is Run by the Prison Education Department On March 18, 2003, the Political Director of the No. One Division of the
Fifth Ward and the Head and Deputy Head of the Division summoned Falun Gong
practitioner Xia Xingmin to the division office. They said to him, "If you
'transform', then you don't need to go to the education department building
anymore, since you would be forced to renounce your belief in Falun Gong
anyway." Xia said, "It seems that I made a big mistake after I came to Shibei
Prison. On the day after my arrival I called home and told them that No. 4
Prison is a civilized prison. That is to say, the prison manages the inmates in
a civilized manner. I told my family not to worry. The Chinese Central
Television Station once reported that the police guards in the prisons treat
Falun Dafa practitioners nicer than they do their own mothers. Now I see
firsthand the reliability of the reports on how Falun Gong practitioners are
'transformed.' It will be all right if they observe the law and are reasonable."
The three policemen finally revealed the truth, "They are neither reasonable nor
do they follow the law. What they do is force you to renounce your belief in
Falun Gong." Four Falun Gong practitioners were tortured at the Intensive Brainwashing
Center run by the Education Department of the No. 5 Ward. Each practitioner was
tortured by three violent criminals. Two days later, one criminal, who still had
some kindness in his heart, asked to go back to his ward. He said that in the
tiny building in which the Education Department is located, one can only live up
to expectations by being cruel and ruthless. However, the expected behavior was
too cruel for him to comply with. "The ghastly and bloodcurdling scenes, and the
terrorized and bloody environment are just too much for me to bear...." The ward
had to replace him with other criminals. 2. "Taming the Eagle" In the intensive brainwashing center, Falun Gong practitioners were forced to
sit on stools that were upside-down; practitioners actually sat on the four legs
of the stools. They had to sit either with their legs stretched out in front, or
cross-legged, forcing the practitioners to put all their weight on the legs of
the stools. The practitioners were not allowed to eat, drink, or use the toilet.
They also suffered from torture methods of the prison's own invention. It is
said that an everyday person would suffer a mental collapse after five days and
nights of enduring the "Taming the Eagle" torture because they simply could not
bear it. Dafa practitioner Liu Weiji of the No. 12 Ward wrote a letter to the prison
authorities and told them, "The violent criminals used by the prison police are
experts at torture. They beat me and hit me with a wooden stool, always striking
the pressure points, tendons, and other sensitive parts of my body. These
sadistic criminals even shouted, 'We won't allow you to drink any water, but
we'll wring the water out of you.' It turned out exactly as they said. After
being tortured this way for a few days, it would be extremely difficult for a
practitioner to even move." After writing the letter to the prison authorities exposing the brutal
persecution that he suffered at the brainwashing center, Liu Weiji was even more
strictly supervised and controlled. This is because the perpetrators were afraid
of their evil deeds being exposed. The "Taming the Eagle" torture was nothing new to Falun Gong practitioner Liu
Huanjie. Ever since he started practicing Falun Gong, the persecution came at
him wave after wave. On New Year's Day 2002 his house was searched, and many of
his belongings were seized without justification. The items that were illegally
confiscated included a motorbike, a sewing machine, a television set, leather
suitcases, watches, clocks, and his herd of sheep. In the early morning of
September 29, 2002, a group of plain-clothed police climbed over a wall to enter
his courtyard and take Mr. Liu Huanjie and his family, including children, to
the Yanshan County Police Station. The police cruelly tortured Mr. Liu Huanjie for four days and three nights to
extort an admission of wrongdoing. Seven days later Liu Huanjie was interrogated
again. In the basement, Wang Yixin, division head of the Changzhou City Police
Station, Liu Weidong, Head of the Riot Police Division, Wang Wenping, Division
Head of the Yanshan County Police Station, and a dozen or so other perpetrators
tortured Liu Huanjie. The policemen locked Mr. Liu into a metal chair and kept
him awake for a long period of time. Whenever Mr. Liu felt sleepy the police
would pour cold water over his head or slap his face with water-soaked towels.
Liu Huanjie was constantly kicked and punched, sworn at and insulted. Wang Yixin
was the most vicious. He roughly dragged a spoon up and down on Liu's ribs,
which was extremely painful. The police threatened, "We can make you suffer even
more. We can get the criminals to strip your trousers off and flick at your
testicles, which will make you wish you were dead." The more experienced police guards said they could mentally destroy an
unyielding man by torturing him for five days and nights. Nine days and nine
nights of such torture would make the strongest man urinate blood. However,
after using all the threats, coercion, and torture tools, the guards failed to
force the Falun Gong practitioners to agree to stop practicing. On the contrary,
the guards also suffered because they had to stay up late. Every night one
policeman smoked two packages of cigarettes and had to take anti-hypertension
pills. 3. The Suffering of Liu Huimin As early as the end of February 2002, Falun Dafa practitioner Liu Huimin, who
was held at the No. 5 Ward, had already suffered from the same kinds of torture.
