The Horrifying Experience of Mr. Lu Zhifan -- Persecution in Wuchang City

Mr. Lu Zhifan, 38, is from Shuangfu Village, Wuchang City, Heilongjiang Province. He started practising Falun Dafa in April 1997. In July 1999 when Jiang Zemin's regime started persecuting Falun Gong, Lu Zhifan went to appeal for justice and clarify the truth. However he was severely persecuted, suffering physical torture. His family members were also implicated and broken apart.

Lu Zhifan was arrested twice for going to Beijing to appeal for Falun Dafa. The first time was in November 1999. He was illegally arrested and taken to the Wuchang City No. 2 Labour Camp after being followed and escorted by the former director of Erhe Police Substation, Kong Fanqing, and the Party Secretary General of Shuangfu Village, Wang. Since he did not give up his belief in "Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance" and he persisted in doing the exercises, he was persecuted severely. In addition to being beaten, his hands were twisted into a painful position, his head was forced against the wall, and he had to stand in one stance for a long time. The police repeatedly punched him in the face and kicked him in the groin and chest while wearing heavy boots. The pain was unbearable, and he was tortured to the point that he lost control of his bladder and bowels. The police even goaded a prisoner facing the death penalty into kicking him under the bed. His nose and mouth were bleeding, and his clothes were ripped open. He was made to lie on the ice-cold cement floor and shivered uncontrollably. The food and clothing sent to him by his family were stolen by the head of the prisoners. He was released after he spent three months in such painful difficulties. Detention centre director Kong Fanqing, extorted 4,000 Yuan [the average monthly income of Chinese workers is about 500 Yuan in urban areas and 200 Yuan in rural areas] from Lu Zhifan's wife under the name of "case expenditures." The Political and Legislative Section of the Wuchang City Public Security Bureau extorted 2,500 Yuan as deposit and 500 Yuan as bus fare. For this one case, the financial extortion reached over 8,000 Yuan.

In February 2000, Lu Zhifan went for the second time to Beijing to appeal for Dafa. On his way, he and another 19 people who went to appeal were arrested and taken to the Wuchang City No. 2 Labour Camp. He and another 9 practitioners, including Zhang Guojun, were jailed in one cell. Every day, the police interrogated them one after another, attempting to force them to give up their belief in "Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance" and write a "guarantee letter" [A statement to declare that he or she is remorseful for practising Falun Gong and guarantees not to practise Falun Gong again, not to go to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong, and never again associate with any Falun Dafa practitioners.]. However, the practitioners kept studying the teachings of Falun Dafa and doing the exercises.

Three days later, the deputy section chief Yang Songpeng of the Political and Legislative Section of the Wuchang Public Security Bureau, together with another two who tried to pass themselves off as the security staff of the Heilongjiang Provincial Public Security Department, came to interrogate him. Since Zhang Guojunhe had a Dafa book with him, the policemen swarmed over him to snatch the book. Zhang Guojun used his life to protect the Dafa book. Yang Songpeng viciously wrenched Zhang's two hands behind his back, breaking all ten of his frostbitten fingers and exposing the bones. Facing this type of brutality, nine practitioners went on hunger strike to protest. The police urged the prisoners to beat them up, seize them by their throats and hair, and kick them in the chest using the toe of their boots. Lu Zhifan was kicked until he lost consciousness and was lying motionless on the ground. The whole situation was clearly seen by the director Lu Bo and prison guard Pan, who were standing just outside. However, they did not stop it. On the contrary, upon witnessing the scene, they smiled wickedly. Even when his physical condition was so feeble, Lu Zhifan was still held out and locked to a metal chair. No matter how they tortured him, he did not give up cultivation.

Lu Zhifan was tortured almost to the point of death. On the seventh day, his wife was notified to bring him home. He was carried home from the prison.

