Ms. Zhang Yuzhen, female, 48, was an employee of a rubber plant in Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province. She lived in an apartment building in Gongrenxincun, Qiaoxi District of Zhangjiakou City. In 1998, she was diagnosed with late-stage lymphoid cancer and was on the verge of death. After she began practicing Falun Gong, she fully recovered and resumed her work.

After Jiang Zemin began the persecution of Falun Gong on July 20, 1999, Ms. Zhang brought her medical records to Beijing, hoping to let the government know that Falun Gong is good through her own experiences. However, the Beijing police arrested her, and later ordered police from Zhangjiakou City to pick her up. After her return to Zhangjiakou City, she was illegally detained and fined. She was later released, but police officers from Beixincun Police Station continued coming to her home and workplace to harass her. She was abducted many times and sent to brainwashing classes. Ms. Zhang was forced to leave home and become a homeless to avoid further persecution.

On the night of February 17, 2004, Ms. Zhang was arrested at her home by officers from the Dajingmen Police Station and sent to Shisanli Detention Center. She began a hunger strike to protest this illegal detention. Then, she was sent to Shalingzipiandi Legal School (an illegal brainwashing class) to be tortured. In mid-April, when her family went to visit her, they found that she was not thinking clearly and seemed to be in a state of mental confusion. However, the police refused to release her or provide any treatment for her. As a result, she died on May 4, 2004. The Dajingmen Police Department did not notify Ms. Zhang’s family until after her death.

Ms. Zhang survived lymphoid cancer after practicing Falun Gong, but was killed by the Chinese authorities for practicing Falun Gong.

type=case, death; type=case, women;type=detention center,Shisanli Detention Center;location=Hebei,Zhangjiakou;type=brainwashing class, Shalingzipiandi Legal School