(Minghui.org) Mr. Yang Yinghai, a Falun Gong practitioner from Lanzhou City, Gansu Province, was illegally sentenced to ten years in prison in 2002 and was incarcerated in Lanzhou Prison from 2004 to 2012. During those 10 years, Mr. Yang was tortured with the tiger bench, sleep deprivation, and extended periods of solitary confinement. The following is his personal account of what he endured.
Tortured for 80 Hours Non-stop on the Tiger-bench
Chenghuan District Police Department illegally arrested me in 2001. They fastened me to a tiger bench with my hands and feet restrained except for when I had to use the toilet.
Torture re-enactment: Tiger-bench
When the police went to sleep in the evenings, they put one more chain and a helmet on me. I was so tightly tied up on the tiger bench that I could not move. After 80 hours straight, the flesh on my legs and hips began to fester.
My Hands Restrained to Stop the Blood Flow
After the police found out where I worked, they transferred me to the brainwashing center in Pangjiawan and my employer sent two people to watch me. Later, three police officers from Lanzhou City Domestic Security Team escorted me to another brainwashing center in Yantan, where they interrogated me for 24 hours.
They fastened my hands to a chair with a turnbuckle and tightened it until the blood stopped circulating. I was in extreme pain all over. After this, I could not feel my hands for over three months.
Hung Upside Down
I was transferred to Hualinping No. 2 Detention Center and locked up in a restricted management cell. I was under the supervision of several prisoners who pressured me to do the hard labor, but I refused to comply.
The guards instigated the prisoners to physically and verbally assault me. After I pointed out that the guards were violating the law, they hung me upside down and violently struck me on my back, which hurt for two months afterwards.
Hands and Feet Chained Together Behind Me
The guards searched me and took away a copy of one of Master’s lectures, but I grabbed it back. They had several prisoners hold me down and grabbed the lecture away from me.
They then chained my four limbs together behind my back and covered my head with a quilt for over two hours.
Prisoners Instigated to Torture Practitioners
I was incarcerated in Lanzhou Prison in 2004. On the first day, the guards had the prisoners searched me and took away my Dafa books and Master’s lectures that I had brought with me.
Four prisoners were assigned to watch each newly arrived practitioner. They swore at practitioners and physically attacked us.
Confined in the Cell for Seven Months
I was first locked up in Ward 6. The guards searched me and interrogated me. Because I refused to do the assigned jobs, they had two people watch me in the cell. After everyone went to work, they locked the cell door from the outside so that I could not leave. I was forbidden to talk to anyone. I was confined like this for seven months.
After some prisoners reported to the guards that I did the exercises, I was locked up in a solitary cell with handcuffs and foot shackles. They tried to make me write a self-criticism report, but I refused to cooperate with them.
Sleep Deprivation
In 2005, the guards locked me up in a small cell and then designated a leader and a group of guards to form an “admonishment team” whose primary job was to "transform" Falun Gong practitioners.
They did all kinds of things to prevent me from falling asleep in the evenings. During the day, the guards tried to brainwash me by slandering Falun Gong. Only during lunch hour was I permitted to go to the big cell to eat.
During the lunch break, the on-duty guards turned the radio all the way up to prevent me from taking a nap. When the other guards returned at 2:00 p.m., they locked me up in the small cell again to continue trying to brainwash me until after dinner time when the night duty guards came. The “admonishment team” took turns torturing practitioners around the clock. They kept it up until practitioners agreed to write the three statements.
In Solitary for 83 Days
I was later transferred to No. 8 Team in June 2007. When they made me fill out an evaluation form in 2008, I wrote about how the CCP persecutes Falun Gong practitioners. I stated that I had not done anything wrong and that cultivating Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance was the most righteous thing to do. The guards locked me up in a small cell once again.
They had four prisoners watch me in the evenings to deprive me of sleep. I was only given a small amount food twice a day. During the day, I was forced to sit straight up on a cement platform. If I closed my eyes, they would yell in their loudspeakers or other prisoners would force me to open my eyes.
The guards interrogated me once a week, trying to force me to say that I had done something wrong. They also tried to make me write the three statements. The guards offered the prisoners incentives, including term reductions, as well as threatened them with term extensions to pressure them to force me to write the three statements.
When I was finally permitted to sleep, my hands and feet were still tied together behind me, so my body was in an “S” shape the entire time. This made it impossible for me to turn over. I was confined in that condition for a total of 83 days.
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