(Minghui.org) Mr. He Jingru (何镜如), a Falun Gong practitioner in Guangdong Province, has experienced muscular atrophy in both arms as a result of torture and psychiatric abuse. Mr. He spent five years in Beijiang Prison before his release earlier this year.

Years of incarceration and tortures have reduced Mr. He, a horticultural worker and once a basketball player, from a healthy man to one in dire situation.

His latest arrest was on January 28, 2010 and was sentenced to 5 years. He was transferred to Beijiang Prison on November 12, 2010. He was detained in Sanshui Forced Labor Camp from 2000 to 2004 and Sihui Prison from 2005 to 2009.

When he was released from Sihui Prison in 2009, he experienced severe loss of muscle mass all over the body due to the torture he endured there. Bedridden, he recovered by practicing the Falun Gong exercises. He was soon able to walk slowly on his own, then was arrested and sentenced again.

Forced to Sit on Wooden Beams for Two Days

Upon Mr. He's arrival at the prison, inmates, under the directions of prison guards, took the seat off from a chair and forced him to sit on two one-inch wide wooden beams. They tied his feet and fixed his arms to the “chair” for two days.

He was denied any food or water, and he had to relieve himself while sitting on the chair. An inmate was enlisted to stomp on Mr. He's feet, further immobilizing him.

Torture re-enactment: stomping on one's feet

Arms Injured after Hung up for Three Days

Because Mr. He refused to abandon his beliefs in Falun Gong, prison guards escalated the tortures. On December 23, 2010, they took Mr. He to a room specifically set up to persecute practitioners. They cuffed his hands behind his back and hung him up on a window frame for three days.

Torture illustration: Cuffed and hung up

Seeing that Mr. He still wouldn't renounce his beliefs, the guards sprayed oil on pieces of paper and lit them on fire. The type of oil used (carminative oil) prevented flames but produced toxic fumes and smoke that went directly into his lungs.

After three days of torture, Mr. He couldn't move his limbs. Accusing him of faking injury, inmates stabbed his hands with toothpicks. They stopped after seeing no reaction from him. Then, an inmate grabbed his hands and forced him to copy a statement renouncing Falun Gong.

The sputum that Mr. He coughed out looked like yellow mud and was diagnosed as having serious lung infections by the Shaoguan Hospital. His hair turned white within two months of incarceration in Beijiang Prison.

Drugged by Prison Guards, Arms Atrophy

Mr. He clarified the facts about Falun Gong to other inmates during a prison meeting. Guard Zhang Jiwen was furious and took him away.

In the following days, Zhang ordered an inmate to cook breakfast for Mr. He. When Mr. He ate it, the food reeked of drugs. He noticed that the muscular atrophy in his arms worsened.

Arm Broken for Resisting Brainwashing

In late 2012, Mr. He went on a hunger strike to protest the brainwashing. The guards played propaganda videos slandering Falun Gong around the clock in front of his bed. He protested. Inmates then beat him and broke his arm.

Eight months later, he finally gained some feeling in his left hand. He couldn't move his right hand until he was recently released from prison and able to practice the Falun Gong exercises again.