An Open Letter to the Outside World from Practitioners Illegally Detained in the Second Prison in Shenyang City
(Clearwisdom.net) To all kindhearted people: We are dozens of Falun Gong practitioners who are being persecuted by the
Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and are now being "illegally detained"
in the Shenyang Second Jail in Liaoning Province. Please pay close attention to
the evil persecution toward us and the severe abuse of our human rights during
the past seven years, and listen to our appeal. We practice Falun Gong and try to be better people by following the
principles of "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance." We also
clarify the truth about Falun Gong to people all over the world, and
reveal the lies and propaganda of the CCP, as well as the brutal persecution
towards Falun Gong. Therefore, we are being persecuted by the CCP,
illegally sentenced and thrown into jail. Some of us were sentenced
to relatively short terms such as three, five, or eight years. Others received
long terms such as ten or thirteen years. The longest term is fifteen years.
Among us are young people in their twenties and thirties. There are also
experienced and strong middle-aged people in their forties and fifties. There
are also very old people like Fan Weihuai who was sentenced to ten years in jail
in 2002 when he was 73 years old. We were previously factory workers, farmers,
teachers, police officers, college lecturers, company clerks with high ranks,
engineers, and government officials. We are good people in different levels of
society. We previously had happy and harmonious families. We lived normal lives
and had legal rights as citizens. However, we were brutally persecuted by the
CCP because of our belief in "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance."
We were brutally deprived of our careers, families and a life as normal human
beings. Our happy and harmonious families were broken into pieces. Elderly
parents lost their son's care. Young kids lost their fathers. Weak wives lost
the care of their husbands. During the seven years of being illegally detained in the Shenyang Second
Jail, we suffered from inhuman tortures. Our freedom of belief and human rights
were severely abused. This jail in Liaoning Province is for career criminals.
Among the over 4,000 prisoners here, most are sentenced to a delayed death
penalty, to life in jail or terms over ten years. We are being detained together
with these prisoners. The Second Jail is specifically focused on the persecution
and torturing of Falun Gong practitioners. At one time, over fifty practitioners
were illegally detained here. After some practitioners completed their terms
they were released, other practitioners were sent to other districts. As of now,
this district is still illegally detaining over twenty practitioners. There are
over twenty practitioners in other districts as well. During the past seven years, the jail guards, other than a small percentage
who still have a conscience, in the section that persecutes Falun Gong, led by
the section head Li Jianguo and some inmates continued the vicious persecution
and tortures towards us. The following are just a few cases: 1. Guards Give Power to Criminal Inmates to Torture Practitioners The jail authorities transferred some prisoners who had committed violent
crimes from other districts and told them to watch us around the clock. Those
prisoners were murderers, or had committed robbery and physical abuses. Some
prisoners were sentenced to a delayed death penalty, a life-time in jail, or to
a more than ten year term in jail due to stealing or fraud. Currently, there are
over twenty inmates who are watching us in this district. A small percentage of
them still have some conscience left, however, most of them are extremely
violent and vicious. They depend on the power authorized by the guards, and
spare no mercy when torturing us. They do not allow us to do anything. When we
questioned them by saying, "You are prisoners, how can you give orders to
us? Who gave you the authorization?" They replied arrogantly, "We have
authorization. We have the authorization from the guards, government and
communist party." The law for Chinese prisons clearly states that the
guards are managing the jail, and that this power cannot be transferred to
others. Therefore, are the deeds by the guards in the Second Jail in Shenyang
not clearly a violation of the law? Illegally sentencing innocent people and
throwing them in jail is already persecution in itself. The jail guards who are
supposed to uphold the law, instead openly disobey the law. This is a
persecution within a 2. Watching Us Around the Clock In the district, guard Li Jianguo arranged inmates to watch every corner of
the bedrooms, hallways, activity rooms, washrooms, and restrooms. They watch us
around the clock, continuously. In Li Jianguo's words, "There are eyes
everywhere." The washroom is open only at specific hours during the
morning, noon and night. Other times it is locked. Every day, the inmates record
every word and every movement we make, then it is collected and submitted to Li
Jianguo. Even if we get up in the middle of the night, the inmates on night duty
must record it. 3. Separating Us into Different Rooms to Isolate Us Guard Li Jianguo separated dozens of us into different rooms. Every room
contains a few practitioners and several inmates who watch us. We can only
associate with practitioners within the same room. We cannot go to other rooms,
nor can we contact practitioners in other rooms. Even if we meet each other in
the hallway, we cannot speak with each other besides a simple greeting. Before
2004, each room even had to take turns using the washroom during the morning and
at night. We are not allowed to be together. This kind of separation made it
impossible to get to know each other, even though we see each other every day.
