(Clearwisdom.net) As of the summer of 2006, several dozen Falun Dafa practitioners have been illegally imprisoned in Liaoning Province's Panjin Jail. Many of them have held hunger strikes to protest the persecution and demand to be set free unconditionally. Some of them however have not been heard from after they were sent to the hospital, and so far, there is one practitioner known to have died from the persecution.
There are several thousand prisoners in the Panjin Jail divided into more than ten units. All the units have their own compounds, and in each of these compounds, the unit is divided into several secondary units. In the summer of 2006, there were several dozen practitioners there. As all the practitioners were closely monitored around the clock by specially appointed prisoners, it was very hard for them to make contact or communicate with each other. On the other hand, clarifying the truth to the prisoners was quite convenient. Most of the prisoners changed their perception about Falun Dafa after they learned the true facts and witnessed the demeanor of practitioners. Some of the prisoners expressed the desire to practice Falun Dafa. Clarifying the truth to the prison guards also made them aware that the practitioners are good people.
Panjin Jail persecutes practitioners principally in two ways: One is by blocking all channels through which practitioners communicate with each other and obtain Falun Dafa books or articles. The other way is by closely shadowing them and tightly monitoring them around the clock to directly interfere with their exchanges, practicing the exercises and sending righteous thoughts. Another persecution method is forcing practitioners to do intensive slave labor, waking them up at 4:30 in the morning to do chores and clean up, and from 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. they have to plant rice in the field. Many other chores are then done within the two hours before they go to bed.
Even under such a difficult environment, every one of the practitioners steadfastly carried out the three things and adopted various measures to resist the persecution. For example, refusing to write any "transformation" material, and refusing to recite the prison regulations or to attend any test for prisoners, lodging appeals, complaints, and initiating lawsuits. The practitioners would also converse and practice the exercises openly and hold hunger strikes, etc.
When some practitioners held hunger strikes, many of the prisoners did not understand them. The practitioners explained to them that the hunger strike was the last resort under the circumstances when all else failed in order to protest against the persecution and awaken the people, it was not abandoning life nor tormenting oneself.
The following is the situation of three practitioners who went on a hunger strike:
One practitioner who was locked up in the third unit was sent to the prison hospital at 4:00 a.m. on the seventh day of his hunger strike. At 5:00 the same morning, he was transfered to the city hospital. He needed help into the car by two other persons. Two hours later, they announced that he had passed away. The details of this case are still under investigation.
Zhao Hongli, a practitioner from Chaoyang, Liaoning Province, was also imprisoned in the third unit. He held a hunger strike from September 2005 to late April 2006. He was force fed for seven months through a nasal-gastric tube. In April 2006, he regurgitated all the forced feeding. Intravenous infusion could also not be administered. He was not mobile at this stage and was carried into a police car. His whereabouts are unclear.
In June 2006, one practitioner who was on a hunger strike was sent to the prison hospital from the second unit and has since been force-fed and given infusions.
There are still other practitioners on long-term hunger strikes. Details await investigation.
