“Experts” Employed to Train Prison Guards on Torture Methods at Yinchuan Prison in Ningxia Autonomous Region

Yinchuan Prison is one of the facilities that assists the 610 Office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong) in the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in Ningxia. From July 20th, 1999 onward, nearly 100 practitioners have been detained in the prison and persecuted for long periods of time using sinister methods. The prison even employed so-called “experts” to train prison guards on how to torture practitioners.

In February 2009, the prison had three “experts” from Beijing to train guards to persecute practitioners. The three “experts” supplied the prison with drawings of the “tiger bench”¹ torture method and assisted the No. 1 Ward in making 10 such torture instruments. After these “tiger benches” were completed, they were moved into the prison's solitary confinement cells and were primarily used to force practitioners to give up their belief. A dozen practitioners who were detained at that time were sent to the solitary confinement cells, one by one, and tortured using the “tiger bench” day and night.

Other torture methods used at the prison in the past have included being hung up by the handcuffs, the “big hang-up”, being shocked with electric batons, being bound with rope, having to lean one's head against a wall, etc. The prison also forced practitioners to watch videos that slander Falun Gong, made them write daily “thought reports”, forbade family and friends from visiting them, made them carry out intense forced labor for over ten hours a day, and other forms of torture. Guards often abetted and instigated convicts to beat practitioners. Those practitioners who refused to give up their belief were more severely persecuted, including being beaten, being locked up in solitary confinement for long periods of time, not being allowed to meet with family, threatening their families, not being considered for a reduced prison sentence, etc.

At present, the following practitioners are still detained at the prison: Chen Xueying, Wang Jianguo, Wang Yuzhu, Xie Yiqiang, Wang Desheng, Ma Zhiwu, Sun Lei, Yue Qin and Zhang Xiaodong.

Recently the following individuals have been involved in persecuting practitioners: Lu Wei, Zhao Li, Feng Shaohui, Tian Jun, Wang Xuexiang, and Zhu Yize.

Prison heads: Li Wencheng, Yang Jianzhou

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://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2012/2/13/253017.html