Eight More Falun Gong Deaths in China Come to Light

The Falun Dafa Information Center has learned the details of eight additional deaths of Falun Gong adherents in China, resultant from state persecution. The deaths came to light during the month of November. Information surrounding the individuals’ deaths comes from sources in China, among whom are included eye witnesses, inmates, family members, acquaintances, and fellow adherents.

The victims span five provinces and ranged in age from 26 to 70 years. Deaths resulted from complications stemming from torture, force-feeding, and the administration of toxic drugs. All of the individuals were arrested and held in violation of Chinese as well as international law. The total number of documented deaths at the hands of China’s communist authorities now stands at 3,109.

The eight individuals are as follows:

Ni Wenkui, male, 45, of Daqing city, Heilongjiang province—
Ni passed away on November 12, following 10 months in a vegetative state that resulted from medical complications after abuses in Daqing’s notorious Hongweixin Prison during. Ni was held as prisoner of conscience beginning in June of 2003 until sometime in early March 2006, it is believed; in the prison he was routinely beaten, deprived of sleep, and subjected to brainwashing. Ni had been previously arrested or detained multiple times, particularly after an attempt to petition central authorities in December 2000. Ni had worked at the Oil Extraction and Manufacturing Company of Daqing before his arrests. (Photo1 / Photo2)

Chen Guilian, female, 57, of Xiangtan city, Hunan province—
Chen passed away on September 26, in Xiangtan Central Hospital, of medical complications stemming from the forcible administration of nerve-damaging drugs while held as a prisoner of conscience at Baimalong Labor Camp. The unknown substance(s) was force-fed to Chen for three months, often being administered by inmates, presumably to absolve staff of responsibility. Chen had been arrested for disseminating informational literature in Zhuzhou city at a market. Between the time of her arrest and death only 150 days had elapsed.

Qi Tingsong, male, 67, of Laiwu city, Shandong province—
Qi passed away on November 6, in Laiwu Hospital, from internal injuries sustained while held unlawfully at Laiwu Detention Center. He had been arrested only 20 days prior for trying to raise awareness of Falun Gong’s plight while in Gouli village of Gaozhuang township, outside Laiwu.
Qi was subjected to force-feeding while in custody, after beginning a hunger strike, and sustained critical injuries. Qi’s fate was sealed when Laiwu Procturatorate Office personnel ended the medical intervention then under way. Qi had previously worked in the Xinwen Mineral Bureau of Shandong as a teacher.

Song Changguang, male, 26, of Biangang township, Jilin province—
Song passed away on November 12, 2003, from multiple injuries sustained during torture in Chaoyanggou Labor Camp of Changchun city. Song was arrested for petitioning central authorities in Beijing in December 2001; following a period of detention, he was sentenced to two years in the labor camp. There, Song was subjected to repeated beatings, including beatings with a hammer that rendered him unable to walk. Song’s toenails fell out, and he suffered pulmonary tuberculosis, shortly thereafter. Song was slated to graduate from Jilin University’s telecommunications college prior to his arrest.

Wu Shansong, male, 43, of Rongjiang county, Guizhou province—
Wu passed away on October 23 from torture injuries sustained during a two-year sentence of forced labor at Zhongba Labor Camp. He was arrested in 2005 for his practice of Falun Gong and sentenced to the camp, where he suffered internal bleeding after being subjected to torture. Witnesses report a range of rights abuses in the camp, including dousing victims with scalding water, beatings, forced ingestion of toxic drugs, and severe sleep deprivation. Wu is said to have been released by labor camp authorities in June, who feared his death on official premises.

Huang Fujin, male, age unknown, of Harbin city, Heilongjiang province—
Huang passed away on November 6, following days in a coma, from injuries sustained during force-feeding at the Acheng District First Detention Center, in Harbin. He had been arrested on July 24 while passing out informational literature in Madian village. Huang was held in the detention center nearly four months, during which time he began a hunger strike to protest his unlawful arrest. Witnesses describe Huang’s body being covered with multiple injuries; both hands and feet bore deep scars from the shackles and cuffs used to immobilize Huang.

Long Lianzheng, male, 70, of Yantai city, Shandong province—
Long passed away on November 2, of medical complications stemming from severe maltreatment and deprivation while previously held in custody as a prisoner of conscience. He developed bone cancer and heart disease while detained from June to December of 2001 in the Wangcun Labor Camp of Zibo city; there, Long was subjected to various forms of torture. Despite his medical conditions, Long was seized in April 2002 by Yantai city police and forced to undergo brainwashing. Previously he had been detained in January of 2000 and February of 2001 for his beliefs, and in both cases subjected to brainwashing measures. Long was a retired engineer who formerly worked in the construction industry.

Fei Zhangjin, male, 40s, of Anhui province—
Mr. Fei passed away on September 23, 2007, of injuries sustained while subjected to prolonged torture in Unit 1 of Suzhou Prison, in Anhui province. Fei had been committed to the prison as a prisoner of conscience in September of 2005 on account of his religious beliefs, and was handed a three year sentence. Witnesses report hearing the sound of wood striking Fei’s body throughout the corridors of the prison, and indicate that Fei was subjected to electric shock with high-voltage batons, painful force-feedings, and lip-piercing with needles. Fearing reprisal, prison authorities have asserted that the cause of Fei’s death was rather “heart attack.”

The Information Center is calling again upon the international community to exercise all possible means to hasten the end of the Chinese communist party’s persecution, and hold legally accountable all individuals involved in the above-said abuses as well as those previously documented.