Ms. Lu Guiling from Weihai City, Shandong Province, Brutally Persecuted

Ms. Lu Guiling, 48, from Wenquan Town, Weihai City, Shandong Province, was arrested and brutally persecuted repeatedly because she distributed leaflets exposing the persecution of Falun Gong to the public. On November 12th, 2008, at around 10:00 a.m. she was arrested at her home by 610 Office¹ head Liu Jie of the Huancui District Police Department in Weihai City. Ms. Lu was subsequently sentenced to 19 years in prison by the Huancui District Court in Weihai City. She is currently in the Shandong Province Women's Prison and being subjected to brutal persecution.

Ms. Lu was fortunate to learn Falun Gong in August 1996. After practising Falun Gong her body and mind were purified and her family life became harmonious. After July 20th, 1999, when the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) started persecuting Falun Gong, she was persecuted several times.

On February 22nd, 2000, Ms. Lu and a few other practitioners went to the National Inquiry Bureau in Beijing to peacefully appeal for Falun Gong and explain the facts about the practice and its benefits to society. They were arrested and held in the Weihai City Agency Office in Beijing, where they were brutally beaten and shocked with electric batons. The police also used a foot-long, finger-wide stick to hit their faces, turning them black and blue. The police then poured cold water all over them. Two days later, two officers from the Wenquan Police Station took Ms. Lu back to Weihai City and confiscated 1,400 yuan², which she was carrying with her. She was detained for 15 days and fined 1,500 yuan.

On January 2nd, 2001, Ms. Lu was taken by officers from the Wenquan Police Station again and was arrested and held at the detention centre for 16 days.

On the evening of April 28th, 2002, at about eight o'clock, several officers broke into Ms. Lu Guiling's home and held her in a basement. Officer Liu Jinhu from the 610 Office of the Huancui District Police Department, along with another police officer attempted to coerce her into giving up her belief in Falun Gong, but she refused. Liu Jinhu brutally beat her, cursed at her, and pulled her hair. Large bunches of her hair fell out. That same night, she was transferred to a detention centre. The second morning, she was transferred again to another detention centre by 610 Office head Liu Jie of the Huancui District Police Department. In the detention centre, she held a hunger strike to protest the brutal persecution and was force fed. She was restrained in an iron chair outside the room for days and nights. She was extremely cold and hungry, her buttocks developed blood blisters, and she became very thin and even spat out blood. Her life was in grave danger. The police had to release her, but they also threatened, "We will release you now, but we will arrest you again after you recover." After she was released, Ms. Lu had to leave home to avoid further persecution.

In order to more effectively expose the persecution, Lu Guiling and three other practitioners helped to intercept TV signals. On January 23rd, 2003, she was arrested by the Weifang City Police Department and detained at the Weifang City Detention Centre. She held a hunger strike to protest her detention and was force-fed. The police inserted a tube into her stomach for a long time, which and caused her to spit out blood frequently. She fainted on the tenth day of the torture, and the police took her to the hospital for emergency treatment. She didn't regain consciousness until the next day and she was extremely weak.

On February 8th, 2003, Liu Jie, the 610 Office head, arrested Ms. Lu and took her to the Rongcheng City Brainwashing Centre. 610 Office head Xing Jianping (female) from the Rongcheng City Police Department was notorious for brutally torturing practitioners. Xing incited a few people to torture Lu Guiling and deprive her of sleep for two weeks. If Ms. Lu fell asleep, Xing used a toothpick to stab her palms and feet, forced her to stand, forced her to walk, and dragged her to the windows to make her stand in the cold wind. Xing tried to make Ms. Lu watch the brainwashing videos made by the CCP, but she refused. Xing then kicked her legs with all her strength. She grabbed Ms. Lu's ankles, cuffed her hands behind her back, and bound her to the iron chair³. Ms. Lu Guiling was immobilized for several days, which made her hands numb for about six months. The police used all kinds of brutal ways to torture her in attempts to force her to give up her belief. But her righteous belief in Falun Gong made the police desperate. At the end of February, the 610 Office transferred her to the Weihai City Detention Centre. Later, the Huancui District Court in Weihai City sentenced her to 19 years in prison.

Since Ms. Lu Guiling was arrested on January 23rd, 2003, she has repeatedly used hunger strikes to protest. A few male criminals in the detention centre handcuffed her onto an iron chair and force-fed her every day to torture her. She held a hunger strike for more than three months and became extremely weak. On May 14th, she was taken to the Weihai City Hospital. One armed police officer and one detention centre official watched her every day. She was forced to wear heavy fetters every day and was cuffed to the bed. On June 9th, she was sent back to the detention centre. Ms. Lu held the hunger strike for five months and by July 18th, her life was in grave danger. The police had to release her. Two months later, even though she had not yet recovered, Huancui District Court official Zou Dakai and three police officers took her back to the detention centre. The next day, she was taken to the Women's Prison in Shandong Province.

In the prison, Ms. Lu held another hunger strike for nearly four months. She was force-fed and endured brainwashing every day. She was badly injured physically and mentally. Her weight fell from 65 kilograms (143 lbs) to 31 kilogram (68 lbs). Although she was brutally tortured, she persisted in maintaining her belief in Falun Gong and Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. She shouted "Falun Gong is good" again and again. In her heart, she had no hate for the people that tortured her. Instead, she had compassion for those who were ignorant of the crimes they were committing. This compassion, which exceeds human love, finally touched everyone around her, including the criminals and the police. They started to worry about her safety.

The prison warden saw that Ms. Lu was in extremely poor health, so she suggested sending her home many times, but the the Weihai City 610 Office refused to comply. Finally, after many troubles, Lu Guiling was released on bail for medical treatment on January 15th, 2004. After she returned home, she recovered, which again is a testimony that Falun Gong is the most extraordinary science. After she recovered, she was forced to become homeless again.

Lu Guiling, after being persecuted (2004)

On November 12th, 2008, at 10:00 a.m., when Ms. Lu returned home to visit her family, 610 Office head Liu Jie from the Huancui District Police Department in Weihai City led police to break into her home and arrest her again. She is now being brutally mistreated in the Women's Prison in Shandong Province.

The case regarding the persecution of Ms. Lu Guiling has already been filed in the United Nations. On December 9th, 2003, the United Nations general commissioner and the UN commissioner of Freedom of Speech together appealed to the Chinese government on behalf of Ms. Lu. We are requesting international society's help for Falun Gong practitioner Lu Guiling.

Note

1. "The 610 office" is an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other political and judiciary systems.

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

3. Iron Chair: The "Iron chair" is made of iron pipes. Victims are restrained on the iron chairs with both arms and legs tied for a long period of time, see illustration at http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2002/1/9/17577.html

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2008/11/25/190459.html