(Minghui.org) Editor’s note: This is a Falun Gong practitioner’s personal account of what she went through for upholding her faith. She was sentenced to four and a half years in 2014 and fired from her job in 2015. The social security bureau wiped out her 30-year service record from her pension account.
She was sentenced to another three and a half years in December 2022 and was admitted to the Sichuan Province Women’s Prison in the Longquanyi District of Chengdu City, where she was subjected to various forms of abuse. She broke her left wrist on November 19, 2024, when she tripped and fell while being rushed to complete an activity. She was recently released, only to be put on a five-year supervision. She was not allowed to apply for a low-income subsidy or receive retirement benefits. Her disabled left hand is so weak that she cannot lift a small pot.
Placed Under 5-Year Supervision After Completing Second Prison Term
The day I completed my 3.5-year prison term, education section chief Liao Qiongfang took me to an office to meet with four people from my local street committee. One of them, surnamed Huang, ordered me to sign several statements to renounce and denounce Falun Gong.
I refused to comply, so Liao instructed the four people who were there to keep me under close surveillance. She told them that my broken left wrist was not healed yet and that I had no source of income.
On the way back to the street committee office, Huang promised me all kinds of subsidies if I gave up my spiritual belief. I said I would not since no law in China criminalizes Falun Gong. He threatened to not even allow me to grow crops when I returned to my hometown, to support myself.
At the committee office, Huang and secretary Du took me to the judicial department for deposition. They put me on a five-year [non-court-ordered] supervision before they let me go.
A week later, Huang brought deputy police chief Lu to the street committee office, where I was doing odd jobs to make ends meet. They ordered me to transfer my household registration to another district so they wouldn’t have to monitor me. Someone surnamed Wang took pictures of me when I was not looking.
They asked for my phone number and home address, which I refused to give them, so they no longer let me do the odd jobs arranged by the street committee.
I later went to the judicial department to ask why they put me on a five-year supervision since I already completed the prison sentence. Director Chen was unable to give an answer.
The social security bureau said that I had to pay 15 years of contributions to be eligible for pension benefits again, since they had long before wiped out my 30-year service record. I have no job, much less the funds to make such contributions. I heard about a new type of subsidy, the “4050 social security subsidy,” but I learned I was ineligible to apply.
I did not expect to face this kind of financial persecution after I served a second prison term. I am sharing my prison experiences to further testify against the communist regime for targeting law-abiding citizens simply because they practice Falun Gong.
I. Strict Management
1. Monitored Around the Clock
I was sentenced to 3.5 years in December 2022 for distributing Falun Gong materials. I was admitted to the Sichuan Province Women’s Prison on August 31, 2023. Perhaps because this was my second prison sentence, I was not put in the team for newly admitted inmates—instead I was directly assigned to the fifth division for strict management.
Two inmates were instructed to monitor me around the clock. One of them was Long Qingmei, a serious offender with a university degree who’d been convicted of embezzling medical insurance funds. The other was Huang Xiaoyan, who had a vocational school diploma and was convicted of drug trafficking.
I was held in a solitary confinement cell 24/7 and had to eat, sleep, and relieve myself there. Long and Huang forced me to watch videos and listen to audio recordings that slandered Falun Gong and its founder every day. They turned the volume as high as it would go, causing extreme discomfort to my brain, heart, and every cell in my body. They shouted at me that all practitioners must “transform.”
2.Denied Daily Necessities
I did not have any daily necessities with me when I was admitted to prison. I had no towels, toothbrush, toothpaste, dishwashing detergent, shampoo, body wash, toilet paper, or clothes hangers. The guards gave me nothing and refused to let me purchase or borrow anything. I asked for paper and pen to write an appeal but my request was denied. Long and Huang did not let me see the prison managers so I could file complaints.
The prison called the way they treated me a “special lifestyle.” They said that my living conditions would improve only if I renounced Falun Gong.
