FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - 3/20/2002 [ http://www.faluninfo.net/ ]

A drawing of a forced feeding session in a Chinese prison by Amy Lee, a Falun Gong practitioner, now living in the US, who was subjected to force feeding torture after being detained in China.

NEW YORK, March 20, 2002 (Falun Dafa Information Center) -- A Falun Gong woman has died in police custody soon after a "feeding tube" was forced down her throat, puncturing her lungs.

Ms. Jin Lifeng, 41, was an English teacher at Huludao Sailing University Technical College in Liaoning Province. Police arrested Ms. Feng at her office on July 16, 2001 and sent her to Huludao Detention Center where she was subjected to continual police brutality, sources in China say.

After Ms. Jin's appeals for the release of fellow Falun Gong practitioners being held in the detention center had been repeatedly denied for seven months, Ms. Jin went on a hunger strike to protest. The police tried for three days to force-feed her orally with no success. On the fourth day, their violent attempts to stuff a feeding tube down her throat to carry out the force-feeding punctured her lungs, causing blood to spurt from her nose and mouth. Ms. Jin was quickly taken to a hospital where attempts to resuscitate her failed. She died on February 12th, 2002 -- the Chinese New Year.

Amy Lee, a Falun Gong practitioner who suffered force-feeding at the hands of Chinese police firsthand during her detention before fleeing to the United States last year, explains, "Force-feeding by violently stuffing tubes through the nose and down the throat is a common practice in Chinese detention centers. Falun Gong practitioners are often threatened with it, as they are with beatings and electric-shock torture. Very often, it's not food that's forced through the tube, but a highly concentrated salt-water solution that is extremely painful when ingested." Ms. Lee continued, "Even more appalling is that human feces and urine are sometimes 'fed' to the hunger-striking practitioners. The procedure is usually carried out by untrained guards or sometimes even criminal inmates. Ms. Jin is just the latest victim of this unimaginable atrocity. Unfortunately, it is all too real - I could have been one of them."

To date, there have been at least 46 documented cases of practitioners dying as a direct result of force-feeding.

Background

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a practice of meditation and exercises with teachings based on the universal principle of "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance." It is a practice that was taught in private for thousands of years before being made public in 1992 by Mr. Li Hongzhi. Falun Gong has roots in traditional Chinese culture, but it is distinct and separate from other practices in China, such as the religions of Buddhism and Taoism. Since its introduction in 1992, it quickly spread by word of mouth throughout China, and is now practiced in over 50 countries.

With government estimates of as many as 100 million practicing Falun Gong, China's President Jiang Zemin outlawed the peaceful practice in July 1999, fearful of anything touching the hearts and minds of more citizens than the Communist Party. Unable to crush the spirit of millions who had experienced improved health and positive life changes from Falun Gong, Jiang's regime has intensified its propaganda campaign to turn public opinion against the practice while quietly imprisoning, torturing and even murdering those who practice it.

The Falun Dafa Information Center has verified details of over 383 deaths since the persecution of Falun Gong in China began in 1999. Government officials inside China, however, report that the actual death toll is well over 1,600. Over 100,000 have been detained, with more than 20,000 being sentenced to forced labor camps without trial.