By a Falun Gong practitioner in China

(Clearwisdom.net) The brutal persecution of Falun Gong practitioners at the Liaoning Province Women's Prison has been exposed many times on the Minghui/Clearwisdom website. The Communist Party had awarded this prison the title of "Bureau-Level Prison" in late 2006 for its ruthless persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. Prison authorities devoted significant amounts of money and resources to decorate the prison and hide the facts, after which they invited visitors from inside and outside of China for an inspection, hoping these efforts would whitewash their crimes.

The Liaoning Province Women's Prison is the former Dabei Women's Prison of Shenyang City. Let us start by detailing some of this prison's history. Mentioned in the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party, during the Cultural Revolution, Zhang Zhixin, a loyal Party member, was gang-raped and physically and mentally tortured at this prison, then her throat was cut after she was driven insane. She was killed at the prison. We know from firsthand experience that the Communist Party has escalated its persecution of Falun Gong, and that the human rights situation in China has further deteriorated.

Prison clinic head Wang Nina is personally responsible for the deaths of many Falun Gong practitioners at the prison. At least four practitioners have been confirmed to have died at the clinic since late 2002. The actual number is probably much higher. The clinic keeps what is called the "Falun Gong Practitioners Death Registration Book." This book remained initially with inmate Zhang Yuanyuan, who was assigned to give injections, but it was later transferred to another person. According to the book, more than four practitioners have died at the clinic, and an unknown number of practitioners have died in various other divisions at the prison.

Deceased practitioners Zhang Juxian from Yingkou City and Li Ling from Jinzhou City were held in Division 3.

Two other practitioners held at Division 8 died due to persecution between June 23, 2002 and early 2003. The bodies of practitioners who died after June 23, 2002 were carried out after the other inmates had left for work, when the cells were empty. Because the bodies were covered with white sheets, their physical condition was difficult to assess.

In 2003, one guard dragged a practitioner back and forth across the courtyard while throwing punches, kicks and verbal insults at her. She shouted over and over, "Falun Dafa is good!" She weighed less than 100 lbs. and passed away soon after this incident.

Guards Guo Haiyan and Zhao Xiumei from Division 3 tortured practitioner Ms. Zhang Juxian in mid June 2004 and took her to the prison clinic. Clinic head Wang Nina ordered inmates to immobilize Ms. Zhang's limbs in a specially made steel cot, and two inmates were assigned as monitors. One inmate was Zhu Qirong, who tortured Zhang Juxian to death but was later released. Guards Guo Haiyan and Zhao Xiumei ordered Zhu Qirong to tape Ms. Zhang Juxian's mouth and wrap her head with multiple layers of cotton sheets, with only her eyes and nose exposed. Ms. Zhang's body was black and blue from beatings. The inmates also force-fed Zhang Juxian many times each day and randomly jabbed her with the feeding tube. They were not medically trained for such a task, and Ms. Zhang's nasal septum was thus perforated. The inmates then had to insert the tube into her mouth and injured her throat. The tube was covered with blood when they pulled it out. One inmate said, "Zhang Juxian's nose, throat and stomach are ruined. She is beyond help now." Another inmate saw Zhang Juxian's hair being pulled out. After inmate Zhu Qirong whacked Zhang Juxian's face with a bamboo fan, Zhang Juxian's lips were so swollen she could not open her mouth.

Zhang Juxian was emaciated by mid August. The clinic officials informed Division 3 about her condition. Guard Zhao Xiumei sat in the hallway (to avoid the stench inside the room) and screamed at Zhang Juxian, "When are you going to die? I've already prepared your death gown and you can die right now! If you have anything to say, speak now!" She went inside and removed the tape from Zhang Juxian's mouth. Zhang Juxian mustered all of her strength and shouted, "Falun Dafa is good!" "Falun Dafa is the righteous Fa!" "Falun Gong practitioners are good people!" "Do not persecute Falun Gong practitioners!" Zhao Xiumei was furious and screamed, "Go ahead and die!" Inmate Zhu Qirong tortured Zhang Juxian again, and shortly afterwards, Zhang Juxian's body was secretly carried out during the night.

Practitioners Lou Yan from Anshan City, Han Xuejun from Dalian City and Liu Yanjun from Dandong City were also tortured at the clinic.