3. Sleep Restriction
Regular inmates were allowed to go to bed at 9:30 p.m., but Falun Gong practitioners on strict management had to wait until 11 p.m. The inmates were allowed a 30-minute nap at noon during the summer, but practitioners had no breaks.
I had to ask for permission before I could use the washroom or the toilet. I had to say, “I am criminal so-and-so, and I’m requesting [to do whatever activity].”
4. Physical Torture
I was forced to sit in a military posture on a small round stool 20 centimeters high (eight inches) and 20 centimeters in diameter. After long periods of sitting, I felt unbearably uncomfortable and developed sores on my buttocks. On other occasions, I was made to stand or squat for hours on end. Without the monitors’ permission, I could not move. I collapsed several times during the sitting, standing, and squatting tortures, which the guards called “exercises.” These tortures did not cause external injuries but were extremely cruel.
I knew that other practitioners were also subjected to similar abuse. Ms. Zhang Xunju, in her 60s, who was released before me, and Ms. Xie Zicheng, 74, were made to stand in military postures for three days without sleep. Ms. Peng Huanying, a government statistician serving a four-year term, held firm to her faith despite the abuse and was treated as a mental patient even though she had no psychiatric illnesses. Her monitors kept her in the cell at all times and forced her to take unknown pills for long periods of time. She became mentally disordered as a result and would get up in the middle of the night and pace around. Her cellmates taunted her and made fun of her. When I was taken to the prison hospital for my broken left wrist, I saw her just after she had been discharged from the psychiatric department.
II. The Brainwashing Process
In order to achieve a 100% “transformation” rate, the education section devised a meticulous brainwashing process from prison admission to release. During the first week after a practitioner was admitted, she had to study the propaganda materials that slandered Falun Gong and its founder. She was also ordered to sign four preprepared statements to renounce and denounce Falun Gong at the end of the first week. After that, she was instructed to write weekly thought reports. Two months later, she had to be able to write statements to attack Falun Gong on her own instead of using template statements. The prison would then evaluate the progress of her “transformation.” She then had to take a test which had questions that slandered Falun Gong. After that , she had to “study” for a month of reinforcement. Before her release, she had to spend her last month in prison studying slanderous materials again. She was then ordered to sign those four statements before being released.
1. Thought Reports
Guard Chen Jing often made me rewrite my thought reports she deemed unsatisfactory. She also reprimanded monitor Huang for allowing me to submit those reports. Huang then wrote some reports herself to attack Falun Gong and forced me to fingerprint them. Liao compiled these reports and published them in a book.
2. Evaluation
After the first two months of intensive brainwashing, practitioners were evaluated on the progress of their transformation. The monitors conducted mock evaluations to ensure that practitioners knew how to answer the questions. The guards warned us not to deviate from the rehearsed answers.
Liao oversaw these evaluations personally. She often ordered the practitioners to read their renouncing statements in front of everyone while she video- and audio-recorded everything. She also bombarded the practitioners with questions, such as: “Did you sign the four statements yourself? Did you write the criticism statement yourself? You are illiterate [or “You only have a primary school education”]. How could you write such a lengthy and profound criticism article? Is Falun Gong a cult? Is your Master Li a fraud? How did he deceive you? Is he a human or a god? You didn’t ‘transform’ for so many years, why did you ‘transform’ so quickly after being put in prison? What prompted you to change your mind so quickly and realize that Falun Gong is a cult? Do you regret being ‘transformed?’ Are you afraid of retribution for cursing your master and Falun Gong? Why aren’t you afraid of retribution? Will you continue to practice after you are released? What will you do if your fellow practitioners come looking for you?”
If the practitioner didn’t give a satisfactory answer, Liao declared that she failed the evaluation and she had to be subjected to the same abuse and brainwashing she went through the first two months she was incarcerated. The monitors often made the practitioner’s life even worse. They put pictures of Falun Gong’s founder in her underwear, on her head, under her feet, on her back, chest, or knees, or under her bedsheet. This usually caused the practitioner tremendous mental stress.
