(Minghui.org) Under the direction of the Ningxia’s Prison Administration Bureau, Political and Legal Affairs Committee, and 610 Office, the guards in Ningxia Women’s Prison have been using various methods to torture Falun Gong practitioners in an effort to make them renounce their faith.
In recent years, the prison has been secretive about what is being done to “transform” practitioners. In early 2024, the prison set up a solitary confinement division, including a “private room” where practitioners can be “dealt with” individually.
Below is a list of methods used on Falun Gong practitioners and a personal account of persecution.
Prison Admission
Newly-admitted inmates are usually put under the “Examination Level,” but Falun Gong practitioners are placed in the “Second Strict Level.”
Four or five inmates are assigned to monitor one practitioner. These inmates usually include a murderer or drug trafficker. Instigated by the guards, these inmates abuse the practitioners at will to try to force them to “transform.”
Deprived of Basic Rights
Practitioners who refuse to be “transformed” are subjected to audio of propaganda defaming Falun Gong and posters slandering Falun Gong and its founder on the walls. If the practitioners try to clarify the facts, the inmates tape their mouths shut, verbally abuse them, slap them in the face, pull their hair, and kick them, usually where there are no surveillance cameras. Some practitioners have had their eardrums perforated. Practitioners are also forced to stand or sit on a small stool motionless for long periods of time and are not allowed to have a break until bedtime. They are beaten if they doze off. Some inmates also pinch the practitioners.
Inmates are supposed to be allowed to buy 100 yuan worth of daily necessities per month. However, practitioners are not allowed to buy toilet paper, menstrual pads, detergent, toothpaste, or toothbrushes. They have to borrow pads from other inmates during their period. While most inmates will lend them pads, the practitioners have to first endure being verbally abused and humiliated.
Practitioners are not allowed to wash up, shower, wash their clothes, or eat a full meal. They are often dizzy and become emaciated from hunger. Sometimes the inmates force the practitioners to eat until they are very full and then hit them if they don’t finish the food.
Practitioners are also not allowed to communicate or visit with their families. They are forced to report and ask for permission if they need to eat, drink water, use the restroom, or sleep. If they don’t follow the rules or refuse to be “transformed,” they are subjected to more intense torture.
Mental Abuse
To torture practitioners mentally, the guards direct the inmates to put a photo of Falun Gong’s founder on a small stool and then force a practitioner to sit on it. If she refuses to comply, the inmates put the photo on the door, in the restroom, inside practitioners’ shoes, or under the stool where the practitioner cannot see it.
The guards sometimes organize birthday celebrations for practitioners who refuse to be “transformed.” They select a few inmates and get them to try to persuade the practitioner to renounce her faith at the party. If she refuses, the inmates verbally abuse her.
“Private Room”
In 2024, the prison set up a “solitary confinement division,” also called the “private room,” to hold inmates who violate the prison rules. However, practitioners who refuse to be give up their faith are also sent there and monitored by carefully selected inmates. Practitioners are forced to take off all of their clothes for a security check and then forced to wear the prison uniform. No jackets or socks are provided.
The “private room” is very cold with no heat in the winter. There is no bed, and practitioners sleep on a thin mattress on the cold floor. The inmates also sleep on the floor but their mattresses are slightly thicker. Everyone has to lie flat in one position and keep their hands outside the cover on either of her body. No one is allowed to turn over. Two inmates sleep next to the practitioner while two others monitor them by walking around. The noise often keeps the practitioners and inmates awake. Due to lack of sleep, even the inmates have developed heart palpitations, dizziness, and swelling. They then vent their frustrations on the practitioners.
There is only one toilet in the room and no sink. Practitioners are in charge of cleaning the room and can only use the toilet to wash the cleaning cloth or their hands. The food is very plain, with few vegetables and little meat. The guards can deny the practitioners food whenever they like. Some practitioners were starved for days and shivered from the cold. They became emaciated, hunched, and unrecognizable.
The eldest practitioner detained there was in her 80s.
Personal Account of Persecution
A practitioner who was held in Ningxia Women’s Prison from March 21, 2021, to September 2024 has recounted what she endured:
“Practitioners detained in the prison were known as ‘political’ inmates. We were forced to stand on the stage every time a criticism meeting was held. Guard Xia Huifang tried every way possible to slander Falun Gong and make practitioners follow her.
“In April 2021, two inmates were assigned to ‘transform’ me. I was not allowed to wash up at the same time as other inmates, and the time I was allowed to wash up and wash my clothes was restricted. I was also not allowed to talk to anyone or meet with my family. I was not allowed to buy food, just 100 yuan worth of daily necessities every month. I was also forced to watch videos slandering Falun Gong. I was on the brink of a mental breakdown due to the stress of enduring the verbal abuse of my faith.
“The cell I was in was in charge of making clothes. To earn more money, the prison increased our workload. I had to stand to work, typically for more than 10 hours a day. I did not dare sit down. If I did, the guards and inmates would curse me.
Torture illustration: Forced labor
“In September 2023, we worked from 7 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. every day. We were given 40 minutes for lunch. I used the restroom about four to five times a days. Each time, I had to run to the restroom to make it in time. We were not allowed any time off on Sundays. Because I had to use large yarn scissors every day, the fingers on my right hand developed calluses and hurt. The pain often kept me awake at night. Once, I was so tired that I cut my left index finger. I dared not report it to the guards, so I cleaned up the blood and went on working.
“There were no mirrors in the prison. I only realized how thin I was after I returned home. Looking at my gray hair, tears rolled down my face as I thought of the many fellow practitioners who are still being tortured in that prison.”
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