(Minghui.org) Minghui.org previously reported on the crimes committed in the 16th Division of Shizuishan Prison in Ningxia, against the Falun Gong practitioners jailed there. This report provides more details about the persecution.
At least seven practitioners are still being held in the 16th division at the time of this writing, including Mr. Ma Zhiwu (14 years), Mr. Chu Jidong (13 years), Mr. Luan Ning (10 years), Mr. Sun Lei (7 years), Mr. Zheng Yongxin (five years and ten months), Mr. You Haijun (5 years), and Mr. Zhao Lin (term unknown).
The 16th Division, also known as the “High Security Division,” was repurposed from the old division for the elderly and infirm. It is under the management of the prison’s education department.
Since the Shizuishan Prison took over from the Yinchuan Prison in 2019 as the main facility to jail Falun Gong practitioners in Ningxia, the 16th Division has undergone comprehensive renovation and decoration, and has become fully equipped with various facilities and equipment for monitoring, restricting, suppressing, and torturing practitioners.
Organizational Structure
The 16th Division, headed by Ma Qiang, has three zones, including strict management, control, and training. Each zone has its unique uniform colors for guards and inmates. The detention duration is usually three to six months for strict management, up to two years for control, and one to two months for training. The two-year upper limit for control duration was later removed. Many practitioners were held in the control zone for many years. The aforementioned Mr. Luan was admitted to prison in 2019 and is still being held in the control zone as of today.
The strict management zone includes a solitary confinement room, Strict Management Area One, and Strict Management Area Two. The confinement room and Strict Management Area One are both small in size, with only a sink inside (no faucet) and nothing else. Strict Management Area Two has two teams. One team has a sink and the other doesn’t.
The control zone has 13 cells (also known as teams), which are the main places used to hold jailed practitioners. The windows of each cell are secured with metal bars and covered with barbed wire. The electric metal door is covered in felt, with a small door opening below and a row of fence-like vents above.
Cells one, 12, and 13, do not have faucets, and practitioners have to do all cleaning in a water tank. Cell one has walls padded with thick padding. Each cell is only allowed to keep one paper cup and one or two rolls of toilet paper. No other daily necessities are allowed. The practitioners are often not allowed to clean themselves or use the restroom for long stretches of time. Some practitioners, especially those with prostate issues, are forced to wet and soil their pants.
There are two high-resolution surveillance cameras on opposite corners of the ceiling in each cell, which also sports a pinhole camera. The guards often patrol the control zone with long electric batons in hand, and have never hesitated to hit anyone deemed in violation of the prison rules.
The practitioners are either held alone or in a cell with regular inmates and no other practitioners. Whenever they are allowed to leave the cell, they must wear a black hood. If another practitioner passes by their cell, they are not allowed to look out and must turn their backs to the door. They are also prohibited from talking about other practitioners’ situations.
The training zone has two camps, each featuring different facilities.
There is a row of large monitors in the guards’ duty room, allowing them to clearly see every move in all corners of the entire division. There is also a display screen in the corridor of each zone, which is watched by the prisoners on duty.
The division sports three fields, one large and two small. Above each field is dense barbed wire supported by thick steel bars.
There is also a so-called chat room in the building, which has two metal chairs that can keep a practitioner’s hands, feet, lower back, and head restrained. The chairs are separated from the guards’ interrogation desk by a steel pipe fence-like barrier.
Perpetrators
Division head Ma is assisted by deputy head Fan Lixiang, and guards Dang Ningning, Lei Zhanbiao, Ma, and others. They handpicked nearly 40 inmates from various teams to help monitor and torture Falun Gong practitioners.
The inmates are given special privileges, and also power to abuse practitioners without any consequences. In order to keep the perks and earn points to reduce their prison sentences, they spare no effort in making the practitioners’ lives miserable.
Every Move Requires Permission
The practitioners must seek permission from the inmates before doing anything, and every step of the way. For instance, during the daily water distribution, they must ask each of the following questions before finally getting water:
- “May I fetch my cup?”- “May I get in line to fetch water?”- “May I sit down to wait for my turn?”- “May I step out of my line to have my cup filled?”- “May I return to the line?”- “May I sit down to wait for permission to drink the water?”- “May I drink water now?”- “May I put away my cup?”- “May I return to the line to get back to my cell?”
