Mr. Tan Qiucheng in Critical Condition as a Result of Torture in Jilin Prison

Name: Tan Qiucheng
Gender: Male
Age: Unknown
Address: Yushu City, Jilin Province
Occupation: Unknown
Date of Most Recent Arrest: Before November 2002
Most Recent Place of Detention: Jilin Prison
City: Yushu
Province: Jilin
Persecution Suffered: Imprisonment, solitary confinement, torture, force-feedings of salt water, physical restraint

Mr. Tan Qiucheng from Yushu City, Jilin Province is currently incarcerated in Jilin Prison for practising Falun Gong. On the afternoon of April 25th, 2010, Mr. Tan was taken into a solitary cell where he was force-fed with salt water. He is now dying.

Since Mr. Tan was incarcerated in Jilin Prison in November 2002, he has faced a litany of cruel torture methods, such as the "stretching bed" and "body stretching."

In October 2003, Mr. Tan was transferred to the intensive unit in the prison because he refused to renounce Falun Gong in writing. He was subjected to the infamous torture of "stretching bed" for more than a month. He bit his own tongue during the agonising torture. His wrists were wounded from being tied to the stretching bed. They festered and suffered from severe infections. During the torture at the intensive unit, Mr. Tan repeatedly lost bladder control, his wrists were severely injured and his hands and feet suffered from frostbite. He became emaciated, but was not released from the solitary confinement until December 10th.

A demonstration of the "stretching bed" torture

Since the end of October 2003, all the prison cells used for solitary confinement have been equipped with the cruel torture device known as the "stretching bed." Those Falun Gong practitioners with steadfast belief in the practice who refused to renounce their faith, such as Mr. Tan, have been subjected to the "stretching bed" torture method, which is known as the cruelest of all torture methods in Jilin Prison.

The prison guards fix the limbs of a practitioner who refuses to renounce Falun Gong on a specially customised bed with a ring attached to each of the four bedposts. The practitioner's hands and feet are tied to the rings. Then the guards pull the rings, causing the practitioner's limbs to be stretched in four different directions. The torture will inflict instant and severe pain on the victim. If a victim is left in this position for long periods of time, his limbs are often dislocated and the person is maimed permanently. The torture has also caused many practitioners to develop mental disorders.

The torturers would stretch Mr. Tan on the stretching bed, release the pressure and repeat the routine twice, the second time inflicting more agonising pain on the victim than the first. Next the guards would bind Mr. Tan to a regular bed for three days before they subjected him to another round of torture on the stretching bed.

In 2004, Mr. Tan was locked in a solitary cell again, where he faced the torture of the stretching bed until he was again on the verge of death. Mr. Tan bit his own tongue during the torture to protest the persecution. A prison inmate who assisted the prison guards with the torture fixed Mr. Tan to a bed for long periods of time in lieu of the torture of the stretching bed. After a few months of torture in solitary confinement, Mr. Tan was severely wounded. However, he continued to be tortured in Area 5 of the prison.

In 2007, Mr. Tan once again faced cruel torture in a solitary cell. Other Falun Gong practitioners who also faced torture in solitary cells at the time were Mr. Zhu Dexiang, Mr. Gao Zhengang and Mr. Zhang Xiushan

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2010/5/6/222932.html