Ms. Gao Shuhua, female, 49, was resident of Guanzhonghe Street in Weicheng District, Weifang City, Shandong Province.

On March 14, 2003, Ms. Gao was arrested while distributing materials about the persecution of Falun Gong. She was detained in the Weicheng Detention Center for 13 days, where she went on a hunger strike to protest her imprisonment. At about 5 p.m. on March 26, 2003, she was tortured and force-fed by guards. After the force-feeding, Ms. Gao was on the verge of death. She died soon thereafter.

After she passed away, her body was taken to the 89th Hospital. Although makeup was applied to her body, there were blisters all over her body and an unknown white substance dripping from her mouth. The sleeve of her sweater had been torn off. Her bed was labeled with the tag “Name Unknown.”

Ms. Gao Shuhua’s husband, Tian Yongkang, also a Falun Gong practitioner, was arrested and sent to the Weifang Changle Labor Camp in October 2002, where he still remains. Ms. Gao’s aging mother-in-law and daughter are home alone without care.

type=Case, Death; type=Case, Women; type=Case, Freedom of Expression; type=Detention Center, Weicheng Detention Center; location=Shandong, Weifang;