Such procedures (asking for permission for every movement) are required for all other daily activities, including eating meals, using the restroom, laying in bed to sleep, getting out of bed, taking medications, meeting with family members, and talking with the guards.
The practitioners are not allowed to talk to non-monitor inmates in the same team unless given permission from the monitors. Talking to practitioners in a different team is strictly prohibited. While standing, the practitioners must look forward and not turn their heads to the left, right, or back. While walking, they must walk a straight line with their heads up, chest straight, and arms swinging back and forth.
All these robotic treatments of practitioners is dubbed “behavior modification.”
The guards on duty inspect the cells three times a day, in the morning, the afternoon, and at night. Any cell that does not do well in behavior modification is subjected to punishment, which includes electric shocks and revocation of off-days.
Three Main Abuse Methods
The daily torture routine includes three main things: standing, memorization, and training.
The practitioners are forced to stand for over 10 hours every day, except during training sessions. Each cell has four to seven 30 by 40 cm (12 x 16 inch) red lacquer-painted boxes on the ground. The practitioners must stand inside the boxes and must seek permission to step outside; otherwise they are considered to have violated rules and are subjected to punishment.
The monitors in each zone have developed various materials for practitioners to memorize. The materials range from prison rules, to judicial regulations, to civil affairs. If the practitioners fail to recite the materials accurately, they are subjected to punishment, such as extended standing.
The training sessions often lack standard contents. Each zone and even each cell develops their own training routines. Sometimes the different routines cause conflicts among the inmates tasked with brainwashing the practitioners. The inmates hold morning meetings every day and submit written records of the practitioners’ status each afternoon. They then brainstorm the following morning about how to further persecute steadfast practitioners. Weekly meetings are also held in addition to the daily mornings.
The training mainly focuses on what movements the practitioners must do during behavior modification. There are also various exercises, including military-style formation movements. Behavior modification movements consist of kicking, turning, squatting, standing, stomping, and other movements. In other words, every time the practitioners seek permission to do something, they must also do the required moves. The range of movements and physical exertion are demanding, especially for the elderly. One man in his 70s collapsed during the training but was held up by two others to keep going. The movements are also part of the daily examination by the guards. Any deviation from the required moves results in punishment.
During the formation trainings, the inmates order the practitioners to stomp their feet hard on concrete or tile floors – the louder the stomping the better, as a way to show momentum and hard-training attitude. If a practitioner doesn’t make a loud stomping sound, he may be forced to keep stomping, sometimes up to thousands of times, often resulting in severe pain and swelling of the feet. Some even lose control of their bladders and have bloody urine. A man surnamed He collapsed during the stomping and was rushed to the hospital. He did not survive.
The inmates have also often broken down the exercise movements and forced the practitioners to do one single movement for long hours, such as squatting, bending over, or remaining in a certain posture.
Buddy System
When Zhang Yanjun was still the deputy division head, he developed a buddy system in which each monitor headed a team composed of a practitioner and two to three regular inmates. If any team members showed dissatisfaction with the inmate, he would order all the others to hold down the “offender” and wait for the guards to come and deal with the matter. During the “holding down,” some suffered swollen faces while others had their teeth knocked out.
Zhang also made two wooden stools to specifically abuse practitioners Mr. Luan and Mr. Sun Jianfeng (who was released in 2026 after serving six years). The one for Mr. Luan had a row of nails on the surface, and the nail caps were uneven and raised. The one for Mr. Sun had slotted metal bars on the surface. The two practitioners were forced to sit on the stools for long periods of time. Additionally, Zhang purchased a giant heavy-duty mop that weighed almost 100 pounds when wet. He then forced Mr. Sun to drag the mop around all day long. These torture techniques were later also applied to other jailed practitioners.
Related Report:
The Persecution of Falun Gong Practitioners in Shizuishan Prison
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