CHONGQING, China—Zhou Guangfu used to be a top millionaire in Chongqing City. Authorities groundlessly arrested and detained him and confiscated all of his assets. During his detention he was transferred betwen eight different prisons, at which time, he was subjected to various forms of torture. Since his release, Zhou is still being hunted and harassed by the police. On Feb. 22, 2009, now homeless, Zhou formally announced his resignation from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and all its affiliated organizations.
Zhou said, “The CCP harms, bullies, and extorts people. As a victim, I firmly declare my withdrawal of the Communist Youth League and the Young Pioneers.”
Zhou started a business in 1985. He utilized his knowledge of metals and made his fortune by converting waste into useful materials. He became the richest man in Chongqing for several years.
However, on Sept. 24, 1991, the People’s court of the district of Beipei sentenced Zhou to 12 years of prison for plotting against the government and selling outlawed materials. All of his assets totaling a net worth of 1,180,743 yuan were confiscated.
Zhou was transferred to seven prisons prior to his arrival at Xinjiang Prison in Aksu, in the region known as Xinjiang. This is where he spent most of his term. There, he was forced to do endless slave labor. At times, he would be forced to stand bent over at a 90-degree angle and remain in a corner. Other times, he was stripped naked and lashed by guards with a wicker, and sexually abused. In an interview with The Epoch Times, Zhou shared his chilling account of his horrible treatment by the Chinese authorities.
He said, “They forced me to sit on a stool with my legs extended outward and ordered another inmate to step on my legs for a couple of hours. They beat me if I moved.”
Zhou recalled, “Our dinner was cold corn porridge with maize bread, and tiny pieces of salted pickle at 10 p.m. I had to find cotton fruit, frogs or grassroots to eat to ease my hunger without being seen while working. Finding a piece of watermelon skin tossed by the guards became a luxury.”
At one time, he witnessed the guards forcing another inmate to kneel down in the snow, naked. They were constantly applying hot steam to his face. Two hours later, the chill entered his bones and the inmate became permanently disabled. However no visible signs of injury could be seen on him.
According to Zhou, guards frequently sexually abused the inmates by pricking their genitalia with a toothpick or shocking them with an electric baton. Moreover, one day, after his wife (at the time) visited him, the guards followed her back to the hotel. She was able to evade them. In normal cases, if the family member did not obey the guards’ wishes, the inmate would then either be tortured or killed.
Read original article in Chinese.