We do not even know what is happening in the room next door. 4. We are Not Allowed to Talk Guard Li Jianguo does not allow us to talk with each other in a low voice.
Inmates watch us, and if we speak, we have to speak loudly, and let inmates next
to us know what we are talking about. We are not allowed to say anything about
Falun Gong. When we speak with a low voice, the inmates who are watching us will
rush towards us, as ordered by the guards, and shout at us that we are not
allowed to talk. 5. We are Not Allowed to Do Falun Gong Exercises When we start doing the exercises, a gang of inmates assigned by the guards
will come towards us rampantly, and five or six people attack one practitioner,
forcibly separating his hands and legs, then cuff the neck and hold him onto the
bed. Or several people hold one person and throw him to the ground, holding him
down, and sometimes even beat him. During the day, even if one does not do the
exercises, if he crosses his legs, a gang of inmates will come forward and
forcibly pull his legs apart. In the beginning years, one could not even close
ones eyes. Once our eyes were closed, the inmate gang shouted and told us to
open our eyes. In 2001, practitioner Wu Haili was kicked in the genitals by the inmate gang
because he was doing the exercises. At that time, his entire lower body was
covered with blood. He urinated blood for several months. He used to be very
healthy, but quickly became very thin and it seemed as he would not make it.
After resting for a long time he gradually recovered, however even now he still
urinates strange things from time to time. In 2001, practitioner Wang Zhicheng was transferred from the Falun Gong
section to the original third team because he was doing the exercises. There he
was brutally beaten by inmates specified by team guard Wang Jun and he almost
died. They beat on his kidneys until they were bleeding and they beat his head
using a wooden board with nails which left him with scars. The longest scar is 7
centimeters long. When they took him to the hospital, he was on the verge of
dying. After intensive treatments, he finally recovered. Later, because of long
term tortures, he developed sepsis and almost died again. He had to pay more
than 30,000 yuan for the medical bills in order to cure the disease. At 10:00 p.m. one night in October 2003, the guard on duty, Li Xiangdong
(Title: instructor of the Falun Gong district) got very drunk. He used an excuse
in order to talk with practitioner Chen Xiu, who did the exercises during the
day, and lured him into his office. He shut the door and together with another
two inmates they beat Chen Xiu and used electric batons to shock him. The
torture continued for nearly an hour. When Chen Xiu said that it is against the
law to beat people, guard Li Xiangdong shouted crazily, "I am the
law!" A few days later, in order to prevent this incident from being
exposed, they took Chen Xiu and more than ten practitioners from the Falun Gong
district to several other teams. 6. We Are Not Allowed to Read Falun Dafa Articles Once in a while, the guards will let inmates search our bodies and our
belongings. They even break the quilts and mats. Once they find Dafa articles,
they confiscate them immediately. The inmates either openly grab them or
secretly steal them and then submit them to guards for rewards. Telling inmates
to search our bodies or belongings is against the jail rules. 7. We Are Not Allowed to Have a Pen and Paper in Our Hands If we want to write letters, we need to have the agreement of the guards, and
let inmates give us paper and pen. After the letter is written, inmates will
take back the paper and pen. 8. Guards Hold Our Letters Which Describe Our Current Situation Our letters written to prosecution departments, the court and to jail
officials describing our situations are held back by the guards in the district.
