Mr. Zhang Chunfeng Tortured to Death Nine Years Ago

Name: Zhang Chunfeng
Gender: Male
Age: 40
Address: Unknown
Occupation: Employee of the Xiuning Life Insurance Company
Date of Death: January 29th, 2003
Date of Most Recent Arrest: September 2001
Most Recent Place of Detention: Nanhu Forced Labour Camp
City: Huangshan
Province: Anhui
Persecution Suffered: Electric shock, forced labour, brainwashing, beatings, torture, force-feedings, extortion, home ransacked, detention

Mr. Zhang Chunfeng was subjected to many torture methods and died nine years ago at the age of 40.

Mr. Zhang was an employee of the Xiuning County Life Insurance Company. He began practising Falun Gong in 1997 and made fundamental changes to his life. He amended his bad habits, including smoking, drinking, fighting and gambling, and followed the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. He and his family regained happiness.

However, the Jiang Zemin, [former leader of China and instigator of the persecution] and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) started to suppress Falun Gong on July 20th, 1999. In December 1999, Mr. Zhang went to Beijing to appeal for the right to practise Falun Gong and was arrested. He was taken back and held in the Xiuning County Detention Centre for six months. Under the order of local police, his supervisor deducted 1,500 yuan¹ from his salary to pay for the officers' travel expenses to escort him back. Mr. Zhang was later sentenced to one year of forced labour because he refused to renounce Falun Gong.

Between September and October in 2001, Mr. Zhang was arrested again for distributing Falun Gong lectures to other practitioners. He was held at the Xiuning County Detention Centre. His home was ransacked twice. Several officers, led by Chief Cao Chengchao, broke into Mr. Zhang's home and confiscated Falun Gong books, Falun Gong video tapes, and exercise clothes. Mr. Zhang went on a hunger strike to protest the illegal detention and was force-fed. He was later sentenced to two years of forced labour and taken to the Ninth Ward of the Nanhu Forced Labour Camp.

During the incarceration, Mr. Zhang was tortured as he refused to give up his belief and went on hunger strike. The camp guards continually shocked his face, neck and other body parts with electric batons. The guards didn't stop until Mr. Zhang's nose was disfigured and it produced a burnt taste. The inmates beat Mr. Zhang, poked his body numerous times with needles, and burned him with cigarette butts. Mr. Zhang went on hunger strike nine times and was force-fed. He was forced to do hard labour for long periods of time. He was also indoctrinated by people who had formerly practised Falun Gong and now collaborated with the labour camp in an attempt to transform [forcibly renounce Falun Gong] him.

Mr. Zhang didn't give in to the physical and mental abuses. However, under that severe environment, his physical body was greatly damaged. He succumbed to advanced tuberculosis and both his lungs were rotting away.

Mr. Zhang was released on medical parole in May 2002. His family carried him home on a stretcher. He was very weak and vomited blood many times. He died in the Xiuning County People's Hospital on January 29th, 2003.

His once happy family was destroyed. He left behind his elder mother and young child.

Note

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

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2011/12/5/250196.html