(Minghui.org) Ms. Wu Lixian of Fushun City, Liaoning Province, was sentenced to 4.5 years on July 26, 2019, and taken to the Liaoning Women’s Prison to serve her term.
In prison, Ms. Wu was brutally tortured by inmates who were instigated by the guards. She became emaciated and could not stand steadily. Inmates called her a “living dead person.” She was released on January 14, 2024.
Below is a snapshot of the torture that she experienced in prison.
Sentenced to 4.5 Years
Ms. Wu, 67, credits Falun Gong for improving her health and helping her control her bad temper. After the persecution began in 1999, she felt compelled to tell people that Falun Gong was nothing like what the state propaganda said it was. That landed her in police custody in April 2010, followed by a three-year prison sentence in September 2010. She was arrested and sentenced again in 2019. She was imprisoned for a total of 7.5 years and was subjected to torture such as having her hair grabbed and her head banged against the wall, being locked in solitary confinement, doused with icy water in winter, stripped naked, and exposed to freezing weather, while in the Liaoning Women’s Prison.
On April 24, 2018, Peng Yue and Wei Zhenxing from the Fushun Police Department, along with officers from Jianshe Police Station, arrested Ms. Wu at home with no explanation. Nine other Falun Gong practitioners were also arrested around the same time. After being held in Fushun Detention Center for 37 days, Ms. Wu and four other practitioners were released.
Ms. Wu was seized again on September 29, 2018, when she was talking with someone about Falun Gong. The arresting officer from Guangming Police Station took her to Fushun Detention Center later that day.
When Ms. Wu exhibited symptoms of heart failure, a guard asked the detention center doctor if she would die. The doctor said that Ms. Jin Shunnu, another detained practitioner, had died earlier that morning, October 10, 2018.
Ms. Wu was thus released on bail that day due to her poor health. Officials from Wanghua District Procuratorate and Wanghua District Court then harassed her at home many times. Even before she made a full recovery, she was ordered to appear in court. When officials continued to harass her following the hearing, Ms. Wu decided she had to live away from home to avoid the persecution.
Several months passed and Ms. Wu was worried about her husband. She returned home on the night of July 26, 2019, only to be arrested around 8 a.m. the next morning. She was taken to Fushun Detention Center in handcuffs that afternoon.
Ms. Wu was later sentenced to 4.5 years and fined 20,000 yuan.
Tortured in Prison
Ms. Wu was taken to the First Division in Liaoning Province Women’s Prison in August 2019. Two inmates Du Jinjuan and Fang Wanqiao were instructed to monitor and torture her.
Not Allowed to Use the Restroom or Wash Up
Du and the other inmates did not allow Ms. Wu to wash up, use the restroom, drink water, or use water for any purposes. Her hair became so dirty that it stuck together. Her clothes also became stiff. Inmates who passed by would cover their noses due to the smell.
Once, Du didn’t allow Ms. Wu to use the restroom. Ms. Wu started perspiring while trying to control herself. Unable to control anymore, she dashed into the restroom. Du scolded her. There were a few times at the workshop when Du didn’t allow Ms. Wu to use the restroom. Ms. Wu ran towards the restroom but other inmates grabbed her and hit her. She was pinned to the ground. When she shouted in protest, the inmates stuffed a rag into her mouth.
There were a few times when other inmates pushed Ms. Wu to the ground and beat her.
Beaten in the Cold
In the winter, when other inmates still felt cold despite using blankets and holding a hot water bottle, inmate Du opened the window during winter and forced Ms. Wu to stand in the airy place at night for more than three hours every day, while removing her cotton-padded clothes and only allowing her to wear thin clothes. The inmates also verbally abused her at the same time.
Ms. Wu usually wasn’t allowed to sleep until 11 p.m. She slept on a wood plank at the airy place with no blanket or mattress and could only cover herself with a bedsheet while wearing thin clothes.
Du also swore at and hit Ms. Wu. She sometimes used slippers to hit Ms. Wu when she got tired from beating with her hands. The slippers caused Ms. Wu’s mouth to bleed.
Torture illustration: Violent Beatings
Doused with Icy Water and Exposed to Freezing Weather
One day in the winter, inmates opened the window of the water room and filled up the basin with cold water. Ms. Wu was then dragged to the room in thin clothes and slippers. The inmates asked if she was scared as no one had ever survived this. When they could see that Ms. Wu had no intention of renouncing her faith, they poured a few basins of cold water onto her face. She nearly suffocated. The inmates then poured cold water on her body. As she still refused to give in, the inmates left.
