(Minghui.org) It’s been 21 years since the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) launched the persecution of Falun Gong, an ancient health-promoting spiritual and meditation practice introduced to the public in China in 1992.
The persecution, though, remains unabated across China.
This report looks into Jiangxi Province Women’s Prison and Jiangxi Province Men’s Prison, where the authorities use every means possible to try to “transform the imprisoned Falun Gong practitioners,” meaning to torture them into submission and renouncing their faith.
The prison guards often instigate criminal inmates, mostly murderers and drug addicts, to assist them in the torture of practitioners by offering reduced sentences.
Below are some torture methods that are being used in Jiangxi Women’s Prison.
Hung-up by the Wrists
In this torture, a practitioner is hung up by the wrists in various forms. Sometimes the practitioner's hands are raised above her head and tied together to a rope secured to a high place, such as a window frame. Her body remains upright while being hung up like this. Her toes barely touch the ground and her body weight puts extreme strain on her wrists, which causes excruciating pain.
Other times the practitioner’s hands are handcuffed behind her back. The guards then tie a rope to the handcuffs with the rope tied to a high place. The practitioner is pulled up by the rope with her body horizontal to the ground.
Ms. Zhang Yuzhen’s arms are permanently disabled because of this torture she suffered in 2005. After being hung up for nearly 2 days, the ligaments and tendons of her shoulders and arms were damaged.
Ms. Jiang Lanying suffered this torture multiple times. She was handcuffed to a window frame and hung up for 24 hours. The inmates put irritants in her eyes and stuck her dirty socks in her mouth to keep her awake.
Ms. Huang Yongdi was also tortured with this method.
Long Hours of Standing
The first thing the prison authorities do to the newly admitted practitioners is to force them to stand for a long time and deprive them of sleep. The practitioners work in the prison's workshops from 6 a.m. to the evening. After they go back to their cells, they have to stand until midnight while other prisoners get to wash up and go to sleep. Some practitioners even have to stand 24 hours a day without washing up or taking showers.
Ms. Wang Fengying, who was 75 years old when imprisoned, had to stand every day until midnight.
Ms. Li Liefeng was in her 50s at the time of incarceration and had to stand around the clock for two months. Her legs were badly swollen. Together with other tortures she suffered, Ms. Li was soon hospitalized and died in 2014, four years after she was released.
Straitjacket
The practitioners are tied up tightly and hung up. This torture often causes excruciating pain to the victim.
Ms. Yang Danhe and Ms. Lu Sanxiu were subjected to this torture.
Torture illustration: Straitjacket
Freezing
On bitter cold winter days, the practitioners are stripped of all clothes except their underwear and made to stand in the hallways and exposed to cold air. Sometimes they are placed in their cells with all the fans turned on and windows open.
The guards threw Ms. Ge Ling’s comforter away and confiscated her padded jacket in the winter. The severe coldness caused her to have convulsions and damaged her bone marrow. She almost had to have one of her limbs amputated. Ms. Ge many times put in written requests to have the guards call her family so they could send another comforter. The guards refused to do so.
Tiger Bench
The guards order the practitioners to sit on the “Tiger Bench” with their legs secured by straps and their ankles lifted under a pile of bricks. Practitioners are tortured for a long time and often lose consciousness or go into shock as a result of the excruciating pain.
Torture Illustration: Tiger Bench
Ms. Liu Baozhen, Ms. Xiao Jin, Ms. Tang Daofang, Ms. Zhu Zhiying, Ms. Lo Jianrong, Ms. Fu Shujiao, Ms. Yang Zhihua, and Ms. Li Ruo have all been tortured on a Tiger Bench.
Other tortures
The guards force some practitioners to write statements to defame Falun Gong or copy prison rules until late at night. Also they are also denied toilet use.
Same Tortures Also Used in Jiangxi Men’s Prison
The practitioners in Jiangxi Men’s Prison are forced to stand overnight and continue to work in the shops the next day. Other tortures include being hung-up by handcuffs, put in straitjackets, Death Bed, Tiger Bench, and denied wash-ups or toilet use.
The "Death Bed" is a special bed. The practitioner’s four limbs are shackled to the four legs of the bed so that he is spread-eagled and cannot move. There is a hole in the bed, underneath which a chamber-pot is placed to catch the practitioner’s urine and stool, as the torture often lasts for days or weeks. The guards force-feed practitioners through their nostrils, and many practitioners have lost their lives as a result.
It’s been over a year since Mr. Zhu Guoxin was released from prison. He still walks with a crutch and can’t stand on his own. During his 3 years of incarceration, Mr. Zhu was often put in solitary confinement with little food. The guards would sometimes purposely dump his food into the toilet in front of him. He went on a hunger strike to protest the abuse for over a year. He was tortured on a Tiger Bench and while he couldn’t move, the guards left the door open so that he was surrounded by swarms of mosquitoes. At one point Mr. Zhu was hospitalized and developed bedsores for the lack of care.
Mr. Huang Xing and Mr. Wang Sirong were also tortured in Jiangxi Men’s Prison.
Related reports:
Human Rights Abuses in Jiangxi Province Women's Prison
Ms. Zhang Yuzhen's Arms and Hands Disabled from Torture
78-Year-Old Retiree’s Pension Garnished After Three-year Imprisonment
Ms. Liu Baozhen Tortured in Jiangxi Women's Prison
Pharmacist Imprisoned Again for Her Faith, Denied Family Visits
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