(Minghui.org) In China, the authorities use force, sometimes even torture, during interrogations to obtain "evidence." In fact, the illegal use of force and torture by the Chinese authorities is not reserved for interrogations. The communist regime has used it aggressively in its attempts to "transform" Falun Gong practitioners.

Water-boarding

The Chinese authorities are well aware that a person might involuntarily bite his tongue from unbearable pain. Since such an injury could point to the use of torture, they are careful to prevent it.

Practitioner Qu Dehong from Jidong County, Heilongjiang Province, went on a hunger strike in the local detention center on May 13, 2005, and was force-fed.

Detention center deputy chief Wang Yanguo conspired with Ni Peng, the police officer in charge of the fifth ward. Wang said, “Qu is to be released tomorrow. We must do it today.” They stripped Mr. Qu's clothes off and used shredded bed sheets to tie him up. They put a rein in his mouth to keep him from biting his tongue. Then death row inmates Yu Yongsheng and Wang Tie wrapped chains around his neck and held him down while they poured water over his head. During the torture, Wang Yanguo kept giving orders from the hallway, while Ni Peng was in the room overseeing the torture. Mr. Qu Dehong couldn't breathe and fainted multiple times from the water-boarding.

Torture illustration: Dousing with cold water

Practitioners accused of "self-mutilation" if they bite their tongues when tortured

The Chinese authorities not only use different methods to prevent their victims from biting their tongues, but also accuse them of self-mutilation when it does happen.

Mr. Shi Guoliang, 37, is a resident of Jijia Village, Jiutai City, Jilin Province. In May 2007, he was sentenced to nine years in prison for practicing Falun Gong and taken to Shilingzi Prison in Siping City, Jilin Province.

On the morning of July 6, 2012, warden Zhou Jijia, guards Li Jun and Li Cheng, and inmates Yan Dequan and Zheng Wei took him to the office in the 11th ward. Li Jun handcuffed Mr. Shi and Yan Dequan and Zheng Wei stomped on and held him down. Li Cheng poured cold water on Mr. Shi and then shocked him with an electric baton on his neck and back. Warden Zhou Jijia oversaw the proceedings.

Mr. Shi lost consciousness after being shocked twice, his body shaking involuntarily. He bit his tongue near the root, nearly severing it. Even then, the authorities did not take him to the hospital until around 11 that morning after inmate Zheng Wei beat Mr. Shi. Mr. Shi had nine stitches and had to be hospitalized for half a month. From then on, Mr. Shi could not speak normally in the morning. He could speak slowly around noon. He also frequently could not help biting his tongue when he ate.

Mr. Shi's mother complained to Jilin Province Prison Administration Bureau about the torture. In their reply to the complaint, the Prison Administration Bureau denied any torture or beating instigated by the guards. They accused Mr. Shi of self-mutilation and of "trying to commit suicide by biting his tongue."

Unspeakable torture covered up by claims of "self-mutilation"

The torture and suffering endured by practitioners who were tortured to death may never be known.

Practitioner Mr. Li Zhengling from Taiping Town, Gulin City, Sichuan Province, was tortured and lost his eyesight. When his mother and wife went to visit him in Deyang Prison in 2006, he was delirious and catheterized. On June 21, 2008, his mother received a notice from the prison authorities that Mr. Li was dying.

As his family arrived at the prison, Mr. Li passed away.

The hospital director said that Mr. Li was unable to walk and was in a coma when he arrived at the hospital on June 11. He had a severe skin infection, his buttocks had several open sores, and he was extremely weak. His blood pressure was only 60 (unspecified whether it was venous or arterial pressure). His lower abdomen was swollen from urine retention. The hospital director also claimed that Mr. Li "bit his tongue to commit suicide." They made a cut on his neck as he was choking on his blood. Another cut on his abdomen was explained as "a procedure to release urine."

The hospital authorities attempted to cover up the fact that Mr. Li had been severely tortured. They tried to come up with explanations for the condition of his body. But the director inadvertently indicated that Mr. Li had bit his tongue and bled severely. What kind of torture made him bite his tongue? It might remain a mystery, since the Chinese authorities usually carry out torture secretly in a closed and isolated location.

Electric shock

Torture reenactment: Electric shock

A practitioner from Lingyuan City, Liaoning Province, wrote about being tortured in Xidayingzi Forced Labor Camp in Chaoyang City: “In February 2004, I wrote an open letter to declare that I would not give up practicing Falun Gong. Guards Qi Yongshun, Gao Zhiguo, and Fang Jinsen; inmate Wang Zigang; and eight others held me down on the floor and shocked me all over with three electric batons. I kept shaking and sweating profusely.

“I bit my tongue involuntarily due to the immense pain. So that I wouldn't do it again, they stuffed my mouth with rags, making it very hard for me to breathe, and went on shocking me.

“I struggled and managed to pull the rags out of my mouth. After another round of shocking, I bit my tongue again and blood flew out of my mouth. They stopped shocking me then and found more dirty rags to put in my mouth. They then used wires to pry my jaws open and twisted the wires behind my head to keep me from biting my tongue.

“The labor camp doctor examined me later and said that my tongue was nearly bitten in half and part of it almost fell off.”

The Chinese authorities also use torture on non-practitioners to obtain "evidence" so that they can "close" a lot of criminal cases. The police and guards are also motivated by monetary and promotional incentives promised by the Chinese communist regime. Evidence that Falun Gong practitioners have been suffering inhuman torture is unparalleled in Chinese history and continues to pile up.