The death bed, a torture method originating from Jilin Prison, is frequently used to torture imprisoned Falun Gong practitioners at the Jilin Prison and Jilin Province Women’s Prison, also known as Heizuizi Women’s Prison, in Changchun City. Similar to the ancient, cruel punishment of being drawn and quartered, many Falun Gong practitioners have been tortured to death this way.
According to a Clearwisdom.net report on December 11, 2007, the death bed involves piecing together two twin-size beds and handcuffing or tying a practitioner’s hands and feet onto the four opposite corners of the two beds. After the practitioner is tied up, the beds are moved in opposite directions and bricks are inserted between the two beds. Each brick adds severe pain and injury.
Once tied to the death bed, the victim is unable to move her hands and legs. The beds can be pulled in various directions to cause additional pain and injury throughout the body. Blood circulation from the ankles and wrists are cut off as the muscles tear and bones break. Some practitioners were tortured to the point of dementia while others left handicapped.
Death Beds to Torture Male Falun Gong Practitioners at Jilin Prison
In October 2003, Jilin Prison set up over 10 small dark rooms for solitary confinement, which are referred to as psychological “therapy” centers to outsiders. Each room is equipped with a fixing bed used as a torture device. After the practitioner is tied into position, others torture him with various methods that include, but are not limited to stabbing with needles, burning with hot water, depriving of sleep, kicking, beating, and stepping on the practitioner.
To exacerbate the pain, quilts, water bottles, wooden boards, or other objects are forced between the practitioner’s back and the bed, so the body becomes suspended. The arms and legs are stretched even more tightly, leading to torn wrists and ankles. With the back arched and head bent back, breathing is extremely difficult and and the victim turn pale due to lack of oxygen.
Falun Gong practitioners have been fixed to the bed by the police anywhere from ten days to two months. Their bodies were devastated and emaciated. Their muscles atrophied and their limbs lost strength. They need the support of a wall in order to walk. The cold of winter intensifies the injuries to their hands and feet.
Many male practitioners have been left disabled, and at least 10 male Falun Gong practitioners were tortured to death in Jilin Prison, including Liu Chengjun, Zhang Jianhua, Cui Weidong, Wei Xiushan, He Yuanhui, Hao Yingqiang, Lei Ming, Sun Changde, Wang Qibo and Cao Hongyan.
Death Beds in Jilin Province Women’s Prison
Female Falun Gong practitioners in Jilin Province Women’s Prison are not spared from the same torture. After limbs are secured to four bed corners, the bed board is removed, and only an iron pole half an inch in diameter supports the lower back. The rest of the body is left dangling in the air, and heavy objects are added on the practitioner’s legs. The practitioners are tied this way and prohibited from using the toilet around the clock until they are “transformed”.
The tortured person is left feeling neither dead nor alive. Falun Gong practitioners who refuse to give up their beliefs have all been tortured with the death bed at least once. Some can’t even count how many times they’ve been put on the death bed.
Ms. Song Yanqun of Shulan City, Jilin Province, is an English teacher at Dade Japanese School in Haerbing. She was sentenced to 12 years in prison for refusing to give up the practice of Falun Dafa. After Ms. Song was tortured on the death bed by the guards at Jilin Province Women’s Prison in May 2005, her left leg became cold and numb. Her entire right arm constantly trembles from pain, and she can no longer write.
At least seven female Falun Gong practitioners have been tortured to death in Jilin Women’s Prison. They are Yu Lixin, Deng Shiying, Wang Qiuyong, Yang Guiqing, Yang Guijun, Han Chunyuan, and Jiang Chunxian. Those who were tortured to the point of mental breakdown include Yang Mingfang, Ban Huijuan, Wang Guohua, He Shurong and several others. The actual number of deaths and severity of torture is estimated to be much worse as the flow of information is tightly blocked by the prison.
There are still more than a hundred Falun Gong practitioners being detained in Jilin Province Women’s Prison. Practitioners who refuse to “transform” are persecuted separately by the prison guards. They are monitored and deprived from sleeping by the other prisoners and tortured on the death bed.
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