(Clearwisdom.net) It was reported (http://www.clearwisdom.net/html/articles/2009/10/1/111213.html) that Falun Gong practitioners Ms. Li Xiufen and Ms. Gao Guiqin, who were unlawfully taken to Weifang Detention Center in August this year, were subjected to tortures called the "Cross" and the "Death Bed." Normally, if a person were subjected to such torture for even just one day, that person would not be able to endure it, but the police kept Ms. Li and Ms. Gao tied up for 36 hours at a time.

Illustration of the torture tool, the "cross"

The "Cross"

Weifang Detention Center uses cruel methods of torture such as the "Cross" to try to force practitioners to give up cultivation and to write the soul-rending three statements guaranteeing to not practice Falun Gong anymore, to break away from Falun Gong, and to criticize Falun Gong. According to a Chinese report on the Minghui website on December 18, 2008, the police at Weifang Detention Center tied Ms. Kong Qian (30 years old) to a "cross" constructed of steel and iron pipes for seven days and nights. Her arms were kept outstretched and tied in place with leather straps. Her feet were tied together, and her whole body was placed on two steel bars 1.5 cm in diameter. There was a 10 cm-wide gap between the two bars. The only part of her body she could move was her head. The pain in her back, her legs, and her entire body was excruciating.

When she was untied from the "Cross," she could not move at all and had to be lifted down. For the next several days and nights, she still could not move, not even her feet. Once every three days she was put on an IV drip. Whether she was on a drip or force-fed, they still tied her up on the "Cross." Within three months, Ms. Kong became a mere skeleton.

When practitioners are tortured with the "Cross," they are tightly down in a spread-eagled position to a bed board or a wooden board. They are not allowed to eat or use the toilet or move any part of their body. Practitioner Ren Jun from Zibo City was tied up spread-eagled for 18 days.

"Death Bed"

The "Death Bed" is often used to torture Falun Gong practitioners who stage a hunger strike or don't follow the detention center demands. The guards pin the victim down on a specially made bed and shackle his or her four limbs to the four legs of the bed, so that the victim is spread-eagled and cannot move. There is hole in the bed, underneath which a chamber-pot is placed to catch the victim's urine and feces. The police also brutally force-feed practitioners through their nostrils, and many practitioners have lost their lives as a result of such cruel torture.

In May 2005, practitioners Mr. Zhang Aiquan, Ms. Wang Mingyun, and Mr. Yu Desheng from Shandong Province were interrogated and tortured by a special team dedicated to the persecution of Falun Gong. The three practitioners were each kept tied to the "Death Bed" for over a month.

On September 19, 2006, practitioner Mr. Sun Changping from Fusong County, Baishan, Jilin Province was illegally arrested by Tang Longping, the deputy head of Lushuihe Police Station. Mr. Sun was brutally beaten and afterwards detained in Fusong Detention Center for 30 days. He was tied to a "Death Bed." Afterwards, two broken pieces of his spine protruded through his flesh, and he could hardly walk.

Mr. Sun Changping from Jilin Province could hardly walk as a result of this torture. Two broken bones in his back protruded through his flesh after he was tied to the "Death Bed."

According to the Falun Dafa Information Center, at least 3,300 practitioners are verified to have died as a result of persecution in labor camps or prisons. All of them had been subjected to various forms of cruel torture. From the suffering inflicted upon Ms. Li Xiufen, Ms. Gao Guiqin, Ms. Kong Qian, and Mr. Sun Changping on the "Cross" and the "Death Bed," it is apparent that the police deliberately use such cruel torture to cause the victims enormous pain in order to break their will. Theirs are not isolated or individual cases, but a miniature of the persecution suffered by tens of thousands of Falun Gong practitioners in China.