(Clearwisdom.net) Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Lu Shunmin from Xuchang County, Henan Province was arrested by police in May 2002 and detained at the Xuchang County Detention Center for a year. During the detention, he was forced to wear shackles weighing forty-eight kilograms (106 lb). He was later illegally sentenced to an eight-year term and detained in Xinmi Prison in Henan Province. While he was detained in the sixth prison district, guards burned his right middle finger with a cigarette lighter, and beat and tortured him.

Mr. Lu Shunmin, 60, is from Wanlu Village, Lingjing Township, Xuchang County. Before Mr. Lu practiced Falun Gong, he was in poor health. Shortly after he began practicing and requiring himself to be a good person according to the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, his illnesses, which had bothered him for many years, disappeared. He worked at a brick factory to support his family, and his life was calm and peaceful.

In mid-May 2002, while Mr. Lu was clarifying the truth about Falun Gong to people, he was arrested and his home ransacked by police officers Zhou Hengwei and He Guoan from the Security Division in Xuchang County. After a one-year-long detention at the Xuchang County Detention Center, he was illegally sentenced to an eight-year term and taken to Xinmi Prison in Henan Province. The following are some of the known facts of the persecution that Lu Shunmin suffered.

Forced to Wear Shackles Weighing Forty-eight Kilograms at the County Detention Center

At the Xuchang County Detention Center, because Mr. Lu Shunmin persisted in doing the exercises, and talked about the persecution of Falun Gong, the guards often instigated prisoners to insult, beat, and kick him. The guards once ordered prisoner Hu Dawei to beat Lu Shunmin about the face twenty times with the soles of his shoes, causing him to nearly pass out. He was also forced to wear shackles that weighed forty-eight kilograms for five days. During the one year detention in the County Detention Center, Lu Shunmin was beaten into unconsciousness three times.

In May 2003, the Xuchang Court put him on trial. Mr. Lu was illegally sentenced to eight years and detained at Xinmi Prison in Henan Province.

Right Middle Finger Burned with a Lighter until Charred

In May 2003, Mr. Lu was sent to the "education area" in the eighth ward, where the guards attempted to force him to "transform." He was “reeducated” for three months. He did not "transform" or write the three statements to renounce his belief.

In August 2004, Mr. Lu was transferred to the twelfth prison district where he was subjected to strict control for three months. Three prisoners were assigned to monitor him, and they forced him to stand for long periods of time as a form of torture. They later forced him to squat for long periods so that he could not shift his weight from leg to leg. They splashed water on the floor causing it to become slippery and when he became dizzy from squatting he would slip and fall in the water. They frequently beat him about the face and sometimes at night several prisoners grabbed Mr. Lu, turn him upside down and then hit him with a club. They deprived him of sleep and never allowed him to sleep for more than two hours. He usually was allowed to sleep for only one hour or twenty minutes. One night, a group of them punched Mr. Lu to the ground, and he fell face down. They stood on his hands and feet to hold him down and burned his right middle finger with a lighter until it was charred.

Division head Chen Youzhi and staff member Wang Suiquan shocked Mr. Lu with electric batons in the office. They took him to the office every morning and held his head down to a chair and stripped off his clothes to shock him. As they kicked and beat him about the face they shouted, “We will beat you until you transform!" Mr. Lu Shunmin said he would not be "transformed." The prison staff used electric batons to shock him on his face, neck, and mouth. As a result, his teeth were loosened, and two of his teeth were knocked out.

Cursed at, Beaten and Deprived of Sleep

Mr. Lu was later transferred to the sixth prison district which is the most evil one.

The guards there were determined to force Mr. Lu to "transform." When Mr. Lu refused to "transform" they shouted at and cursed at him using very foul language.

The guards realized that they could not make Mr. Lu "transform" by verbally abusing him, so they beat and kicked him, and hit him on the face. They pinched his fingers with chopsticks and when the chopsticks broke they used wooden sticks. Afterwards, Mr. Lu had difficulty getting up. In the cold of winter they forced him to clean the floor with cold wet rags in order to freeze his hands. Staff member Wang Guolin claimed that Mr. Lu did not try his best to wash the floor and instigated criminal Li Junling to curse him.

Mr. Lu was allowed to sleep for only two hours and sometimes only one hour. Four criminals were ordered to take turns monitoring him. They didn't allow him to sleep for three days and nights, and threatened him, saying, “If you even blink we will beat you.” They also told him, “When you faint we will then take your hand and make you write the 'transformation' statement.” Mr. Lu said that if they didn't allow him to sleep he would not eat, and he went on a hunger strike. They were afraid that if he died they would be blamed, so they finally allowed him to sleep.

The longest time practitioners are held in the strict control team is three months. If within three months practitioners could not be "transformed," they were transferred to another district. Later Lu Shunmin was transferred to the seventh prison district, where he was forced to transform. He was also transferred to the eleventh district and fifth district.