(Minghui.org) A resident of Baoji City, Shaanxi Province endured relentless torture of the tiger bench, drug administration, and long hours of standing, because of her not giving up Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Gao Xiaowei was arrested on November 21, 2018, and her Falun Gong books were confiscated. She was handcuffed to a tiger bench overnight and transferred to Lingyun Hotel the next afternoon for detention. The police tortured her on the tiger bench for another 18 days before transferring her to a detention center. She was sentenced to four years and continued to be tortured after being taken to the prison.
18 Days on the Tiger Bench
Torture illustration: Tiger bench
In the hotel room turned torture chamber, Ms. Gao was handcuffed to a tiger bench for 18 days and interrogated. In an attempt to force Ms. Gao to provide information about other practitioners, the police limited her drinking water, causing her to have blood in her stool. The two or three times she was allowed to use the restroom during the day were the only times she could get up and get some brief exercise. During meal times, the police kept her on the tiger bench and uncuffed one of her hands for her to eat. At night, they always tightened her handcuffs before they went to sleep.
Every Sunday when the police officer Zhang Xiaojun was on duty, he only provided one meal to Ms. Gao and other practitioners. When they demanded to use the restroom, he would say he didn’t have the key.
The torture caused Ms. Gao’s legs to become swollen, and her buttocks and thighs to bleed. She also felt dizzy due to high blood pressure (190/140 mmHg). Eighteen days later, she was transferred to Baoji City No. 2 Detention Center. After a year of detention, she was sentenced by the Weibin District Court to four years in Shaanxi Province Women’s Prison.
Torture in the Prison While Serving a Four-year Term
Ms. Gao was tortured physically and mentally in the prison. Instigated by the guards, the inmates beat her at will, including slapping her in the face, pulling her hair, smashing her head with books, and forcing her to stand from 4:50 a.m. to 11 p.m. over a period of six months. Sometimes she had to stand until 2 a.m. without moving or talking to others.
Ms. Gao was also restricted from eating, drinking, and using the restroom. The persecution resulted in Ms. Gao having blood in her stool again. She also vomited blood and felt dizzy. She was later diagnosed with severe anemia after multiple blood tests. After taking the medicine the doctor prescribed for anemia, she experienced palpitations and shortness of breath. Then the inmate added a white pill to her daily medication, which caused her head to feel uncomfortable, as if it was being pressed by a heavy object.
Ms. Gao reported her discomfort to the inmate, but the inmate told her that she was just following the doctor’s instruction. After Ms. Gao continued to take the medicine, she had frequent inexplicable fears and severe memory loss. Even carrying out simple daily task of washing the dishes and cleaning the restroom turned out to be difficult for her. She was once seen washing the same plate for over ten minutes. She felt she was on the verge of collapsing.
Ms. Gao requested to stop taking the pills after more than a month. The guard agreed and had her sign a liability waiver. She gradually recovered after stopping the pills.
Due to long term standing torture, Ms. Gao’s legs went from being swollen to becoming hard and numb. Her body also became numb and she could not bend her fingers. She could not squat down when using the restroom and get support from the wall. Then the inmates would shout at her and urge her to hurry up. Due to the numbness in her legs, Ms. Gao often fell while walking. Once after she had a fall and returned to the cell, the inmate cursed her, “Why didn’t you die from the fall?”
Ten months after Ms. Gao was transferred to the regular ward from the entry team, her legs remained swollen and hard. She could not walk normally and needed to use a railing or have someone to help her.
The Shaanxi Province Women’s Prison
The Shaanxi Province Women’s Prison, also known as Xi’an Women’s Prison, keeps all newly admitted Falun Gong practitioners at its Entry Team for at least six months, sometimes up to a year, before assigning them to the regular wards. Anyone who refuses to renounce her faith will be tortured there.
Torture methods used on the practitioners include beating, wearing straitjackets, long hours of standing, electric shocks, force-feeding, injection with unknown drugs, intensive brainwashing, and deprivation of sleep and restroom use.
Ms. Xiong Jiyu, of Hanzhong City, died on April 16, 2016, shortly after she was granted medical parole after she fell into critical condition due to torture in the prison.
Related report:
Newly Admitted Falun Gong Practitioners Tortured at Entry Team of Shaanxi Province Women’s Prison
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