Chinese Communist Party Officials at the Law School in Lanzhou City Brutally Persecute a 70-year-old Practitioner

Longjiawan Law (Training) School located in Lanzhou City of Gansu Province is responsible for torturing Ms. Luo Qingshu, a Falun Dafa practitioner who is 70-years-old. She was once handcuffed and hung-up for as long as 12 days and nights. A police officer named Qi once yelled at her, "You are against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). You say I have handcuffed you and hung you up five times. Then I will handcuff you and hang you up ten times, one hundred times. I will peel off your skin and pull out your tendons. You are such a stubborn person. You are not afraid of being beheaded." Qi told others, "Nobody [is allowed to] give her anything to eat. Handcuff her and hang her up." After saying that, he slapped her face violently. The elderly woman's nose and mouth became swollen and bloody.

On February 22nd, 2005, Ms. Luo Qingshu was illegally arrested¹ by the Tuanjiexincun Police Station when she was explaining the true situation of Falun Gong. She was detained at Taoshuping Detention Centre for 15 days. On March 8th, two people from the police station, along with Liu Jianya from the company where Luo Qingshu was working, sent Ms. Luo to a brainwashing centre. This brainwashing centre is known to the public as Longjiawan Law (Training) School of Lanzhou City, but it is actually a concentration camp that was set up especially for persecuting Falun Gong practitioners. The centre has two buildings, one for solitary confinement, and one for indoctrination. It is said that there are around 700 policemen stationed there. The solitary confinement area was set up specifically for persecuting Falun Gong practitioners. The door is made of steel bars especially designed for handcuffing people. Inside the confinement room, there is nothing but a toilet. The floor is made of cement, and practitioners have no choice but to sit on the ground.

When Luo Qingshu was first sent to the concentration camp, it was right after two big snowfalls. The first snow lasted for three days and nights, and the second, two days and nights. The temperature inside the camp was well below freezing, yet with her strong righteous thoughts and actions, Ms. Luo did not suffer any ill effects. While kept in solitary confinement, no one is allowed to wash their face or meet with relatives. Meals are handed out by supervisors. Each day, the supervisors in charge vary, but no matter who the supervisor is, he or she usually tries different means to "transform²" the practitioners in hopes of getting a reward or bonus from their higher-ups. Supervisors can include policemen, doctors, officials, security guards, government officials, etc. They took turns around the clock watching Luo Shuqing and other practitioners to make sure that they did not study the Falun Dafa teachings, or practise the Falun Gong exercises. From time to time, they tried to force practitioners to write the three statements³and otherwise tried to "transform" them.

Luo Shuqing was handcuffed and hung up for the first time after being placed in solitary confinement. She was forced to stand with her back against the steel door with her two hands sticking out from two holes in the door, which were then handcuffed behind her back. She was allowed only 10 minutes for a meal, and five minutes to use the toilet. She was not allowed to drink water or sleep. If she started dozing, the guards would violently beat her on the back or pinch her back. They would say to her, "How are you now? Get 'transformed!' Consider it." Luo Shuqing was forced to stand day and night. As a result, her feet swelled so much that she couldn't put her shoes on, and her legs also swelled so much that she couldn't take her trousers off. Due to the swelling, the skin on her legs was stretched so tight that it was shiny. In addition, Ms. Luo couldn't bend her legs or sit down. There were large and deep wounds on her calves and inside her thighs, and her hands were so swollen that she could no longer bend her fingers. Her physical condition made it very difficult for Ms. Luo to eat.

Even when she was handcuffed, Luo Qingshu never stopped telling people the facts about Falun Gong and the persecution. She was surprised to discover that people were not familiar with the facts. Some policemen demanded, "Where did you get this information?" She informed them about international laws and said, "The Chinese Constitution stipulates that no ruling should be given to a person over 70 years old. But you are so cruel to me. Do you know that you are violating the law? I'm a practitioner of 'Truthfulness, Benevolence, Forbearance.' I am a good person."

When Ms. Luo was finally released from the handcuffs, she began to recover. The swelling gradually dissipated and the skin on her legs sloughed off in pieces. Some pieces were as big as a fingernail. However, when her legs were no longer swollen, she was handcuffed again. Her health then began to deteriorate again. As long as Luo Qingshu refused to be "transformed" and write the three statements, she was repeatedly handcuffed.

Many guards told her, "If you don't accept 'transformation,' you will never be released from this detention centre. Eventually you will die here." Luo Qingshu said, "This is not the place for a human being. I will not be 'transformed' because what I am practising is the most righteous practice. I am here to correct all that is not righteous. How can I write something untrue?"

Several times when Luo Qingshu was handcuffed, she lost consciousness and lost control over her bowels and bladder. The supervisors then put her down and ordered her to clean up the urine and excrement herself after she regained consciousness. The doctors tried to give her an injection against her will. Although many guards tied her onto a bed board, she was able to remove the needle. The policemen kept cursing her and saying, "Why you are so troublesome?"

Some policemen said, "Old lady Luo cannot make it any more. She weighs less than 35 kg (77 lbs). She is so skinny and even unable to straighten her back. She will die if she is handcuffed another two times." Ms. Luo said, "Live without pursuit, die without regrets. If someone does not fear death, even the evil will be afraid of him." With this statement, the guards were unable to say a word, so instead they sent her to another building, the law school. All of the Falun Gong practitioners detained there had written the three statements due to the severe pressure of the persecution. Luo Qingshu was the only one who didn't write the three statements, so she was persecuted more severely because she was not "transformed." The two inmates assigned to monitor her lived in the same room with her. Day and night they followed her around, even when she went to the toilet or sink.

