(Clearwisdom.net) The Shijiazhuang Forced Labor Camp has been detaining Falun Gong practitioners of Heibei Province illegally since November 1999. In the last five years, under the rule of the 610 Office, it has tortured Falun Gong practitioners ruthlessly, resulting in many tragedies. Eight Falun Gong practitioners have been persecuted to death; fourteen Falun Gong practitioners have been tortured until they had complete mental breakdowns; and numerous practitioners' bodies have been maimed or have been physically disabled. In the labor camp, Chen Jianguo, head of the fourth division's political affairs office, is one of the chief perpetrators. The fourth division's former leader Shang Changming and present leader Li Yong have often participated in the brutal beating, torturing, and brainwashing of Falun Gong practitioners. Their methods of torture are very violent: by day they handcuff Falun Gong practitioners to seats in the police office or to the heating appliance; by night they use ropes to hang practitioners up and shock them with electric batons. Often, the miserable crying and screaming of practitioners being tortured are heard in the middle of the night. Practitioner Li Huiqi in the second group of the fourth division was tortured to a vegetative state.

The following are illustrations of torture methods used in the fourth division of Shijiazhuang Labor Camp.

1. Hung Up

Falun Gong practitioners are handcuffed to the doorframe of a metal door so that their toes can barely touch the ground. This torture causes them to lose all feeling in their arms and legs. After a time, they lose consciousness. Zhao Meihua, a practitioner from Handan City, was imprisoned and tortured by the above method for a long time. She endured one such torture in April 2001 for seven days. Feeling that she had no other choice, Zhao went on a hunger strike to protest. She was forced fed after three days. After repeated torture, she became mentally disordered.

Re-Enactment Photo 1: Hung Up (the door in the above re-enactment photo represents a metal door in the labor camp.)

2. Restraint

Chen Jianguo and Geng Xingjun have used the "restraint" torture methods on many steadfast Falun Gong practitioners. A Dafa practitioner is called to the team leader's office. After a policeman kicks the practitioner to the ground, another policeman grabs the practitioner's hair and drags his/her head while two policemen pull on two ropes. The practitioner's hair is pulled all over ground; his neck feels as though it is about to break and it is hard to breathe. His heartbeat also becomes accelerated.

Often, the policeman adds more heavy objects to the practitioner's underarms to intensify the pain. When the practitioner is about to faint, the policemen release the ropes. By that point, the practitioner's whole body is numb. After a while, the policemen start the torture all over again. Sometimes the ropes are pulled apart and tear into the flesh. While some policemen are torturing the practitioner, other policemen continually ask, "Are you still going to practice?"

Re-Enactment Photo 2

Re-Enactment Photo 3

Re-Enactment Photo 4

The team's leader at that time: Shang Changming (Male). The team's deputy leader at that time: Fu Zhengai (Female)

3. Long-term fixed squatting

Re-Enactment Photo 5: Long-term fixed squatting

Practitioners are separately handcuffed to the leg of an office desk. Usually, they are tortured for the whole night.

Re-Enactment Photo 6: Long-term fixed squatting

Practitioners are handcuffed to heating pipes. Because of the placement of the handcuffs, they cannot stand or squat on their heels. The longest time a practitioner was tortured using this method was seven days and seven nights.

Written: March 16, 2005