Peng Chengxu, male, 64, resident of Linyi City, Shandong Province;

Sun Maolan, female, 53, resident of Linyi City, Shandong Province;

Zhao Fuqin, 38, female, and Zhao Fumin, female, 38, both residents of Linyi City,

Shandong Province.

Between July and August of the year 2000, officials from the "610 Office"[1] of Linyi City, Shandong Province detained several Falun Gong practitioners including Mr. Peng, Ms. Sun, Ms. Zhao Fuqin, and Ms. Zhao Fumin because they are Falun Gong practitioners. The officials of the "610 office" took the four of them to the Lanshan Family Planning Office in Linyi City and hired 28 ruffians to torture them.

During the first 10 days of their detention, the ruffians forced the practitioners to watch videotapes defaming Falun Gong 24 hours a day. They would not let the practitioners sleep, or even close their eyes during for the whole 10 days. They viciously beat the practitioners who closed their eyes, until they were exhausted from beating them. A number of times they forced the practitioners to stand still all day, and, at the same time, placed a small table over the practitioner's head, on top of which was a stool with a bowl of water on it. Practitioners were ordered to stand for several hours, with both arms outstretched, while balancing the table, stool and water bowl on top of their heads. The practitioner who couldn't hold the position, or who spilled the water, was brutally punched and kicked.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         They also stabbed the practitioners' hands and fingers with steel needles and forced them to stay in the push-up position for more than two hours. When the practitioners were finally allowed to sleep at night, the ruffians poured water onto the cement floor, and forced the practitioners to sleep in the puddles. Then they turned on a high-speed fan to blow air on them.

To further intensify the torture, the head of the "610 Office" ordered the guard to release a hungry snake in the practitioner’s room. The snake bit Mr. Peng on the neck, leaving its tooth lodged underneath his skin. In addition, they purchased scorpions and poisonous toads and released them in the practitioner’s room to sting and frighten them. All four of the practitioners had bite and sting marks on their bodies.

The four practitioners were tortured to the point where they had difficulty moving around and had bruises all over their bodies. Afraid that they would die, the "610" officials finally released them. However, as Mr. Peng began to recover at home, he was once again detained and sent to a forced labor camp.