Torture Methods Used on Falun Dafa Practitioners in Detention Centres and Forced Labour Camps in China

The following are a few examples of the torture methods being used by Chinese officials against Falun Gong practitioners in detention. The stated goal of the "6-10" office [an agency specially created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over all levels of authority], with all for this kind of abuse is to force the Falun Gong practitioner to recant his or her belief in the spiritual practice.

The illustrations are reconstructed from eye witness accounts and from the personal testimony of victims

1. "Backing up an airplane:" Criminal cell leaders often use this persecution and torture method on practitioners on the instigation of policemen and jail guards. This torture requires practitioners to bend over while holding the legs straight. Then, with the feet close together, the arms are lifted to the highest position possible, with the hands touching the wall. If practitioners can't bear it, the prisoners in the cells and designated torturers will gang up to beat them. (Figure 1)

Figure 1

2. While chained in this way, guards often use electronic batons, rubber tubes, and "wolf teeth" sticks to beat practitioners. The insults and beatings given to female practitioners are often even more brutal. (Figure 2)

Figure 2

3. "Tiger Bench" is also one of the torture methods used on practitioners. Practitioners' knees are tightly tied on a "Tiger Bench" [a small iron bench]. Usually some hard objects are inserted underneath the practitioner's lower legs or ankles to make it harder for them to tolerate this abuse. (Figure 3)

Figure 3

4. "Dead Person's Bed" or "Big Letter Board:" ( Probably so called becuase the victim's body forms the shape of the Chinese character(letter) for "big" This torture technique is used to torture practitioners who have gone on hunger strike to protest their mistreatment and illegal detention. Practitioners who are on hunger strike are tied to the "Dead Person's Bed" so that their hands and feet can't move. Jail guards and prisoners then attempt to force-feed through the nose. The guards and prisoners are often untrained in such a procedure, resulting in the death of many practitioners. (Figure 4)

Figure 4

5. "Sitting on the Triangle Iron Board:" This torture method has been described by practitioners who escaped the detention centers and forced labor camps. After sitting on the iron board, practitioners' hips bleed and fester endlessly. (Figure 5)

Figure 5

6. The "Electronic Baton" is the most-used torture method by policemen and jail guards to persecute practitioners. Electronic batons of high voltage--30,000 volts--are used to shock practitioners' sensitive and private places, like the mouth, the root of the ear, the central part of the sole of the foot, center of the palm of the hand, genitals, and nipples. Sometimes, many batons are used together at the same time to torture practitioners. (Figure 6)

Figure 6

7. The foot shackle is combined with handcuffs. One hand is handcuffed to the other hand between two legs. The shackle weighs over 20 pounds. The policemen torture determined practitioners this way for a long time. The practitioners who are tortured this way cannot go to sleep, walk, stand, use the bathroom, or eat a meal. They have to walk in a half-squatting and bowing position. (Figure 7)

Figure 7

8. "Carrying a Sword on the Back" is one of the most cruel methods to torture practitioners. In order to prevent practitioners from doing exercises or whenever practitioners do not obey the unreasonable requests of the guards, the policemen in the detention centers and forced labor camps apply this inhumane torture to persecute practitioners. Usually, this position causes extreme pain in just 20 minutes. However, the policemen handcuff practitioners this way for as long as 4 hours. (Figure 8)

Figure 8

9. "Tying the Ropes" is another inhumane torture method applied to practitioners during interrogation and during the persecution of determined practitioners in forced labor camps, detention centers and police departments of Jiang Zemin's criminal regime. With both arms tightly tied behind the back, both feet off the ground or only the toes barely touching the ground, one is hung from a high place with rope. Sometime there are sharp sticks on the rope. When the rope is tightly fastened, the rope will cut into one's flesh, which is extremely painful. "Hanging up once" means one time of tying the rope. As a severe punishment, this torture was only applied twice at the most to criminals who tried to escape from the detention centers. But the police tie practitioners with the rope 8 or 9 times. (Figure 9)

Figure 9

10. "Handcuff behind the back:" In order to prevent practitioners from doing the exercises, the police handcuff practitioners behind their backs for a long time. Practitioners handcuffed in this way cannot use the bathroom, eat or sleep. (Figure 10)

Figure 10

11. "Being confined in a solitary compartment" is one of the torture methods applied to brutally persecute practitioners. The height of the cage is shorter than a person's height. The width and length is difficult for a person, for one can neither stand straight nor lie down. Except for a small barred door, all openings are tightly sealed. No light comes in. Some practitioners have been locked up this way for 120 days. (Figure 11)

Figure 11

12. Many Dafa practitioners who escaped from the evil dens say that in the cell they often heard miserable crying from the hallway and often saw bruises all over Dafa practitioners' bodies from being brutally beaten. Some practitioners fainted and were dragged away by guards, policemen or abetting, common criminals. (Figure 12)

Figure 12