Victim:
Mr. Cao Jiguang, 35, employee of the Cotton & Linen Company, Linshui County, Sichuan Province

Locations:
1. The Yuzhong District Police Station, Chongqing City, Sichuan Province
2. The Liziba Detention Center, Chongqing City, Sichuan Province
3. The Linshui County Detention Center, Sichuan Province
4. The Deyang Jail, Sichuan Province
5. The Guangyuan Jail, Sichuan Province

Perpetrators:
1. Police from the Yuzhong District Police Station, Chongqing City, Sichuan Province
2. Guards from the Liziba Detention Center, Yuzhong District, Chongqing City, Sichuan Province
3. The Chief and guards from the Linshui County Detention Center, Sichuan Province
4. The Doctor and guards from the Deyang Jail, Sichuan Province
5. The Chief of the Guangyuan Jail, Sichuan Province

Description:
On May 29, 2001, policemen from the Yuzhong District Police Station in Chongqing City arrested Mr. Cao Jiguang while he was having lunch in a restaurant. He was arrested because he practices Falun Gong, and was suspected of distributing materials telling the truth about the persecution of Falun Gong. In the police station, Mr. Cao refused reveal the name of the person who gave him the materials, so the police tied him with steel wires. Then they hung him in the air for three days, and continued to beat and kick him. Mr. Cao lost consciousness many times. Three days later, the police covered his head and upper body with a cotton bag and secretly sent him to the Liziba Detention Center in Chongqing City, where he went on a hunger strike for 21 days to protest the detention. During his detention, for several months, he was often beaten because he refused to tell the guards who gave him the materials.

In February 2002, Mr. Cao was sent to the Linshui County Detention Center where he was detained for about six months. The guards beat him and tortured him. If he fainted, due to the torture, they poured cold water on his body. After he woke up, they continued beating him. On May 8, 2002, and May 28, 2002, the chief of the detention center shocked his whole body with electric batons, and then several guards took turns beating him. When the police became exhausted from beating him, they called other policemen to continue the beating. As a result, his body was completely covered with black and blue bruises. He vomited blood, and passed out many times. After the beating, the guards cuffed his hands and feet by using an iron bar connected to the handcuffs and shackle; the total weight of the cuffs and iron bar was about 90 lbs. Then the guards cuffed his hands and legs to a "death bed"1 for three days and nights.

On July 17, 2002, Mr. Cao was sentenced to five years in the Deyang Jail in Sichuan Province. During nine months in the jail, he was locked in a small cell for most of the time. Inmates were ordered to take turns torturing him 24 hours a day. He was also subjected to brainwashing sessions. Since he refused to give up Falun Gong, he was often beaten until he fainted. To protest the torture he went on a hunger strike. Consequently, he was force-fed. During the force-feeding, the doctor of the jail inserted a plastic tube into his trachea and pulled it out repeatedly to torture him. Before force-feeding him, guards opened his mouth to the maximum extent with a mouth-opening instrument, which caused severe injuries inside his mouth. After his hunger strike, the guards reduced his food by half to further torture him. causing him to faint often. In addition, he was deprived of sleep for a long time. On May 23, 2003, Mr. Cao was secretly transferred to the Guangyuan Jail in the Sichuan Province. Upon his arrival, starting on the first day, he was detained in a small cell where five inmates were ordered to watch him and persecute him 24 hours a day. He went on a hunger strike again to protest the torture. He is now on the verge of death.

Mr. Cao's brother, Cao Ping, was detained and tortured to death in July 2003 because he refused to give up his belief and continued to practice Falun Gong. Mr. Cao's parents, sister, and brother-in-law were all detained because they practice Falun Gong.

Due to the prolonged hunger strike and severe torture, Mr. Cao's life is in grave danger. We are very concerned Mr. Cao's wellbeing and hereby request that the United Nations take urgent action to safeguard the life of Mr. Cao.

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1 "Death bed" - A torture where the four limbs of the practitioner are stretched out and tied to the four corners of an icy-cold metal bed. The practitioner cannot move at all. Neither is he allowed to get up to eat, drink, or go to the bathroom. This treatment lasts from several hours up to more than a dozen days. This type of cruel torture causes severe damage to the practitioner both mentally and physically. His muscles atrophy, and many have lost their lives. See also The 2003 Falun Gong Report, (Falun Gong Human Rights Working Group, p. 93)