Numerous torture methods are used at Liaoning Province Women's Prison, and one of them is violent brainwashing. They tie the practitioner in a metal bed in what they call a "horseshoe knot," as the rope is tightened each time the practitioner struggles to free herself. The victim's wrists and ankles swell, and the rope cuts into the flesh. Additionally, the officials and inmates physically attack the practitioner until she is near death. They then blast audio recordings that slander Falun Gong and its founder into the victim's ears at a high volume for more than ten hours a day. The Communist Party knows its lies do not work on Falun Gong practitioners, but it employs torture simply out of spite and also to poison the minds of inmates. Many practitioners lost their hearing and suffered a mental collapse.

Another torture is the death bed. It is difficult to survive this torture. They tie the practitioner to a bed and force-feed her. They boast that Falun Gong practitioners who hold hunger strikes would be force-fed to save their lives, but it is actually a form of gross abuse. The officials order inmates to insert a plastic tube about one meter (3.3 ft.) in length and 5 mm (0.2 inch) in diameter into the victim's stomach through her nose. They feed the victim very thin and often raw corn porridge once or twice a day. The victim cannot change her clothes or wash herself while this is going on and is forced to relieve herself in the bed. The torture lasts weeks, months, and sometimes until the victim's death.

Practitioners Zhang Juxian and Li Ling were killed in the death bed. Inmate Zhu Qirong murdered Li Ling, who was barely hanging on to life by November 2004. She eventually died and suffered similar mistreatments as Zhang Juxian. Guards Zhu Naijuan and Xu Man ordered Zhu Qirong to put a heavy blanket over Li Ling's head. Zhu Qirong sat on the blanket for more than two hours and suffocated Li Ling to death.

Party officials also deprived Falun Gong practitioners of their right to life. They do not provide food or water for extended periods of time, and they deprive the practitioners of sleep, deprive them from using the restroom, and from performing simple hygiene, as well as communicating with their families and friends through letters, phone calls and family visits. They forbid the practitioners from looking at or talking to anyone except the inmates assigned to monitor them. They even order the practitioners to stop using daily necessities. When the practitioners protest such inhumane policies, the officials ruthlessly persecute them.

Besides the Falun Gong practitioners who died due to persecution, countless other practitioners have been disabled or suffered mental collapses from being persecuted.

Dandong City practitioner Ms. Liu Mei's right hand was disabled. She was held at the Division for the Senile and Handicapped. The officials denied her from obtaining medical treatment when she had a high fever, contracted tuberculosis and coughed blood. They not only refused to release her on medical parole, but instead locked her into solitary confinement at the clinic between 2003 and 2004. They sent her to a strictly controlled cell in July 2005 and have not let her out since.

There are two kinds of strictly controlled cells. The first is a small, windowless room with a low ceiling. The detainee can only squat or lie on the floor. Inmates are held there for no more than two weeks, as any longer stay would cause permanent disability. The prison uses such rooms to secretly persecute Falun Gong practitioners, yet the horrors that take place there remain concealed. The second type of strictly controlled cell is a slightly larger, windowless room, used specifically to detain inmates with infectious diseases. Aside from practitioner Liu Mei, more than ten inmates with tuberculosis have been held with her in the same cell. Practitioner Huang Xin suffered from a mental collapse while in this room, due to savage torture, and could not even recognize her family afterward. She is currently held at the Division for the Insane, which is part of the clinic, and is given drugs and monitored and insulted on a daily basis.

Practitioner Ms. Lou Yan is held at the Division for the Senile and Handicapped. She was tortured in a death bed for several months in late 2003. When she was on the brink of death the officials told her family to take her home. She recovered miraculously through studying books and doing the exercises of Falun Gong. The officials learned about this and arrested her again. They locked her in a strictly controlled cell and savagely tortured her. She was skeleton-like when she was carried back to the Division for the Senile and Handicapped. Guards Qiu Yin and Chen Xiaobo continued abusing her. According to an inmate, Chen Xiaobo ordered inmate Wang Yan and several others to torture Ms. Lou until her legs were paralyzed. They did not provide Lou Yan with a wheelchair and made her crawl to the restroom. They then beat and kicked her because she was slow. When Lou Yan tried to reason with them they violently attacked her. They tied her in a bed, taped her mouth and held their arms on Ms. Lou's neck, which nearly killed her. She is still being persecuted to this day.

