Techniques Used by Police in Hebei Province to Torture Practitioners

Since Falun Dafa was introduced to the public in 1992, it has been deeply appreciated by many, even many non-practitioners. From 1992 to 1998, over 5,000 people in Shenzhou City, Hebei Province became Falun Dafa cultivators. In July 1999, Jiang Zemin abused his power and established the "610 Office," an institution to administer the persecution of Falun Dafa, and began to crack down on practitioners.

I. The "610 Office" Was Primarily Responsible

Officials in Shenzhou City, in co-operation with the "610 Office" executed Jiang Zemin's orders and brutally persecuted Falun Dafa practitioners. They ransacked their homes, abducted them, sent them to detention centres and labour camps, sentenced them to jail, and on top of all this, also made them pay fines. Some practitioners were forced to leave their homes and some were tortured to death. All of the orders and policies made to persecute Falun Dafa in Shenzhou City came from these people. The person currently in charge of the "610 Office" is Zhang Jiantao. The lower ranking organisations must get permission from this office in order to persecute Falun Dafa practitioners.

II. Techniques Used by the Detention Centre of Shenzhou City to Persecute Practitioners: Cuffing, Brutal Beatings, and Force-Feeding

In the few months between late 1999 and early 2000, some Falun Dafa practitioners from Shenzhou City went to Beijing to appeal and clarify the truth of Falun Dafa to the government. All 70 of the people who appealed in Beijing were detained in the detention centre of Shenzhou City for a long period of time, and were "convicted" of the "crime" of disturbing social order. For example, Ms. Liu Fuse (who later died as a result of being persecuted), Ms. Xu Yanxiang was unjustly detained for over a year. During their detention, practitioners were also subjected to other forms of torture including forced hard labour, being deprived of the right to practise the Falun Dafa exercises, being denied the right to meet with visiting family members unless they first swore to give up their belief in Falun Dafa, and being refused daily necessities. The detention centre illegally sold daily necessities at inflated prices to make a profit. Sometimes, only one meal, consisting of a small piece of bread, was provided each day. The bread was often not fully cooked and even contained mouse excrement. Falun Dafa practitioners who practised the exercises and refused to work were subjected to brutal beatings or hung up by their handcuffs.

1. Various Methods of Torture Using Handcuffs Over Long Periods of Time

To torture Falun Dafa practitioners, Shenzhou Detention Centre designed a type of simple, non-standard cuffs that they had fabricated especially for them. The cuffs are more brutal than standard cuffs, and were designed for Falun Dafa practitioners to wear for long periods of time, sometimes several months continuously. The police attempted to use long periods of physical torture to wear out the strong will of Falun Dafa practitioners.

These cuffs consist of two metal rods about 1 cm. in diameter. The two ends of the rod are flattened and a hole is made on each end. The four holes are lined up and bolted together with metal rods with a head at the top and a hole at the bottom end. The hole at the bottom end is locked.

These cuffs are very tight. After wearing them, the practitioner's wrist cannot move and blood cannot circulate, leading to swollen or even disabled hands. The director of Shenzhou Detention Centre put these cuffs on several practitioners.

Four Ways to Wear the Cuffs

1) Individual practitioners' hands were cuffed together and their feet were shackled together for long periods of time. This method forced the practitioner to use only one hand. This made it difficult to even eat or use the toilet. See illustration 1 (the illustrations show nylon rope to simulate the use of cuffs and shackles).

Photo 1

The director of the detention centre, Cheng Yuliang, claimed that the Teacher of Falun Gong had said that the earth will explode. Falun Dafa practitioner Jing Tai said to him, "Our teacher never said that." Cheng Lianyu beat her and put these cuffs on her. Cheng Yuliang also told inmates to pull practitioner Sun Yanen to the ground by her hair and put the cuffs on her simply because she practised the exercises.

2) Individual practitioners' feet were shackled together. Their hands were pulled down past the shackles and cuffed together. See Illustration photo 2. This way of cuffing caused the body to be bent over, and made it very difficult for practitioners to walk. Practitioners could also not stand or lie down, and required assistance to eat and use the toilet.

Photo 2

Examples:

Li Shaozhong and Li Jing were cuffed this way because they practised the Falun Dafa exercises. To reduce the trouble of asking fellow practitioners for help using the toilet, Li Shaozhong did not eat for two days.

3) Two practitioners were cuffed together, hands to hands and feet to feet. Because the cuffs were so tight, these practitioners could only sleep in one posture. It was miserable. Usually, these two people would also have to use the toilet together. Prison guards cuffed practitioners like this for long periods of time and rarely took the cuffs off.

Photo 3

Examples:

Li Jing and Sun Yanen were cuffed together for about four months for refusing to do hard labour.

Ms. Liu Fuse, 67, who later died as a result of the persecution, and Su Qing, 55, were cuffed together. It was so painful that Liu Fuse cried secretly in the middle of the night.

4) Two practitioners were cuffed together, with the first person's hand and leg cuffed to the second person's hand and leg, causing them to be unable to stand or sleep. See illustration photo 4. It was very difficult for them to eat and use the toilet.

Photo 4

Examples:

Two pair of practitioners, Xiutai and Jinghuan, and Sun Yanen and Li Jing were cuffed this way for over two weeks because they practised the Falun Dafa exercises. Director Cheng Yuliang made other practitioners watch over them, and threatened that whoever practised the exercises would be cuffed this way.

