Entire Family Devastated as 76-Year-Old Grandfather, Mr. Luo Zhenggui, is Tortured in Guangyuan Prison

Name: Mr. Luo Zhenggui
Gender: Male
Age: 76
Address: Shibao Township, Gulin County, Sichuan Province
Occupation: Retired Cadre of Shibao Township Government, Gulin County, Sichuan Province
Date of Most Recent Arrest: December 23rd, 2003
Most Recent Place of Detention: Guangyuan Prison, Sichuan Province
City: Guangyuan
Province: Sichuan
Persecution Suffered: sleep deprivation, forced labour, brainwashing, beatings, imprisonment, torture, home ransacked, interrogation, detention

Mr. Luo Zhenggui and his wife were detained by officials from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for not renouncing their belief in Falun Gong. They were subjected to brainwashing and sentenced to imprisonment. They are now homeless in an effort to avoid being detained again. CCP officials confiscated their home, stole their personal belongings and withheld their pensions. The following is a personal account given by Mr. Luo Zhenggui.

1. Becoming a Falun Gong Practitioner

Since 1957, I had worked as a teacher, a road builder and an official of the village and township government. I witnessed the different Communist Party political movements. I regret that during the years when I worked for a living I was often unable to take care of my family, including my wife, the children and the elderly. Although I worked very hard, my pay was very low, so we lived a poor life. The heavy workload also ruined my health.

I suffered many illnesses, including neurasthenia, frontal sinusitis, rhinitis, pneumonia, bronchitis, nephritis as well as severe stomach problems. The doctor told us that there were three holes in my stomach that caused bleeding. As a result I had difficulty in eating and drinking. I suffered pain at all times and often had blood in my stool. When the doctor diagnosed me with cancer, he suggested I have a gastrectomy to prevent the cancer cells from spreading, but the doctor was unsure as to how long I would live.

At the time I could not eat or sleep and had difficulty walking. I had no strength and I was devastated. The government paid for some of my medical expenses, but I still had to pay part of them. This added an extra burden to our already very poor life. I had to retire from the township government because of my poor health in 1996.

At that time my wife also suffered from many illnesses. Both of us took many herbal medicines and some western medications daily.

When I was about to go to the hospital for my operation I learned about Falun Gong. The universal principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance had spread far and wide in our mountainous area. My wife began to practise Falun Gong in 1998 and shortly after, all her diseases, including headaches, chest pain, appendicitis, gynaecological disease as well as cholecystitis all disappeared without any medication. Besides, she changed from a selfish and bad tempered person into a healthy, gentle and kind person. My family became very harmonious.

Witnessing my wife's improved health I thought, "Before cultivating Falun Gong she sometimes would be writhing on the bed because of excruciating pain. How was it possible that all of a sudden she was healthy? How could a very selfish person be turned into a kind-hearted person who always thought of other people first? A Chinese proverb say, "It's easy to change rivers and mountains but hard to change a person's nature." Then, what power had changed her and turned the bad things into good things?"

My wife benefited from practising Falun Gong. On seeing the change in her I began to study the Falun Gong teachings and do the five sets of exercises beginning April 1st, 1999.

On April 25th, Falun Gong practitioners held a peaceful appeal outside the Central Appeals Office, adjacent to the Zhongnanhai leadership compound. The CCP's media publicised slanderous accusations, including that practitioners “besieged Zhongnanhai.” I had been a township government official. Recalling many past incidents made me realise that the CCP might initiate a persecution of Falun Gong. Remembering all the past political movements, such as the land reform, the maligning of landlords, rich peasants and bad elements, the anti-rightist movement, the Four Clean-up Movements, the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution, I saw the signs of a new persecution on the wall. During all these movements, thousands of people were murdered. But, within time, the CCP would reverse itself and try to rectify the bad things done during each of these movements. Therefore, I concluded that I could not trust what the CCP said. I knew whatever the CCP opposed must be good. As a result, no matter what the CCP concocted, my determination and belief in Falun Gong has never wavered since 1999.

I read the Falun Gong books and did the exercises. I became a healthy person within one month. All illnesses that troubled me for more than 30 years had disappeared. I was able eat whatever I liked, raw or cooked, cold or hot. I had no more headaches and I walked very lightly. I enjoyed the happiness of an illness free life.

2. Detained Three Times and Held in Brainwashing Centres Three Times in Two Years

On July 20th 1999, Jiang Zemin, [former leader of China and instigator of the persecution] initiated the persecution of Falun Gong. I lived in the dormitories of the township government. Officials from the township government and officers from the local police station broke into my home many times and harassed us, as well as ransacked our home. Sometimes they came at midnight and even went to my in-law’s home to ransack their home.

