History edit
During the Imperial period Chinese judges, like most European judges, were legally allowed to torture witnesses and suspects in criminal cases. Several methods of torture existed although many more remain in the form of urban legends. The main form of legal torture was using bamboo sticks to beat suspects on the legs and buttocks (see bastinado). Suspects might also be required to kneel for extended periods (stress positions). Female prisoners might have their fingers placed in a contraption (the zánzhǐ) made up of bamboo sticks and rope while two officers pulled on each side, crushing the fingers between. A similar device (the jiá gùn), applied to male prisoners, squeezed the feet and ankles. Prisoners could also be suspended by their arms. A somewhat related form of punishment in China was the cangue (sometimes known as Chinese boards). The cangue was made up of two wooden boards with holes for the neck and hands that was clamped against the neck as to restrain the ability to move one's hands and was also used as a way of keeping prisoners contained during exile or transportation to other prisons. Death by a thousand cuts is another frequently mentioned form of torture whose actual nature is problematic.
Today edit
Mass torture occurred in the Cultural Revolution of 1966-1976 against "Rightists" by the Maoist Red Guards. This mostly involved mental torture such as public humiliation and denouncement of intellectuals and traditional elders of Chinese society. Others were imprisoned for being "Counter-Revolutionaries". Following the death of Mao Zedong in 1976 and the trials of the Gang of Four, most of those purged were rehabilitated.
Actual cases of alleged torture in Chinese forced labour camps are reported by witnesses of Falun Gong, a controversial spiritual movement. The methods used today are burning, electric shocks, psychiatric abuse, force-feeding, beatings, and exposure to extreme conditions. The Falun Gong Human Rights Working Group has published annually a booklet named "United Nations' Reports on China's Persecution of Falun Gong", which contains numerous cases of alleged torture and human rights violations. The Chinese authorities profess that there are no independently verifiable sources that confirm this, insisting that such claims are only Falun Gong propaganda. However, human rights organisations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch—as well as several governments around the world—have condemned the torture and atrocities in China's forced labour camps.
The Council of Europe condemned such torture in a draft resolution that passed on January 25 2006, stating that "Totalitarian communist regimes are still active in some countries of the world and crimes continue to be committed ... The Assembly strongly condemns all those violations of human rights."
Bibliography edit
- George Henry Mason, The punishments of China, illustrated by 22 engravings, with explanations in English and French, (London, 1804)
External links edit
- Torture in China - torture methods as depicted by Falun Gong information center