Less than half a month later, Kong Fanqing, the director of the Erhe Police Substation, once again arrested and took him to the Wuchang City No. 2 Labour Camp. At that time, it was the busy season in farming. His farmland had no one to do the work, and his child's study was neglected. His parents and family endured great sufferings. In this way, Lu Zhifan was illegally detained for another three months. His family had to spend lots of money to have him bailed out.

The police substation kept him under surveillance all the time, sending spies to monitor him. At that time, the Wuchang Public Security Bureau notified all the villages and townships that if anyone reported a practitioner, they would be rewarded with 500 to 1,000 Yuan, up to a maximum of 5,000 to 10,000 Yuan. One day, he and his wife went out to visit his aunt, and he was reported. The director of Weiguo Police Substation found over a dozen people to fabricate a story that he was distributing flyers. In this way, they arrested him and his wife (who did not cultivate Dafa). His wife's clothes were ripped open. The Secretary General of Erhe Township Political and Legislative Commission, Qi Guoqing, escorted him and his wife directly to the Wuchang City Public Security Bureau. Yang Songpeng yelled upon seeing him: "You again went to spread the flyers!" Lu Zhifan explained to him that he was just visiting friends. Yang Songpeng showed him a flyer and insisted that it was spread by him. His wife also explained that they did not distribute the flyers, but Yang Songpeng still yelled: "Even if you did not spread the flyers, I would still detain you and detain you until death!" They tried to force him to sign his name on the detention card, but he refused. For no reason at all, Lu Zhifan was again detained at Wuchang City No. 2 Labour Camp. He continued to go on hunger strike to protest against the persecution. His physical health was extremely feeble. Half a month later, he was released unconditionally. After returning home, his family had accumulated lots of debts, and he had land that he could not work on. The police came to his home to harass him quite often. His parents, wife, and child endured great pressure both physically and mentally. The money that was confiscated from him had been borrowed by his parents and relatives at high interest, and the total amount borrowed was over thirty thousand Yuan. He and his wife had decided that she would leave home to take a job doing manual labour. However, the deputy director of the Wuchang Public Security Bureau Chen Shusen asked for instructions from the Party Secretary General Xiao Jianchun, and together with Yang Songpeng, Fang Zhen, Yang, Kong Fanqing, and Mei Zhenwen of the Legislative Section, they decided to trump up some charges and sentence Lu Zhifan with no legal procedures to a forced labour camp. As a result, he had to leave home and go from place to place.

On May 19, 2000, Gao Xiufeng, a practitioner from Xingsheng township of Wuchang City, was tortured to death. Practitioners went to the crematory to offer their condolences. Some practitioners were arrested, but Lu Zhifan escaped.

On the same night, Chen Shusen sent policemen to Lu Zhifan's aunt's home. They broke in, climbing over the wall, to search for and arrest him. When they failed to find him, they went to his younger sister's and mother-in-law's homes to search for him. On the night before the Chinese New Year, Kong Fanqing sent someone to his mother-in-law's home to look for him. Early on the morning of the third day of the Chinese New Year, the policeman named Mei Zhenwen brought people with him and went to his mother-in-law's home to interrogate his wife and his mother-in-law's family. For the past few years, in addition to the persecution against Mr. Lu, his family members have also endured various kinds of persecution both physically and mentally. His wife could hardly bear this kind of mental torture and had to propose divorce with him. The divorce was supported by a policeman named Mei Zhenwen. By making a public notice, they forced the divorce through with no mutual agreement. In this way, a good family was broken up.

