Older Ms. Gu Xinzhi Tortured to Death in 2002 -- Family Files Lawsuit

Ms. Gu Xingzhi, 64, resided in Miyi County, Sichuan Province. She died at around 8:00 a.m. on November 7th, 2002 in Miyi Detention Centre while she was still tied to the torture apparatus called the death bed. The police threatened her family to remain silent about her death.

Recently, Ms. Gu's younger sister, Ms. Gu Xingfeng, decided to file a lawsuit against guards Zhu Chenglong, Lin Hai and doctor Cheng Qing, who were responsible for Ms Gu's death.

Arrested and home ransacked

Ms. Gu was a farmer in the Seventh Commune of Huilong Village, Baima Township, Miyi County. She once asked her nephew to distribute Falun Gong fliers to his classmates on April 2nd, 2002. The classroom teacher saw what was happening and called the police.

Officers Yang Zhengfu, Shan Bo, Mao Taining and Wang Yingzhong from the Political and Security Department and Xiaojie Police Station broke into Mr. Gu’s home. They pushed her to the ground, stepped on her and grabbed her keys. They then proceeded to ransack the house and confiscated a tape recorder, all of her Falun Gong books, a deposit slip for 8,000 yuan¹ and 400 yuan in cash.

Tortured to death on a death bed

Ms. Gu was first held in Xiaojie Police Station, where she was beaten by Shan Bo, Mao Taining and Wang Yingzhong. Afterward, she was taken to the Miyi County Detention Centre and was beaten by officers from the Political and Security Department and guards from the detention centre.

Ms. Gu was sentenced to one and a half years of forced labour. But officials from the labour camp refused to accept her due to her age. She was then taken back to Miyi Detention Centre, where she went on a hunger strike. The guards and medical staff force fed her for a month. Despite her being in critical condition, guards continued to torture her on the death bed².

A few people held Mr. Gu down on the death bed, while the detention centre doctor used baby-delivery forceps to pry her mouth open. He then inserted a thick plastic tube through her nostril and fed her porridge down the tube. The force feeding punctured her lung, causing it to bleed and become infected.

Doctors from the county hospital and the Women and Children Health Center took turns going to the detention centre to intravenously inject unknown drugs into Ms. Gu daily. Her condition turned critical in mid-October, so the detention centre guards transferred her to the county hospital for emergency treatment.

Ms. Gu's family members saw her condition and demanded that she be released on parole to receive medical treatment. However, this was rejected. Ms. Gu was unconscious by the morning of November 6th, 2002. She was forced fed and then taken back to her cell in the detention centre.

To prevent Ms. Gu from pulling out the feeding tube, her hands were cuffed behind the back and she was tied to the death bed for 24 hours while an inmate monitored her. Ms. Gu died on the death bed in Miyi Detention Centre at around 8:00 a.m. on November 7th, 2002.

Ms. Gu's burial

Officials from Miyi County Police Department did not inform Ms. Gu's family about her death until the evening of November 7th. They claimed that she died from a stroke, and wanted to cremate her immediately.

Ms. Gu's family insisted on taking her body back home for burial, but the police demanded that they sign police documents regarding the cause of death and threatened them not to reveal that she had died from torture in the detention centre.

The police wanted Ms. Gu to be buried at a specified time, so three officers from the Political and Security Department and three people from the county government accompanied the family when taking the body home. They stayed until after the funeral on November 8th and prevented any practitioners from attending it.

Demanding justice

Ms. Gu Xingfeng stated in the court brief: “My sister believed in Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, which is by all means beneficial to the country, society and all people. How could she be guilty of anything?” She demanded that officials from Miyi County Court retry Ms. Gu’s case and arrest those responsible for her death, which included guard Li Hai and Doctor Chen Qing from the Miyi Detention Centre.

Others responsible for the death of Ms. Gu Xingzhi include:

Xiang Jinfa, officer from the Political and Security Department of Miyi Police Department

Liu Taiming, director of Miyi Police Department: +86-812-8171988

Note

1. "Yuan" is the Chinese currency; 500 yuan is equal to the average monthly income of an urban worker in China.

2. "Death Bed" torture: A practitioner is tied to a bed with his hands handcuffed above his head to the bed rails, and his legs tied with thin nylon ropes. The rope is then tightly wrapped around the practitioner's body and the bed, from his legs to his chest. The rope is wrapped so tightly that the practitioner has difficulty breathing and eventually loses consciousness.