The Tragic Death of Feng Gang

Name: Feng Gang
Gender: Male
Age: Unknown
Occupation: College Lecturer
Date of Death: August 14th, 2009
Date of Most Recent Arrest: July 4th, 2009
Most Recent Place of Detention: Yaojia Detention Centre
City: Dalian
Province: Liaoning
Persecution Suffered: Force-feeding, physical abuse and restraint

After suffering severe torture at the hands of the police, Dalian Falun Gong practitioner Feng Gang passed away on August 14th, 2009. His family was not informed about his death until a month later. Mr. Feng suffered from a festering oesophagus and broken bile duct before his death.

Feng Gang was a lecturer at the Dalian Fisheries University and was highly accomplished in fine arts and sculpture. After he began practising Falun Gong, Mr. Feng became very healthy, and he elevated his moral principles. His artistic expression also became more mature and wholesome.

Feng Gang and his wife Wang Juan went to Falun Gong practitioner Shi Guixiang's house for a visit at noon on July 4th, 2009. Before long, a group of plainclothes police forced their way into the house and arrested Feng Gang, Wang Juan, Shi Guixiang, Wang Yonghang and eight other practitioners. They were sent to Yaojia Detention Centre.

At the detention centre, Feng Gang began a hunger strike to protest the persecution. The prison guards handcuffed his arms behind his back and conducted force-feedings daily. In early August, Feng Gang's oesophagus was ruptured by the force-feeding tube and became infected. The prison doctors ignored basic medical ethics and continued torturing him with the forced feedings. They even left the tube in Feng Gang's stomach for up to 48 hours at a time. They handcuffed his hands behind his back for days to prevent him from pulling the tube out. When they finally removed the handcuffs, Feng's hands were swollen and bloody.

The torture nearly killed Feng. The detention centre finally stopped the feedings on August 10th, and sent him to a hospital. Doctors there recommended emergency surgery to save his life, but the police delayed the operation for one day, in order to file paperwork to evade responsibility. Eventually, Feng Gang managed to return home, but he was soon arrested again.

On September 16th, Feng's family went to the Fuguo Street Police Station in Shahekou District to inquire about his whereabouts. A police officer told them Feng had died on August 14th, and the police had already conducted an autopsy. The family was told go to Shahekou District Police Department and sign paperwork for incineration. Feng Gang's wife Wang Juan was still being detained at the Masanjia Forced Labour Camp.

The Dalian City Political and Legal Committee, 610 Office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong), and domestic security police were responsible for Feng's tragic death.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.org/mh/articles/2010/4/7/221135.html