He is one of the founders of the Changsha Funeng humanitarian NGO. Forced to work with a sewing machine and take courses on the superiority of socialism. He was recently put in solitary confinement for three months. In the prison where he is being held, political prisoners are subjected to violence and torture by prison guards.
Beijing () – In the Hunan prison where he is being held, human rights defender Cheng Yuan is forced to carry out forced labor and political indoctrination sessions. This was revealed to ChinaAid by some of his family members who received letters from him.
Cheng is one of the founders of Changsha Funeng, an NGO of human rights defense lawyers. The police arrested him in July 2019 along with two other members of the organization on charges of subversion against state power. In July last year, a Changsha court sentenced him to five years in prison. A few months before the verdict, his wife had fled to the United States.
Changsha Funeng has been working for more than 10 years for health rights, non-discrimination and helping vulnerable groups, such as those suffering from AIDS and hepatitis, and the disabled. Cheng also campaigned for the repeal of the one-child policy and the reform of the residency certificate system, which would allow migrant workers in cities to receive medical care and enroll their children in school.
In letters to his wife, father and sister, Cheng recounts being forced to work at a sewing machine and having to attend an hour-long course every night on the superiority of socialism and the great “renaissance” of China. . He explains that he spent three months in punitive isolation from January 18, during which he could not have contact with his family. That ordeal made him lose six kilos of weight.
As ChinaAid reports, living conditions in the Chishan jail where Cheng is being held can be harsh for activists. The inmates are forced to walk with “duck feet” until exhaustion; the cells are approximately one meter square and have no windows; roll call is done every hour and the bedrooms are illuminated 24 hours a day. Prisoners are also forced to sleep in a certain position: on their backs on the bed, with their arms hanging outside the blankets.
In this particular prison, isolation measures are applied when an inmate makes mistakes or refuses to plead guilty during the trial. Activists also report that prison guards commit abuse and torture, including physical violence, insults, and sleep and food deprivation.
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