3. Buckled Under Pressure but I Nullified My Statements
Under the intense pressure, I signed the four statements against my will the first week I was incarcerated. Guard Chen finally gave me a washcloth, a mouthwash cup, a toothbrush, and toothpaste. Monitor Long gave me one roll of toilet paper but threatened to take it back if I “misbehaved.”
Ten days later when guard Chen had a talk with me, I said that I nullified the statements I was forced to sign and expressed my intent to file a motion to have my prison sentence reconsidered. She retorted, “You obviously didn’t study well and need to join a mutual monitoring group [discussed later].”
4. Mental and Physical Torment
Because I held firm to my faith, monitors Huang and Long forced me to squat, stand, or sit in front of the TV set that was turned to the maximum volume to play videos that slandered Falun Gong. They also put Master Li’s picture under my bedsheet.
I was not deterred, and the guards reprimanded the monitors. They in turn lashed out at me. Long threatened to take back the toilet paper she gave me. I went on a hunger strike for three days in protest. They again made me stay in the same position for long hours. I couldn’t bear it anymore and I moved. They kneed me from behind, forcing me to squat or sit. They also lifted my arms to pull me up to stand when I defied their order. I collapsed several times, and they accused me of faking.
They forced me to answer questions that slandered Falun Gong. I did not answer the way they wanted me to, so they ordered me to re-do everything. I was in extreme mental and physical pain.
5. Continued Brainwashing
After I was eventually turned into a “satisfactory inmate” against my will, I was assigned to do slave labor every day. But that was not the end of the brainwashing. All of us practitioners were gathered together every Tuesday afternoon to study materials that slandered Falun Gong and then do “homework.” We had to write a thought report every month until the day we were released.
Two weeks before I was released, I was ordered to rewrite, in my own words, the four statements I was made to sign when I entered the prison. The guards also tried to make me re-take the evaluation test. I firmly refused to comply, and the guards gathered nearly 20 monitors to persuade me.
Liao and Chen warned me that defying their order would only result in a poor evaluation on my record, which, in turn, would make it necessary for my local government to monitor me after I was released.
III. Involuntary Drug Administration
The prison also forced me and other inmates to take unknown medications.
1. Upon Admission
I was shackled on the drive to the prison, and I kept vomiting. During the required physical exam, I was found to have high blood pressure and was given pills to take.
When I refused to take them, monitor Huang pinched my chin, pried my mouth open, and forced the pill in. It felt as if my chin was almost crushed, and the pain was excruciating.
I suffered severe side effects, but the guards and the prison doctors did not lower the dose or let me stop taking the pills. The aforementioned practitioner Ms. Xie was also forced to take hypertension medication. Her face and neck were flushed every afternoon. She also experienced dizziness, heart palpitations, and weakness. The prison doctors claimed that it was normal to have such reactions and ordered her to keep taking the pills. A few months later, she developed a heart condition, and her vision suddenly deteriorated. She was so weak that others had to help her walk or climb the stairs. Only then did the prison let her stop taking the drug.
An inmate was said to have depression and given an antidepressant in February or March 2025. She had nightmares and was restless after taking the pills. She even screamed in the middle of the night. She later hid the pills in her sleeves, but they were discovered. She was ordered to attend a “study session” for a month and had two points deducted from her good-behavior points.
2. Not Enough Time to Eat
Those who were forced to take medications had to line up in the second floor lobby every day to get their pills. Since that happened around mealtime, we often had insufficient time to eat. The guards claimed that we could finish eating after taking the pills, but they also made us clean up everything around the same time. After we were done cleaning, it was time to do the slave labor.
Once I ate the steamed bun that I didn’t get to finish at breakfast while on the way to the second floor lobby to get the medication. The head inmate in charge of overseeing the line spotted me eating and yelled at me non-stop. I usually ate very little and I was constantly hungry. I eventually developed osteoporosis.
