(Minghui.org) A survivor of Wafangdian Detention Center in Liaoning Province recently shed light on a custom-made torture device used on detainees who refuse to give up their belief in Falun Gong.
This device was initially designed for use on death-row inmates, but according to this survivor's account, it was used exclusively on Falun Gong practitioners at this facility. The guards brought out this instrument when other torture methods failed to make practitioners renounce their belief.
This device is a trapezoid-shaped hollow metal frame. The two parallel sides measure 8 inches and 12 inches in length respectively. The top base has a pair of handcuffs attached to its two corners, while the bottom base has a pair of shackles.
When the torture victim is forced to “wear” this device, he has his wrists in handcuffs and his ankles in shackles. Since the frame is only a foot tall, the victim has to remain in a squatting position at all times, causing tremendous suffering over an extended period of time.
The victim, especially if he is tall, is rendered incapable of doing the most basic things like feeding himself without excruciating pain.
As the victim cannot stand up straight or stretch out when lying down, getting a good night's sleep is next to impossible. Relieving himself is a humiliating ordeal every time, as he cannot unzip his own pants and has to ask for help.
According to the survivor, the guards know the physical and psychological impacts of this device over the long haul all too well, and use it to weaken the practitioners' willpower.
This survivor once saw a practitioner on hunger strike with this torture device on. When the guards dragged the practitioner out for force-feeding, his arms and legs rubbed against the metal frame repeatedly, with each movement causing obvious pain.
