Mr. Zhang Xuewen, male, 54, was a farmer living in Fangtai Town, Hulan County, Heilongjiang Province. Since July 1999, Mr. Zhang had been arrested and detained many times because he practiced Falun Gong. In April 2003, Mr. Zhang was again arrested and detained in the Hulan County Detention Center because he distributed materials that clarified the truth about Falun Gong . In the detention center, he went on a hunger strike for more than 90 days to protest the persecution. During his hunger strike, he was tortured and force-fed. As a result, Mr. Zhang lost so much weight that his condition became very serious. His body appeared to be only skin and bones, his face was ashen, his eyes were tightly closed, and he could not stand.

On June 20, 2003, the guards at the detention center claimed Mr. Zhang had appendicitis and forced him to undergo surgery, but the results showed he didn't have appendicitis. Later, the doctor and guards in the detention center force-fed him with boiling water. The internal damage caused him to have blood in his stool for several days. The authorities in the detention center would not allow his family to visit him, nor would they let Mr. Zhang seek medical care. Every day, Mr. Zhang would just lie on a wooden board, unattended.

At the end of July 2003, the legislative and judicial departments of Hulan County sentenced Mr. Zhang to five years in prison without any legal process.

In early August 2003, Mr. Zhang was transferred to the Hulan Prison in Harbin City. On the day he was sent, Ms. Zhang was on the verge of death. Mr. Zhang died in Hulan prison on the morning of August 8, 2003. When his family got notice and went to the prison, Mr. Zhang was already dead, his body was only skin and bones, and he had lost all of his teeth due to the inept force-feeding.

type=Case, Death; type=Detention Center, Hulan County Detention Center; location=Heilongjiang, Hulan;