In a back room, the policemen used both threats and promises to make him stop
practicing Falun Dafa. When they found that neither method worked, they became
extremely vicious. They beat and tortured Liu Huimin for over 10 days, until he
suffered memory loss. Liu Huimin's ability to think was not fully restored until
after March 17. He remembered very little about that period of torture. He was
told the following by a prisoner who was assigned to monitor him: "One night two
criminals carried you to a small room in the broadcasting studio. Police officer
Zhang Zhonglin from the Education Department made a prisoner hit you until you
fell and then to continue beating you ruthlessly. You were writhing in pain. One
of your ribs was broken as a result of the severe beating, and your clothes were
soaked in blood. The next morning, the police removed your blood-soaked
clothing." Liu Huimin only dimly remembered what happened during that period, but knew
that at one point he felt like he wanted to die. However, when he thought of the
numerous Falun Gong practitioners in China who remained steadfast in their
beliefs, and didn't yield when they were tortured, he overcame his wish to die
and felt that he had passed the test of life and death. In November 2002, Liu Huimin presented a written statement to the Education
Department, declaring that any words and deeds detrimental to Dafa and Teacher
that he made when he was not in a sober mind, because of the torture, were null
and void. Hearing this made Zhang Zhonglin fly into a rage. He was too impatient
to drag Liu Huimin to the studio, so he ordered three criminals to beat Liu
Huimin and said, "How dare you ruin my business. (The Chinese government
unofficially paid 3,000 Yuan (2) for each practitioner coerced into renouncing
his belief in Falun Gong. In addition to the monetary reward, a perpetrator can
also be given a Citation of Merit.) I will torture you to death! Jiang has told
us that the death of Falun Gong practitioners from torture is nothing and shall
be counted as suicide." The Jiang regime uses money and recognition to drive Zhang Zhonglin and
others to inhumanely torture kind-hearted Falun Gong practitioners. The
policemen and criminals who took part in the persecution were promised monetary
rewards, Citations of Merit, or reduced jail terms. Out of self-interest these
perpetrators became even crueler and more ruthless. 4. The Indestructible Will of Falun Dafa Practitioners The relentless persecution and the cruel torture failed to shake Falun Dafa
practitioner's indestructible righteous thoughts. After experiencing the "Taming
the Eagle" torture and repeated beatings by criminals, practitioner Cai Baohua
told the political instructor of his division frankly, "I don't have much
education and I am not good at talking. I only know how to be a better person in
accordance with the principles of Falun Dafa. It is Falun Dafa that saved my
life so I want to be a noble and righteous Dafa practitioner." Falun Dafa practitioner Guo Zhengqing suffered the most severe persecution.
He was beaten on more than 60 occasions, and as a result his hands and legs
became crippled. However, he has neither qualms nor regret, feels no hatred, and
doesn't complain. He has stayed optimistic and high-spirited, and steadily
cultivates Dafa with his will unflinching. Falun Dafa practitioner Liu Huanjie of the No. 5 Division was tortured around
the clock for twelve days in the basement of the Yanshan County Police
Department, and for five days in the reception room of the No. 4 Prison.
However, as soon as his health improved slightly, he began to share Teacher's
new articles, from memory, with other practitioners, to let Teacher's voice and
the principles of Falun Dafa illuminate the Hebei Provincial No. 4 Prison. Falun Dafa practitioners Liu Huimin of the Fifth Division and Xia Xingmin of
the First Division braved the pressure with their righteous spirits, explained
the facts about the true nature of Falun Dafa to the inmates and the police
guards, spread Dafa to save the sentient beings under extremely difficult
conditions, and made the voice of truth resound in the prison yard. The following is information about the five Falun Dafa practitioners held at
the No. 5 Ward: Liu Huimin, born in 1968 in Qinglong Manchu Autonomous County,
Qinhuangdao City, Hebei Province, was acting Deputy Head of the Qinglong County
Government Guest House before he was arrested; Xia Xingmin, born in 1952 in
Loudouan Village, Guangsong County, Hebei Province, was a cadre of the
Changzheng Automobile Manufacturing Plant; Liu Huanjie was from Xiaoheliu
Village, Yanshan County, Cangzhou City, Hebei Province; Cai Baohua was from
Chaizhuangzi Village, Nanpiceng, Cangzhou City, Hebei Province. The same kind of persecution was experienced by Falun Dafa practitioners held
in other wards of the No. 4 Prison. However, they remained steadfast and
unshakable. While I was writing this article, Falun Dafa practitioner Ke Xinguo
had already been tortured for over 50 days, but the torture failed to shake his
steadfast will of firmly believing in and steadily cultivating in Dafa. Those
who tortured him said that it was impossible to force him give up Falun Gong.
Falun Dafa practitioner Li Yansheng was originally held at the No. 4 Prison and
was transferred to the Baoding No. 1 Prison for not renouncing his belief in
Falun Dafa. Additional steadfast practitioners include Zhang Weijin and many
others. The kind-hearted Falun Dafa practitioners bearing the cruel torture
still did not forget to clarify the truth and save those criminals who had kind
hearts. (1) "610 Office": an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong,
with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other
political and judiciary systems. (2) Yuan is the Chinese currency. The average monthly
salary of an urban worker in China is 500 Yuan.
Chinese version available at
http://www.minghui.ca/mh/articles/2004/4/11/72012.html
Yearly Archive
Printer Version
feedback@clearwisdom.net