Falun Gong Practitioner Tian Suohai Survives Four Years of Torture

Name: Tian Suohai
Gender: Male
Age: Unknown
Address: Zhenyuan County, Gansu Province
Occupation: Unknown
Date of Most Recent Arrest: May 2004
Most Recent Place of Detention: Lianzhou Prison
City: Lianzhou
Province: Gansu
Persecution Suffered: Detention, torture, physical restraint, handcuffed and hung up, home ransacked, extortion, beatings, forced labour, forced-feeding.

Falun Gong practitioner Tian Suohai, from Zhenyuan County, Gansu Province was arrested in May 2004. He was brutally tortured while being held at the local police station and after being detained for 11 months, he was sentenced to four years in Lianzhou Prison.

Brutal torture after arrest

In May 2004, six Falun Gong practitioners were sentenced, sent to labour camps or detention centres, while ten practitioners were fined.

The persecution was controlled by the county 610 Office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong) and the orders carried out by the Public Security Bureau. The 610 Office director was and still is Gou Guangchan and the Public Security Bureau Vice Director was Lu Yadong, who still holds that position. Lu Zhengpin is the National Security Bureau Director.

On May 18th, 2004, Tian Suohai was returning home from the market, when the Linjing Town police arrested him. When his family went to the police station and asked his whereabouts, they were told by the police to look for him at the County Public Security Bureau.

That night, the police began to torture Mr. Tian Suohai. They tortured him first with the tiger bench¹ and then with the method known as "four horses splitting the body" (each hand is handcuffed, then tied with a rope; the rope is also tied to each ankle; four people hold the ropes, pulling in four different directions and the body is stretched off the ground). He immediately passed out due to the excruciating pain and after he was awakened, he found himself lying on the ground, unable to move.

The police used cigarettes to burn Mr. Tian's legs, causing him to hit his head hard on the concrete floor in pain. He was later transferred to the Zhenyuan County Police Station, where they hung him up using handcuffs for three nights and days. By the time he was released, Mr. Tian had lost all sensation in his hands and they were swollen, and black and purple.

Home ransacked

The police officers involved in ransacking Tian Suohai's home were Li Guoming, Lu Zhengpin from the Nation Security Bureau, Zhenyuan County, and also the Village Party Secretary. They turned the house upside down, pulling everything apart, even searching the chicken house! When Mr. Tian Suohai's wife attempted to stop them, they physically abused her until she passed out and had to be taken to the hospital. They occupied the house from 11a.m. until 10 p.m., taking away personal property such as a three-wheeled wagon, motorcycle, mobile phone, Mr. Tian's national ID, and driver's licence.

Mr. Tian Suohai was transferred to a detention centre on the third day and interrogated numerous times. One policeman with the last name of Tang injured Mr. Tian's chest, fracturing his ribs so that he could hardly breathe or walk. He was held in the Zhenyuan County Detention Centre for 11 months and then sentenced to four years in Lanzhou Prison.

Forced Labour in Lanzhou Prison

While in Lanzhou Prison, Tian Suohai was forced to peel two large bags of garlic every day. If he could not finish, he was not allowed to sleep, so when the lights were turned off at 10 p.m., he had to peel by candlelight. Sometimes he worked until 2 a.m. and then had to get up at 4 a.m. to start working again. There were more than thirty people in one cell, working and living, so the room stank and fleas were everywhere. People were forced to sleep close together, like sardines. They had to learn the rules and regulations of the prison by heart. One day Mr. Tian was working while sitting in the meditation position and the guards ordered the inmates to beat him, injuring his back.

After a period of time, Mr. Tian Suohai was sent to the No. 3 Battalion, where Director Li Wen, Deputy Directors Ren Hongjun and Liu Xiaojun handcuffed him for over 24 hours and deprived him of sleep. He was not allowed to go to the bathroom and inmates would take his food and any personal items.

The guards hung Mr. Tian by his handcuffs several times. He shouted "Falun Gong is good!" The guards took him to another room, handcuffed him to a heating pipe and shocked him with electric batons. Mr. Tian Suohai lost consciousness from the pain. He was covered with blisters, his head was severely injured, he was dizzy, he could hardly walk and was incontinent. The guards threatened him and told him not to tell anyone about the torture.

In order to stop the persecution, Mr. Tian Suohai began a hunger strike, but the guards began to brutally force-feed him. They deliberately caused more pain by pushing the feeding tube in and out violently. When he passed out, they would wake him up and continue the torture. Afterwards, Mr. Tian had severe stomach pain for a long time, and he could not eat. As soon as he tried to eat, he would vomit.

Finally, in May 2008, after four long years of brutal persecution, Mr. Tian was released.

Note

1. "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.ca/mh/articles/2010/6/19/225637.html