3. Taking the Pills Was Humiliating
We had to say “I am criminal so-and-so, and I ask for my medication” before I was given the pills. While standing in line, we were given a cup of water to hold in our right hand. Wheni t was our turn, we switched the cup to our left hand, and the pills were put into our right hand. We then swallowed the pills right there. The pill distributor, the guards, and the inmates assigned to monitor us would tell us to open our mouth and stick our tongue out to ensure we swallowed them. We also had to open our right hand and shake our sleeves to prove that we didn’t hide them.
If we did not follow this procedure, we were verbally and physically abused. For example, the inmates usually stuck their hands into my mouth to check if I hid the pills there.
After taking the pills, we had to sign forms. I once signed three times, and the machine indicated “success.” The guards, however, could not see it on their end, so I was ordered to attend “study sessions” for three days.
After signing, we had to get in line to have our clothes searched and pockets checked. We also had to open our mouths and raise our arms so they could see if we’d hidden anything. We were required to walk in a straight line, with no more than three steps between us. Those considered “out of line” were yelled at.
Everyone was on edge at medication time and we dared not make a sound. The guards claimed they did it this way because they “cared,” when in reality it caused us tremendous mental stress.
IV. Standing Torture, Study Sessions, and Involuntary “Volunteering”
The following three were the most commonly used forms of abuse used on those deemed to have broken the rules or who failed to complete their work quota.
1. Standing in Front of a Mirror
Those who failed to meet the work quota were often made to stand three times a day—after breakfast, after lunch, and after dinner—in front of the mirror at the entrance to the second floor lobby. If it was a holiday, she had to stand all day long. She was given no time to wash, get hot water, or make her bed. If she’d been assigned certain tasks, others would have to pick up the slack, so they often lashed out at her.
2. Study Sessions
Study sessions were used to torment those who failed to meet the work quota or broke certain rules. The inmates were taken to different floors to sit in military postures after dinner. They were then made to study the prison rules for about an hour. It was usually after 9 p.m. before they were allowed to return to their cells.
Some of them were ordered to attend seven-day study sessions, while others were subjected to shorter terms. They had to answer pre-set questions or transcribe the prison rules. After the study sessions, they had to be evaluated to determine if they met the requirements.
3. Involuntary “Volunteering”
Those who violated the prison rules were also forced to do “volunteer work,” such as cleaning up the laundry room, sweeping the yard, setting dinner tables, mopping the floor, washing dishes, or laundering dirty mats. Such unpaid work was done during the break time. Even older inmates were not exempt from this, and they had to take out the trash three times a week.
If an inmate was given too much volunteer work, she could pay the guards [bribe them], which was one way the guards made money.
4. Food Control
Those subjected to the abuse mentioned above had to relinquish any extra food they purchased with their own money. If they had also been put under strict management, they were given only half of the prison-offered meals.
If the guards deemed someone to have severe violations, their whole division or floor might be affected, and everyone was barred from getting extra food.
V. The Mutual Monitoring Group
The “mutual monitoring group” required everyone in the same group to do everything together or they faced repercussions. There were around 420 people in the fifth division, and we were divided into mutual monitoring groups of from three to seven people.
Each group had to eat, “study,” use the restroom, call their families, and go to bed together. If anyone did things at her own pace, the entire group was punished. Sometimes the guards even implicated the whole cell, the whole floor, or even the entire fifth division.
The punishments included studying for one week and doing “volunteer work” for several days.
I once knocked my badge to the side by accident while making bed sheets and duvet covers in the workshop. It just so happened that the prison director came to inspect the workshop, spotted my crooked badge, and wrote down my name. My entire mutual monitoring group yelled at me, fearing they’d be implicated. Since it was in the hot summer, the prison ended up not putting us in study sessions.
