Falun Gong Practitioner Dies after Labor Camp Warden Injects Him with an Unknown Substance

NEW YORK, November 9, 2001 (Falun Dafa Information Center) – On October 26, 2001, Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Ju Yajun of Heilonjiang Province in northeast China died after a series of brutal forced-feedings during which the Changlinzi labor camp warden injected him with an unknown substance.

Eighteen days prior, on October 8, Falun Gong practitioners in the prison Group #1 of the Changlinzi Labor Camp began a hunger strike to protest the camp’s persecution against Falun Gong and the camp’s illegal detention of practitioners, even when they have severe ulcerated skin from the unsanitary conditions in the camp, and are not able to take care of themselves.

Falun Gong practitioner Ju Yajun, 30 years old, was also among the hunger strikers. In the 8th day of his hunger strike, he was pulled by criminals led by Yang Chunhe, who in turn was encouraged by wardens, to the clinic to conduct a brutal force-feeding. After that Ju Yajun was in a state of semi-consciousness. But wardens continued to force-feed him twice a day.

On October 22 evening, Ju Yajun’s neck became rigid. He was not able to recognize anybody, but kept saying, “This is the government’s persecution on me”. The warden asked criminals to take Ju to the clinic and inject him with an unknown substance. After coming back, Ju was not able to sleep the whole night. The second morning he was in a coma, with his mouth open and breathing heavily. On the 23rd, the warden bound Ju to a stretcher and force-fed him. The next afternoon, fearing that Ju would die in the camp, the camp sent Ju to Yuquan, Helongjiang province, in an attempt to shift the responsibility for his condition. Ju’s family sent him immediately to the hospital in Haerbin City Medical College for emergency rescue. On October 26th, Ju died.

The Falun Dafa Information Center contacted officials at the Changlinzi Labor Camp, who confirmed the Ju had been there and was sent home due to his condition, but when asked about the cause of his death they replied, “We can’t talk about it.”

The Changlinzi Labor Camp and others are known to employ brutal forced feedings as a way to keep practitioners who engage in hunger strikes alive. The forced feedings are typically administered by untrained prison guards or even other prisoners. Repeatedly inserting and removing the tube from the victims mouth or nose is considered a form of torture, and has resulted in internal bleeding, choking, lung damage, and in many verified cases, death. The substances used in forced feedings are often heavy salt water, but have also included wine, industrial cleaning fluid, and human waste.

Sources inside China also report that the captain in this camp, Mr. Yu Tao, forced practitioners on hunger strike to gather in the courtyard in the early mornings in order to expose them to severely cold weather. He threatened many times to torture practitioners. The guards in the Changlinzi labor camp recite a rhyme in Chinese that expresses their policy: If reeducation fails, use force; if force fails, cremate [the remains].

Ju’s death brings the count of known deaths from police brutality to 39 in the Heilongjian province alone. The victims’ ages range from 17 to 65. Government sources inside China estimate that only approximately one third or fewer of the deaths are reported. 308 Falun Gong practitioners have died due to brutality in custody since Chinese president Jiang Zemin began the persecution in July, 1999.