(Minghui.org) When agents from the Chinese Communist regime torture Falun Gong practitioners, they use ordinary objects. The methods are widely adopted throughout the labor camps and detention systems.
Riding on a Block of Wood
In August 2008, some practitioners noticed that wooden blocks were being used in the division for “new arrivals.” Each block was about the width of a palm and a meter in length. Three practitioners were forced to sit on one block, and sometimes they were forced to sit astride, or “ride,” on them. The blocks were made of hard wood, with sharp edges, and it did not take long before the edges and corners cut into the flesh of those sitting on them. "Riding" on these blocks was even more painful than sitting on them. In summer, people wear thin pants, so one can imagine how painful it was for those sitting on such blocks for long periods of time. The blocks were very narrow, and when one sat on a block, the edges would cut into the buttocks like a knife. Sitting on a block when one's buttocks are already covered with wounds causes excruciating pain. Falun Gong practitioners were forced to sit on these blocks for long periods of time, often until the wounds turned into thick calluses. When the guards thought the practitioners had gotten used to it and did not feel as much pain as before due to the calluses on their buttocks, they would think of new ways to torture them.
Riding on a Wooden Horse
This form of torture was used in Fenjin Forced Labor Camp in Changchun, Jilin Province. When the perpetrators saw practitioners still refusing to give up their belief, they fetched a stool nearly two meters in length, less than two inches in width, and over a meter in height. Practitioners were forced to ride on it one by one, then the back of the last practitioner was kicked hard so that more than ten practitioners who were riding on the stool were jammed tightly against each other, with their feet off the ground. The perpetrators called this “riding on a wooden horse.” The stool was only over an inch in width, and the two edges cut into the crotch area of those sitting on it, causing unbearable pain. Practitioner Mr. Sun Shibin was subjected to this form of torture.
Riding on a Folding Stool
The folding stool used in this torture is a just a common small stool, made of two rectangular wooden frames joined with screws or steel rods at the crossing point, with a canvas surface or leather strips bound to the frames on top. It can be folded up and easily carried. However, such stools are used as a means of torture in Harbin Prison in Heilongjiang Province. Perpetrators would fold up a stool and force the victim to ride on it. The surface is only less than 3 cm (about 1.2 in) in width and has protruding screw tops.
On March 18, 2004, guard Zhang Jiushan instructed inmates Guan Dejun, Liu Yanming, Jin Zhidong, Li Donghui, and others to force practitioner Mr. Sun Dianbin to ride on a folded-up stool. He was also forced to push his head against the wall, and if he moved his body, they beat him. He was tortured this way for a long time, into the early morning hours.
Practitioner Mr. Li Chang'an and six other practitioners, including Wu Ping, Liu Guifu, Li Zhanbin, Zhang Qi, and Liu Liqing, were transferred to an intensive training team in Harbin Prison, where inmate Guan Dejun tortured them by forcing them to ride on folding stools. The stools were folded up and they were forced to sit up straight on them, with both their hands on their knees. They were forced to sit this way from 9:00 p.m. until midnight, and then woken up to sit on them again from 4:00 to past 6:00 a.m.
Practitioner Mr. Yuan Qingjiang was arrested and taken to the intensive training team in Harbin Prison in spring 2004 and was subjected to such torture. He was not allowed to do manual labor, as the inmates did, because the manual labor was easy. He was instead forced to ride on a folding stool in the workshop, and he was watched by inmates assigned by guards. Yuan Qingjiang was forced to sit on the folding stool for 18 days! He was also forced to sit with his arms stretched out in front of him or sideways.
Sitting on Stool Legs
This form of tortured was “invented” at the No. 4 Prison of Hebei Province. The prison gathered Falun Gong practitioners who refused to renounce their belief, and organized a special session of intensified brainwashing. Practitioners in this session were subjected to a torture method known as “stewing the eagle,” which deprived the victims of sleep for long periods of time. Inmates were instructed to watch them in turns, and rubbed the practitioners' eyeballs with a dry towel if they fell asleep. The perpetrators also turned the stools upside down and forced practitioners to sit on the legs, with their legs in a loose position, so the body weight would fall on the stool legs. If they moved a bit, the perpetrators beat them severely.
The practitioners were deprived of food and water, and even use of the toilet. They were forced to watch slanderous videos every day and beaten from time to time. According to inmates, people tortured this way would start to urinate blood after four days and would suffer a mental collapse by the fifth day. Practitioner Mr. Wang Shujun was forced to ride on a folding stool for seven days and nights without sleep, and his head was covered with injuries from beatings.
Guards at Tilanqiao Prison in Shanghai worked out another form of torture with stool legs. They would lay a square stool on its side. The two stool legs, the crosspiece between the two legs, and the stool surface form a rectangular space. The guards first lay practitioners on the top. Using their feet, the guards push the victim's body down into that rectangular space, forming a V shape, and then pull the victim's hair and push his head down. At the same time they stand on the victim's feet. It is very cruel.
The most common household items, like a simple stool, can be turned into a means of torture to persecute Falun Gong practitioners. The perpetrators are very cruel and their aim is to cause their victims maximum pain.
