Victims: Mr. Hu Jianguo, Mr. Sun Jian, Mr. Wang Cunbo, and Mr. Zhang Guisheng, male.

Location: The Jinzhou Prison, Liaoning Province

Torture method: Stool holding (Illustration)

Stool holding: A stool is attached to a metal slab measuring 1.4 meters long and one meter wide. The stool, in the shape of a pyramid and about two feet high, is placed upside down in the center of the slab. There are two metal rings, one on either side of the stool. The guards have the criminal inmates force the practitioners to sit with their legs gripping the stool and their feet shackled. Their arms are wrapped around the stool, through the two rings, and then handcuffed. The metal rings are about one foot above the bottom of the stool so that they cannot raise their arms or straighten their backs. They have to squat down and bend over.

In December 2005, First Division Head Cui Yuanqi (male) and Chief of the prison supervisory section Niu Baojin (male) (police serial numbers 2158198 and 2158288) of Jinzhou Prison, Liaoning Province, confined Falun Gong practitioners Mr. Hu Jian'guo and Mr. Sun Jian in solitary cells. The solitary cell is less than three meters square and seven to eight meters high with a skylight. One cannot leave the cell for any reason--a bucket serves as a toilet and one meal per day is provided. During their imprisonment, the guards used a method called "stool holding" to torture them.

When Mr. Hu and Mr. Sun were tortured with this "stool holding" method, Cui Yuanqi and Niu Baojin ordered the criminal inmates to monitor them and keep them from sleeping. Whenever they closed their eyes, the inmates beat them. Only when it was mealtime or toilet-time would the inmates open their handcuffs and release them from the stool. Other than that, they were forced to hold the stool all day long. The inmates were divided into three groups with at least two inmates in each group. Because Mr. Hu and Mr. Sun had to sit for so long, their buttocks festered. They suffered from back and foot pain. Their legs were numb and their hands became ice-cold. They could not stand up to eat or to use the toilet unless two inmates pulled them up. They were forced to hold the stool for as long as 25 days and were not allowed to sleep.

Mr. Wang Cunbo and Mr. Zhang Guisheng, who were imprisoned in the Second Division, were also tortured with "stool holding"

Summary

At Jinzhou Prison in Liaoning Province, the authorities persecuted Falun Gong practitioners; one torture method is so called "stool holding". Mr. Hu Jianguo, Mr. Sun Jian, Mr. Wang Cunbo, and Mr. Zhang Guisheng were tortured with this method for as long as 25 days and not allowed to sleep.

Posted on April 20, 2008