(Minghui.org) Thirteen cases of Falun Gong practitioners who lost their lives to the persecution of their faith were reported in October 2024.
The 13 newly-reported deaths included one that took place in 2017, one in 2021, two in 2023, and nine between June and October 2024. Due to strict information censorship, the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners can’t always be reported on time, nor is all information readily available.
The deceased ten women and three men came from six provinces and two centrally-controlled municipalities. Jilin registered the most cases of four, and Hunan ranked second with three cases. The remaining six regions, including Beijing, Shanghai, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Liaoning, and Sichuan, each had one case.
Among the ten practitioners whose ages at the time of their passing were known, their ages were between 60 and 84, with four their 60s, three in their 70s, and three in their 80s.
Most of the practitioners passed away after enduring decades of arrests, harassment, detention, and torture. Two others died in custody, including a 60-year-old man who passed away five days after being admitted to prison, and a 68-year-old woman who died in a detention center one month after her arrest. An 80-year-old woman died four months after she was released from prison and her family suspected that she was given toxic drugs while in custody.
Below are details of select death cases. The full list of the deceased practitioners can be downloaded here (PDF).
Two Died in Custody
60-Year-Old Man Dies in Custody, Five Days After Prison Admission
Mr. Ren Changbin, a 60-year-old Jiamusi City, Heilongjiang Province resident, died five days after being admitted to the Shuangyashan Prison to serve a three-year term for his faith in Falun Gong. His body had multiple bruises and injuries, his eyes had dark circles, and his head had several stitches.
Mr. Ren Changbin
According to Mr. Ren’s sister, she received a call from the prison at around 8 a.m. on September 28, 2024, telling her that Mr. Ren had died from a medical emergency. She demanded to know the cause of death, but the caller refused to provide any additional information, except that Mr. Ren’s body had been taken to a funeral home.
Mr. Ren’s sister immediately informed other family members of the tragic news, and they rushed to the funeral home, where they saw Mr. Ren’s bruised body.
When the family questioned whether their loved one was tortured to death, the guards claimed that Mr. Ren was very weak when he was admitted to the prison, and they arranged two inmates to “look after” him. They also said that Mr. Ren had a fall while taking a shower, thus causing the injuries on his head and body.
Mr. Ren’s family argued that he was very healthy when he was arrested, and questioned how he could become so weak after one week of detention. If the prison had indeed arranged two inmates to “look after” him, why did they fail to prevent him from falling during the shower.
Mr. Ren, a former glass factory employee, was arrested during a police sweep on September 14, 2024, and sentenced to three years on July 25, 2024. He was transferred to the Shuangyashan Prison on September 23, only to die five days later.
The Shuangyashan Prison, formerly known as Bijiashan Prison, is the strict management prison designated for detaining Falun Gong practitioners. All male practitioners sentenced in Heilongjiang Province are taken to the Shuangyashan Prison first, where they are subjected to months-long torture designed to force them to renounce Falun Gong, before being assigned to various prisons across the province.
Shuangyashan Prison
Ms. Wang Yuying, of Gongzhuling City, Jilin Province, died one month after she was arrested for practicing Falun Gong. She was 68 years old.
Ms. Wang, her brother, Mr. Wang Jianying, 80, and Ms. Kong Qingzhi, around 50, were arrested at their respective homes on August 7, 2024, by officers from the Fanjiatun Township Police Station. Their Falun Gong books and photos of the founder of Falun Gong were confiscated. While Ms. Kong was released five days later, the Wang siblings were transferred to the Gongzhuling City Detention Center after spending 15 days in the Gongzhuling City Lockup.
According to an insider, Ms. Wang began to experience mobility issues in the detention center and the guards assigned an inmate to care for her. She suddenly collapsed one day and someone caught her before she hit the ground. She died in the detention center on the evening of September 18.
After Ms. Wang’s death, the authorities offered her family 30,000 yuan in exchange for their silence regarding her suspicious passing. Her loved ones consulted a lawyer and were told that no one could help them win a lawsuit, as the police would block all channels if they tried to collect evidence. It’s unclear whether the family accepted the hush-money offer.
The police submitted Mr. Wang’s case to the local procuratorate, so he is now facing indictment. He was released around September 26 and wasn’t allowed to leave home. The police have harassed him several times since then.
Death After Arrests, Detention and Harassment
80-Year-Old Woman Dies Four Months After Prison Release
Shortly after Ms. Xie Changchun, of Guanghan City, Sichuan Province, was released on April 19, 2024, after serving a one-year term in the Sichuan Province Women’s Prison, she had sharp pain on the left side of her abdomen. Her skin turned dark and she became emaciated. She passed away four months later on August 12. She was 80 years old. Her family suspected that she had been given toxic drugs while in the prison.
Prior to her last prison term, Ms. Xie was arrested multiple times and had her home ransacked, for talking to people about the persecution of Falun Gong.
Retired Middle School Teacher Dies Three Months after Latest Arrest
Having endured two decades of repeated arrests and harassment for practicing Falun Gong, Ms. Feng Yuqiu experienced declining health following her latest arrest on June 5, 2024. She passed away three months later on October 9, 2024. She was 73 years old.
