In Memory of Practitioner Ms. Qi Fengqin

Qi Fengqin was a 38-year old Falun Gong practitioner. She used to be a division director of the Forestry Department of Liaocheng City. In August 2000, she was arrested for distributing truth clarification materials. After extensive, brutal torture, beatings, being cursed at, shocked with electric batons, handcuffed and hanged, her health became extremely poor. In October of the same year more than one hundred practitioners who were illegally detained in jails and detention centres went on a hunger strike in protest of their mistreatment and illegal detention. The guards then force-fed these practitioners. The force-feeding ended up killing Qi Fengqin.

Thin corn porridge mixed with cold water was force-fed to the practitioners. The guards made the inmates carry out the force-feeding. Dafa practitioners were dragged out of their cells, and pressed down onto the cold ground. Some inmates would hold a practitioner's head, others would restrain the arms and legs, and some would sit on the body or hold the head so that the practitioner could not move. The inmates would then forcefully insert non-sterilized plastic tubes into a practitioner's oesophagus. Some even directly poured the porridge into the practitioner's mouth. Dafa practitioners were severely injured from the force-feeding, with bruises all over their bodies. Additionally, dirt, mud, and sticky corn porridge would be strewn in the hair, neck, and all over the body of practitioners from the force-feeding. If practitioners resisted just a tiny bit, the inmates would do such things as slap them on the face, beat them on the head, and kick and curse at them.

In the middle of October, when the inmates were force-feeding Qi Fengqin, they managed to severely damage her oesophagus and stomach with a plastic tube. As a result Qi Fengqin was in extreme pain, so much so that she tossed and turned on the floor. Witnessing this, one of the inmates forced her still to the ground, while another gave her a hard kick and cursed at her saying, "Don't move! We've received orders from above that it's perfectly OK to kill Falun Gong practitioners. Nobody cares!" That night, Qi Fengqin began to cough, spitting out blood and pus. It was quite a while before other Dafa practitioners were able to reach and inform a guard about her situation. A practitioner told the guard, "The force feeding tube has damaged Qi Fengqin's oesophagus and stomach. She's been coughing, and spitting out blood and pus. We need to send her to a hospital." But the guard just ignored the practitioner.

The following day, Qi Fengqin was still dragged out for another force-feeding. But she was too weak to resist. Practitioners asked a guard to stop the force-feeding of her. At first the guard ignored the request but after they requested again and again, the guard said, "If you all promise not to stage a hunger strike in the future, we'll report this to our higher officers and after getting their approval, we'll stop the force-feeding. Nonetheless the force-feeding shall continue today!"

That night, Qi Fengqin developed a high fever. Her face turned red and she could hardly breathe. After coughing severely for a while, she spit out lots of phlegm and blood. She then fell to the ground and lost consciousness. Pus and blood came out of her nose and mouth. We shouted loudly, "Help! Help!, Qi Fengqin is dying!" After a long period of time, a guard came over, cursing at the same time. Dafa practitioners asked him to send Qi Fengqin to the hospital, but he refused saying, "Aren't you practising 'Truth, Compassion and Tolerance'? Why can't you tolerate this until tomorrow?" After saying that, he turned back around to leave. But a practitioner said, "Stop! You can't go! We know your name. You are responsible if Qi Fengqin dies here today because we told you about her situation but you're not reporting it or taking any actions." At that point, the guard was scared. He came in the cell, took a look at Qi Fengqin, and blamed us for not calling him earlier for help. Then he left to report it.

It was a long time before someone else came. The Police Department Head also came. A female practitioner, who was in her 50s, carried Qi Fengqin on her back. The Police Department Head surnamed Bai said, "So a Falun Gong practitioner can come with us." After arriving at the hospital, it was this old practitioner who was carrying Qi Fengqin. But she was too tired to continue, so she asked others for help. But none of the police would help. So Police Department Head Bai carried Qi Fengqin upstairs. After arriving in the emergency room, this practitioner told the doctor on duty, "We are Falun Gong practitioners and her name is Qi Fengqin. She was force-fed in jail and a plastic tube damaged her oesophagus and stomach. She's now in a critical life-threatening condition. Please help!" A policeman then dragged this practitioner out.

Qi Fengqin died. Her family members tried bringing her case to court but were unsuccessful. They also asked not to have her body cremated. Qi Fengqin's body was kept frozen at the crematory, but no further actions could be taken.

Later, a high provincial officer of Shandong Province came to Liaocheng to inspect the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in March 2001. When speaking to practitioners in the Brainwashing Centre during a meeting, he even said, "Falun Gong practitioner Qi Fengqin was sick but didn't want to see a doctor. She consequently died! This reveals Falun Gong is harming people so you should stop practising." What the officer said was totally libelous and is hard evidence of how Jiang's regime slanders Dafa and Dafa practitioners.

The following are more words from another official:

Li Yugong is the head of "610 Office" in Liaocheng City, Shandong Province. On March 12, 2001 when speaking to practitioners in the Brainwashing Centre during a meeting, he viciously said, "It's OK to kill you Falun Gong practitioners. You die for nothing! Nobody cares! No means are too extreme to treat you! For criminals who've committed murder or arson and even those with death penalties, we'll take responsibility for them dying in prison. But for you, it's different! We can kill you and report it as suicide! Nobody cares! Although there's no law [stipulating we can kill you], we still have orders from above. The more practitioners that are killed, the fewer we need to deal with. If you can no longer tolerate this and want to die, just tell me. I'll give you poison or ropes to hang yourself with. If you don't want to die, you need to sign the guarantee statement. It's not good enough to just stop practising; you need to say bad words about your teacher, and Falun Gong. You need to read aloud in front of others. If you want to be a good person and don't know dirty words, I'll teach you..." Dirty words then continuously came out of the mouth of Li Yugong, the head of the "610 Office."

Chinese version available at http://minghui.org/mh/articles/2004/2/20/68002.html