Tortures in Tilanqiao Prison of Shanghai City

Shanghai Tilanqiao Prison pledged to maintain civilized law enforcement. And yet, ever since Jiang Zemin [former leader of China and instigator of the persecution] and his followers started persecuting Falun Gong practitioners, practitioners in this prison have been repeatedly tortured to death or put in critical condition. A newly admitted practitioner Mr. Chen Jun was beaten until he was on the verge of death. He was subsequently released on bail for emergency medical treatment and he died a week later. Mr. Xiong Wenqi from Putuo District was repeatedly beaten by ten people every day during his hunger strike. It wasn't until he was on the verge of death, when his skull was exposed and he was paralyzed, that he was released on bail for medical treatment. Mr. Qu Yanlai was extremely thin after five years on a hunger strike. The guards would drag him shoeless back and forth across the cement. This continually abrasive torture left the bones in his ankles and feet exposed and bloody. He was then taken to the hospital. Mr. Zhou Bin from Changning District was not allowed to leave an isolated "small cell" for four years. Inmates beat him and severely injured his genitals. After several months in the hospital, he recovered. Mr. Du Ting was tortured repeatedly during his seven year term. He endured chest cavity, then pulmonary tuberculosis. When he was taken to the prison hospital, he was in critical condition. Mr. Lu Jinlong is from Baoshan District. After he was beaten in prison, he could no longer bend his elbow normally. Mr. Guo Jingfu could no longer take care himself after he was tortured in the prison. Mr. Jiang Yong from Xuhui District was beaten and then taken to the prison hospital once he was in critical condition These are the cases that have been exposed. We believe that the torture cases are magnitudes greater than what has been uncovered thus far.

Torture Methods at the Tilanqiao Prison:

1. A victim is forced to sit on an uneven plastic bench in the middle of a cell that is less than 32 square feet. His hands must remain on his back. He must stay motionless for more than 15 hours a day; otherwise he is beaten.

2. The victim's head is forced into a chamberpot full of excrement and urine, or the victim is forced to to carry a chamberpot on top of his head.

3. Trampling the victim's hip joint repeatedly. The victim will faint due to the pain but he won't suffer a life threatening injury because no organ is located in that part of the body.

4. Grabbing the victim's throat or taping the victim's mouth closed.

5. "Gnawing the bone". Two clubs wrapped with cloth are forced across and into the victim's mouth. The corners of the victim's mouth tear, bleed and become swollen.

Victims who do not give in after enduring all of the above tortures will be taken to the Strict Management Ward and subject to closed-door beatings and torture. This torture is unlike confinement which is regulated and has maximum length of 15 days; there is no regulation on Strict Management. The guards can do anything they like. Until now, no outsider has been privy to the abuses inflicted in Strict Management. Practitioner Mr. Du Ting (mentioned previously) was tortured in that ward for 18 months.

One torture method in the Strict Management Ward is called the "ground handcuff". The victim's hand are cuffed behind his back. Then the cuffs are connected to the ground with a 4 inch iron hoop. The victim is subjected to the "ground handcuff"even when he sleeps. In addition to the "ground handcuff", they put an unbreakable helmet on the victim, tie the victim's feet with a "death knot", and submerge the victim in urine.

The Strict Management Ward was formerly called the "Youth Experimental Squadron". Its target was and still is Falun Gong practitioners.

Mr. Jiang Yong from Xuhui District was sentenced to eight years in prison. In 2007, he wrote a letter complaining about the lack of human rights in the prison and put it in the mailbox of the Prison Supervision Office. The guards Qian Haifeng (male) and Cheng Yubiao (male) responded by transferring him to the Strict Management Section in the Secondary Prison Ward. Mr. Jiang's mouth was taped shut to punish him for shouting "Falun Gong is righteous". The Strict Management Ward guard Guo Hai (male, former platoon leader of Falun Gong special management team) ordered inmates to beat Mr. Jiang down to the ground, handcuff his hands behind his back, and then affix the handcuffs to an iron hoop on the ground using a shackle less than 4 inches long. Mr. Jiang was not able to stand up. He was forced to sleep in a prone position. Inmates kept watch on him; and, every day, they would kick him awake after just a couple hours of sleep.

Guard Ge Zunyang (male) ordered the inmates to beat Mr. Jiang Yong because Mr. Jiang practised the Falun Gong exercises. They forced his head into a chamberpot. Then they poured the urine on the ground and pressed Mr. Jiang's face into it. Prison supervisor Sun Liming (male) saw the incident, but he walked away without a word after Guard Ge said that Mr. Jiang was Falun Gong. On another occasion, after Mr. Jiang practised Falun Gong exercises, they beat him and grabbed his throat. Mr. Jiang took off his prison clothes to protest. He was transferred to the Strict Management team again. The Strict Management Team Guard Wang Xibin ordered inmate Xie Xueping to beat him, kick his chest, trample his hip with leather boots, handcuff him with his hands behind his back, and tie his feet with a death knot. In addition, Wang ordered that Mr. Jiang "gnaw the bone". Mr. Jiang Yang went on a hunger strike to protest the torture. He was in a critical condition and was sent to the prison hospital.

Supervision Office, Tilanqiao Prison, Shanghai: 86-21-65848703, 86-21-65454647 (Fax)
Criminal Office, Tilanqiao Prison, Shanghai: 86-21-65419040

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2008/4/12/176329.html