(Clearwisdom.net) Ms. Zhang Yiqin and Ms. Ma Zhangmei were both subjected to cruel force-feeding methods, a form of torture that caused their deaths by suffocation.

At the Baoding Forced Labor Camp, in Hebei Province, each Falun Dafa practitioner who went on a hunger strike was handcuffed to a chair. Their heads were then forcibly pulled back, stretching their necks over the tops of the chair backs. At the same time, police forcefully pushed their heads back and down as far as possible. The practitioner's neck was held immobile against the top of the chair, and her head was pushed down to the limit, virtually flattening and closing the esophagus. Then the police would hold the practitioners' nostrils shut with their hands, and use a large knife to wedge open their mouths, causing their mouths to bleed. Finally, they forced food down their mouths. This torturous method of force-feeding can easily result in death by suffocation because the nasal passages are blocked and the mouth is stuffed full of food that is unable to enter the blocked esophagus. Falun Dafa practitioners who have survived this kind of torture have said they believe it to be more painful than death itself.

Dr. Du, a family man and doctor on the staff at the labor camp's hospital, invented this torturous force-feeding method. During this force-feeding, when Du saw that a practitioner was struggling and almost out of breath, guessing that the practitioner's heart was just about to stop, he would press down hard over the practitioner's heart, then release his hand, allowing the food to go down. The entire procedure was then repeated six or seven times per force-feeding session. Because the practitioners are unable to breathe, their hearts cannot circulate blood and oxygen throughout their bodies, thus causing severe damage to their already weakened hearts. Knowing this, however, Du would just smirk and say, "How about that one? How did it feel? We'll continue this again tomorrow."

Ms. Zhang Yiqin, a 50-year-old village farmer in Laiyuan County, Hebei Province, was illegally arrested and detained because she did not want to give up her cultivation practice. She would often tearfully tell the policemen that Falun Dafa is good, and that "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance" is also good. Even the policemen were moved by her sincere compassion. However, even such a compassionate elder could not escape the evil torture at Baoding Forced Labor Camp. Because she had suffered such brutal persecution in the forced labor camp, she felt she had to go on a hunger strike. The Baoding Forced Labor Camp still uses this method to torture its practitioners, even though the cruel force-feedings have caused massive lung infections and declining health conditions in practitioners. Zhang Yiqin was no exception. So, like many others, this previously robust elder was tortured to the point that she could no longer even stand. The pain, labored breathing and heavy coughing often caused her to roll into a ball on the ground.

During her detention, she had wanted to practice the Falun Dafa exercises, so the policemen used ropes to tightly hold her in the double-lotus position. They cruelly mocked her, saying; "Didn't you want to practice? Now you can practice all you want." She was tied so tightly in the ropes for such a long time, that they cut into her skin; she was unable to walk, and could only crawl to the bathroom. After some time, the policemen refused her even that much dignity. Still refusing to loosen the ropes, they forced the elder to urinate in her pants. The policemen ridiculed her in her humiliation. She was roped into the double-lotus position for three days and three nights.

Zhang Yiqin's health became progressively worse, and in the end, it was somebody in the labor camp's Women's Unit that finally took her to the hospital for an examination. Both of her lungs contained widespread infection, resulting in the loss of one lobe. The management of the camp's Women's Unit were afraid they would be implicated if she died from these injuries, so they finally sent her home, where Zhang Yiqin passed away after about a month.

Ms. Ma Zhangmei, a 50-year-old medical doctor, also lived in Laiyuan County, Hebei Province.

On April 23, 2003, when Ma Zhangmei's hunger strike had reached the eighth day, she was force-fed at about 9:00 a.m. The barbaric force-feeding made Ma Zhangmei's face turn white as she struggled on the ground, rolling in pain. The response from the barbarous policeman, Wu Wen, was to ask, "Ma Zhangmei, how does it feel?" About 10:00 a.m., the halls echoed with two pitifully loud screams. Shortly afterward, a police car carried Ma Zhangmei to the No. 252 Hospital. By the time they reached the hospital, at 10:30 a.m., she had already passed away.

Ma Zhangmei's family members hurried to the hospital, but her body had already been sent to the hospital's morgue. She was so malnourished, that her bones were clearly visible through the skin, and her family did not even recognize her. Her clothing still had stains from the force-feeding. Ms. Li Xiuqin and Ms. Yan Qinfen stated that Ma Zhangmei had died of "cardiac arrest." Ma Zhangmei, being a doctor herself, never had any history of heart disease. Ms. Liu Junge, another practitioner who had witnessed firsthand the entire series of events leading up to and including Ma Zhangmei's death, is now missing.

After Ma Zhangmei passed away, her family was planning to file a lawsuit against the Baoding Forced Labor Camp, but when they asked an attorney to represent them, he said, "We have orders from above to not plead any cases for Falun Gong practitioners."

July 7, 2003

Posting date: 7/25/2003
Original article date: 7/24/2003
Category: Eye Witness Accounts
Translated on 7/11/2003
Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2003/7/7/53622.html

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