(Minghui.org) Editor’s note: To protect the author’s identity, his name is not revealed.
I am a Falun Gong practitioner. The Chinese Communist Party has been persecuting Falun Gong, an ancient mind-body spiritual practice based on the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, since 1999.
I was sentenced for practicing Falun Gong and sent to Jinzhou Prison, Liaoning Province in November 2013. I was placed at the “Strictly Managed Team,” a place designed to punish tough-to-control inmates but was later used to persecute Falun Gong practitioners.
Below are some of the torture methods I was subjected to.
Forced to Sit on a Stool
I was forced to sit on a round stool from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. The stool, six inches in diameter and one foot high, was anchored to the ground. I was not allowed to move my body, but to sit still for all those hours. A few days later, the skin on my buttocks came off. It started to bleed and then stuck to my pants. It was quite painful to take off my pants at night.
Beaten
Yang Jinfeng, Deputy Section Chief of the Prison Administration Section, in charge of the “Strictly Managed Team,” took me to his office to beat me at 3 p.m. on November 20, 2013. He claimed that I didn’t sit straight on the stool. He ordered me to squat, and then started hitting and kicking my head. He beat me so badly that my teeth got loose and one fell out. I lost seven teeth in prison.
Torture Illustration: Beating
Forced to “Hold a Stool”
After beating me, Yang ordered his guards to lock my arms and legs to “hold a stool.” This torture instrument was a Jinzhou Prison invention: fixing a stool of 2 feet high to the ground; forcing the victim to sit on the ground; locking his feet to the bottom of the stool by shackles; dragging his arms through the iron rings at the top of the stool and handcuffing them on the other side of the stool.
I was restrained to this stool day and night, and only relieved for a few minutes when eating or going to the bathroom.
Torture Illustration: “Holding a Stool”
I started to have hallucinations two days later. I felt dizzy and my heart beat faster while I was sleeping at night. I felt as if I was holding the stool upside down. I tried to calm myself down and gradually I regained my mind back.
After locking me to the stool for four days, the guards took me out and forced me to sit on a round stool for a month.
Deprived of Sleep
The prison started a massive transformation campaign aimed to force Falun Gong practitioners to give up their belief in November 2014. Whoever hadn’t given up their belief was taken to a special office to be tortured. The guards locked us up to an iron chair and took turns watching us and keeping us awake at night.
I told the guards watching me that I would never give up my belief, and they sent me back to my cell five days later.
I was imprisoned in the eleventh division of the prison afterward. The guards there didn’t persecute me much. I was able to write a few dozen appeal letters, but I am not sure if they were mailed out.
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