Dafa Practitioner Mr. Li Shuli Dies as a Result of Torture at the Tangshan City Labour Camp

Dafa practitioner Li Shuli from Changli County, Qihuangdao City was abducted on December 10, 2002 and sent to the Hehuakeng Labour Camp in Tangshan City by the authorities in Changli County. Li Shuli was held in Division Six for three months. He was further detained in solitary confinement and was tortured with methods known as "Tightening Rope" and "Stretching Bed." Li Shuli was later diagnosed with tuberculosis and was transferred to Division Four. In June 2003, he was given parole to receive medical treatment. However, he passed away in December 2003.

The torture method "Tightening Rope" utilizes a finger-size hemp rope soaked in water. The persecutors set it on the Dafa practitioner's neck, and tightly wrap it around the arms. In order to maximise the pain for the victim, they often strip the practitioner down to his underwear. Usually, over three persecutors work together to apply this torture. When the rope reaches the wrists, it is tightened. They pull the practitioner's hands behind his back, both ends of the rope are inserted through the portion of the rope on the neck, then two persecutors forcefully pull down both ends of the rope as hard as they can and then tie it. At this time, the blood circulation is cut off and the victim will experience increased heart rate, excruciating pain in both arms and within a few minutes, heavy sweating.

In order to make sure the rope is as tight as can be, the persecutors insert glass bottles and wooden sticks under practitioner's wrists, so the rope will sink deep into his flesh. Meanwhile, they also slap the practitioner's face and shock him with electric baton(s). Each session of "Tightening Rope" lasts ten to twenty minutes. After the rope is loosened, the victim has lost the feeling in his arms, and it takes a long time to regain it. For those who have experienced this torture, their arms are often disabled in severe cases, or they cannot raise their arms or they lose some function in the arms. The marks left on the arms by the rope usually don't disappear for one or two years.

In the torture method "Dead Person's Bed," the victim is stretched out flat on a bed and his feet are tied to two opposite bed poles; then his hands are stretched above the head and cuffed to the other two bed poles, so the practitioner cannot make the slightest movement. They put bricks under the practitioner's body; they hit his legs with wooden rods, they order inmates to stomp on his body and they poke his ribcage with their hands or with the rods. In the heat of summer, they cover the practitioner with several layers of quilts and don't give him any water. Many practitioners who suffered the "stretching bed" torture could not lift their arms because were extremely sore and numb.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2004/1/27/65915.html