In November 2001, Lu Zhifan was arrested by the Shangzhi City Public Security Bureau of Heilongjiang Province for exposing the persecution to people. He did not tell the police his name and protested by going on a hunger strike. The policeman used a wooden plank to hit him in the face, placing handcuffs on him so tightly that they cut through his flesh down to the bone. The police still shook him heavily up and down and hung him up by the handcuffs for a whole night. Later he was imprisoned at the Beihao Jail. The police told the criminals to "give him a good lesson." When the prisoners swarmed forward together, Lu Zhifan called out: "Falun Dafa is great! Falun Dafa is being wronged!". Three days later, he was recognized by the Wuchang City Public Security Bureau and again jailed at the Wuchang City No. 2 Labour Camp, and received severe torture. Lu Zhifan went on hunger strike to protest and received savage force-feeding. He was sent to the hospital when he was almost dying. He was cuffed with shackles weighing over fifty pounds. Mr. Lu was dragged back and forth by Chen Shusen on the ground until his clothes were ripped to shreds and his back and feet were bleeding. Many people witnessed the horrifying scene. In order to cover up their crime, the policemen lied to the on-lookers, saying: "He is the gangster wanted by the public security bureau."

Lu Zhifan was sentenced to three years' forced labour, and was sent to Changlinzi Labour Camp at Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province. At Changlinzi Labour Camp, Lu Zhifan was severely tortured for a long time, and his physical health was wrecked. He was hung up with his two hands handcuffed, in a small cell for three days and nights. When he was finally taken down, he had lost consciousness. He also suffered from a torture called "Dajue": With his two legs spread apart, he was pushed down to the ground, face-down. His arms were tied to his back and up to his head. There was a block of wood squeezed behind each of his knees. The police held his legs down. Several people stood on his body and stomped heavily on him. This torture can instantly dislocate the hip joints, tear ligaments open, or break the pelvis, and the pain was beyond forbearance. This kind of severe torture had made Lu Zhifan fall unconscious twice, and he could not step on the ground for one month. Besides, he had to squat on a square of wood from 5 a.m. to 12 p.m. It was very common for him to be beaten with a wooden plank in the face, and to be kicked in the back of the head and beaten up. The Changlinzi Labour Camp used all kinds of means to torture Dafa practitioners: piercing the fingers with needles, burning the fingernails, hard object scraping the ribs, stomping on the fingers (immediately the fingers can be broken), force-feeding [forcing a finger-wide pipe into the stomach and twisting it around to the point of causing bleeding, then taking it out and forcing it in again several times, finally forcing in a thick salt water solution, further injuring the already bruised stomach. Some practitioners were tortured so much that they could hardly straighten up their back, and they vomited lots of blood]. Both hands were tied up to their back, handcuffed and hung up in the air over one meter of the ground. Immediately they would feel intense pain and soon lose consciousness. Their bones were broken and their flesh injured.

Under the severe torture, Lu Zhifan is still determined in safeguarding Dafa. He was bailed out and taken home, but when they got him there, he lost consciousness and could not speak. The flesh of his leg was torn to the bone and his leg was swollen so much that he could not take off his pants and could only use scissors to cut the pants off.

The telephone numbers for the responsible persons:

Party Secretary of the Erhe Township Government of the Wuchang City: 86-451-55847006

The director of the Erhe Police Substation of Wuchang City, Kong Fanqing: 86-451-55847304

Policeman of the Erhe Police Substation of Wuchang City, Mei Zhenwen: 86-451-84287734

Secretary of the former Erhe Political and Legislative Committee of Wuchang City: Qi Guoqing: 86-451-55847139

Head of the Shuangfu Village, Erhe Township, Wuchang City, Wang Shuang: 86-451-55849441,

Party Secretary of Wuchang City: Xiao Jianchun: 86-451-53522219

Deputy Director of the Wuchang City Public Security Bureau, Chen Shusen: 86-451-53537676

Deputy Section Chief of the Political and Legislative Section of the Wuchang City Public Security Bureau: Yang Songpeng: 86-451-53527987

Office of the Wuchang City Public Security Bureau: 86-451-53538998

Director of the Wuchang City No. 2 Labour Camp: Lu Bo: 86-451-53540928

The director's office of the Changlinzi Labour Camp, Harbin City: 86-451-82037079

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2004/1/25/65779.html