Investigative Report on the Persecution of Falun Gong by Li Jirong

Former Director of the Beijing Women's Labor Camp

December 30, 2020

Full Name of Perpetrator: Li (last name) Jirong (first name) (李继荣)

Gender: Female

Country: China

Year of Birth: 1961[1]

Positions

In 2001, Li became head of the No. 4 division at the Beijing Women’s Labor Camp (also known as the Beijing Xin’an Labor Camp and Tiantanghe Labor Camp). Later, she was promoted to Director of the Beijing Women's Labor Camp.[2] Currently, she works at Tiantanghe Women Correctional Institute.[3]

The CCP’s persecution of Falun Gong is a persecution of faith. Its goal is to force Falun Gong practitioners to abandon their beliefs. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) calls this process “educational transformation,” i.e., “brainwashing.” As a result of her active role in carrying out the “brainwashing” against Falun Gong at the direction of the CCP, she was awarded the “Red Flag Excellent Female Model Worker,” “Police Officer that People Like,” and “second-level national hero” awards. She was presented with multiple second and third level awards. She was the only female representative from the national forced labor education system in the CCP’s Sixteenth National Congress and was received by CCP chief Jiang Zemin, the person who launched the persecution of Falun Gong.[4],[5]

Major Crimes

The Beijing Female Labor Camp (also called the Beijing Xin’an Labor Camp and Tiantanghe Labor Camp) is located in Daxing County, Beijing. Since 1999, it has followed the CCP’s direction on the persecution of Falun Gong and has imprisoned several thousand Falun Gong practitioners over the years. Its frequent and highly intense torture methods have resulted in the death, handicap, and mental deterioration of many Falun Gong practitioners. To achieve the targeted success rate of brainwashing, Li Jirong and her cohorts use various inhumane methods to torture Falun Gong practitioners. Such methods include applying electric shock to sensitive private parts, corporeal punishment (long-time standing and squatting using one leg without support), “flying” punishment (doing a handstand against the wall with the arms and legs stretched out straight along the wall), “riding a motorcycle” (squatting with heels off the ground and two arms extending to the front), “gecko climbing the wall” (standing on one leg, the other leg raised up and arms extending out to imbalance with upper body straight up),[6] beating and kicking, waterboarding, standing in uncomfortable postures for extended period of time, standing under the burning sun until burned, sleep deprivation, and no access to a bathroom. Other methods used include being subjected to “special treatment” for over half a year. During the special treatment, one is given only corn meals with no vegetables and subjected to long hours of forced labor, extended prison terms, solitary confinement, around-the-clock physical attacks, sleep deprivation, denial of family visits, lack of daily necessities, denial of access to the bathroom, incited hatred of the criminals against Falun Gong practitioners, and sexual assault such as penetration of the vagina with toothbrushes.[7]

According to Minghui’s report in early 2004, Li Jirong persecuted nearly 2,000 Falun Gong practitioners, physically and/or mentally. In the labor camp, in addition to her participation in the torture, she directed, instigated and sheltered inmates and guards who beat and tortured Falun Gong practitioners.[8] She was especially known for her brainwashing. Her cruel transformation methods caused many Falun Gong practitioners to develop mental disorders. Li Jirong has a reputation for her brutality and numerous crimes.

The following are some of the persecution cases collected.

Death by Torture

Falun Gong practitioner Wu Junying, female, 52 years old, was kidnapped on January 17, 2006 and sent to the Beijing Women's Labor Camp, where she was persecuted to death within 48 hours. At the time, Li Jirong was head of the Beijing Women’s Labor Camp.[9],[10]

Cases of Mental Disorders

Case 1 - Liu Xiuping

Ms. Liu Xiuping was sent to the Beijing Women's Forced Labor Camp in March 2003. The guards ordered Ms. Liu to write a guarantee statement to “stop practicing Falun Gong” and to write a “renunciation statement” against Falun Gong's teacher. When she refused, four people surrounded her to “transform” her. They kicked and punched her, forced her to squat military style with her hands behind her head. She was also forced to stand still for long periods of time and to “fly an airplane” (a torture method of bending forward with her arms pushed up against the wall). The guards grabbed her hair, bashed her head against the wall and pierced her private parts with needles. Li Jirong beat Ms. Liu violently. Because Ms. Liu would not “transform”, she was subjected to long-term sleep deprivation. She did not even know how to sleep. When it was time to sleep, she became fearful. Liu was disoriented in her speech and looked very pale. The police claimed she became that way from practicing Falun Gong. Under this intense mental and physical torture, Ms. Liu suffered a mental breakdown.[11]

Case 2 - Wang Shuyun

Ms. Wang Shuyun from Miyun County, Beijing would not give up the practice of Falun Gong. As a result, Li Jirong directed the inmates to beat her. Whoever did not beat Wang Shuyun would be considered practicing Falun Gong. They would be subjected to persecution and threatened with extended terms at the labor camp. Later, Li Jirong placed Wang Shuyun in the special treatment facility until finally, Wang Shuyun became mentally disoriented and was paroled for medical treatment.[12]

Case 3 - Hu Shuhua

While imprisoned at the forced labor camp, the guards found a note in Ms. Hu Shuhua’s pocket. Li Jirong directed drug addicts to drag Hu Shuhua to the administrative office, where Hu Shuhua was beaten so hard that her face covered with blood. She was forced to squat continuously for 45 days without sleep. As a result, she developed mental disorders.[13]

