(Minghui.org) The 6th Division of the Anhui Province Women’s Prison is a place where Falun Gong practitioners, religious followers, and regular inmates are incarcerated. The workshop used to produce products in the division that is open to outside visitors, but the real crimes and human rights abuses are deeply hidden.
Forced Labor
The 6th Division produces military and police uniforms. The standards for the finished garments are high and the workload is heavy. With a tight timeline and in order to satisfy the requirements, the inmates often have to work overtime. They get very little time to sleep or rest. Many faint. While they are working on the garments, many women are frequently stabbed by sewing needles or burned by irons.
The guards don’t want these workplace accidents to be recorded. If an injured prisoner goes to the hospital for treatment, it’s considered a production safety accident and will affect the guards’ year-end bonus.
Because they fear being punished for “lacking production safety awareness” and having their points deducted, the inmates refuse to report accidents or seek medical treatment. Instead, they endure the pain and continue working.
Torture illustration: Manual work in prison
Due to the heavy workload, few inmates can complete their daily quotas. This results in punishments such as being made to “goose step” in the lobby at night after work, stand until midnight, hand copy the prison rules, and clean the public areas. They may not be allowed to take showers, wash themselves, meet with their families, or have any days off. The guards may also cut meat and eggs from their meals.
Another humiliating punishment is to have the inmates visit other cells and say, “Because I talked in the workshop while I worked, I couldn’t finish my quota. I won’t dare to do it again. Everyone, please watch me.”
Due to the various torture methods many inmates have pale complexions, have no energy, and their health is deteriorating.
Falsification of Records
The division heads also falsify many records, including the inmates’ thoughts reports, mid-year review, year-end review, and correction plans. They must follow the templates and are not allowed to write their own true thoughts and feelings, or anything about the real situation. Otherwise, it would be considered leaking prison secrets and they would be beaten by the guards.
The only entertainment is to sing and dance to the Chinese communist regime songs and show loyalty to the regime. Everyone has to sing the songs that glorify the Chinese Communist Party after returning from work or meals. Anyone who does not sing loudly is punished.
Head Inmates Empowered to Abuse Others
Inmates Zhang Pingping and Wang Ying are second-in-line after the captains. Some inmates call them the “head” and some call them “boss.” All the other inmates are frightened of them. Some inmates bribe them with food in order to get better treatment.
Zhang has been incarcerated in the division for 18 years and she violently beat many Falun Gong practitioners to the point where they became disabled. Wang has been there for more than 10 years and is the workshop leader. She is allowed to abuse inmates verbally and physically. She makes things more difficult for Falun Gong practitioners. Along with the rumbling noise of the machines, one can hear Wang cursing and yelling.
Brainwashing
The division has another feature—a “Study Room” prepared for Falun Gong practitioners. The sign hanging on the door reads “Conversation Room” but practitioners are taken there to study propaganda materials until midnight after a quick dinner. Inmates who practice other religions are also taken to this room to “study.”
Captain Fu Yujie, in her 50s, and guard Xia Yun, in her 30s, have worked in the division for over 10 years. Fu once said, “Any practitioner who came here has been transformed.” Xia often said, “I’m a civil servant. What are you (practitioners)? You want to be on equal footing with me?!”
Violent Beatings are Normal
Ms. Xie Xia, in her 60s, has a religious belief. She was sentenced to eight years. One night in May 2023 when she was showering, the other inmates started violently beating her while she was naked. She was bruised all over and lost control of her bowels. Despite the brutality, the guards and other inmates all turned a blind eye to it. After a few days, Ms. Xie was sent to the prison hospital and was later transferred to an outside hospital. She returned to the prison four months later and was transferred to the elderly and disabled team to finish serving her term. Many Falun Gong practitioners have also been beaten up like her.
Select Torture Case – Nine Years of Physical Abuse
Ms. Li Dongmei, in her 50s, of Bozhou City, was sentenced to nine years. She was beaten by guards Fu and Xia, and inmates Zhang and Wang. She was also forced to stand and not allowed to sleep for a long time. She was not allowed to shower, wash herself, or given any food and drink. She was also deprived of the use of restroom. Her hair turned gray as a result of the abuse.
The guard arranged Ms. Li to stay in Wang’s cell. Wang made trouble for her and told the other inmates to not show her any kindness. Ms. Li was made to do the dirtiest and most tiring tasks. She was tortured for refusing to renounce her faith. Zhang and Xia were also involved.
Despite the brutal torture, Ms. Li refused to give in.
Select Torture Case – Restricting Restroom Use
Ms. Tang Deheng, in her 60s, was sentenced to two years. After being admitted to the 6th Division, she was sent to the “Study Room” where Zhang forced her to stand and verbally abused her. She refused to renounce her faith so Fu and Wang forced her to work while standing. Her stool was taken away. After standing and working for more than 10 hours, her legs became swollen and she was exhausted. However, Wang reported that Ms. Tang failed to finish her tasks. She was forced to continue standing after work and was not allowed to shower or wash herself for a few days.
In August 2023, Ms. Tang’s thought reports angered Xia. Xia punished her by making her stand in a military position for nine days at the workshop. She was restricted from drinking water or using the restroom. Zhang was arranged to monitor her and only allowed her to use the restroom once or twice a day.
One day, Zhang took Ms. Tang to the restroom. Only the two of them and another inmate, Zong Jun, were there. Zhang suddenly started hitting and kicking Ms. Tang and slapping her in the face, while grabbing her hair to push her head into the urinal. Zhang shouted, “I’ll have you eat feces today. Go ahead and report me.” (Zhang often threatened other inmates with being made to eat feces in order to make them submit to her.)
Ms. Tang struggled to free herself before running over to the guard. She told Xia that Zhang hit her. Zhang replied, “Who saw it?” When Ms. Tang said that inmate Zong saw it, Xia called Zong over. The latter responded that she didn’t see Zhang hitting Ms. Tang.
Ms. Tang asked Xia to look at the CCTV footage. When Xia and the prison sergeant watched the CCTV, they said they didn’t see anything. Ms. Tang then placed her hair that Zhang pulled out, on the table. She pointed to the clumps of hair and her bruised face and asked Xia, “What is this? I became like this after being pushed into the restroom. If this is not being beaten, then what is it?”
Other inmates rushed up and started pushing Ms. Tang while verbally abusing her. Xia rejected Ms. Tang’s request to see a doctor. Another guard said, “You can go every day but you can’t say that you were beaten.” Ms. Tang firmly replied that she would tell the doctor that she was beaten.
Xia was furious and told the other inmates to punish Ms. Tang by forcing her to stand for long hours. She also reported to the prison management that Ms. Tang did not obey the rules. The prison chief responded that Xia could handcuff Ms. Tang if she continued to misbehave.
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