They do not submit them. Practitioner Zhen Shijie even received intensified
torture treatment for writing appeal letters to the prosecution department.
Nonetheless the jail law clearly states that materials regarding appeals, suing
and other reports should be transferred by the jail immediately and should not
be withheld. 9. Family Visit Is Monitored Throughout the Whole Process When our family members visited us we were monitored during the entire time.
At the beginning we were allowed to dine with family members, which meant we
could sit together and have a meal while talking with each other for as long as
one hour. However, a guard would be sitting with us during the entire time,
listening to the conversations between us and our family. We were not allowed to
say anything related to Falun Gong, nor were we allowed to tell our family
members about the persecution and torture by jail personnel towards us and the
severe violation of human rights. Using their words, it was not allowed to
expose the secrets of the jails. While other criminals do not have guards
listening in at all while they have family visits, and they were allowed to say
anything to their family members. Since 2005, they have not even allowed us to
dine together. We are only allowed to talk via phone through the glass and it
can only be half an hour, and with guards listening and the whole phone
conversation is being recorded. Recently, some practitioners refused to wear
prisoner name cards. This is a paper card worn by criminals, with a photo, job,
and the name of the district he belongs to. These practitioners are no longer
allowed any visits from their families. One practitioner's mother came from
another city far away and wanted to see her son, however she was rejected by the
guards with the excuse that no family visits are allowed without wearing a name
card. The mother had to leave without seeing her son and she was very
disappointed and sad. 10. Isolating Us from All Contact from Outside the Section Except for family visits and occasional outside duty, all of our life is
restricted to the inside of the Falun Gong section. We are cut off from all
outside contacts, we do not even have a chance to talk with inmates from other
districts. In 2004 and 2005, we were not even allowed to go to the jail market
to purchase daily necessities. If we need anything, the inmates who are watching
us would have to buy things for us. After 2006, we were allowed to purchase by
ourselves, however, each room can only send one representative to do the
purchase for the whole room. And during the process they send many inmates to
watch us, not allowing us to contact or speak with inmates from other districts. 11. Torture - Locked in a Small Cell If we do not obey the so-called management, which means being persecuted and
tortured by the guards and inmates, we will be sent to a strict treatment, which
means being locked in a cell. The jail set up a strict treatment team for
criminals. It is used to punish those criminals who disobey orders or violate
regulations. So the strict treatment team is called by inmates the prison within
the prison. People who have to undergo the strict treatment are confined to
individual isolated cells. Each cell is about 2.5 meters long, about 2 meters
wide, with a narrow space and dim light. They are cold and humid. Each cell
usually detains two people. They receive two meals a day. Each meal contains a
small corn bread (about 1 oz.), a small scoop of corn porridge, and several
slices of salted vegetables. Recently, each meal only contained a small scoop of
porridge, and no corn bread. Each cell is equipped with a monitoring camera. Outside of the cell, there
are inmates watching people day and night. As soon as something happens, inmates
will rush in and start beating people. However, this place became the most evil
location at the Second Jail for us. In the Falun Gong district, if we do the
exercises, or refuse to join the forced labor work ordered by them, or refuse to
be ordered around by criminals, or to wear inmate suits etc., guard Li Jianguo
takes us to the strict treatment team to be tortured. Most of the practitioners
here had been detained in the strict treatment team before. In the strict
treatment team, if we continue to do the exercises, there will be a group of
inmates and guards rushing in, who beat us violently. They use electric batons
and force us to wear a back cuff and foot cuffs, which are tools for punishment. Before 2005, each time we had to undergo strict treatment it lasted two or
three months, and sometimes as long as half a year. Some of us received this
strict treatment multiple times. However, the Chinese jail laws clearly indicate
that the length of a strict treatment should not exceed 7-15 days. Most of the
strict treatments for criminals were dismissed after fifteen days, except in
rare cases. Because of long-term mental and physical abuses, as well as long
term malnutrition, our practitioners usually become extremely weak and thin
after coming out of these strict treatments. Some of them could not even walk,
and they had to hold on to the wall while walking. After 2005, because of the
pressure from outside, they no longer dare to openly break the law, and
gradually shortened our strict treatments to one month, and eventually to
fifteen days. In 2002, practitioner Liu Mingjie wanted to go to the washroom in order to
wash his food container after a meal. The inmate watching him did not allow him
to go. He did not obey the inmate, thus received strict treatment by guard Li
Jianguo and was inhumanly tortured for six months. During this time, he had to
be hospitalized for a while. Guards and inmates beat him, shocked him with
electric batons, and tortured him using various tools. Eventually he became
mentally disoriented due to the tortures. In 2003, practitioner Zhen Shijie was taken by guards for a conversation.
