The Persecution of Falun Gong at Hebei Province Women’s Prison

(Minghui.org) Since the abolition of the labor camp system, Hebei Province Women’s Prison has become a primary location for the detention of female Falun Gong practitioners convicted for their faith in the province, where the practitioners continue to suffer the same torture designed to break their will.

The Atrocities in Division 14

Forced to Recite Prison Rules, Coerced to Admit Guilt

All new inmates are first placed in Division 14 and normally stay there for about two months before being transferred to another division. Falun Gong practitioners, however, are normally held there for at least three months, or more than half a year. Everyone here is forced to recite the prison rules and take part in marching drills.

Only group leaders have access to hot water. A group leader is a criminal inmate selected by the prison authorities to manage the prisoners. Other inmates have no access to hot water, so they must wash their faces, hair, and bodies using cold water.

Division 14 is on a single floor with a total of 16 cells. Each cell holds 14 or 15 people, and is managed by two group leaders, a primary and a secondary one. These little leaders oversee the other inmates’ reciting prison rules, and everyone must be able to recite them. A person who was truly unable to recite the rules became so anxious that she banged her head against the wall.

When someone is unable to recite the rules, the group leader will withhold their food and give them only a steamed bun, not allowing them to eat any of the other food. The person will also not be allowed to use the phone and will be forced to stand for a long time as a form of punishment, or made to scrub the hall. The hall is a few hundred square feet. Whoever can not recite the prison rules will be forced by the group leader to scrub the hallways and the hall, and sometimes be made to scrub these areas repeatedly.

One of the prison rules states, “Don’t practice harmful exercises, cults harm both oneself and others,” which intends to target Falun Gong practitioners. The practitioners are made to recite it.

After entering the prison, inmates are required to fill out an intake form which asks whether they admit to their crimes or not. If they will not admit to their crimes this is noted on the form, and afterward the group leader and the person in charge of “transforming” practitioners will seek the person out, and repeatedly require them to admit guilt, putting tremendous psychological pressure on them.

The division has a template for a “statement of guilt and repentance.” After one admits guilt, the person must sign the statement and affix their fingerprint. But this is not the end it, as even more persecution awaits Falun Gong practitioners.

Forced to Study Materials Slandering Falun Gong, Coerced into Renouncing Their Belief

Those who admitted to their crimes would be transferred to the so-called “study cell.” Falun Gong practitioners are forced to watch and listen to materials that slander their belief during the day, and then return to their cells at night.

After being “transformed,” practitioners are forced to recite the materials and then to pass an evaluation. The prison authorities ask many questions to confirm whether the person truly “transformed” or is merely faking it. If the practitioner can not pass the evaluation, they will have to go through a second more difficult assessment, and far more questions will be asked.

Each prison division is staffed by more than a dozen prison guards. Some in the workshop oversee the forced labor, and the instructor is responsible for the so-called “transformation work.”

Falun Gong practitioners who are forced to “transform” are also forced to sign a series of documents, including a “repentance statement and statement of guilt,” “declaration of severance with their belief,” “guarantee statement,” and “statement criticizing and denouncing their belief.”

After they are forced to give up their faith, each and every practitioner is forced to be recorded by video reciting their statement of repentance and guilt. They are then forced to watch the “transformation” video every day without exception. Following watching the video, they are forced to read books slandering Falun Gong and then must write a reflection paper each day. This will continue until the practitioner eventually is transferred to another division.

If a practitioner refuses to “transform,” the prison authorities will not let them buy anything, or make calls to their family members. Some of them are transferred to Division 13. One practitioner was persecuted to the point that she could no longer walk. After her family members learned of this, they had a lawyer contact the prison. The lawyer went to the prison twice, and the torture was less intense.

Another practitioner who had just entered the prison, and had only four months left, refused to wear an inmate identification tag. The prison group leader sewed multiple tags all over her clothes. Another practitioner refused to wear the tag, so the group leader smacked her in the face and mouth with the sole of a shoe, leaving the practitioner’s face extremely swollen.

The Persecution in Other Divisions

After leaving Division 14, those who are not older than 65 are sent to the workshop. They work from 6 a.m. until 8 p.m. or 9 p.m. every day. They eat in the workshop, but the time allotted for each meal is just a few minutes. The earnings from the work are mostly confiscated by the prison authorities. It is said that some workers receive 100 or 200 yuan per month, while others receive 300 or 400 yuan. Some do not receive any pay and are instead punished. For the same amount of work in a typical workplace in society, someone would typically earn 4,000 to 5,000 yuan per month.

The identification tags worn by inmates determines the value of the goods they can purchase in the prison supermarket. Those with first tier can buy items worth 400 yuan or more, while second tier are limited to just over 280 yuan. Falun Gong practitioners who have not “transformed” are not allowed to buy anything. If they “transformed” while in Division 14, they can buy things worth a couple of dozen yuan. The money people have to spend is typically deposited by family members, or comes from the meager earnings from the forced labor.

Most of the people over 65 years of age are put in Division 17, which is for the elderly, infirm, ill, and disabled. The people in this division are normally not required to go to the workshop, but may occasionally do a little light work. At this stage, people are allowed hot water, and each person is given one thermos of hot water.

Division 17 has three floors, with 14 cells on each floor. More than 100 people are on each floor, so there is around 300 people held here in total. Falun Gong practitioners are distributed among the different cells. Each cell is overseen by a group leader.

Each day people get up around 5:40 a.m., wash up, tidy the living space, then have breakfast. At 8:30 a.m. they start watching different TV programs. Sometimes they are forced to watch “transformation” programming for days on end. On Wednesdays they must watch content related to prisons. Sometimes for months on end, the inmates are forced to recite regulations for prison management. They must recite the regulations each day and pass evaluations. This is all overseen by the group leaders, prison guards, and even inspectors from the prison administration bureau.

High definition cameras are installed in the division, and if anyone is caught talking, the guards will call out.

(This article is based on interviews with Falun Gong practitioners who were imprisoned at Hebei Province Women’s Prison).