64-Year-Old Mr. Liu Yanheng Dies as Result of Being Tortured at Benxi City Forced Labour Camp in Liaoning Province

Mr. Liu Yanheng, 64, was a Falun Gong practitioner living in Benxi City, Liaoning Province. Due to being subjected to brutal treatment while in detention, he died ten days after his release from Benxi City Forced Labour Camp on June 7th, 2008.

Mr. Liu and his wife had been constantly harassed at home under the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) persecution of Falun Gong. Gongren Neighbourhood administrators Shi Lei (male), Yang Bin (male), and Zhao Shuhua (female) suggested the arrest of Mr. Liu and his wife in a meeting. On April 12th, 2006, officers from the Benxi City Police Department detained practitioners Ms. Wang Fengqing and her husband Mr. Liu Yanheng. Mr. Liu was released after ten days of unlawful detention.

On September 8th, 2007, Ren Kefei (male) and other officers from the Gongren Police Station in Benxi City took Mr. Liu Yanheng into custody. He was subsequently sentenced to two years of forced labour.

There are many means of torture means used in Benxi City Forced Labour Camp, including the stretching bed¹, locking in a small cell², and other brutal methods. Many detained practitioners have been tortured until they develop heart disease, high blood pressure, and stroke.

Note

1. Stretching bed - The guards fix the steadfast practitioners' limbs on a specially made bed on which there are four rings. Practitioners' hands and feet are fixed in the rings. Then the guards apply force to the rings, so that the practitioner's body will be pulled up away from the bed as their limbs are stretched. If more force is exerted, one will pass out in a few seconds. If one is left in this position for more than ten minutes, all his/her muscle and bones in the limbs will be dislocated, and the person will be disabled permanently. Moreover, the guards forbid others from from taking care of the disabled practitioners. See illustration at http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2005/2/11/57390.html

2. Small cell - The detainee is locked up in a very small cell individually. The guards handcuff practitioners with their arms behind their back in a fixed position, in which the practitioners can neither move nor lie down. The small cell is very damp and no sunshine comes in. Detainees have to urinate and defecate in the cell. Only half of a regular meal is served to detainees locked up in a small cell. During the night rats run about. The stench in the small cell is so bad that it is difficult to breathe.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2008/6/15/180284.html