By a practitioner in China

(Clearwisdom.net) The following photos were taken of Chinese practitioners who had been released from imprisonment, as they reenacted the tortures they experienced in Jiamusi Forced Labor Institute of Heilongjiang Province.

Sitting punishment: The victim is ordered to sit on a small stool, hands on the knees, and not allowed to move. They are forced to sit for 18 to 20 hours a day, constantly monitored by guards. This kind of torture will severely injure the victim's back. Some practitioners could not stand up straight after the "sitting punishment" and they almost lost the ability to stand. After long hours of sitting in the same position, the buttocks become severely bruised. Some wardens even use stools with ridges so the skin on the victims' buttocks becomes broken and infected.

Sitting on stool, hands shackled to a heating pipe: In this torture, the victim is ordered to sit on a small stool with both hands handcuffed to heating pipe behind him or her. The warden will order the practitioner to sit for seven days continuously, without sleep. After such a long time of keeping same position, the victims' arms will become swollen, and the back will be injured and in extreme pain. After being deprived of sleep for as long as seven days, victims have a high probability of becoming mentally disoriented.

Being beaten with rubber batons: In this torture, the policeman or guard will beat the victim with a specially designed rubber baton. The top of the baton has many ball-shaped tips. When the victim is beaten with this kind of baton, he/she does not feel acute pain but only numbness and loss of feeling in the area being beaten. The injuries are internal and are not easily detectable on the surface.

Being shackled to the ground: The victim is forced to sit on a cold ceramic tile floor with their legs crossed and hands locked in a pair of steel handcuffs that are fastened to the ground, usually for seven consecutive days. The victim is forced to sit on the ground all day long, and is only unlocked for going to the toilet. One must lie on the ground to eat food without using their hands. Sometimes, the warden will also beat the victim. The victims can no longer walk after being shackled like this for seven days.

Being handcuffed on a wire mesh bed frame: In this torture, the victim's arms are placed behind them and handcuffed to a wire mesh bed frame with a steel rod (of the bed frame) between the arms. The weight of the victim will pull the body down and tighten the handcuffs. The guards monitor the victim continuously and beat him sometimes. The victim is not allowed to sleep during this punishment. For those who are wearing only thin clothes, the steel mesh will cut into the body.

"Restriction Chair" (also called "Iron Chair"): This torture instrument is made of steel pipe and plates with a movable steel plate that sits over the victim's lap, completely restraining them. The victim is ordered to sit on the chair, hands locked on the chair arms and the feet locked in the rings on the chair legs. The steel plate restricts the victim's legs. The person can't move on this chair, is not allowed to sleep, and is monitored by guards or other people. Usually one had to sit for a limit of seven days because the victim can easily become disabled from sitting longer. Some Falun Gong practitioners were locked in the chair for as long as ten days. This image was drawn on the computer for reference only. It has some differences from the real "Iron Chair."

Squatting next to a heating pipe: In this torture, the victim is ordered to squat down and both hands are handcuffed to a heating pipe. The policeman or warden will then pull up the victim's shirt and put a cold wet towel on his/her back. If a victim is restrained in this position for a long time, the legs will become swollen and painful. The wrists develop deep cuts from the handcuffs.

Posting date: 10/20/2004
Original article date: 10/19/2004
Category: Eyewitness Accounts
Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2004/10/19/86918.html

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