Guard Zhang Lei cursed Teacher Li. While Zhen Shijie tried to stop him, he
accidentally touched his body. He was accused of beating guards, and received
strict treatment for more than six months. Long-term strict treatment and
malnutrition caused him to have severe anemia and not even mosquitoes could get
blood from his body. Doctors said that this kind of detention is
life-threatening to this person. Because he feared that he would die, guard Li
Jianguo had to let Zhen Shijie return to the district and release him from
strict treatment. While he was in strict treatment, the jail personnel lied to
all inmates through a cable system saying that Zhen Shijie had broken three
backbones of a guard. In May 2003, practitioner Huang Gang received strict treatment for doing the
exercises. While there, he was beaten by inmates specified by guards. They
opened his arms, stuck both his hands in two iron rings attached to the wall,
and hung him up. At night, they tortured him with other tools. They held him
down on the ground, handcuffed him with iron rings, and tightened them around
his wrists. Each iron ring has an iron chain. They held both of his arms over
his head, then stretched the two iron chains, causing his body to be stretched
very straight and then they secured the chains to the wall. This torture lasted
17 to 18 hours and was extremely painful. In late 2004, practitioner Sun Qian
refused to join the forced labor and consequently received one month of strict
treatment. After he came back, he suddenly started coughing frequently. He was
previously very healthy and also became extremely thin. After they sent him to a
hospital, he was diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis. After staying in the
hospital for more than two months, he passed away in March 2005. He was only 30
years old. In March 2003, practitioner Sui Xin refused to perform forced labor and
received strict treatment. In strict treatment, in order to prevent him from
doing the Falun Gong exercises, guards ordered inmates to stick an iron pipe
through his sleeves behind his back and tie his hands on the two ends of the
pipe. Thus his two arms were spread out in a horizontal shape, and tied tight to
the pipe, so he could not put them down. They then inserted two wooden sticks
into his pant legs and tied both of his ankles to the sticks. Thus he could only
sit with both legs straight and could not bend them. The stick torture lasted
for more than ten days. In June 2006, practitioner Zhao Jiyuan received strict
treatment for refusing to wear an inmate uniform. They put him in handcuffs and
foot cuffs for fifteen days continuously. Even people who visited the jail from
the outside were shocked and said, "Look at the tortures Falun Gong suffer
from." Long-term tortures severely damaged us, mentally and physically, leading to
severe diseases in some of us and early death in others. Some of the cases
include: Yu Fei became hemiplegic from stroke, Liu Mingjie became mentally
disoriented, Li Quanchen contracted pulmonary tuberculosis, Han Liguo died from
a heart attack, Sun Qian died from pulmonary tuberculosis, and Fan Weihuai was
released from jail after being diagnosed with end-stage intestinal cancer and
died soon after that. Falun Gong practitioner Fan Weihuai, male, 74 years old, was from Chaoyang
City, Liaoning. He retired from the Northern Mechanical Factory in Zhaoyang
City, Liaoning Province. He started practicing Falun Gong in 1994, after joining
a Falun Gong workshop in Guangzhou. In the following years, he cultivated and
lived by the standard of "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance," and
he had been very healthy. After the persecution began on July 20, 1999, local
policeman Lu Xiaofei from the Northern Mechanical Factory district in Zhaoyang
City, forced practitioners to write the three statements. Whoever
refused to write them would be arrested and sentenced to jail. Because of the
constant harassments since September 2001, the 70-year-old couple Mr. and Mrs.
