Jilin Women’s Prison: Notorious Torture Behind 29 Deaths
Photo of Masanjia Labor Camp, another facility with a notorious reputation in persecuting Falun Gong practitioners (screenshot from a Lens magazine article).
One of the most notorious prisons for abusing Falun Gong practitioners is the Jilin Province Women’s Prison. According to available information from the Minghui website, at least 29 practitioners had died as a result of the brutal torture they suffered there, with the most recent case being in July 2021.
While many persecution cases have been reported, many more cases likely remain unreported, due to strict information censorship in China or fear of retaliation from the authorities.
Systematic Torture
Officials at Jilin Province Women’s Prison have developed a comprehensive transformation process aimed to force Falun Gong practitioners to renounce their faith. (Listen to a firsthand account of the transformation process: here.)
After being admitted to the prison, practitioners are each assigned 1-2 criminal inmates and 1-2 collaborators (former practitioners who have renounced their faith), who monitor them around the clock.
Living in the same cells as the newly admitted practitioners, the collaborators observe the practitioners closely and try to identify their personalities and weaknesses that could be used to weaken their willpower and shake their faith in Falun Gong. (Because the collaborators once practiced Falun Gong themselves, it is easier for them to deceive the practitioners.)
Practitioners are also subject to solitary confinement, and torture. They are forced to watch videos that defame Falun Gong and are required to write frequent “thought reports.” Even entertainment performances contain brainwashing programs that slander Falun Gong.
Those practitioners who refuse to renounce Falun Gong are placed under strict monitoring by several criminal inmates (often murderers or drug dealers), who are incentivized by prison authorities with term reductions to persecute the practitioners. These inmates are crude and sometimes perverted and will resort to any imaginable method to torture the practitioner.
For example, they would deprive practitioners of sleep, food, and water, and prevent them from washing. They have also forced practitioners to sit on small stools for extended periods. Practitioners could also be denied restroom usage or sanitary napkin when menstruating.
The practitioner is constantly being watched and could be verbally abused or beaten by these criminal inmates, but prison guards turn a blind eye.
If a practitioner reports the mistreatment to prison guards, the complaint is often ignored, and she is retaliated against. Some practitioners have been crippled permanently, some have been driven insane, and some have also died from the torture.
Even in the situation where a practitioner is forced to renounce Falun Gong, she will still be closely monitored by the assigned inmates and collaborators. If her behavior does not meet the requirements of being truly transformed, she may be put under strict monitoring again for the so-called “in-depth transformation”. To be considered truly transformed, one must openly acknowledge and agree with the CCP’s slandering against Falun Gong.
Based on an original report from Minghui.org:
