Death Cases

  • Ms. Cao Shuanmei, 52, Beaten to Death in Shanxi Province Women's Prison - Additional Information

    I was very sad to read of Ms. Cao Shuangmei's death. Ms. Cao entered Shanxi Province Women's Prison in May 2008. Lei Runxiang, the warden, observed that Ms. Cao was not accepting the brainwashing so she ordered prisoners to beat Ms. Cao, and one night they beat her the whole night. Ever since she ordered the beating the prisoners were able do whatever they wanted to torture her. Ms. Cao became as thin as a skeleton, but she still refused to accept the brainwashing. The brutal mistreatment escalated. Ms. Cao had been 5'6" tall, but she now appeared very short, and could not stand still or walk steadily, as she was emaciated.
  • Mr. Yang Yuxin Tortured to Death, His Wife, Ms. Zhen Haiyan, Arrested Three Times

    Ms. Zhen Haiyan's husband was Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Yang Yuxin. They were married on May 1st, 2007. One month later, they were both arrested. In August of 2007, Mr. Yang was tortured to death. Ms. Zhen was also tortured so badly that she could not take care of herself. On November 6th, 2009, four policemen jumped over a fence into the yard of another Falun Gong practitioner, Ms. Wang Guilan, and then broke into the house. Without legal documents, they held Ms. Wang's daughter and Ms. Zhen Haiyan on the ground hitting and kicking them, before taking them by force to Dayangshu Town Police Station.
  • Shapingba District Police in Chongqing City Have Tortured Many Falun Gong Practitioners to Death

    On April 15th, 2006, Mr. Zhang was talking about Falun Gong to a group of workers at a construction site when police officers arrested him and immediately took him to Baihelin Detention Centre, where he was tortured for four and a half months. On August 29th, his son went to the detention centre to visit him and found his father was on the verge of death. He was hooked up to an intravenous drip, and was just skin and bones. He could not move or speak. He was catheterised and there was blood in his urine. The detention centre authorities sent him to the local hospital for emergency treatment. Mr. Zhang died on the morning of September 5th, 2006. He was only 56 years old.
  • 71-Year-Old Ms. Su Zebi Dies Soon after Being Released from Forced Labour Camp

    On May 19th, 2008, police arrested 71-year-old Ms. Su Zebi and she was sentenced to one year in Shabao Women's Forced Labour Camp. Practitioners were forced to read books slandering Falun Gong and were forced to write reports to "correct their thinking." If they were reluctant, they were beaten and deprived of sleep. They had to perform forced labour. Practitioners had to wrap more than 60 pounds of confectionary every day, fold 350 boxes for packing down jackets, and sew details on six pairs of trousers. Ms. Su Zebi suffered serious physical and psychological injuries. After she returned home on June 1st, 2009, police harassed her and she died on November 14th.
  • Mr. Tin Jinzhi Dies in Custody, His Body Cut Open

    Mr. Tian Jinzhi was a healthy man with a pure heart, and followed the principles of Truthfulness-Benevolence-Forbearance. He went out on October 1st, 2009 as he normally did, but he never returned home and his whereabouts were unknown. On October 11th, 2009, his family was suddenly notified by the Kuiwen District Police Department that Mr. Tian Jinzhi died around October 10th, 2009 while in custody. Mr. Tian's family is very angry, as they cannot believe such a healthy man could die in custody in such a short time period unless he was tortured severely. They were horrified to find that his body had been cut open and his organs seemed to have been removed. They are strongly doubting the cause of his death, as the police told them they cut open his body to find out the cause of death.
  • Mr. Liu Qunming, 56, Dies as a Result of Persecution

    In 2008, the police arrested a large number of Falun Gong practitioners around the time of the Olympics. On July 7th, 2008, officers broke into Mr. Liu Qunming's home, arrested him, and ransacked his home. Police planned to detain Mr. Liu for 15 days and then send him to a forced labour camp on July 19th. Due to Mr. Liu being on a hunger strike after his arrest, he appeared very sick. The labour camp refused to accept him and he was released. His daughter had to leave home to avoid being arrested. Mr. Liu never recovered from the abuse that he suffered during detention, and he died on the morning of October 27th, 2009.
  • Older Practitioner Ms. Yu Shuhua Dies as a Result of Persecution

    After the persecution started on July 20th, 1999, Ms. Yu,63, upheld her belief in Falun Gong. In 2001, in order to avoid being forced to go to a brainwashing centre, Ms. Yu and her son had to leave home. Whenever they came back home for a little while, the police would immediately come to harass them. During the 2008 Olympic season police were repeatedly looking for her, and threatened her relatives. Under long term persecution and eight years of living away from home, she died on October 12th, 2009 and now her son is all alone.
  • Mr. Wang Gang Persecuted to Death