Practitioner Han Xuejun was held at Division 5 in late 2002. Guards Yu Chengshui and Jia Yingchun ordered inmates Hou Xuhong and Ren Guanglei to commit the following: Strip a group of practitioners naked, then stab their breasts, nipples and underneath their fingernail and toenail-beds with needles, burn their palms, the back of their hands and other parts of their bodies with cigarettes, jab the practitioners' private parts with plastic bottles, force-feed them urine and salt water, force the practitioners to squat in the snow wearing thin clothes, and pour cold water over the practitioners in the winter. They also placed naked practitioners inside cardboard boxes with only their heads exposed, sealed the boxes and left them inside a cold warehouse. They did not give the practitioners water or food for more than a week. Han Xuejun was disabled from torture and was later released on parole. They also held "attack meetings" during which the guards tried to force inmates to write essays slandering Falun Gong, its founder and the practitioners. Jia Yingchun and Yu Chengshui dictated the words, and inmates who refused to write them were punished with increased workloads, removal of sentence reductions and sometimes beaten with electric batons.

Practitioner Han Xuejun was transferred to the Division for the Senile and Handicapped after he was disabled from torture. He protested the persecution in early 2004 and was taken to the clinic where he was tied in a death bed for more than six months. He suffered a mental collapse in November 2004. His legs were paralyzed and he weighed less than 100 pounds by the time he was carried out of the clinic. He eventually broke free in 2005.

Practitioner Ms. Liu Yanjun, who was staying home after being disabled from cruel treatment, was taken back to the prison in May 2004. She lost some function in her legs, developed ulcerations in her throat and could not eat or drink. Guard Jia Yingchun first tossed Liu Yanjun in the hallway and later tied her in a death bed. Jia Yingchun forbade anyone from washing Liu Yanjun, changing her clothes or providing her with sanitary napkins during her menstruation. Instead, she force-fed Ms. Liu salt water and repeatedly forced Liu Yanjun's vomit back into her mouth. Inmate Liu Sijuan, who was assigned to inject Liu Yanjun with medication, was not medically trained and usually had to make several attempts before she could find a vein for an injection. As a result, Liu Yanjun's hands and feet were covered in needle marks and swelled to the size of grapefruits. Ms. Liu had to endure this several months of this abuse at the clinic. With tears in her eyes she explained the facts about Falun Gong to inmate Ren Guanglei, and told her that Falun Gong practitioners are good people. She asked her not to persecute Falun Gong any longer. Ren Guanglei said, "I know Falun Gong practitioners are good people, but there is nothing I can do. Everything here is connected with Falun Gong. Guard Jia Yingchun wants to become a section head, and I want to get a sentence reduction. Besides, we are prisoners. If the government tells us to do something, who dares to disobey? I already gave guard Jia Yingchun 2,000 yuan and she promised to help me, but she said she would have to see how this one goes [referring to the "transformation" of Liu Yanjun]. If I go against her, then I would have tossed away 2,000 yuan for nothing!"

Ms. Liu Yanjun vomited constantly. The plastic feeding tube was inserted through her nose into her stomach. It took the evildoers three days' of attempts to insert the tube into Ms. Liu's stomach. Prison clinic head Wang Nina personally administered the brutal procedure, during which Liu Yanjun's nose was abraded and some of her hair was pulled out. She vomited the corn porridge, and the injected drugs did not have any effect on her.

Ms. Liu Yanjun was in critical condition in November 2004. Her family demanded release on medical parole after they saw her. Officials at the prison and the Prison Administration Bureau said, "We won't sanction medical parole if she doesn't 'reform,' not even if she dies." Wang Nina insisted that Liu Yanjun was doing fine, although Liu Yanjun's weight had dropped from 70 kg [154 lbs] to 30 kg [66 lbs]. The officials slightly loosened their control only after their atrocities were exposed on the Minghui/Clearwisdom website. They never stopped persecuting Liu Yanjun, however. She still vomited on the day of her release.