Luo Qingshu thought to herself, "The more they are against me practising Falun Gong, the more I should practise." With this thought, Ms. Luo started practising the exercises right in front of the policemen and where there were a lot of people in the corridor. The places where there were the most people is where she would practise the Falun Gong exercises. She appealed to police officer Qi many times to allow her to practise the exercises, but he beat and kicked her as a response. All of the policemen beat her so violently that Luo Qingshu's entire body was covered with bruises. Her hands were also black. Her bones were sticking out of her skin and the jabbing felt like she was constantly being stabbed with needles. After the policemen beat Ms. Luo, they handcuffed her.

In mid-August, the supervisors asked Ms. Luo to join a gathering at the camp, but she refused. As usual, she never took part in any of their activities. The supervisors said, "If you don't go to the mid-August party, our salary and bonus will be deducted. There will be no moon cakes or fruits for us. You cannot be so selfish. What kind of a good person are you?" Many doctors criticised Ms. Luo, "If you continue like this, we will lose all of our salary and bonuses. What are we supposed to eat? When it's Mid-Autumn festival day, we will carry you to the party." She then said, "Ok, I will go, but they should allow me to yell, 'Falun Dafa is good. Truthfulness, Benevolence, Forbearance' is good, and, 'Restore our Teacher's good name.'" Police officer Qi got angry and said, "Put her back into confinement." Ms. Luo was handcuffed and put into solitary confinement again. Later, the police found out she was on a hunger strike in protest. They began to force-feed her by tying her to the bed board, but Luo Qingshu managed to remove the feeding tubes. The guards hated her so much that they keep swearing and cursing at her.

After several days of being handcuffed, Luo Qingshu lost consciousness again and was sent to the hospital. When she regained consciousness she strongly refused to take any infusions, injections or pills. She said, "I'm a cultivator. I'm not ill." The chief doctor said, "When you first arrived, your hemoglobin level was only 3.4 g and your blood pressure was 70." She explained the facts of Falun Gong to whoever came to her. Because the perpetrators could not do anything to someone who did not fear death at all, and since they knew that her health was in extreme danger, the camp finally gave up trying to "transform" her. However, they refused to pay her fee for the hospitalisation and ordered her workplace to pay instead. Police officer Qi yelled insanely at her, "Luo Qingshu, you go back home!" A female law official also yelled at her, "Luo Qingshu, you go back home!" They were unable to do anything to her any more.

The brainwashing centre called the local officials of Tuanjiexin Village, who then called Luo Qingshu's workplace and asked them to pay for Luo Qingshu's hospital fee. The workplace notified her family to prepare for her funeral. A picture was prepared for her funeral service.

On October 17th, Luo Qingshu was carried out from the emergency room and sent back home in an ambulance. She couldn't move any part of her body, not even her head. Her excrement was black, and she continued to have this kind of excrement for 12 days. Even in such a condition, the police asked her workplace to keep an eye on her. Her workplace said, "You had so many people working 24-hours-a-day to try to 'transform' her, yet you failed to succeed. How can we keep an eye on her? We cannot do that!"

Luo Qingshu continued to steadfastly believe in Falun Dafa. She lost consciousness again. When she regained consciousness she listened to the Falun Dafa teachings even when she couldn't move. When she was able to sit up, she did the fifth exercise (the sitting meditation) while leaning against a table. Thus, she recovered very quickly. The CCP failed to reach its goal of destroying her.

Postscript: Luo Qingshu's workplace gave Gongjiawan Brainwashing Centre 23,000 yuan⁴ for her hospital treatment. Now the money is being deducted from her pension and from her daughter's salary every month.

Note

1. Illegally arrested: Contrary to what former Chinese leader Jiang Zemin, who initiated the persecution, and the Chinese Communist Party would like the world to believe, practising Falun Gong is NOT illegal in China. Although the Public Security Department issued an unconstitutional set of restraints on the practice at the onset of the persecution in 1999, no laws have been passed by the only legislative body in China, the People's Congress, banning Falun Gong or granting the police the authority to arrest Falun Gong practitioners for practising the exercises or distributing flyers. For a more complete discussion of the illegality of the persecution of Falun Gong, please refer to the article "The Ban on Falun Gong—A Dictator's Whim, Not the Rule of Law". (Variation: "illegally sentenced")

2. "Reform or Transform" Implementation of brainwashing and torture in order to force a practitioner to renounce Falun Gong. (Variations: "reform", "transform", "reformed", "reforming", "transformed", "transforming", and "transformation")

3. "Three Statements": Practitioners are coerced under brainwashing and torture to write "Repentance Statement," "Guarantee Statement" or 'Dissociation Statement" as proof that they have given up their belief. In the statement, the practitioner is forced to admit remorse for practising Falun Gong, promise to give up Falun Gong, and never again associate with other practitioners or go to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong.

4. "Yuan" is the Chinese currency; 500 yuan is equal to the average monthly income of an urban worker in China.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2006/2/15/120848.html