Fan Weihuai were forced to leave their home. No matter where they went, the older man continued to clarify the truth about
Falun Gong, and validated Dafa. On March 17, 2002, Mr. and Mrs. Fan Weihuai came
to Beipiao. On April 17, Li Zhu from the Beipiao Police Station arrested and
extorted nearly 4,000 yuan from them. After that their family members went to
question this incident, but the police station refused to return the money. The
couple were both illegally sentenced to long jail terms and sent to the Dabei
Jail in Shenyang. During their detention, family members went to visit them in the jail in
Shenyang multiple times. They pleaded with the guards and asked them whether it
was possible to get a probation for medical treatments, since the couple was of
old age. However, they replied that without writing the so-called
"transformation statement," which means giving up their belief against
their will, there was no way out. On December 7, 2005, because of losing the cultivation environment in jail
for a long time, and not being allowed to do the exercises, Fan Weihuai's health
condition was very bad. He requested a physical examination. The jail guards did
not care about his life, they even threatened that there would be no physical
examination without a "transformation." Because the old man's body
could not hold up any longer, he wrote the transformation statement in order to
receive the physical examination. However, it turned out that he already had
late-term liver cancer and there was no time for treatment. At that time, the
old man was already very weak, but they still refused to release him. They used
the excuse that they could not allow him out on probation for medical treatments
until all the paperwork was completed, thus delaying him for another month. The
jail personnel was sure that he would not live for more than a couple of days.
To shirk their responsibilities, they released him. On December 12, 2005, Fan
Weihuai passed away. Everything listed above are just a few typical cases of the brutal
persecution and human rights violations that the Second Jail in Shenyang did to
us during the past seven years. During these years, the persecution and tortures
happened every day and never stopped. We cannot help but ask: Why is the CCP
treating kind-hearted people in such a brutal way? Whenever we question the
persecution and tortures, the guards always reply with arrogance, "This is
jail! This is the place to punish people!" It meant that here is jail, thus
all the persecution and tortures towards us are normal. However, the jail, the
execution department of the law, and the guards as people who are supposed to
execute the law, should they not strictly obey and act according to the law? How
could they openly break the law and do all these bad deeds? Although the persecution is so evil, we still strongly believe in Dafa from
the bottom of our hearts. We strongly believe in "Truthfulness, Compassion,
Forbearance" and we never hesitated. Are we wrong for being good people? We
did not break the law, nor did we commit any crime. While in the Second Jail, we
held hunger strikes multiple times in order to protest the persecution. We also
asked that they stop the persecution and release us unconditionally. Actually
there are more places besides the First Department of the Second Jail in
Shenyang were Falun Gong practitioners are being detained and tortured. The
jails, labor camps, detention centers and police stations all over mainland
China have been systematically and nationally committing persecution. Many
kind-hearted people were killed, injured, disabled, illegally detained, and
suffered from inhuman tortures. Here again, we appeal to human rights
organizations and kind-hearted people all over the world, to pay attention to
the evil persecution which is currently happening in mainland China. Let's stop
the persecution together, defend human rights and freedom of belief, defend
public value and justice! At the same time, we also ask the CCP regime to
immediately stop the persecution towards Falun Gong, restore the reputation of
Teacher Li Hongzhi, unconditionally release all the detained Falun Gong
practitioners, and legally punish those criminals who killed, injured and
persecuted Falun Gong practitioners. From all Falun Gong practitioners who are illegally detained in the Second
Jail in Shenyang, Liaoning Province. September 15, 2006
Fan Weihuai, in his 70's, was illegally sentenced to ten years in jail
Chinese version available at
http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2006/9/16/137958.html
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