FDI: Falun Gong Woman Dies from Force-Feeding Torture

NEW YORK (FDI) -- Ms. Guiying Meng, 39, from Manzhouli City, Inner Mongolia died on January 24, 2003 from injuries sustained during force-feeding torture.

In June 2002, Guiying was kidnapped by police from the Manzhouli City Police Department and illegally detained in a city detention center for more than seven months, during which time her family was not allowed to visit her.

During her detention, Guiying was beaten and abused by police in an attempt to force her to give up the practice of Falun Gong. In many areas throughout China, local police are reportedly given quotas for the number of Falun Gong practitioners they must "transform."

To protest the beatings, Guiying initiated a hunger strike.

A few days into her hunger strike, police officers force-fed her. According to sources familiar with Guiying's case, the feeding tube ruptured her lung, causing a number of injuries and a severe infection.

Recognizing the severity of Guiying's condition, police officers released Guiying to her family on January 20, 2003.

Guiying's family immediately took her to the Manzhouli City Hospital. A physician with the hospital, however, reportedly told family members that there was "no hope of saving her."

In the early morning hours of January 24, 2003, three days after arriving at the hospital, Guiying passed away.

Force Feeding: A Common Torture Technique

Many detention centers and labor camps in China force-feed Falun Gong practitioners. More often used as a torture technique than a way of forcing nutrients into the detainee, the force-feeding procedure is often carried out by untrained police or common prisoners.

During the procedure, the detainee's mouth is pried open using metal pliers or a crow bar, often tearing the lips and mouth and breaking teeth. A tube is then stuffed into the mouth and down the throat, or if the detainee's mouth cannot be pried open, the tube is stuffed into the nose and down the throat.

Once the tube is inserted into the stomach, a concentrated corm-meal solution or highly concentrated salt-water solution is pumped into the detainee. Many reports indicate that alternative substances, such as dirty water or sewage are also pumped into the stomach of the detainee to intensify the torture.

Dozens of Falun Gong practitioners have died from this procedure.

NEWS - Mar. 6, 2003

Falun Dafa Information Center, www.faluninfo.net