Locking Practitioners in the “Leifeng Tower”

The “Leifeng Tower” located in the Xishanping Labor Camp is a horrid place of about two square meters (about 20 square feet) it consists of two rooms. There is no sunlight, only ghastly darkness. A stone slab in one of the rooms constitutes a bed while the other room contains nothing at all. Human excrement covered this place of torture, since there is no access to a toilet. Because rats and snakes have infested the place, rotting animal carcasses give off a pungent odor. Rumors have it that one woman imprisoned there could not bear this environment and committed suicide. “Leifeng Tower” is considered a very terrifying form of torture, but guards in the labor camp utilize it extensively to torture Falun Gong practitioners. None of the practitioners who were locked in the tower were permitted to have a blanket or warm clothes. There was no exception to this rule, even in the wintertime. They were only allowed two meals a day and for each meal, they only received half their regular rations; that is to say, every day, they received only about 5-7oz of food.

In 2000, Mr. Han Yiming was locked in the “Leifeng Tower” for seven days and nights straight, during this time he was forced to sleep on the stone slab without a blanket.

Mr. Kang Hong was suspended from the wall for three days and nights in such a way that he was forced to balance on tiptoes. He was forced to urinate and defecate in his pants. Mr. Kang was locked in the tower multiple times, and was further punished by being handcuffed to a wall into a position of forced squatting.

Mr. Li Xiangdong was also locked in the “Leifeng Tower” for several days.

Torture by Starvation

Falun Gong practitioners in the labor camp are given porridge and steamed buns for their breakfasts, for their second meal they receive mainly plain rice. The buns are called “pager-sized buns” because they are so small. The porridge consists of cooked rice mixed with water; it contains a high ratio of water to rice. The vegetables served are boiled in water and contain little nutritional value. They are very low grade produces. In addition to the salt that the vegetables are cooked in, there is usually sand, hair and worms. The guards do not permit any Falun Gong practitioners to eat meat. From the deprivation of nutrition, practitioners are malnourished and sickly. Mr. Li Chunyuan reported this situation to the officer Zhou Ping, and was thus handcuffed to a door for several days.

Falun Gong Human Rights Working Group

Physical Punishment “Frog-Jump”

Besides locking Falun Gong practitioners in “Leifeng Tower” and torturing them through starvation, practitioners are forced to do 200 to 300 push-ups at a time. During the push-ups, when practitioners lower their bodies, they are prohibited from resting on the floor. Presumably consequences would result from recalcitrance.

Another torture method used is the “frog-jump,” in which the practitioners are forced to jump around the basketball playground 10 to 14 times. Some of them are forced to jump on shaky legs until they collapse. In addition, practitioners are forced to run 60-100 circles around the basketball playground. Camp officials constantly invent new ways to torture practitioners. Mr. Han Yiming and other practitioners not only suffered the fore mentioned tortures, but are also forced to stand in one spot for two hours at noontime, sometimes this torture will be extended for up to 12 hours.

Mr. Tian Yicheng was placed in solitary confinement for ten days. Since he refused to give up Falun Gong, he was beaten regularly. From the beatings, his eyesight has become seriously impaired, and he can no longer walk properly.