2. Practitioners Brutally Beaten in the Shenzhou Detention Centre

Liu Quan and Dong Tianyu are the hatchet men of the Shenzhou Detention Centre. Under the direction of vice directors these men brutally beat Falun Dafa practitioners. Around April 2001, Ding Lingxiang, Sun Yanen, Xiaomei (in his 50's), and Li Jing were brutally beaten many times for not revealing their names. Dong Tianyu beat Jun Mei until he fainted and blood sprayed upon being slapped. Li Jing and Sun Yanen were pulled to the ground by their necks many times. Their arms bled from the abuse. Liu Quan grabbed Sun Yanen's neck and pounded her many times against the wall and ground. Liu Quan, who was tall and very strong, grabbed Sun Yanen by the neck and held her to the ground. Sun Yanen passed out (See photos 5 and 6). She awakened when they threw cold water on her. Her face became swollen. Her left eye was so badly swollen that her eyeball could not be seen, and she did not recover for an entire month. The next day, Kang Zhijun exclaimed, "If we beat you to death we wouldn't be held responsible."

Illustration 5	Illustration 6

Liu Quan grabbed a Falun Dafa practitioner's neck and pulled the practitioner to the ground. See photo 5 and 6. The practitioner passed out at the scene and did not recover for a month.

3. Force-feeding Practitioners Who Held Hunger Strike Protests

To protest the persecution, Xiaomei, Ding Lingxiang, and Sun Yanen started a hunger strike. Four days later, Xiaomei and Ding Lingxiang were force-fed. Lingxiang's blood pressure became very high due to the abuse. She shivered constantly during the force-feeding. Even so, Zhao Enxue insisted on continuing. Xiaomei was brutally force-fed, causing her to bleed all over her underwear. Zhao Enxue directed inmate Dazhen to feed her several times, which made Xiaomei's whole body shake. She also felt hot and just wanted to lie down in cool spot. They nearly killed her. Zhao Enxue, seeking direction from Yin Yuzhen, the director of the "610 Office" asked, "What do we do if she becomes sick?" Yin Yuzhen ordered him to continue the force-feeding no matter what. Even under such circumstances, Ding Lingxiang was transferred to Shijiazhuang Labour Camp. Xiaomei was transferred to the brainwashing centre of Shenzhou City and was subjected to even more brutal torture. When Sun Yanen's life was at risk due to the persecution, the detention centre ordered her family to take her home.

III. The Tortures Used in Shenzhou City Brainwashing Centre:

Long-term Detention, Forced Transformation, and Brutal Forced-feeding

Long-term detention: Shenzhou City Brainwashing Centre is even more cruel and brutal than the detention centre. They arrest Falun Dafa practitioners at will. Some practitioners were taken from their homes, some from their work places, and some were even taken from their fields. In the brainwashing center, each practitioner was confined in a small room. The room also served as a bathroom. Practitioners were not given enough food, and each meal consisted of only a small piece of bread. The practitioners who were steadfast and refused to be "Reformed" were subjected to brutal torture, and deprived of the opportunity to see their visiting family members. After practitioners were arrested, the staff members of the brainwashing center would extort money from them, and they weren't released until they had paid the money. After being released, they were arrested again. The staff members attempted to make a huge profit by repeatedly arresting Falun Dafa practitioners. For five years, Falun Dafa practitioners were arrested and released repeatedly.

Forced transformation: Liu Fengqiao was subjected to this torture. Several people took turns trying to force her to be "reformed." She was deprived of sleep for five days and nights, and several people took turns watching her, not allowing her to close her eyes at any time during the day or night. The people who watched her were given large portions of delicious meat and fish dishes, as an incentive to continuously keep watch. Liu Fengqiao was watched even when she used the toilet (Li Jianping, a former practitioner who had allowed herself to become a pawn of the persecution, personally watched her). Li Jianping shouted at her and scolded her loudly, and the tortures were very brutal. Cheng Jian and Wang Jinggang pulled a practitioner (male about 60 years old) from Shaofu Village out of the prison room. Because the older man did not cooperate with their persecution, they pulled up the older man off the ground and violently pounded him against the wall. He screamed constantly from the pain. He was subjected to various torture methods for three weeks and was severely traumatised as a result.

Brutal forced-feeding: Xu Yanxiang and Sun Yanen were subjected to force-feeding. Sun Yanen was force-fed, injected, and infused about seven times. This lasted for ten days, and put Sun Yanen's life at risk. She was sent to the hospital for further mistreatment. Wang Jinggang said, "Yin Yuzhen said, 'We will not tolerate those who attempt to get out of the detention centre by holding a hunger strike! Unless they're dead, no one will get out.'" Sun Yanen was detained in a dark room by herself for four months before she fled out of the horrible place. She is still living on the street, to avoid being further persecuted. I will not list all of those who have been victims of this torture here.

Although the chief evildoer, Jiang Zemin, is out of power, his persecution of Falun Dafa must be investigated and the responsible persons punished. Jiang Zemin has been sued in many countries. His chief assistants in harming practitioners, Luo Gan, Zeng Qinghong, and Li Lanqing, cannot escape the net of justice. We hope that the people who participated in the persecution will stop themselves at the brink of the precipice. We also hope that kind people everywhere will distinguish good from bad by supporting the righteous and kind, and choose a beautiful future. Please remember, "Falun Dafa is good. Truthfulness, Compassion, and Tolerance are good!"

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2004/9/21/84690.html