(Minghui.org) A Xichang City, Sichuan Province resident completed her second three-year prison sentence on November 4, 2023 with severe back injuries due to long-term abuse in prison. A prison doctor warned her that she was at risk of becoming paralyzed.
Ms. Zhao Jun’s latest prison sentence stemmed from her arrest on July 23, 2019 for her faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999. She was released on bail on August 21, 2019 and taken back into custody around November 2020. She was sentenced to three years in December 2020 and transferred from the Xichang City Detention Center to the Chengdu City Women’s Prison on April 27, 2022.
During her 18 months in the prison, Ms. Zhao was not allowed to talk to others except when the guards or the inmates assigned to watch her asked her questions. Whenever she protested against the abuse, they threatened to increase her prison term. In addition, they put her on “strict management” for a total of 15 months. The “strict management” aimed to break targeted Falun Gong practitioners’ will by subjecting them to various forms of abuse, including sitting on a small stool, or standing, for long periods of time, sleep deprivation, no showers for long stretches of time, and limited purchase of daily necessities.
Prior to her latest ordeal, Ms. Zhao served another three years (November 2010 – November 2013) for practicing Falun Gong and was also brutally tortured in prison. Her mother, who had relied on Ms. Zhao for care, died during her second prison term.
First Four Months of Strict Management (May 5, 2022 – August 28, 2022)
On April 28, 2022, the day after Ms. Zhao was admitted to Ward Six of the Chengdu City Women’s Prison, the guards ordered her to write statements to renounce and denounce Falun Gong. She refused and they put her on “strict management” on May 5, 2022 and didn’t lift it until September 19 that year.
During the first four months of strict management, Ms. Zhao was forced to sit or stand in a particular position all day long except for meal times and sleep. She had to get up 30 minutes before other inmates and go to bed one hour later than the others. She was only given 5-10 minutes each day to brush her teeth and wash her face. She could only shower and do laundry once a week. It was extremely hot in Chengdu that summer of 2022, and other inmates complained of feeling uncomfortable even with a once-a-day shower. Ms. Zhao, who could only shower once a week, couldn’t get to sleep at night because her clothes were soaked in sweat.
The guards claimed that they were very lenient during her first four months of strict management because they wanted to give her a chance to “change her heart.” Ms. Zhao remained firm in her faith and the guards resorted to harsher tactics beginning August 29, 2022.
A Brutal 22-Day Strict Management (August 29, 2022 – September 19, 2022)
On August 29, 2022, the guards ordered Ms. Zhao to acknowledge she was a criminal before she could be granted permission to drink water or use the restroom. She refused to comply because she’d broken no law in practicing Falun Gong. The guards then did not allow her to drink water or use the restroom that whole day.
The guards next sent Ms. Zhao to Ward Two. For three days there, she was not allowed to wash her rice bowl and had keep using it even if there were still bones and other food debris in it. She was also not given any toilet paper or facial tissue to use. She was allowed six hours of sleep with the rest of the day being forced to sit on a small stool. Ms. Zhao threw her back while held at the Xichang City Detention Center and her spine was out of alignment. The long-term sitting on the small stool in the prison worsened her back pain. On the third day, an inmate suddenly grabbed her shoulders and kneed her lower back three times while she was sitting on the small stool. The pain was excruciating. Nonetheless, Ms. Zhao held firm to her faith and did not renounce Falun Gong.
Ms. Zhao was sent back to Ward Six on the sixth day. She was taken to Ward Four on September 15, 2022, where she was subjected to similar abuse. Her back pain became unbearable two days later and she asked to see a doctor.
Two guards and three inmates escorted her to the prison hospital. She saw a chair and wanted to sit down to take a break. The inmates did not allow it. She struggled to walk to the exam room. A doctor said she’d very likely become paralyzed without treatment. She was shocked to hear that and almost passed out. She begged to sit down but the inmates still said no. The doctor gave her four pills and did not even approve a sick day. She walked back to her cell and collapsed on the ground. An inmate yanked her up 30 minutes later.
On September 18, 2022, the inmates watching Ms. Zhao still ordered her to sit on a small stool or keep standing. Her back hurt terribly but the inmates either made her sit or yanked her up to stand. She stumbled to the ground, only to be yanked up to sit or squat again. A guard came in and noted that Ms. Zhao still refused to write statements to renounce Falun Gong. He called one of the inmates out and the inmate returned to the cell to announce that Ms. Zhao was not allowed to use the restroom.
Ms. Zhao was brought back to Ward Six that night. Several inmates abused her and one of them shook her to wake her up twice in the middle of the night.
On September 19, 2022, Ms. Zhao was taken to Ward Four again. She again requested to use the restroom. The guards again demanded she write statements to renounce Falun Gong first. She cried and her heart was bleeding. Falun Gong saved her from the misery of illnesses and she would never willingly betray it. However, if she kept facing abuse and became disabled, she worried who was going to take care of her elderly mother and how her daughter and husband would cope.
She wrote the required statements to renounce Falun Gong against her will and the guards lifted strict management that day.
Three Months with No Strict Management
The inmates ordered Ms. Zhao to write statements to criticize Falun Gong on September 20, 2022. She firmly refused. The guards had talks with her later and she said that her faith in Falun Gong had never changed.
In December 2022, Ms. Zhao wrote a “thought report” in which she declared null and void all the statements she was previously forced to write to renounce Falun Gong.
The guards then put her on strict management again beginning January 1, 2023.
On Strict Management During Remainder of Prison Term (January 1, 2023 – November 4, 2023)
From January to May 2023, Ms. Zhao was only allowed to wash herself three times (in early March, mid-April and mid-May). Beginning in early June, she was allowed to wash herself once every two weeks. Each time she was only given a small basin of water to clean herself in five minutes.
Due to lack of bathing, Ms. Zhao developed eczema and still had rashes on her skin when she was released on November 4, 2023.
Except for doing hard labor, eating or sleeping, Ms. Zhao was forced to sit for 17 hours every day from January 1 to 21, 2023. Her hips and lower back thus sustained severe internal injuries. Beginning January 22, 2023, she was forced to stand for most of the day. By June 2023, her legs and feet had become extremely swollen, and her back pain had become unbearable. Only then did the guards shorten her standing time, but the shower limitations still applied.
Related reports:
Five Sichuan Residents' Motion to Reconsider Their Prison Sentences Accepted by Intermediate Court
Seven Sichuan Residents Sentenced to Prison, Families in Distress
Six Falun Gong Practitioners and One Spouse Stand Trial
Four Sichuan Residents Indicted for Their Faith, File Appeals to Have Cases Dropped
Six Falun Gong Practitioners and One Husband Face Trial
Sixty-four Falun Gong Practitioners Arrested in Two Weeks in Sichuan ProvinceMs. Luo Mingchun Arrested and Facing Prosecution
Sichuan Residents Seeking Justice for Wrongful Sentences
How One Woman's Compassion Changed a Convicted Murderer: The Story of Ms. Zhao Jun
Ms. Zhao Jun Appeals Verdict after Being Released from Prison
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Category: Torture of Women
