Death.qxd

Torture Methods

Forced to stand for a long time

A victim is forced to stand still, facing a wall, all day long. This punishment is

often combined with the deprivation of food, water, sleep, and the use of the

toilet. This abuse usually lasts several days. If victims can-

not hold still they will be severely beaten.

This torture has a number of variations, including:

1.1

Back Against the Wall: A victim is forced to stand or

kneel down with the back against the wall, head dropped

forward, and both hands pulled up from behind.

1.2

Standing in the "Army Corps" Posture: A victim is

forced to stand under the scorching sun. The feet are plant-

ed on the fiery ground, sometimes without shoes or socks.

Besides the agony of standing for a long time, the victim suffers sunburn.

1.3

Exhausting an Eagle: A victim is forced to stand on a tall stool. When vic-

tims fall from exhaustion, the police will viciously beat them and force them

back on to the stool.

1.4

Body-FFolding: A victim is forced to stand with both legs straight and close

together, and bend the head down as far as it will go toward the feet, in front

of the knees. The fingers point to the ground, and the head is upside down,

forcing the body into a contorted posture.

Forced to Sit for a Long Time

A victim is forced to sit still for a long time, often for many days. This punish-

ment is often combined with the deprivation of food, water, sleep, and the use

of the toilet. This torture can result in poor blood circulation to the lower limbs,

necrosis in the buttocks, and nerve damage from the waist down.

There are several variations of this torture, including:

2.1

Iron Chair Sitting: A victim is shackled to a chair

made of iron wires for more than a week. The wires hurt the

victim's buttocks.

2.2

Board Sitting: A victim is forced to sit on rough wood-

en boards.

2.3

Triangle Board Sitting: Sitting on an

iron board with sharp peaks and grooves.

This often causes the victim's hips to bleed

and fester.

Forced to Squat for a Long Time

A victim is forced to squat still for a long time, often for many days. This pun-

ishment is often combined with the deprivation of food, water, sleep, and the

use of the toilet. This torture can result in poor blood circulation to the lower

limbs, muscle spasms, and nerve damage.

There are several variations of this torture, including:

3.1

Riding a Horse: A victim is forced to squat down with the legs apart and

both arms raised forward parallel to the ground.

3.2 Squatting on a Square: A victim is forced to squat in a square floor brick

measuring 30 by 30 cm [approximately 1 ft. by 1 ft.] for a long time. The head

must be raised and the feet cannot cross the demarcated line.

3.3 Squatting in a Corner: A victim is forced to a corner of a room using tables

or boards, leaving only a small space, and forced to squat down.

3.4

Squatting with Heels up: A victim is forced to squat over nails sticking

out of the ground under one's heels, and must keep the heels raised to avoid

the nails.

Riding an Airplane

This was an infamous torture in China during the Cultural Revolution. A victim's

head is bent down and hands are pulled up and stretched outwards to both

sides of the body (like the wings of an airplane). The victim is forced to stay still

in this position for a long time. This punishment is often combined with the

deprivation of food, water, sleep, and the use of the toilet.

4.1

Backing up an Airplane: This

is a variation of "riding an airplane".

A victim must bend over while hold-

ing the legs straight. Then, with the

feet close together, the arms are lift-

ed as high as possible, with the

hands touching the wall.

Forced to Run for a Long Time

A victim is forced to run non-stop for over ten hours, or else suffer a harsh beat-

ing.

Forced to Stand Outside on a Winter Night; Forced to Stand in

Snow or on Ice with Bare Feet

A victim is forced to stay outside in the biting cold overnight, or stand in snow

or on ice. Countless Falun Gong practitioners have suffered this torture, includ-

ing women and the elderly. Some are even stripped naked.

Forced to Stay in Closed Chamber in the Heat of Summer

A victim is locked in a closed room with no window in the summer heat. Many

Falun Gong practitioners have suffered this torture. Sometimes the police even

pour hot water on the floor to make the chamber "steamier".

Deprivation of Sleep, Food, Water; Deprivation of Use of Toilet,

Sanitary Napkins, Shower, Change of Clothes; Prohibition of Eye

Contact and Talk; Bombarded with Deafening High-PPitch Sounds,

Shined with Intense Light

Police have exploited any and every basic physiological need or sense to tor-

ture Falun Gong practitioners. Anyone not obeying will be viciously beaten.

Pouring Boiling Water or Icy Water over Head

This usually is the first punishment one receives in jail.

Many Falun Gong practitioners have suffered this "routine"

torture.

10. Handcuffs and Shackles

To Chinese police forces, handcuffs

and shackles are not merely devices

of mobility restraint, but also torture

equipment. Many handcuffs and

shackles that cannot be seen in other

parts of the world are used by

Chinese police: those that are very

tight and cut into wrists and ankles,

those that are self-tightening, those

that have spikes, and so on. Following are several variations of tortures with

handcuffs and shackles.

