(Minghui.org) Two Chongqing residents are still jailed in the Yongchuan Prison for upholding their faith in Falun Dafa, a spiritual and meditation practice that has been persecuted in China since July 1999. Both Mr. Luo Xu and Mr. Yuan Zhiqiang are being subjected to various forms of physical and mental abuses in prison.

1. Mr. Luo Xu, born in 1982, was arrested in November 2016 when he was on his way to meet another practitioner. His family could not get in touch with him for a week. They later found out that the police had locked him up in the Lianglu Detention Center in Chongqing. A local prosecutor indicted him, charged with “posting Falun Dafa articles on social media and receiving tens of thousands of clicks.”

The local court sentenced him to eight years in prison in December 2017 without notifying his family. He was subjected to unrelenting tortures while in prison and was forced to sign a statement against his will, promising to renounce his faith. After he came to his senses and realized that he had made a mistake, he voided the statement in 2021. Consequently the prison authorities revoked the six-month term reduction given to him and put him under strict management. His term is set to end in November 2024.

2. Mr. Yuan Zhiqiang is a resident of Beibei District in Chongqing. The police arrested him at home on May 15, 2020, and the Beibei District Court sentenced him to a 4.5-year prison term in November of that year. His term is set to expire in November 2024.

Other Practitioners Who Have Been Tortured in Yongchuan Prison

Beginning in May 2018, the 10^th and 12^th wards in Yongchuna Prison were designated specifically to hold and torture Falun Dafa practitioners. Male practitioners in other prisons in Chongqing who had not renounced their faith were transferred to these two wards in Yongchuan Prison and subjected to tortures until they gave up Falun Dafa. The guards assigned four inmates to watch and torture each practitioner around the clock, and deprive them of sleep, food, and purchases of daily necessities. They forced the practitioners to sit still on small stools for hours, insulted them, sprayed them with pepper sprays, and shocked them with high-voltage electric batons. The practitioners were also forced to watch videos that slandered Falun Dafa.

Torture exhibit: Shocking with high-voltage electric batons

Torture illustration: Sitting still for hours or days

In addition to Mr. Luo and Mr. Yuan, many other practitioners have also been incarcerated and tortured over the years in the two wards of Yongchuan Prison, incluing Mr. Deng Liping, Mr. Wu Qun, Mr. Liu Daoquan, Mr. Chen Erqi, Mr. Wu Zhiqun, Mr. He Zhenyu, Mr. Gao Hongwei, Mr. Yan Shuncai, Mr. Qiu Yonglun, Mr. Hong Liu, Mr. Zhang Tingchun, Mr. Yao Rongxuan, Mr. Tang Fenghua, Mr. Tang Minghua, and Mr. Wang Zhongming. The following contains the information of three of the practitioners.

1. Mr. Deng Liping, 78, is a retired engineer and resident of Yubei District. The police arrested him in May 2016, and the Beibei District Court sentenced him to a three-year prison term in November 2017. He was first put in Yongchuan Prison and later transferred to Yudu Prison.

Not long after being released from prison, he was targeted again. A group of officers from Nan’an District Domestic Security, the Xinpaifang Police Station, along with local officials ransacked his home on July 12, 2019, after he was reported for handing Falun Dafa fliers to a guard in Yudu Prison. Five days later he reported this illegal home search to the police. Instead of investigating his claim, three officers from the Yinglong Police Station arrested him and put him in Nan’an District Detention Center. A judge at Jiulongpo District Court sentenced him to a two-year term on August 27, 2020 and he was taken to Yongchuan Prison again. In the 10^th ward, the prisoners and the guards beat him for refusing to renounce Falun Dafa. He was released on July 23, 2021.

2. Mr. Wu Qun is a resident of Shapingba District. The police arrested him in November 2018 and he was later sentenced to 3.5 years. He was first put in the 12^th ward and later transferred to the 10^th ward in Yongchuan Prison. The guards beat him, as he refused to renounce his faith, and his legs were bruised and injured. His term was supposedly to end in May 2022, however his whereabouts are currently unknown.

3. Mr. Liu Daoquan was an entrepreneur in Shapingba District. The local police arrested him on April 9, 2013 when he told others about the brutal persecution of Falun Dafa. After his trial in Shapingba District Court on October 16, 2014, he was given eight years in Yongchuan Prison. He went on a hunger strike in the 10^th ward, and nearly died after the tortures. His term ended in April 2021.

The guards in the 10^th ward of Yongchuan Prison:

Ma Jibao: +86-18008303263Yuan Jun: +86-13628373248Tang YixinTang LijunLi Yinzhi