Torture illustration: Doused with cold water.
Another group of inmates came and helped Ms. Wu up. They tried to persuade her to renounce her faith, so she wouldn’t be subjected to such treatment again. After she was taken back to the cell, despite that her clothes were still wet, she was forced to stand in an airy place until 10 p.m. that night before being allowed to go to bed.
Locked in Solitary Confinement
Ms. Wu was locked in solitary confinement in the winter of 2021. Inmates Du and Yao monitored her during the brainwashing sessions.
They poured cold water on the ground and ordered Ms. Wu to remove her cotton-padded clothes, leaving only her thin clothes. She was then forced to sit on the ground, causing her clothes to become wet. The inmates also filled up bottles with water and poured the water in her clothes. Her shoes became wet as well.
Ms. Wu was not allowed to wash up and sometimes had to go without any food.
Beaten and Abused
In the summer of 2022, inmate Song Yongmei, the production team leader, demanded that Ms. Wu record a video to renounce Falun Gong or their production team would not be allowed to buy daily necessities and have to sit on the small stools for long hours as punishment. Ms. Wu refused to comply and was verbally abused by the inmates.
Ms. Wu was sitting down in the workshop when a group of people suddenly kicked her from behind. She fell and was dragged to the window. While continuing to verbally abuse her, the inmates hit and kicked her, and then poured dirty water on her. This happened a few times. An inmate hit Ms. Wu with a broom until her arms were bruised and she walked with a limp. Another inmate hit Ms. Wu with a roll of tape.
Once, a few inmates rushed up to Ms. Wu’s bed and started hitting her. Sometimes they kicked her from behind when she was walking, causing her to fall. The inmates then started beating her. Some inmates poured water on her blanket and she had no choice but to sleep in a wet blanket.
As Ms. Wu refused to renounce Falun Gong, the guards forced the inmates to sit on a small stool with Ms. Wu for one hour every day, to incite hatred against Ms. Wu. During that time, the inmates, who were upset about the sitting torture, kept beating and verbally abusing Ms. Wu.
As a result of the torture, Ms. Wu became emaciated and weak. She could not stand steadily. An inmate said, “You look very scary. You are a living dead person.”
Later on, inmates in different cells took turns torturing Ms. Wu. They said to her, “How long can you survive? You are almost dead. Let us send you off.” They then started singing funeral songs to her.
Ms. Wu was released on January 14, 2024, after surviving her term.
Previous Three-Year Sentence in 2010
In addition to the latest sentencing, Ms. Wu received another three-year term in September 2010 given by the Wanghua District Court. While serving time at the Liaoning Province Women’s Prison, officer Lan of the First Division instructed two inmates to “handle” her. They beat her when she refused to renounce Falun Gong. After knocking her down, they pulled her up and hit her again. A third inmate took over and continued the beating when the first two got tired.
Torture re-enactment: Beatings
In November 2010, three guards took Ms. Wu to a large room with no security cameras. They didn’t let her sleep and made her stand in front of an open window while wearing thin clothes. They then poured cold water over her head and soaked her. They removed her top and forced her to stand topless by the window in the freezing cold.
They later let her sleep for a very short period on a metal bed with no mattress, bedding, or blanket, just giving her a few pieces of cloth to cover herself up. They gave her very little food and no access to the restroom. Her legs swelled up and she could hardly walk for over two months.
She was also forced to work from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day. She wasn’t allowed to talk to anyone, especially other Falun Gong practitioners. Even one glance would lead to a beating or humiliation session. To protest the mistreatment, she did the Falun Gong exercises in front of over 200 detainees. That landed her in solitary confinement. When she insisted on doing the exercises there, she was handcuffed twice.
When Ms. Wu got very weak, a guard asked her if she still wanted to practice Falun Gong. She said yes, so the guard kept her in solitary confinement for another three months. As a result of torture and mental torment, she was often in a daze. She could not squat or stand up and often vomited. She ended up in the hospital for emergency treatment three times. She had injuries all over her body when she was released on April 16, 2013.
Related Report:
Once Imprisoned for Three Years, Liaoning Woman Sentenced to Another Four Years for Her Faith
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Category: Torture of Women