10.1 Handcuffed Behind the Back:

A victim handcuffed in this way cannot

use the bathroom, eat or sleep.

Torture Methods

10.2 Carrying a Sword over the Back:: A victim's

hands are tied behind his back with one hand over the

shoulder and the other hand against the lower back.

The police then apply a great deal of force to pull the

two hands toward one another and handcuff the two

hands together. Usually, this torture causes victims to

faint in just 20 minutes. However, police handcuff prac-

titioners this way for as long as four hours.

10.3 Hell Cuff: This is a device intended for mur-

derers or death row inmates. The pliers-shaped

clasps dig into a victim's wrists and ankles. A vic-

tim wearing a "hell cuff" cannot stand, squat,

move, or sleep.

10.4 The Foot Shackle Combined with Handcuffs:

One of a victim's hands is handcuffed to the other

hand between the legs. The shackle weighs over

20 pounds. The victim cannot go to sleep, walk,

stand, use the bathroom, or eat a meal. They have

to walk in a half-squatting and bowing position.

Police often torture practitioners this way for

weeks.

10.5 Running in Chains: Several victims are hand-

cuffed and shackled together and forced to run

non-stop.

11. Solitary Confinement

Solitary confinement, widely condemned around the world, is among the cru-

elest tortures. In China, police have used tortures beyond usual solitary con-

finement against Falun Gong practitioners. Following are only a few of the

examples:

11.1 Locked in Small Cell: A small cell is a room of less than three square

meters. It has no window, no bed, no water, and no toilet. A victim is locked in

a small cell for months, having to eat, sleep, and excrete in the same small

area. Since the height of the room is less than 1.5 meters, one cannot stand

straight. To exacerbate the agony, the guards often hand-

cuff the victim in the small cell door so the victim cannot

sleep for many days.

11.2 Locked in Iron Cage: The height of the cage is short-

er than a victim's height. The width and length are calcu-

lated so that the person can neither stand straight nor lie

down. The victim is often handcuffed to the rail and can-

not sleep. Many Falun Gong practitioners have been

locked up this way for as long as 120 days. They are men-

tally and physically tortured.

11.3 Tied to a Death Board: This variation of solitary confinement was origi-

nally conceived for and used on death row criminals. The victim is tied to an

iron or wooden board for weeks with four limbs stretched out and locked, and

cannot move at all. The victim is tied down at all times, having to be fed by

someone else, but sleeping and excreting are all done on the board, for this

reason the victim is often stripped

naked. The victim suffers not only

from solitary confinement, but also

the excruciating pain of feeling their

whole body atrophying. Many practi-

tioners have lost their lives from this

torture.

11.4 Leaning Against a Big Board: This is a variation of the "death board" tor-

ture. The victim is forced to lie down on a bed made of a wooden board with-

out any padding for many days at a time with feet and hands fixed to the bed.

11.5 Water Dungeon: This is a deadly solitary con-

finement. A victim is stripped naked, locked in an

iron cage with spikes on all sides, and lowered into

a pit of filthy water until the water reaches the vic-

tim's neck. The victim cannot lean to any side

because of the spikes, and cannot squat down

because the water. Many practitioners have suf-

fered this torture and some have died.

12. Cuffed and Hung up

Hung up by handcuffs, in its most simple form,

causes excruciating pain. Chinese police have

added many cruel variations to this torture.

Most Falun Gong practitioners jailed have suf-

fered this in one form or another. The following

are just a few examples:

12.1 Tying up the horse: A victim is hand-

cuffed and shackled, and the arms are pulled

up behind the back, with the head down, and

then tied up with a rope that also loops around

the neck. Then the police pull the end of the rope to tighten it around the prac-

titioner as much as possible. This torture can cause death.

12.2 Hanging a Cage: A victim's hands are twisted behind his back and hand-

cuffed. The police then pull the hands over the head and hang him up in the

air until the feet are off the ground.

12.3 Big Hang: A victim is hung upside-down by the feet. This is a deadly tor-

ture, and some Falun Gong practitioners have died from this.

12.4 Hung up from Behind: With both hands tied or cuffed behind the back,

the victim is hung up by the arms or the handcuffs, with both feet off of the

ground, or just touching the ground. Both hands and arms will soon lose feel-

ing and will go numb from lack of blood circulation. Countless Falun Gong prac-

titioners have suffered this brutal torture. Some have even been hung up for

several days.

13. Tying the Ropes

A thin rope is used to tightly encircle the neck

and the rope is wrapped around the victim's

arms. Then the police use all the force they can

muster to tighten the rope. The rope becomes

tighter and tighter around the body of the prac-

titioner, cutting into the flesh and making it

more and more difficult for him to breathe. The

pain is so intense that the victim sometimes

loses control of the bladder. In many cases the

rope was tightened to the point of breaking a practitioner's arm. Sometimes

the practitioner is hung from a high place with the rope as well. Sometimes

there are spikes on the rope. When the rope is tightly fastened, it cuts into the

flesh, which is extremely painful. This torture is known to cause death if used

twice in a row; however, some practitioners have suffered this up to 10 times

in a row.

