By a Dafa practitioner in Shanghai

(Clearwisdom.net) Mr. Lu Xingguo was a 45-year-old Dafa practitioner who lived in Wanggang Hongyi Village, Tang Town in the Pudong New District, Shanghai. On October 15, 2003 he died from torture in Shanghai Qingpu District's No. 3 Forced Labor Camp.

Because Lu Xingguo was a determined Falun Gong practitioner, police detained him in the No. 3 Forced Labor Camp. On October 13, 2003 he was transferred to a Middle Team under direct camp supervision. It is located at the first floor of Middle Team One in the forced labor camp. This team was known for its cruelty against practitioners by employing criminals to carry out violence and torture. Practitioners had previously been detained in the labor camp hospital. In late May 2003, they were moved to their current location.

Lu Xingguo was in room number 109. Encouraged by policeman Xiang Jianzhong (Middle Team leader, badge no. 3130268), several criminal inmates in Room 109, such as thieves, robbers, gangsters, those having committed economic crimes and also drug addicts started to physically and verbally assault Lu, even using a small stool to torture him.

The small, circular shaped stool is placed against a wall. Under regular circumstances it is actually is a type of spool to coil up wires, in a rather small diameter. The practitioner was forced to sit on the floor with his back against the stool. His legs were extended in front of him in such a way that the legs and upper body formed a 90-degree angle. His arms were stretched to both sides of the body to form a straight line on the wall. Several people would spread the person's legs till they are almost 180 degrees apart.

This torture is extremely painful and very hard for people to bear. A person can fall unconscious from the excruciating pain. At the moment when the practitioner almost loses consciousness, the hatchet men would take a mouthful of cold water and with dirty saliva, spit in the practitioner's face to make the practitioner regain consciousness. When they tortured Lu Xingguo, people outside that room heard Lu's painful cries. The criminals had ordered him to give up Falun Gong. When he said no, the criminals subjected Mr. Lu to the Tiger Bench* torture. They cruelly tortured him, both mentally and physically. They tortured him for two continuous days until his ligaments were torn and he was unable to stand and walk.

Later, Team Leader Xiang Jianzhong came to Room 109 and tried to force Lu Xingguo to answer some "questions." Xiang also tried to threaten him. When Dafa practitioner Mr. Lu protested against the tortures, Xiang Jianzhong became very angry and defensive. He told head criminal inmate Zhang Min and others to intensify the torture. They were told to do whatever they can to force him to yield to them and to turn away from Falun Dafa practice. A new round of persecution was planned.

On October 15, 2003 in the morning, policemen first transferred a few tough criminals such as Xu Ping and Dong Wei to room 111. At 12:00 p.m. inmate Zhang Min locked all Falun Gong practitioners into their cells. They were not even allowed to go to the toilet. They dragged the badly injured Lu Xingguo, who was unable to walk, from Room 109 to Room 111. The barefoot Mr. Lu was pulled along the floor on his back. Si Daolong was the head for cell Room 111. Other criminals such as Sui Wei, Wang Daming, Gao Jingdong, Gu Hailun, Yu Yonghuai, and Song Yuqi also came to Room 111. Now there were almost ten criminals in the room.

Zhang Min shouted, "Turn up the TV volume and close all the doors and windows." Then they started to subject Mr. Lu to another round of more severe torture. To prevent Lu from making any sound, they stuffed a towel into his mouth. Nobody knew for sure what happened in there.

After some time, the door and windows were opened. People heard Sui Wei and others swear. They also could hear Lu's weakening voice refusing to yield to the torture and renounce his belief in Falun Dafa.

Realizing that Lu was willing to defend his belief with his life, the criminals were extremely furious. They immediately went on to another round of torture. They closed the doors and windows again and turned the TV to the highest volume. They proceeded with the most evil and cruel torture. In less than one hour, Falun Gong practitioner Lu Xingguo was dead from torture at the hands of the police and the criminals.

At 1:00 p.m. in the afternoon, the criminals told the police, "He is dead." Police team leader Zhu (badge no. 3130671) came to Room 111. He instructed two criminals to carry Lu Xingguo's body and walked all the way outside of Team Number One's gate.

At midnight that same day, police Team Leader Zeng (badge no. 3130586) summoned criminals Sui Wei, Xu Ping and Dong Wei to come outside. They probably made up lies and recorded faked witness statements. They tried to cover up the truth to escape justice. Indeed, the policemen in other teams began to spread a rumor, "Lu Xingguo committed suicide to celebrate his Master's birthday."

During this whole process of torturing and persecuting Lu Xingguo, the most evil and most responsible one was Xiang Jianzhong. He once said, "We had orders from above. A 5% fatality rate is acceptable. If we kill someone, there are no consequences. We are not afraid of killing."

Later, the police told Lu's family that he died of an illness. They did not allow the family to see his body. On October 17, police informed Lu Xingguo's brother to come and sign the death certificate. His brother requested to see documentation of his brother's cause of death. While trying to make up a cause, the police couldn't justify themselves. The police still had no justification, but didn't give the family an opportunity to see his body. They ordered the family to cremate the body the next day on October 18^th.

On October 18th, more than 60 policemen were stationed in the crematory to guard the body. When the family arrived, the police had already put clothes on the body. Still they did not allow the family to see the body. According to an eyewitness, Lu Xingguo's face was nearly beyond recognition. There was no skin on his lip. All his teeth were gone. The skin near his ears was wrinkled. His hair stood up straight. Blood was on his neck and one could see large area of bruises from the electric shocks.

Lu Xingguo was survived by his 60-year-old mother, a disabled and bedridden father, as well as his wife and a school-age daughter.

Shanghai Dafa practitioner Lu Xingguo defended his faith in "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance" with his own life. He used his righteousness and conscience to awaken people's minds and let people know the truth of the persecution. We hereby appeal to people in the world to come together, to stop the cruel persecution against Falun Gong practitioners.

* Tiger bench: Practitioners are forced to sit on a small iron bench that is approximately 20 cm (6 inches) tall with their knees tied together. With their hands tied behind their backs or sometimes placed on their knees, they are forced to sit straight up and look straight ahead. They are not allowed to turn their heads, close their eyes, talk to anyone or move at all. Several inmates are assigned to watch over the practitioners and force them to remain motionless while sitting on the bench. Usually some hard objects are inserted underneath the practitioners' lower legs or ankles to make it harder for them to tolerate this abuse (see illustration on <http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2001/11/24/16156.html>)

Posting date: 2/27/2004
Original article date: 2/26/2004
Category: Eye Witness Accounts
Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2004/2/8/66887.html

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