    Mr. Wang Gang was arrested and detained in 2003 because he practised Falun Gong. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2004. On May 19th, 2005, they locked Mr. Wang in solitary confinement for 10 days. He was carried in on a bed board with three metal rods welded to the top, two shackles on his feet, and a big belt crossed-tied on his waist. Guards kicked him brutally. In May 2005, a doctor found that that the bone, muscles, and vessels in his right leg were all dead. Warden Gao Ying ordered the amputation of his right leg. Only three inches of his right leg remained. It was not until October 14th, 2009, when he was diagnosed with late-stage cancer in his lymph nodes, that the prison finally released him. Mr. Wang died on October 31st.
  • Mr. Li Yunbiao, 50, Dies in Custody in Heilongjiang Province

    During the past ten years of persecution, Mr. Li Yunbiao has never had one day of peace in his life, as his days were filled with imprisonment, cruel beatings, living away from home, and sickness. Since the start of the persecution in 1999, Mr. Li was detained several times. In August 2005, he was sentenced to eight years in Bei'an City Prison. Mr. Li was forced to be under strict control and to do slave labour. The food was extremely bad, and with the torture he became as thin as a skeleton. He could not endure such inhuman mistreatment any longer and went on a hunger strike to protest again. He never gave in despite guards cruelly force-feeding him. In October 2006, he was taken to the Bei'an Prison Hospital. He was very weak and died on October 18th, 2009.
  • Older practitioner Ms. Cao Shuanmei Beaten to Death in Shanxi Province Women's Prison

    When Ms. Cao Shuangmei went to Jiexiu City to pass out Falun Gong leaflets exposing the persecution in the summer of 2003, she was arrested, her home was ransacked, and she was detained. After going on a hunger strike for seven days to protest her imprisonment, the police released her. One month later, the police arrested Ms. Cao again, without cause, and severely tortured her. In January 2008, police arrested Ms. Cao at home. A warden at Shanxi Province Women's Prison, encouraged inmates to brutally beat Ms. Cao in her cell, eventually causing her untimely death in July 2009. The prison authorities lied to her family, saying that she had died due to a sudden heart attack.
  • An Unfinished Article by a Practitioner That Died as a Result of Persecution

    Ms. Li Xiuzhen was arrested at the entrance of the building where she rented an apartment by agents from the Anqiu City State Security Bureau and the local police on June 13th, 2009. Ms. Li's whereabouts remained unknown until a month later, when her family found out that she was being held at the Anqiu City Detention Centre. She refused to give up her belief in Falun Gong and held a hunger strike to protest the persecution, but she was brutally force-fed. Later she was taken to a brainwashing session at the Anqiu City Party School. She was later taken to a brainwashing session organised just for her and was brutally beaten. Ms. Li finally died as a result of persecution in October.
  • Ms. Wang Li Dies Eight Days after Being Arrested in Shandong Province

    On October 20th, 2009, Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Wang Li, 38, was arrested and sent to Gaomi City Detention Centre. On October 28th, when Ms. Wang's family brought some clothes for her, they were suddenly told that she had already died of a stroke. Her family saw that her body was covered with wounds. The source of information reported that Ms. Wang refused to answer any questions during interrogations, and the police beat her to death.
  • Autopsy Request Denied after Mr. Lizhong Huang Tortured to Death

    Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Huang Lizhong died on October 25th, 2009, after being ruthlessly persecuted in Panjin Prison for over a year. The prison authorities and the prosecutor from Panjin City refused an autopsy request by Mr. Huang's family to reveal the true cause of his death. Mr. Huang was 47 years old when on February 25th, 2008 he was arrested at his home and sentenced to nine years in prison by the Chinese Communist authorities. In September, he was sent to Panjin Prison. When his family went to visit him on October 20th he had lost so much weight that his bones were protruding from his body. He was shaking, looked to be very weak, and had difficulty talking.
  • Mr. Ma Hongwei, 51, Dies 45 Days after His Release from Detention

    On September 21st, 2009, Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Ma Hongwe was arrested at home and police detained him in the Dezhou City Detention Centre, where he was brutally tortured. By October 7th, Mr. Ma's whole body was swollen. The detention centre authorities rushed him to the Dezhou City People's Hospital for emergency treatment. The Dezhou City Domestic Security Division Chief Zhang Xikun quickly notified Mr. Ma's family and forced them to sign forms, and Mr. Ma was released. The emergency rescue effort failed, and Mr. Ma died on November 5th.
  • Ms. Wang Yuping Again Arrested, Her Mother-in-law Dies in Distress

    On October 7th, 2009, a kind 76-year-old woman had a stroke and died in Sankeshu Village, Liaoning Province. She missed and worried about her daughter-in-law, Ms. Wang Yuping, who was taken to a forced labour camp six days later. Ms. Wang was sentenced to two years of forced labour in 2000 for going to Beijing to speak out for justice for Falun Gong. She has now been arrested again, which broke her mother-in-law's heart.