We were monitored around the clock. They tried to make us sign statements guaranteeing not to practise Falun Gong. They not only harassed us, ransacked our home, but also robbed us. Lei Qingmin, a police officer, confiscated our Falun Gong books and my wife's identification card. Zeng Yi, the head of the police station also stole a sword, which was a family heirloom. One day, Fu Jian, head of the Gulin County 610 Office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong) broke into our home and detained me. On returning home I found that that money, a pair of high quality jade bracelets, a pair of silver bracelets and some other personal items had disappeared.

More than 70 practitioners from different townships in Gulin County wrote a joint letter to the County Government to explain the facts about Falun Gong. We hoped that when they understood what Falun Gong was about, they would report to the higher government what we had said and stop the persecution.

Not one official of the Gulin County government, the police department and other organisations came to us to exchange ideas or investigate. In the autumn of 2000, several dozen practitioners from Gulin County prepared to jointly appeal to the county government.

That night police came to the hotel and detained us. We were taken to the county police bureau where we were interrogated. They wanted names, especially who was in charge of our effort to clear Falun Gong's name, who wrote the letter and who made the plan.

I told the interrogators about the benefits I gained from practising Falun Gong. I told them Falun Gong cured the stomach trouble that I had suffered for more than 30 years and how I was now healthy. I told them that the fact that Falun Gong was good was well documented. I said, “You don't even practise Falun Gong. How can you say it's not good?” They found what I had said was reasonable, so they were convinced. Through this they learned the truth about Falun Gong.

I was a government official so it was my responsibility to be truthful and report to the government the real situation. Our appeal to the county government was completely legal. Since practitioners cultivated compassion they reported to the government in a peaceful manner once they were faced with injustice and were persecuted. We didn't resort to any violence and did not take any extreme actions in an effort to not bring any negative effects to the practice. It was wrong for the police to detain us. However, the practitioners who went to appeal to the county government were sentenced to forced labour camps or imprisonment. Some were detained for more than 70 days. I was detained for 37 days.

Not long after the appeal to the county appeal office, officials from the Gulin 610 Office, Shibao Township Party Committee, Township Office of Comprehensive Management and the Shibao Police Station repeatedly detained me. During a two-year period, I was detained three times and held in brainwashing centres three times. In January 2000, they took me to the brainwashing centre inside the Gulin Medical School. They demanded that I renounce Falun Gong and detained me for one month. The day after I was released from the brainwashing centre I was taken to the Gulin Detention Centre where I was detained for more than 70 days. I was transferred from the detention centre to the Jianzhu Brainwashing Centre, where I was detained for one month. In 2002 I was detained at Gulin Detention Centre for 108 days. Then, I was transferred to the Jianzhu Brainwashing Centre and detained there for another month.

3. Explaining the Facts of the Persecution and Resisting Brainwashing

In the Jianzhu Brainwashing Centre, located in the Gulin Health School, we were forced to watch videos that slandered and criticised Falun Gong.

The people who participated in the persecution in the brainwashing centre came from various departments of the county government. The Shibao Police Station appointed Ma Fei to monitor me around the clock. One time Ma wanted me to speak in public and criticise Falun Gong. I told him I was going to talk about how wonderful it was to practise Falun Gong. He rebuked me and did not let me speak.

4. Unjustly Sentenced

On December 23rd, 2003, Fu Jian from the Gulin County 610 Office, the deputy head of Shibao Town, staff from the Shibao Town General Administrative Office, and officers from the Shibao Police Station ransacked my house. I was alone at home. They did not find anything after turning my house upside down. They still took me to the Gulin Detention Centre. The Gulin Court sentenced me to a three and half-year prison term without citing any illegal conduct, just for practising Falun Gong. In October 2004, Liu Zhongtang from the Gulin Detention Centre took me to Guangyuan Prison in Sichuan Province.

In Guangyuan Prison, the guards secretly ordered the inmates in my cell to monitor and torture me. The prisoners forced me to stand with my face against the wall around the clock. They had me sit on a small stool and beat me when I moved. I was held by the prison guards in their office during the night in an effort to have me write statements renouncing Falun Gong. I was not allowed to sleep and was taken back to my cell after breakfast. I was frequently deprived of sleep and breakfast.

One-time prisoners Xie Quan and Li Guihua forced me to stand against the wall. I refused, so they covered my mouth and brutally beat me. I ran into the guards' office and questioned them, “Did you order prisoners to beat me?” Guard Wen Mingqing, who was in charge of torturing Falun Gong practitioners, denied this accusation.

