Torture Methods Used at the Pingantai Forced Labour Camp in Gansu Province Part 2 (Re-enactment Photos)

Part 1: http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2005/12/13/67848.html

The Pingantai Forced Labour Camp has been used as a place to torture Falun Dafa practitioners in Gansu Province since the persecution began. Several hundred practitioners have been held here. The guard and inmates, many of whom are drug addicts, have used various brutal methods to persecute practitioners. They have used sleep deprivation, brainwashing, beatings, psychological abuse, and other forms of persecution against the practitioners.

9. Bent over and locked: Practitioners are hung on a hook on the wall or on a high bed by their hands, which are handcuffed behind their backs. They cannot stand up or sit down, which makes their lower back, arms and legs hurt tremendously.

10: Kicking the calves and kicking the chest:

a. Guards furiously kick practitioners' calves, which makes them unable to walk.

b. Practitioners are first forced to sit down. Guards kick their chest, which causes shortness of breath, vomiting, and also causes pain in the throat, eyes and chest area.

11. Hanging between two beds: Practitioners are hung up by their hands handcuffed behind their back. Their feet are locked onto two beds and their torsos are suspended in the air. Guards kick the beds apart so that the distance between the beds widens and practitioners' limbs are stretched, which causes extreme pain and injures their wrists and ankles. The hands and feet feel numb, even after a few months.

12. Hanging up: Practitioners' arms are stretched and locked onto two beds. They are usually locked for ten days, and are customarily released for one daily meal and one toilet break only. Guards forced them to keep their eyes open and the body straight for up to ten days. After being released from this torture they feel severe pain everywhere. Their eyes are swollen and their eyesight is seriously damaged. Sometimes they even suffer hallucinations.

13. Standing over the benches: Practitioners are forced to stand up with two or three small benches between their feet for a long time, which causes extreme pain in their legs.

14. Chopsticks torture: Guards put a chopstick between the practitioners' fingers. One guard pinches the fingers tight and another one rotates the chopstick between the fingers (Translator's note: chopsticks in China are rectangular, not round; if one rotates it between the fingers it will cause pain and injury.) The two fingers would immediately bleed and the flesh is seriously abraded. The guard, after breaking open the flesh on two fingers, would not stop. They would go after another set of two fingers and start another round of such torture. This torture damages the fingers severely and the victim cannot hold onto anything. After the wound has healed, the numbness won't go away until a few months later.

15. Hitting one's head against a wall: Two guards hold the practitioner's arms and hit his head against a wall, which causes great pain. It often takes more than one week for the victim to recover.

16. Gagging and beating: Guards insert dirty socks into the practitioners' mouths, tie their hands behind their backs and beat them.

The tortures in use in the Pingantai Forced Labour Camp also include the following:

Long-term sleep deprivation - practitioners are only permitted two hours of sleep in a 24-hour period. They also have to do heavy labour in the daytime. This kind of abuse usually lasts one or two months and exhausts practitioners both physically and mentally.

Forced standing - practitioners are forced to stand on one leg for a long time. The torture lasts six or seven hours every day. If they cannot hold the position, then they are physically and verbally abused.

Educational conference - Although it is called "education," it is actually verbal abuse. During this so-called conference, the criminals verbally abuse practitioners under orders from the guards. Guards defame practitioners and the founder of Falun Gong. They also speak lies to slander Falun Gong and make other criminals hate the practitioners.

As stated above, the guards in the Pingantai Forced Labour Camp used all kinds of methods to torture Falun Gong practitioners. Guards Xu Wanjun, Lian Jincai and criminal Ma Chenglin beat practitioner Ma Yuefen and broke his leg as soon as he arrived at the labour camp. They also forced Ma to do heavy labour for one week before his leg was completely recovered. Later, since his leg was getting worse and worse, they sent him to a hospital. Ma Yuefen's family saw this when visiting. They then told Lian Jincai and Xu Wanjun, "We won't let you get away with it if it was you who broke his leg!" Lian said to Ma Yuefen, "I was just carrying out an order I got it from a superior officer! Please don't sue me after you are released, for I have family too." Ma Yuefen said, "None of you can avoid punishment, because it is the heavenly principle that evil deeds will result in retribution!"

When Lian Jincai was the chief of the Second Group of the Third Team, he persecuted many practitioners with extremely cruel methods. His wife Hu was a chief in the women's team and also tortured the practitioners. After she beat practitioner Hou Youfang to death, she claimed that Hou Youfang had fallen and died when she tried to escape. Several farmers witnessed how Hou Youfang was beaten to death. The labour camp then paid off those farmers with several hundred yuan¹ and made them lie about Hou Youfang's death. Later, when we were doing manual labour in the field, a person from the women's team told us about it. Hu was later fired.

Since the public is learning more and more the truth about Falun Gong, the tortures became more covert. Guards started to torment practitioners mentally under the guise of "educating, reforming and rescuing practitioners." But sometimes they would show their true colours and order criminals to beat practitioners. They sometimes locked practitioners into a solitary cell and hung them up for a long time. After several days of torture, practitioners were hungry, thirsty, and in pain; then the guards would pretend to be nice. They would do some small favours for the practitioners such as telling criminals to massage their arms or give them instant noodles. Some practitioners were thus tricked and wrote a guarantee statement to stop practising Falun Dafa.

The Sixth Team's political head Xu Wanjun's torture of Falun Gong practitioners were exposed on the Internet. He was not ashamed by it; instead, he was proud of it. He also told lies in the "educational class" and made criminals hate Falun Gong practitioners. The deputy chief of the Sixth Team named Wang was promoted for persecuting the practitioners. After his promotion, he realised that torturing practitioners was a way to further his career. He often verbally abuses practitioners. Another political head in the Sixth Team, Han Ximing, also humiliates, beats and tortures Falun Gong practitioners. Guard Li Wenhui is in charge of persecuting practitioners in the Sixth Team. Practitioner Bai Guixiang was verbally abused in this so-called "educational class" because he refused to renounce his belief.

Practitioner Si Yongqian was hung up by the hands tied to two beds and stretched for more than ten days. After being released, his eyes were swollen and he temporarily lost his eyesight. Guard Ma Chengzu frequently insults Si Yongqian in front of others and beats him, but Si Yongqian responded only with kindness. Even the criminals said that Si Yongqian is too kind. Practitioner Chen Gang was only allowed to have two hours of sleep per day for four months. He was forced to do heavy labour in the daytime, also. After work, he was forced to sit in the corner of the room and not allowed to move.

The management section in the labour camp conducted a survey to see if there are thugs and guards who beat the prisoners. Practitioner Wang Shuqun wrote on the survey form, "Beatings constantly happen here." As the result she was forced to run and jump up continuously six or seven hours every day for a month.

None of the Falun Gong practitioners had any freedom in the labour camp. They even had to ask for permission to use the toilet. The chief of the team constantly instigated the guards to beat or insult the practitioners. Practitioners who uphold their belief are treated as enemies. If they stand up for the truth, the chief routinely orders guards to take them to solitary cells for several days of torture.

Note

1. "Yuan" is the Chinese currency; 500 yuan is equal to the average monthly income of an urban worker in China.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2005/11/21/114924.html