Case 4 - Zhang Huirong

Ms. Zhang Huirong, 30 years old, was a teacher. She was kidnapped in 2001 and taken to the Beijing Women’s Labor Camp. Because she could not be “transformed,” Li Jirong directed the guards and inmates to carry out corporal punishment on her for several months. Every day she was forced to squat. When she was not able to keep her posture, she would be kicked and punched. The inhumane treatment reduced her to skin and bones. She developed mental disorders.[14]

Torture

Case 1 – Wang Yue

Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Wang Yue was detained in the brainwashing class of the Beijing Women’s Labor Camp. On February 21, 2001, the guards and inmates, led by Li Jirong, beat Ms. Wang so hard that she suffered a cervical disc herniation, pains in the neck, arms, back and legs, and bruises on the wrists, arms, waist, etc. She asked for a doctor’s inspection of the injuries and a place to rest, but the guards continued to torture her. She was deprived of sleep and subjected to corporal punishment, body searches, and various inhumane treatments.[15]

Case 2 – Liu Guifu

Ms. Liu Guifu, a Falun Gong practitioner in Haidian District, Beijing, was kidnapped and sent to the Beijing Women's Labor Camp in 2001. Li Jirong deprived Liu Guifu of sleep and subjected her to long-term corporal punishment until Liu Guifu collapsed. After, Liu Guifu was sentenced to stand without sleep for 18 days. Her feet and legs were so swollen that she could not bend her knees and her feet started to discharge pus. Later she was allowed one to two hours of sleep a day for three months. Whenever she closed her eyes, the 18 inmates in her group would surround her and beat her up using fly swatters, hard objects, and their bare hands and feet. Her back was severely injured and she couldn’t stand. As a result, she had to crawl when she needed to use the toilet.[16]

Case 3 – Che Chunrong

Li Jirong confined Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Che Chunrong in her office because Che Chunrong talked to other inmates about Falun Gong. Che Chunrong was forced to sleep on the floor at night. When Che Chunrong started a hunger strike to protest the inhumane treatment, Li Jirong force-fed her saltwater and denied her use of the toilet. When she wet her pants, she was denied the use of a shower. For several months, Che Chunrong was not allowed to have a shower or bath.[17] Seeing her legs swelling, Li Jirong forced her to kneel by having inmates sit on her.[18]

Persecution at the Beijing “Law Education” Center (brainwashing center)

Under the control of Beijing CCP Political and Legal Affairs Committee and the “610” Office, the Beijing “Law Education” Center (brainwashing center) served as the primary facility to conduct the brainwashing of Falun Gong practitioners. The brainwashing center initiated the model of the “transformation class” and promoted it to various districts and counties in Beijing.[19] There, Li Jirong repeatedly directed personnel to brutally beat and torture Falun Gong practitioners as part of “brainwashing.” She was presented with various awards for her active role in the persecution of Falun Gong.

Case 1 – Li Guiping

50-year-old Li Guiping was kidnapped on August 2, 2001 when her baby was just nine months old. On August 4, 2001, she was taken to the Beijing brainwashing center where Li Jirong and her cohorts surrounded her and made her view a video that vilified Falun Gong. Because such measures did not affect Li Guiping, Li Jirong started to deprive her of sleep and penalized her by ordering her to squat for 18 hours a day and to “fly” (doing a headstand against the wall with arms and legs stretched out straight along the wall). When Li Guiping refused, Li Jirong would slap her on the face, several hundred slaps at a time. Li Jirong would also hit her on the head with heavy large. This torture continued for over half a year.[20]

Case 2 – Xie Ge

Mr. Xie Ge was taken to the Beijing brainwashing center on December 5, 2001. He started a hunger strike to protest the inhumane treatment. On April 4, 2002, over 150 days into the hunger strike, he was subjected to the “death bed.” Li Jirong ordered his wooden bed removed and he was put on an iron bed. His four limbs were cuffed to each side of the bed, 24 hours a day. He couldn't move and had to relieve himself on the bed. Li Jirong also ordered the inmates to swear at him.

Xie Ge was tied to the iron bed from April to December 2002. Due to the serious torture, he was reduced to skin and bones and was extremely weak. His muscles atrophied which resulted in a myasthenic crisis. His heartbeat was weak and his blood pressure fell to 40 over 70. He was on the verge of death.[21]

-------------------------------------------------

Reference

[1] http://en.minghui.org/html/articles/2010/7/12/118520.html

[2] http://en.minghui.org/emh/articles/2006/6/7/74197.html

[3]http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://sfj.beijing.gov.cn/bjsf/zwxx/sfxz/tpxw/424062/index.html&strip=1&vwsrc=0

[4] https://web.archive.org/web/20030423003923/http://ent.sina.com.cn/2003-04-21/1354146147.html

[5] http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2004/5/9/-74261.html

[6] http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2005/12/24/117133.html; http://en.minghui.org/emh/articles/2006/1/15/69001.html

[7] https://www.zhuichaguoji.org/node/99

[8] http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2004/2/29/68705.html

[9] http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2006/5/16/-127948.html#2006-5-16-chjx-36; http://en.minghui.org/emh/articles/2006/6/7/74197.html

[10] http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2017/5/23/ --348597.html