Torture Method Used at Hehuakeng Labour Camp -- The Sitting Board

The Hehuakeng Labour Camp in Tangshan City employs a torture method called the Sitting Board. The board they use is about 10 cm wide by about 10 cm thick. Practitioners are forced to sit in one position, from 5 a.m. in the morning to 8 p.m. at night. Other than two toilet breaks of (5 to 10 minutes each), practitioners have to stay stationary in the one position.

After a few days of sitting like this, pressure sores or ulcers begin to form on the victim's' buttocks. After an extended period of such torture, blood flow to the lower extremities is impeded. Practitioners will lose control over their bladder and/or bowels. Later, practitioners are unable to urinate or move their bowels. The groin, testicles and perineum can become severely ulcerated and infected.

From 2001 to 2003, one practitioner was tortured at the Hehuakeng Labour Camp in, Tangshan City. The sitting board torture almost killed him. When he was near death,, the labour camp secretly sent him home. After several emergency rescues while under family members' care, he survived, but 'he is still seriously handicapped by urinary, intestinal and sexual dysfunction,.

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Sitting Board

Each day, practitioners must put their hands in their laps, keep their, backs straight, and sit on the bench for 18 hours. This torture method may be used continuously for more than fifty days. The authorities limit the practitioners' toilet use. Because of the long duration spent sitting on hard benches, practitioners develop large, painful sores on their buttocks. Some practitioners cannot urinate properly because of the pain. Also, the labour camp environment is very damp, but the police refuse to allow the practitioners to have fresh air or sunlight. ,Practitioners have been locked up for so long that, they developed red scabies over large parts of their bodies, causing painful itching. See this case at http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2002/7/29/24631.html

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2005/8/4/107705.html