Another time, my group was hanging our laundry when we were told to hurry to the next activity. The group leader ran in front of me, violating the rule that group leaders be the last in line. We found out about the rule and corrected our formation, but the guards still criticized us. It turned out a group member reported us. This mutual monitoring group mechanism really twisted people’s minds.
VI. Arbitrary Rules That Denied Basic Rights
The most vehement message at prison meetings, large and small, was: “You must understand you are a criminal and know your place in the prison.” We had no right to express our opinions and we were used as sweatshop laborers to make money for the prison. The guards made rules on a whim to abuse us.
One night the surveillance camera caught a night-duty inmate putting her hands behind her back. Her division was reprimanded, and she was ordered to do two weeks of study sessions and one month of “volunteer work.” Out of that was born a new verbal rule: No one could put their hands behind their back.
A different inmate put a towel on her pillow, and a new rule barring this came out. When the guards found out that someone went to the restroom and was late getting in line for lunch, they made a new rule that no one was to use the restroom during mealtime.
The guards were always being prompted to make new rules, such as not touching your nose, scratching your head, or putting your hand in your pocket.
With these rules being so random, it was very easy to be in violation. The whole mutual monitoring group, the whole floor, or the entire division would then be subjected to various forms of punishment.
Any time we encountered a guard, we had to say “Report.” Inmate Xu Mo forgot to say it one day when she was entering the cafeteria. She and over ten others were then ordered to do one week of study sessions and several days of “volunteer work.”
The guards also made money by imposing fines on those who broke the rules.
VII. Extreme Hard Labor for Maximum Exploitation
1. Always Rushed
“Hurry, hurry, hurry!” was the command we heard all the time, as the prison exploited our free labor to the maximum extent possible. The mutual monitoring groups were often composed of people of different ages. As older inmates struggled to keep up, they were bullied by the younger group members. Many seniors fell due to the constant stress and broke their bones, including practitioners Ms. Ling Junhui, Ms. Xie Zicheng, and Ms. Wang Youping.
On the morning of November 19, 2024, my mutual monitoring group was collecting trash as a month-long punishment, when the inmate overseeing us urged us to hurry up as it was about time to line up to go to the workshop. We then ran to pick up trash. I tripped and fell, severely injuring my left wrist.
My wrist was fractured in two places, and the distal and radial ends were dislocated. The prison doctors couldn’t reset my bones. They said that, at most, I could expect a 70% recovery. Even today, I cannot even lift a small empty pot with my left hand.
The prison refused to bear responsibility for my injury.
2. Extended Hours and Increased Work Load
We were forced to work for over ten and a half hours a day, far exceeding the legal limit. The prison promised to add chicken and duck legs to our meals, but the special treatment only lasted three months. The work hours were never shortened.
Although there were no additional inmates, the prison exploited the existing inmates so effectively that production output increased by 11% from 2023 to 2024. As long as an inmate was not prescribed bedrest by the prison doctor, she still had to go to the workshop even if she was sick. Her work quota had to be made up by others, who struggled to even finish their own quota.
Because the guards kept increasing everyone’s workload, more and more inmates fell behind and were subjected to the standing torture in the second floor lobby. Sometimes up to 160 of them stood at the same time.
Our drinking water was limited to reduce how often we went to the restroom, thereby maximizing work time to finish our quotas. We had to report our production output every hour. We were pushed almost to the limit. Some people played mind games to gain an upper hand in such an environment.
VIII. Deceit
The communist regime is notorious for using deceptive tactics to deceive and persecute people. The prison made a lot of money using sweatshop labor, so they were careful to cover up how they exploited us. For instance, by law all prisoners should be given one day off a week. The guards forced us to fill in a form to “volunteer” to work for half a day on the off-days. The prison regulations also stipulated one day of “study” every week, but the guards had us work half a day on the study days.
The higher-ups often came to inspect the prison, but they did not see what was really going on. We were ordered to say certain things or we risked being punished.
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