Crimes of Torture Committed by Luyuan Police Department, Changchun City

Officials from the Luyuan Police Department in Changchun City, Jilin Province worked with the officials from the First Division of the Changchun City Police Department and the Changchun City 610 Office¹ to persecute Falun Gong practitioners. Hundreds of practitioners have been tortured and persecuted in this area. Luyuan Police Department officials actively participated and were directly involved in the persecution and torture of practitioners who tapped into the Changchun City cable TV station in March 5th, 2002 to broadcast Falun Gong videos exposing the persecution. In relation to this incident, several practitioners were sentenced to long prison terms, some were disabled or even tortured to death.

There was a room in the Luyuan Police Department where police tied practitioners to the tiger bench² with ropes and handcuffs. The tiger bench was a long chair made of steel bars that had a back. The police would tie heavy objects to practitioners' ankles when they were on the bench. This form of torture was already very painful, yet the police also tortured practitioners using various other methods while they were confined to the bench. The police would pull their hair while punching their heads or throats; practitioners would be suffocated by having plastic bags placed over their heads; water was poured into their mouths to choke them; their fingers or toes were burned; nails were driven into their fingernails or toe nails; and they were often shocked with electric batons.

For the cruel torture method called "tying the ropes," the police would tie practitioners' hands behind their backs with thin ropes or handcuffs, and then hang them up by their wrists. The ropes or the handcuffs cut into the flesh and the wrists would hold the weight of the entire body. Many practitioners lost consciousness several times during this torture, some lost controls of their bowels, some practitioners' arms became dislocated, and others had bruises all over their bodies. While the practitioners were being hung up, the police would cause them to swing, which would increase their pain, or the practitioners would be beaten with bats. The police tried all kinds of evil means to force practitioners to give up their righteous faith. However, they were unable to succeed.

Practitioners who refused to renounce Falun Gong had their heads covered with black bags and were taken to a secret place near the Jingyuetan area of Changchun City for further torture. In this secret place, the police used a severe torture method involving the "tiger bench." Practitioners were forced to sit on the tiger bench with a finger-width steel bar pressed across their stomachs. They were then forced to bend over the steel bar with their stomachs pressed against the bar. Their bones would be pressed against the bar and would be injured. At the same time, the police would pull the practitioners' arms up from behind, and electric shock batons would be used as well. Practitioners were tortured repeatedly with this method, causing them excruciating pain.

In this secret place, there was a gloomy basement with cement walls and no lights. There were several torture rooms in the basement. Candles were placed at the doorsteps. It was said to be a living hell. Mr. Liu Chengjun (who was tortured to death) and many other practitioners were tortured by all kinds of inconceivable methods in this awful place.

Note

1. "The 610 office" is an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other political and judiciary systems.

2. "Tiger Bench": Prisoners are forced to sit on a small iron bench that is approximately 20 cm (6 inches) tall with their knees tied together. With their hands tied behind their backs or sometimes placed on their knees, they are forced to sit straight up and look straight ahead without movement for long periods of time.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.org/mh/articles/2008/4/8/176050.html