Practitioner Ms. Yang Chunling from Liaoyang City was held at the Division for the Senile and Handicapped in December 2006. The first night, guard Cong Zhuo ordered inmates Zhao Yan, Zhang Ning and several others to tie Yang Chunling to a bed and brutally beat her. They taped her mouth shut after she screamed in pain. Ms. Yang refused to follow any of the persecutors' commands, so they broke her arms and beat her until she could not move her legs. Guards Xu Zhonghua, Cong Zhuo, Zhang Yin and others took Yang Chunling to the No. 739 Hospital in Shenyang City the following day for her fractured arms. The hospital demanded 8,000 yuan. Cong Zhuo called Yang Chunling's family, but they could not afford this amount of money.

Yang Chunling's husband and mother-in-law, both Falun Gong practitioners, were also sentenced to prison. Guard Cong Zhuo was angry that she could not get money from the family and told Yang Chunling, "If you don't pay, you won't get your arms fixed." Cong Zhuo ordered four inmates to monitor Yang Chunling. They would not let her close her eyes and would hit her if she did. They did not give her any food or water and forbade her to using the restroom. They prevented her from talking to others and locked her in a solitary confinement cell. Her current condition is unknown.

Practitioner Ms. Li Fengmei from Xiongyue was admitted to Division 10 on January 2, 2007. The first night, guard Sun Yan ordered inmates Chen Fengyun, Xiao Jinxin and Li Ping to drag Li Fengmei out of her bed and lock her in a storage room. They hung her from a metal bar and savagely beat her. Sun Yan shocked Ms. Li with electric baton(s) for a very long time. Li Fengmei's heart-wrenching screams could be heard throughout the building. Her body was covered in wounds, her right arm was broken and both legs were paralyzed. She lost consciousness several times. The next day, inmates condemned the guards and the Communist regime for committing these murderous acts. Guards Yu Chengshui and Chen Haixin took Li Fengmei to the No. 739 Hospital. After they returned to the prison later that night they again locked Ms. Li in the storage room. Guards Yu Chengshui and Chen Haixin ordered inmates Chen Fengyun, Su Xiaodan and others to further torture Li Fengmei. They stripped Li Fengmei naked and hung her by her handcuffed hands. They degraded her using extremely base means. When Li Fengmei struggled, Chen Fengyun and Sun Xiaodan broke her right arm for the second time and never had the bones surgically set. She has lost all functions in her right arm. Li Fengmei was tortured for more than two months between January 2 and mid March. She was later transferred to a warehouse near a workshop. It has been learned that the barbaric abuse continues unabated.

Practitioners Ms. Wang Peirong, Ms. Shao Changhua and Ms. Song Xia, held at Division 10, were also persecuted before they were taken to prison.

Ms. Wang Peirong from Anshan City is in her seventies. She defied the officials' commands in March 2006, so guards Yu Chengshui and Chen Haixin ordered inmates to remove her coat. They then forced her to squat outside in the freezing cold for an entire day, after which the inmates dragged her into the restroom and poured cold water on her. Wang Peirong refused to compromise her faith. Guards Yu Chengshui and Chen Haixin hung her by her handcuffs for two weeks and shocked her with electric batons. They deprived her of all rights to life. Wang Peirong suffered kidney damage and numbness in her arms due to the beatings.

Guards Yu Chengshui, Chen Haixin and Liu Yin tortured practitioner Ms. Shao Changhua from Dandong City many times. Inmates Jiang Yi and Liu Xiaoyan locked Ms. Shao in the telephone exchange room, stripped her naked and shocked her with electric batons until she lost consciousness. They forced her to sign a guarantee statement after she suffered a mental collapse. When Ms. Shao recovered she confronted the officials about their debased behavior and declared the guarantee statement void. Yu Chengshui, Chen Haixin and Liu Yin then resorted to even more brutal methods. They kept her naked for a week while shocking her with electric batons and savagely beating her. She suffered another mental collapse in the winter of 2005 and lapsed into a week-long coma. Her body was covered with multiple layers of wounds from repeated electric shocks and beatings, and she experienced numbness and loss of function in her legs.

Practitioner Ms. Song Xia from Fushun City cut her arteries [Note: Falun Gong teachings forbid suicide or self-mutilation] in protest of persecution, but she survived with the help of others. Yu Chengshui and Chen Haixin transferred Ms. Li Fengmei to a warehouse, and later moved Ms. Song Xia to the cell, saying they would brainwash her.

All inmates are familiar with the Communist Party's brainwashing methods. Ms. Song Xia's life is therefore in danger, as are the lives of other incarcerated practitioners.