(Minghui.org)
Name: Niu XuedongChinese Name: 牛学东Gender: MaleAge: In his 60sCity: TongchuanProvince: ShaanxiOccupation: Mine workerDate of Death: February 26, 2022Date of Most Recent Arrest: UnknownMost Recent Place of Detention: Weinan Prison
A Tongchuan City, Shaanxi Province, resident died in Weinan Prison while serving time for practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Mr. Niu Xuedong used to work at the Wangshiwa Mine. He was arrested around 2020 New Year for making informational materials about Falun Gong and sentenced to an unknown term at the Weinan Prison. Prior to the prison sentence, he was given another term at the Zaozihe Forced Labor Camp in 2000.
Because Mr. Niu refused to renounce Falun Gong, he was once dragged out into the snow in only a thin layer of clothes by inmate Wang Kai. Wang struck him with a stick over 100 times, leaving Mr. Liu in a delirious state. He couldn’t recognize anyone anymore and often relieved himself in his pants, unaware of what he was doing.
Inmate Wang Kai later cut off Mr. Niu’s food and didn’t allow anyone to feed him, leaving him starved all the time. On February 26, 2022, when he was finally given two hot steamed buns, Mr. Niu ate so fast that he choked to death. He was in his 60s.
Weinan Prison, also known as the Shaanxi Province No.2 Prison, is where Falun Gong practitioners in the province are usually incarcerated. Minghui.org has confirmed that at least 90 practitioners were held there between 2005 and 2020, including three who were twice imprisoned.
Like in many other Chinese prisons, the guards assigned certain inmates to be the heads of their cells and have them manage the other inmates. When the guards gave the order, cell heads selected the inmates to torture the practitioners. The most commonly used means of torture in Weinan Prison are the iron chair and hanging up by the wrists.
When a practitioner is confined to the iron chair, the inmates fasten his hands and feet to the metal rings fixed to the chair and beat them. The inmates also tighten the rings repeatedly, making them cut deeply into their wrists and ankles. The practitioners’ faces often become swollen and bruised from the beating. Some are denied restroom use and are forced to relieve themselves in their pants.
In addition to Mr. Niu, at least four other practitioners have passed away as a result of the abuses in the Weinan Prison.
Mr. Gao Shouhai, a pharmacist, was sentenced to eight years on September 25, 2008, and taken to the prison in December. He was beaten repeatedly and hung upside down. The guards forced him to wear a thick jacket in the summer and a thin shirt in the winter. He became incontinent and was unable to eat. He died from organ failure on May 15, 2012.
Mr. Gao Shiyuan served a year and a half in Weinan Prison. Despite the fact that he developed tuberculosis due to the poor conditions in custody, the prison refused to release him on medical parole. The guards talked to him non-stop and attempted to pressure him to renounce Falun Gong. He died in April 2018, a few months after he was released.
Mr. She Chengbang, a high school teacher, was sentenced to seven years on December 24, 2009. He was incapacitated and couldn’t eat when he was released in 2017. He remained bedridden and passed away in March 2019. Only 53, he was survived by his wife and a teenage son.
Mr. Li Zhouwen of Baoji City was also incapacitated and couldn’t take care of himself when he was released in 2016 after serving four and a half years. He died three years later in November 2019.
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