14. Tiger Bench

A victim is tied on a narrow wooden or iron bench by the thighs and knees, with

hands tied behind the back. Increasing number of boards or bricks inserted

under his feet creates excruciating pain.

The police often use this device to immobilize

Falun Gong practitioners to force-feed them.

Torture Methods

15. Live Hemp Torture

Hemp is a perennial plant. Its stems and leaves are covered with fine hairs and

sharp, poisonous thorns. After contact with hemp, the skin immediately

becomes inflamed, extremely itchy, and painful. This torture was used against

underground Chinese Communist Party members during China's civil war in

the 1940's, and was banned after the Chinese Communists assumed power

in 1949. But police now use fresh hemp stalks to slap Falun Gong practition-

ers' faces, or strip practitioners naked and throw them onto a pile of hemp.

16. Electric Baton Shock

This is by far the most common torture used by the police against Falun Gong

practitioners. Practitioners have been shocked with as many as a dozen

batons at a time, with voltages as high as 30,000 volts, often for several hours.

Countless practitioners have suffered flesh burns, some having ears, hands, or

feet charred from the electric shocks.

The police have shocked practitioners' eyes, nipples, and penises. The police

have also forced these batons into practitioners' mouths or vaginas to shock

them.

Many Falun Gong practitioners have died from electric baton shocks.

17. Beating Buttocks

Literally, this torture is called "passing the board". A victim is forced to the

ground and beaten viciously with a board, club, or baton, dozens or hundreds

of times. This often causes the buttocks to become black and blue.

18. Force-FFeeding

This is another torture commonly used by police against practitioners, and it is

the number one cause of deaths of Falun Gong practitioners. Almost every

Falun Gong practitioner who has gone on a hunger strike in detention has suf-

fered from force-feeding. Many practitioners not even on hunger strikes have

also been tortured using this method.

The purpose of police force-feeding is never to nourish, but rather to punish

practitioners and to cause so much pain that they will renounce Falun Gong

practice. To that end, the police have used many different means to cause

excruciating pain and injury, including:

18.1 Inserting and Withdrawing the Feeding Tubes Repeatedly: The police

usually use a tube inserted through a practitioner's nose to force-feed. Often,

even when the tube is already inserted, the police pull it out again and re-insert

it. This can be repeated many times. Many practitioners have died from the

tube piercing through their lungs.

18.2 Leaving the Feeding Tubes in Stomach: This is another way to cause

pain. Practitioners tortured this way are usually handcuffed.

18.3 Knocking off Teeth to Force-FFeed: To force practitioners to open their

mouths, the police resort to the most barbaric violence, knocking out practi-

tioners' teeth, tearing apart practitioners' lips, or even poking holes in practi-

tioners' cheeks.

18.4 Force-FFeeding Saturated Salt-W

Water: This causes intense pain in the gut.

Many practitioners have died from this because of the resulting dehydration.

18.5 Force-FFeeding Vinegar/Liquor: Several Falun Gong practitioners have

died from this.

18.6 Force-FFeeding Hot Pepper Oil/Mustard Oil/Boiling Water: These cause

burns and intense pain in the esophagus, stomach, and intestines.

18.7 Force-FFeeding Urine/Feces

19. Bamboo Sticks under the Fingernails

The police hammer sharp bamboo sticks into the fingers of the practitioners

through the tip of the fingernails. In

the process of the hammering, the

fingernail will get torn off completely.

The police first hammer the bamboo

stick into one finger. If the practition-

er still refuses to yield, the police will

hammer bamboo sticks into succes-

sive fingers until they mutilate all 10

fingers.

20. Burning

The police have used cigars and cigarette lighters to burn fingers, toes, faces,

nipples, vaginas, and other parts of practitioners' bodies. While burning them,

the police say, "I will stop when you give up Falun Gong."

21. Hot and Spicy Chicken Legs

A victim is forced to lie on the ground. The inmates then take turns jumping

high up in the air and then landing on the upper legs of the practitioner with

one foot.

22. Bed Pressing

A victim is handcuffed and shackled and forced to sit down on the ground. A

bed is then placed over his head and several people get on the bed pressing

down and jumping on the bed. This often causes the victim to lose control of

the bladder and bowels.

23. Dog Bites

Police have let loose dogs to attack Falun

Gong practitioners in a number of deten-

tion centers and labor camps.

24. Suffocation

The police pull a plastic bag over the

head of a practitioner. While the practi-

tioner is suffocating and gagging, the

police will ask, "Will you give up Falun

Gong?"

Sometimes the police use thick paper

soaked in water to cover the faces of

practitioners to suffocate them.

25. Forcing Head into Bucket of Urine