Ms. Feng, a retired teacher from the Qili Township 25th Middle School in Shulan City, Jilin Province, served two labor camp terms and was held in a brainwashing center twice after the Chinese communist regime ordered the persecution of Falun Gong in 1999. She suffered relentless torture in custody, which took a toll on her health and left her mentally traumatized.
Ms. Feng was arrested twice in 2000, for going to Beijing to appeal for the right to practice Falun Gong. At a local detention center, the guards punched her in the mouth and head, stomped on her feet, and force-fed her brine. They later inserted a force-feeding tube into her nose, causing her nose and throat to bleed.
Three days later, Ms. Feng was taken to the Jingjing County Police Department in Hebei Province, where three officers shocked her with electric batons on the face, ears, and hands. They also forced her to kneel, twisted her arms behind her back, and then jerked them up, causing excruciating pain in her shoulder joints.
The officers yanked her hair so hard that large clumps fell out. They forced her to kneel on the concrete floor and put a long wooden stick across her calves. Two men then took turns rolling the stick back and forth like a rolling pin on top of her calves and feet. While interrogating her, they put more and more pressure on the stick, until she could no longer bear it. After stopping briefly, they repeated the torture three more times. Her calves became so swollen that she could not take off her underwear. She was unable to move her legs and had to be carried back to the cell. She had to crawl to the bathroom. The torture left some of her toes permanently deformed.
Ms. Feng was later given one year in the Heizuizi Forced Labor Camp in Jilin Province. She was subjected to relentless physical torture for not giving up Falun Gong. In addition to forcing her to work more than ten hours a day without pay, the guards made her watch propaganda videos slandering Falun Gong, write monthly thought reports, and attend other events praising the Chinese Communist Party.
When her term expired, the guards intimidated her and ordered her to renounce Falun Gong. She refused to comply and was slapped in the face.
Ms. Feng was arrested a few more times and also faced subsequent constant harassment. Due to the ongoing harassment, she began to experience health issues. Since 2023, the condition of her legs and toes, which were severely injured due to torture in custody, quickly deteriorated, leaving her unable to walk. She also struggled with declining vision. She took a fall and broke her legs.
Before she fully recovered, the police seized her during a group arrest on June 5, 2024, and held her briefly at the Beicheng Police Station. She was released on bail, only to die three months later.
Released from Prison Emaciated and Weak, 77-Year-Old Woman Dies Three and a Half Years Later
Once tall and healthy, Ms. Liu Fengling shrank in height and was haggard when she was released in April 2021, nine months before the end of her 5.5-year prison term for practicing Falun Gong. Upon returning home, she faced non-stop harassment from the police. She passed away in mid-September 2024. She was 77 years old.
Ms. Liu, of Fushun City, Liaoning Province, was arrested on July 22, 2016, and taken to the Fushun City Detention Center. Due to the physical torture in custody, including long hours of standing, she had a heart attack and was taken to the hospital for resuscitation. Meanwhile, she also struggled with diabetes and couldn’t sleep well at night.
Ms. Liu was sentenced to a 5.5-year prison term in late 2016 and admitted to the Liaoning Province Women’s Prison in February 2017. As a result of torture in prison, her teeth fell out and her legs became swollen. She had to use a walking stick to keep her balance. As her health quickly deteriorated, the prison released her in April 2021, nine months ahead of time.
Due to ongoing police harassment and declining health, she passed away three and a half years later.
Shanghai Woman Dies While Serving Five Years at Home
A Shanghai resident was sentenced to a five-year prison term in 2021 for sharing information about Falun Gong on WeChat (a popular Chinese social media platform). Ms. Li Weiling was allowed to serve time outside of prison due to her poor health. However, due to strict police surveillance and constant harassment, her health continually declined and she developed stomach cancer. She passed away in August 2024.
After the Chinese Communist Party began to persecute Falun Gong in 1999, Ms. Li was sentenced three times, for a total of 17 years, for upholding her faith. Her older sister, Ms. Li Weihong, also a Falun Gong practitioner, died in the persecution in April 2003, at the age of 43. The sisters’ mother, Ms. Yu Peiying, in her 90s, was also repeatedly arrested for practicing Falun Gong, resulting in a two-year labor camp term and a three-year prison term. Due to her advanced age, her family didn’t dare to break the news of Ms. Li Weiling’s death to her, fearing that she may be unable to cope.
Ms. Yu’s husband was traumatized by the persecution of his loved ones. After experiencing countless episodes of harassment and intimidation by the authorities himself, he developed a severe heart condition and diabetes, and often had to be taken to the hospital for resuscitation. During the Shanghai World Expo in 2010, he collapsed upon learning that Ms. Li Weiling was being harassed again. When Ms. Li rushed over to visit him, the elderly man, who had become bedridden and incontinent, held her hands and said in a trembling voice, “I’m so afraid that you might be arrested again.” He passed away four months after Ms. Li’s arrest in March 2011.
Related Reports:
Reported in First Half of 2024: 68 Falun Gong Practitioners Die as a Result of Persecution
Reported in April and May 2024: 24 Falun Gong Practitioners Die as a Result of Persecution
Reported in March 2024: 13 Falun Gong Practitioners Die as a Result of Persecution
Reported in February 2024: 10 Falun Gong Practitioners Die as a Result of Persecution
Reported in January 2024: 13 Falun Gong Practitioners Die in the Persecution
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