The "Stretching Torture" Used on Practitioners at the Weining Forced Labour Camp in Benxi City, Liaoning Province

The "stretching torture" or the "stretching bed" used at the Weining Forced Labour Camp in Benxi City, Liaoning Province was implemented by placing a Falun Gong practitioner in the middle of two beds with the arms and legs handcuffed to the four outer corners of the beds. It was later that they began using rope instead of handcuffs, since when the guards subjected practitioner Ms. Wang Xuefei to this torture, the handcuffs bore into her flesh and left marks, which the guards didn't want others to see. After a period of time, the two beds are forced apart and bricks are squeezed into the space between the beds. Every time a brick is squeezed in, extreme harm to the body results. This torture used to be called "dismembering the limbs with five horses," and in ancient times was called "splitting by cart."

"Stretching torture" demonstration

At the Weining Forced Labour Camp, Chen Zhongwei and Liu Shaoshi led the other Chinese Communist Party (CCP) personnel in this brutal persecution of practitioners. They attempted to deceive Yingkou City practitioners Mr. Li Qinghuan and Mr. Zhang Shupeng by torturing them mentally, and when that failed, they turned to violent physical torture. Under orders from guard Ding Huibo, they put the legs of the two practitioners into the double lotus position and bound them with rope. Their hands were tied behind their backs with rope. They had people sit on Mr. Li and Mr. Zhang's backs to force them to quit the practice. Under this brutal torture, Mr. Li Qinghuan's body and mind suffered serious injuries.

Fifty year-old Mr. Li Qinghuan started practising Falun Gong in 1996. After the CCP began persecuting Falun Gong in 1999, Mr. Li was continuously harassed and was arrested on September 18th, 2004. He was tortured using the "stretching torture" at the Weining Forced Labour Camp for seven days and nights. He never recovered from the torture. After he was released in 2006, he continue to be monitored. Mr. Li passed away on April 5th, 2009 (see http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2009/4/29/106913.html).

Fengcheng City practitioner Mr. Liang Yuncheng was arrested by the local police while distributing leaflets exposing the persecution and telling people the facts about Falun Gong in Kuandian County on January 3rd, 2006. He was taken to the Benxi City Forced Labour Camp and persecuted severely. In order to force him to renounce his belief in Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, the labour camp ordered ten people to take turns torturing him for over ten days. He wasn't allowed to sleep and the guards beat him with police batons. When he didn't give up, he was tortured in the "stretching room." Mr. Liang was once placed on the "stretching bed" for 21 days.

Around April 13th, 2009, Panjin City practitioner Mr. Gao Dong was found by people who knew him, curled up and shivering in a corner of a grocery market in the Xinglongtai District, Panjin City. His body was very weak and his lower body couldn't move. It appeared to be caused by thin ropes that bound the wrists and ankle with the limbs pulled in four different directions until the body was hanging in the air, which would be the "stretching bed" torture. Mr. Gao could only crawl, and he had a very foul smell. When someone told the surrounding crowd that Mr. Gao was a practitioner, and the truth of the torture, the crowd condemned the CCP. Later Mr. Gao disappeared and it was said that some kind person took him away. A witness said that a car in Benxi City had dropped off Mr. Gao and driven away.

According to incomplete data, from 2000 to 2006, the practitioners who were subjected to this torture at the Benxi Forced Labour Camp include: Mr. Li Guangwen (Fushun City), Mr. Wang Xuezheng (Panjin City), Mr. Zhang Suming and Mr. Wang Jingshi (Yingkou City), Mr. Jia Jingwen (Jinzhou City), Mr. Zhao Wei and Mr. Liu Bo (Dandong City), Mr. Jiao Lin (Fengcheng City), and the rest are all from Beixi City: Mr. Song Yuegang, Mr. Sun Tiechun, Mr. Wang Jicai, Mr. Zhao Chenglin, Mr. Qiu Zhiyan, Mr. Yan Bai, Mr. Jiao Fang, Mr. Wang Jinhai, Mr. Wang Xuefei, Mr. Fu Xiaodong, Mr. Liang Yuncheng, Mr. Wang Jingwan, Mr. Li Guangwen, Mr. Zhang Shupeng, Mr. Jiang Hulin, and Mr. Zhang Yunsheng.

The practitioners who were tortured using this method in 2007 include: Mr. Yang Manzhi (Benxi City), Ms. Wang Yuzhu (Haiyang City, Shandong Province), Mr. Liu Guangqing (Panjin City), Mr. Zhang Yawei (Panjin City), Mr. Cheng Guanghui (Zhaoyang City), and others. In 2008, the practitioners include: Mr. Song Jiwei (Dandong City), Mr. Zhang Guoyu (Dalian City), Mr. Zhang Zhigang (Tieling City), Mr. Gao Dong (Panjin City), Mr. Wang Zhongming (Benxi City), and others. After late September 2008, seven Falun Gong practitioners were transferred from Beijing to the Weining Forced Labour Camp. Already, two have been tortured using the "stretching bed."

This brutal persecution still continues. We request that people throughout the world and human rights organizations pay close attention to what has happened, and what is happening now at the Weining Forced Labour Camp in Benxi City, Liaoning Province, China. We ask that the inhumane torture of compassionate Falun Gong practitioners end immediately.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2009/5/20/201272.html