I was not guilty of anything and I was not going to acknowledge the wrongful sentencing from the Gulin Court. I filed a lawsuit in the procuratorates and courts of Gulin County, Sichuan Province and Luzhou City.

I handed my complaints to a prison guard. He told me after reading the complaints, “If what you said is true, you are not guilty. The warden and the captain of my ward told me after reading my complaints, “You are not guilty if what you said in the complaints is true. We have handed your documents to the related departments.” After the guards understood the facts about Falun Gong, the prisoners stopped torturing me.

My complaints have never been answered by the courts and procuratorates.

5. Financial Persecution from the officials and police officers of Shibao Town

1. Illegal fines. At the end of 1999, the officials from Shibao Town suspected that my wife and I went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong. Bu Zhigao, secretary of the CCP Commission, and Zheng Yi, director of the Shibao Town Police Station Zeng Yi sent me a notice of fine. There was an official stamp on the notice. In the notice, it stated that two people were sent to Beijing to look for my wife Zhang Ziqin and it cost 6,000 yuan¹. This amount of money would be deducted from my salary. They took 4,000 yuan from my pension every month of the following year and I was left with 100 yuan for monthly living expenses. My family lived a very difficult life during that time.

2. Stealing pension and freezing it: In the ten years after the persecution was launched, the government did not raise my pension. In 1999, my pension was 960 yuan per month. People who retired from the same position received 3,000 yuan per month. By April 2009, the last time I received my pension, it was still 960 yuan. In May 2009, officials from the Shibao Town government and officers from the police station and 610 Office came to my house trying to arrest my entire family. We escaped and became homeless and destitute. I no longer received my pension.

3. Confiscating my house . After I became destitute in 2009, my house was taken away. All our furniture, clothes and belongings were stolen.

6. Family Members Died from the Persecution

Me, my wife and my two sons lived in Shibao Town. We had to take care of my parents-in-law and work on the farm. In 2001, my wife was imprisoned for practising Falun Gong. I was imprisoned from 2001 to 2002. I was in and out of a detention centre three times and three times from a brainwashing centre. My sons were forced to drop out of school and work odd jobs. My youngest son was only 17 years old.

On January 19th, 2001, the Director of the Shibao Town Police Station, Hu Dianbo, went to my parents in law's house and ransacked it. Hu arrested my wife. In 2004, I was also imprisoned. My mother-in-law went to the town hall, the public security bureau, the procuratorate, and the court asking them to release one of us. My father-in-law was so angry and stressed out that he became very ill. In May 2004, while my wife and I were being tortured in prisons, my father-in-law passed away.

My wife was tortured and almost died. In 2005, when she was released, she had wounds all over her body and her face was full of scars. The authorities had someone monitor her. In September 2005, Wang Hongyou, town secretary of Shibao Town, Shao Gunaghui, director of the Shibao Police Station, Tang Xinglong and Ma Fei, police officers and Yan Lin, director of the General Administrative Office, arrested my wife and took her to the Jianzhu Township Brainwashing Centre. My wife was force-fed with chilli water, unknown drugs and unhealthy food. She was beaten and threatened.

In 2007, we were released and returned home. We continued to be followed, monitored and harassed. We could not live a normal life. In April 2009, dozens of the Shibao Town officials and police officers tried to arrest me my wife and my eldest son. My eldest son had just got married. He became homeless and destitute. He was in financial distress although he worked hard to make a living. He was afraid of being arrested and tortured. He suffered a mental collapse and got very sick. He coughed up blood but was too poor to see a doctor and died.

My mother-in-law used to live with us. After we became destitute because the police were chasing us, she was forced to become homeless at the age of 80.

List of people and government units that participated in the persecution:

Xu Bin, male, the CCP secretary in Shibao Town
Xu Qilin, male, director of Shibao Town Police Station
Xu Jiaqiang, male, former director of finance in Shibao Town
Yang Lin, male, director of the General Administrative Office in Shibao Town
Yang Kang, male, director of the Armed Services in Shibao Town
Xia Jiangkui, male, Director of finance in Shibao Town
Fu Zhigao, a prosecutor at the Gulin Court and Procuratorate
Chen Qiang, a presiding judge at Gulin Court
Fu Jian and Chen Hanzhao, workers in Gulin Court
The Gulin 610 Office
Gulin County Public Security Bureau
Liu Zhongtang, Gulin Detention Centre
Lei Qingmin, Shibao Police Station

Note

1. "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/2011/7/8/43538.html