Li Wutang, a Teacher in Jinan City No. 3 Middle School, Died From Injuries Sustained During Force-Feeding Torture in 2002

Li Wutang, a Falun Dafa practitioner in Jinan City, Shandong Province was brutally force-fed [1] during his illegal imprisonment in Liuchangshan Labor Camp. He suffered from symptoms of pulmonary tuberculosis. He was constantly harassed by people after he was released from the labor camp and passed away in September 2002.

Li Wutang was a teacher in Jinan City No. 3 Middle School. He benefited in both mind and body after cultivating Falun Dafa. He was illegally sentenced to a three-year prison term for persisting in validating the practise that had improved his life so much. He was imprisoned in Liuchangshan Labor Camp in Jinan City. During his illegal imprisonment, he was firm in his belief in Falun Dafa. The guards forced him to stay in solitary confinement, deprived him of sleep for long periods of time and beat him.

When Liu Jian, a practitioner in Jinan, died on December 28th, 2001, Li Wutang exposed the persecution by the guards and prisoners in the labor camp to the procuratorate and the leaders in the Provincial and Municipal Labor Camp Bureau. He went on a hunger strike and refused to drink water to protest against the illegal persecution. The guards in Liuchangshan Labor Camp didn't allow him to sleep and didn't allow him to write letters or speak to leaders from the Labor Camp Bureau. When it was discovered, warden Liu ordered guard Cui Wei to immediately call a meeting of all relevant people. They unified their statements and spread the rumor that Li was making trouble and refused to sleep himself. Guard Cui Wei also locked Liu alone with criminal prisoners to torture him. Guard Bao Hongxing and others brutally forced-fed him and caused serious damage to his throat and lungs. Mr Li could hardly speak. Even so, he continued to write materials to expose the responsible persons.

After Li was inhumanly tortured for nearly six-months, a hole was poked through his esophagus by brutal insertion of force-feeding tubes, and no more force-feeding was possible. He was on intravenous fluids and dying. Hospital examination showed an infection in his lungs with symptoms of pulmonary tuberculosis. Upon strong requests by Mr. Li's family members, Mr. Li was released before his term expired. During his stay at home, the "610 Office" in Jinan and the local police station kept on harassing him constantly. They pressured his family members to force him to write the so-called "Guarantee Statement". Li Wutang had already been illegally dismissed from his employment at the school because of his belief in Falun Dafa. He was forced to leave his home and became homeless even before he had recovered from his poor health condition. During this period of time, he couldn't eat well or sleep well. He coughed badly. Sometimes he could hardly speak. He woke up in the middle of the night because of the cough. However, under such a difficult situation, he continued to go out to clarify the truth of Falun Dafa to people even though his health was very poor because of the persecution. In September 2002, he went back to his hometown in Yantan, Shandong Province. Four days after he returned home, he died without justice. He was only 36 years old.

[1] Force-Feeding: This is a torture commonly used by police against practitioners, and it is the number one cause of deaths of Falun Gong practitioners. Almost every Falun Gong practitioner who has gone on a hunger strike in detention has suffered from force-feeding. Many practitioners not even on hunger strikes have also been tortured using this method. The purpose of police force-feeding is never to nourish, but rather to punish practitioners and to cause so much pain that they will renounce Falun Gong practice. To that end, the police have used many different means to cause excruciating pain and injury including inserting and withdrawing the feeding tubes repeatedly, leaving the feeding tubes in the stomach, knocking out teeth, tearing apart practitioner's lips, or poking holes in practitioner's cheeks in order to insert feeding tubes, fore-feeding saturated salt-water, force-feeding vinegar or liquor, force-feeding hot pepper oil, mustard oil, or boiling water, and force-feeding urine or feces.